Royal Wedding Skirts

Lurking in the remnant bin at John Lewis I found a piece of fabric to commemorate the Royal Wedding.  It cost about £5 and looked to be just enough to run up a couple of skirts for two little princesses to wear to the street party today.

These were such easy skirts to make, and light and comfortable to wear.  It is a very simple rectangle of fabric, joined at the short edges to make a tube.  I then turned over a narrow hem at the top, and did several (6/7) lines of shirring, using the edge of the presser foot as a guide.  I dampened the shirring and pressed, to shrink it up, then hemmed the bottom, adding on a band of organza to trim, and it's done!

I won!

I'm currently experiencing that heady mix of excitement and guilt that often accompanies a purchase. A big one.

I have just won an eBay auction for....a Bernina 830 Record sewing machine...whoop whoop, etc!!

I've been lusting after one for ages, but made a pact with myself that I had to earn enough money in my PayPal account to pay for it. After weeks of furiously decluttering and eBaying I was pretty much there, so with a racing pulse I put in my bid 10 seconds before the auction end, and won!

Now I have to play the waiting game, and hope that it arrives safe and sound.

Meanwhile I will be planning some lovely new sewing projects to put it through its paces. And enjoying my newly decluttered wardrobe. I think I might love eBay a little bit too much.

Oops I went fabric shopping again

After a long day spent at the computer, I succumbed to a little (read: a little too much) fabric shopping.

With an office-come-workshop already bursting at the seams with fabric, and no time to tackle a tenth of the projects whirling around my over-excited brain, this was most definitely a bad move....but....they made me fall in love with them...

My name is Helen and I am a fabric addict.

Here is the (optimistic) plan anyway:

1. Ashley Kidson - love the bright retro feel and I'm thinking of summer dresses for the girls
2. Poplin Print Say it with flowers - again, totally 50s retro, and I have a skirt pattern in mind from a back issue of Ottobre for which this would be perfect:
3. Poplin Print Strawberries & Cream - I had the last metre of this (sorry!) but it will be put to good use, probably as a summer nightdress for Eva (who is sooo girly right now that even pyjama trousers are completely out of favour)
4. Guince - this one is for me, rather foolishly, since I have never made clothes for myself before, but lying in my bed tonight I will be dreaming about wafting around a sunkissed meadow wearing a fabulous handmade maxi dress. How hard can it be?

Toddler wedding bibs

Here is the only hastily captured picture of the bibs I made for the girls to wear at the wedding breakfast (complete with hotel carpet background).

Indeed this is the only evidence that the bibs ever existed, since they have now disappeared into the ether. Excessive alcohol consumption + chasing sleep-deprived, sugar-fuelled daughters around all day = distinct lack of care of personal possessions. Frankly I'm amazed I even made it home with my handbag and house keys.

Nevertheless, a fabulous day was had by all, the bride was beautiful, the girls just about managed to perform their flower girl duties without taking out anyone's eye with their flower wands, and the bibs were a hit, although nothing short of a miracle could have prevented Bethan from giving herself an ice-cream beard during the speeches.

The bib design was based on one of their current plastic bibs, but made slightly wider and much longer to protect the skirts of their adorable dresses. The fabric I used was a delicate Peter Rabbit toile, backed with a white brushed cotton. They were finished with topstitching around the edges and a satin bow. My intention was for it not to be noticeable that they were wearing bibs, and I think it worked out pretty well. Until they got covered in chocolate ice-cream of course.

Unfinished ribbon embroidery

I wish I could claim this unfinished embroidery as my own work. Alas, my only input so far has been to rescue it from the miscellaneous junk pile in a charity shop.

Upon first sight I knew it had to be mine, and although I have no idea what to do with it just yet, I think it's always best to follow your instincts in such matters and part with some cash, pronto.


Not very much cash as it happens, which is the first of my regrets about this purchase. With hindsight, I should have given the charity shop more than the measly £1 they were asking. It came with all the materials to complete it, plus an embroidery hoop, and I am feeling distinctly Scrooge-like.

My other regret is that I didn't ask if they knew anything of its history. I would love to know who started this project and why it was abandoned part way through. I wonder if the torn front cover picture has a story to tell?

It will have to remain a mystery, and in a way I guess this adds to its appeal. I now have to decide what to do with it. Apart from add it to my mountainous pile of works in progress that is. Eeep!

Wedding Shoe Clips

From perfectly nice, but rather plain satin shoes...

... to something a little more glamorous, and certainly more suited to the lovely mother of the bride.

As the lone crafter in the family, my mother in law commissioned me to turn the plain jane shoes into something more befitting her fabulous wedding outfit. Pressure!!

Made from matching silk I finished these shoe clips with a vintage Japanese pearl cabochon.

When I emailed a picture of my first attempt to my mother in law to see if she liked them and wanted me to continue, this was her reply:

"The shoe design is marvellous. I love, love, love them! If you can make those I would be delighted. Can you try? You are a wonder!"

What a lovely response! She has been in somewhat of a panic about finding the perfect shoes to go with her outfit, so I think she is delighted to finally solve the problem, with only days left to spare.

The usual recipients of my crafting efforts are the girls, who are most likely to run straight into the garden and cover their lovingly created designs in mud, so I'm basking in the warm and fuzzy glow of appreciation right now...I am a wonder...oh yeah...

Bridesmaid rose hair clips

The most anticipated British wedding of the century is almost upon us**. Yes, my sister in law and her fiance are tying the knot in two weeks time - hurrah!

My two little angels (...please, please let them behave like angels...just for one day) are the flower girls.

They have utterly adorable 50s style dresses by Jasper Conran complete with skirts just crying out to be twirled, satin beaded ballet pumps, ivory butterfly party tights and now finally handmade rose hair clips. I don't know why I put it off for so long as they only took a few minutes really.

The only thing left to do now is to make some sort of cover up to prevent those dresses getting covered in an array of samples from the wedding breakfast. Turns out two and four year olds are pretty messy eaters - who knew?


** Other British (and possibly more Royal) weddings may also be available.