Another skirt adventure

I've been itching to make a skirt ever since I picked up a fab tablecloth last week so the how-to is over on the DIY page now.

Crafty holiday goodness

For the past week I've been in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales staying with the fella and the pooch in a wee cottage in lovely Sedbergh. If you're ever in the area I can highly recommend Farfield Mill if you want to get a sense of what the local crafters are all about. They actually still use the 80 year old looms in the mill to make all sorts of beauties such as rugs and textiles.

Anyway, as you would expect I did my own tour of the surrounding thrift stores and on the very first day of the holiday I had what can only be described as the shoe find of the century! Normally I only give the shoes in thrift stores the most cursory of glances before moving on to more interesting territory. After all, feet are very personal parts of the body and shoes are rarely given away in good condition. I nearly had a conniption in the Oxfam store in Penrith when I came across the glorious clogs you see below.

I'm going through a love affair with wooden shoes at the moment. The trick is to wear them in slowly over time I think and for the more fashion forward amongst us, you might brave wearing a cute ankle sock with a sandal like the one above.
Also in the weeks thrifty haul was the best part of Cumbria's supply of doilies and linens (apologies if anyone else wanted some!). Now although it's lovely just to look at these treasures and wonder what you'll do with 50 vintage tea towels and tray mats, it's also nice to use them in a crafty creation.

Recently I felt it was time to put some of my materials to use so I decided to make a skirt. With all the right tools, like a sewing machine, you can make this skirt in under an hour.

Materials:
I used a double sized flat bed sheet for this and I think the pattern is really delightful.
A length of elastic
Doily or any embellishment you have to hand.
 

How to do it:

•  Fold the sheet in half lengthways, right sides together. If you have the part of the sheet which was already hemmed at the bottom, you can cheat and use this as your skirt hem.
• The next step is to decide how long you want the skirt to be and then add approximately one inch to that for a waistband. Mark and cut across the sheet at that line.
• Now sew a line of straight stitching down the long side of your fabric so you have a tube. If you're a skinny minnie or want to have a less-full look to your skirt, you can simply cut a strip off the side before you start sewing.
• Now you've got your tube, still with right sides together, fold a half inch of fabric down and press all the way around the top of the skirt. Fold down another half inch and press again. This will provide the casing for your elastic.
• Sew a line of straight stitching all the way around the bottom of your casing leaving a small gap to thread your elastic through.
• Cut your elastic to fit around your waist (or wherever you want the skirt to sit) and add a couple of inches to that measurement.
• Thread your elastic through and had stitch the ends together. Close the gap you left in the casing either by hand or with your machine.
• Add any embellishment you fancy! I added a linen doily to this skirt so it had a pocket but anything goes. Enjoy!

1/2 hour collar creation

Upon knocking off work this evening I faced a dilemma - do some much needed housework or settle down with my sewing machine and waste some time. Guess which I chose?

I've jumped on the bandwagon of collar-loving recently and I'm not ashamed to say it. A wee collar on top of a plain t-shirt or dress can really make it pop. So I strolled to my fabric collection and hauled out a much love piece which I am slowly snipping bits off here and there to make all sorts of things.

This peter pan collar took less than half an hour to make. In fact the fiddliest part was hand stitching on possibly the world's smallest popper for the fastening at the front. What do you think?

Maybe you can have a crack at one yourself. All you need is:

• A strip of fabric you can fold in half that is the right length to sit comfortably around your neck (or two strips if you want your inside and outside pieces to contrast) 
• A popper/snap fastener
• A sweet button to decorate the top if you roll that way
• An iron is ESSENTIAL for this otherwise you're headed for lumpy unevenness (and maybe even tears)

1. Fold your strip in half length ways with right sides together. Iron flat.
2. Use a tea cup or other rounded edge to trace a line at either end to make your curved edge. Trim fabric to  match curved line.
3. Sew a seam close to the edge, starting at one curved end, running along the bottom edge and leave a wide enough opening at the other end to turn inside out.
4. Turn tube inside out so right sides are showing. Iron flat.
5. Turn under a seam on the end you left open and iron down.
6. Top stitch around all edges as close to the edge as you can.
7. Sew your popper and decorative button on.
8. Hit the town in your new creation and smile sweetly and get ready to say 'I made it myself' a lot!

P.S - making the dog wear it is also an option you could consider. Don't be fooled by the fear in Cleo's eye - she's loving it, honestly.

Restyling junk

Ever wondered what to do with some of the junk and ornaments you have lying around the house, or find in your local thrift shop? Well today I came across this guy, Chad Wys, who has taken upcycling to a whole new level. Check it out...

 

Those crafty French

Well Paris was fabulous but you'd expect me to say that wouldn't you? One of the great things about the French is their fearlessness I think when it comes to trying something new. A few years ago when I first visited the Palace of Versailles there was an amazing Jeff Koons exhibition in the rooms of the main chateau. It was controversial at the time but it made a big impression on me.

Not to be beaten this time, there was a series of amazing installations by the Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos. Her work is pro feminist and uses many of my favourite techniques such as knitting and crochet, as well as materials I love like old doilies and tray mats. Here's a couple of snaps of some of my favourite pieces- crafty no?

There's a marble lion underneath all that lace!

I spent a good bit of Saturday trawling the flea market at Clignancourt, coming home with a 1937 and 1940 edition of French Marie Claire which I plan to re-craft into something else shortly. Here's a couple of snaps from the markets, well worth a visit if you ever get a chance.

Child's chair covered with Louis Vuitton fabric

Happy Monday everyone!
xx