Pony and Foxy's Creative Moment

Totally sweet pillow covers.

2010-01-21T15:17:00.001-08:00

I found a photo of pillows like the two on the right in an old craft magazine that was past on to me over Christmas.

The Red Beret

2009-08-25T07:14:00.000-07:00

So I asked my millinery tutor, "What is the little stalk on top of the beret for?" I know it's kind of a silly question but, it always seemed to me that it was there for a reason. You know like the end of the woolen chain that knit together the beret.

NOPE.

It is a creative choice. Someone, somewhere thought it was a good idea. Honestly, I kind of agree. It's pretty cute.

Above is the red mini beret I made with a stalk.

Fur Felt Blue 40s Style Trilby

2009-08-24T04:02:00.000-07:00

So I made this hat a little while back. It's design is based on this 40's hat that I spied in one of the local vintage shops. The original was actually a half size type hat in a navy blue. It was amazing and I'm trying to make a hat that is even closer to that hat in size. This one is more wearable as an everyday hat.

This side profile shows off the ace bow I made for it. This picture doesn't quite capture it though!

The top of the hat has, what someone described as a nipple. Different, oh yes.

....and salt and pepper shakers!

2009-08-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

Check out these awesome salt and pepper shakers....

They are owls and they arrived today. I just love their little hats.

Here are some other ones I bought...I know the toilet bowl ones are kind of wrong but, in a good way, right?

One says "I'm full of P" and the other says "I'm full of S".

hahahahaha

Wedding planning

2009-08-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

So it begins.

The guest list is some what squared away. I'm sure as the day gets closer there will be some squabbles. But, on to the fun stuff. Like plates!

Who wants white china? Not me. Our day will have more of a backyard bbq kind of feel to it. I'm a big lover of all things vintage. So I'm using the reception as a bit of an excuse to collect tons of vintage plates..... here are a few

Eek gads.

2009-06-01T04:54:00.000-07:00

Wedding planning makes blogging difficult. There is much to catch up on!

I've been making fabric!

2009-03-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

Have you tried out Spoonflower.com yet? I've attempted my first fabric which is this:

I'll let you know how it turns out.

All so, Crafty Sunday this weekend with Pil and Galia!

Mini Beret

2009-03-17T10:17:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine made me a lovely wooden mini beret block. I've been going crazy using it. This is the second hat I made, nearly finished.

My Cloche

2009-03-13T05:09:00.000-07:00

Apparently, cloche means "bell" in french. I studied French for a couple years in high school but, I never remember learning that one. Or maybe I wasn't paying attention. Highly probable. My french teacher had a very high voice combined with a very heavy french accent. At the time I found her more funny than interesting. I'm kicking myself now.

My latest hat is this bell shaped cloche. I made using fur felt and trimmed it with a lovely ribbon that I picked up on etsy.com from Carmelos' shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5800916

Kanzashi

2009-03-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

Well, I found a Kanzashi tutorial on the web (http://www.mookychick.co.uk/diy_ethic/kanzashi_tutorial.php) and had a go. It's surprisingly easy. Though I've not attempted to do any of the hard stuff. This was what I made:

Definite possibilities.

Paris - La Forme

2009-03-06T02:57:00.000-08:00

This is one of the amazing places I visited in Paris. The video is pretty informative so I don't have to do much explaining. I will say however, the palce is called La Forme and they make blocks for hats here.

Paris

2009-03-04T03:05:00.000-08:00

I've been away for a while having adventures in France. Mostly in Paris. Now, I have a love hate relationship with Paris. At the moment I'm loving it but, I've had some really crappy visits there.

The first time I went I got most of the money I had brought along stolen from my hotel room. It was the first night of a 6 week long trip. I was in college at the time and didn't have access to any other money so, I was struggling to get by and eat. Then after a few weeks the hard rubber bit on the bottom of one of my heels came off exposing the hollow inside of my plastic heel. I sounded a lot like a horse. By the end, I was so tired of croque monsieurs.

The next time was lovely. My Grandma and I went and had a fantastic time strolling around eating raspberry tarts and looking at the beautiful old buildings. I loved it.

Then I went again for a holiday with my boyfriend and his son. It was perfectly miserable. I spent the time leading up to the trip trying to devise things for us to do but, was told that it wasn't necessary. We'd be fine just hanging out and the little one would be happy just to do whatever we were doing. WRONG. He was so bored and seemed very intent on making sure we knew it about every 5 minutes. At this point you'd think we would have gone out and done some sight seeing or something, but it was pissing with rain for most of the time. We stayed with friends in there amazing open plan flat and I'm not sure how they put up with us.

That was more than two years ago. I've not really wanted to go back since, though looking at my previous track record with Paris I imagined that the next visit would have to be a good one. Well, it was. We took the Eurostar over on this past Valentine's Day and checked in to a lovely hotel near Saint Germain. The hotel felt like it had a touch of David Lynch about it which I liked. That evening we went out for one of the tastiest meals I think I've ever had and on the way back to our hotel we decided to stop of at Notre Dame. There underneath a beautiful art nouveau street lamp and in front of a beautifully lit Notre Dame my boyfriend asked me to marry him. Wow. Now you may be a bit jaded and think that this is a all too cliched but, I still cry at films and think romance is alive and well. So, I thought it was simply magic.

Once again, Paris has been redeemed.

a little bit more..

2009-02-12T03:59:00.000-08:00

That's the latest one finished. I put a bit of veiling on it and I shifted one of the bow ends.

This blog has been quite quiet as of late because I've been trying to finish some stuff up. Like the gloves I started before Christmas! Eek.

There's also patterns that are stacking up and my boots which are very near to completion. In fact they should be done by this evening! Stay tuned.

Hat Cave!

2009-01-29T08:11:00.000-08:00

Hat Cave, that's what I decided I wanted to call my shop if I had a hat shop. It would have to be a small place that was fully lined in hats. It doesn't sound that chic though. I'm not sure the ladies that lunch would come by. Do other people than that buy hats?

Anyway, I've not been writing for the last couple of weeks because I've been beavering away on the millinery. The first hat I completed was this sweet pillbox meets turban:

This hat is a made from a lovely greenish-gold velvet, a vintage brooch and feathers! The brooch has made it want to tip forward so, I had to add some extra loops at the back for pinning it into my hair.

I did wear it out and it was appreciated by the people of London. Except one guy, who was a little upset about the peacocks.

Then came the fedora. I'm not sure it can really be called a fedora now. It looks a bit more like a pimp hat. Well, just because it's so big. I guess it would be more of a madame hat because it has a couture sort of look to it where as a pimp hat would be expected to be a bit more naff. This is it:

It doesn't look so massive in the pictures. But, I swear if you saw me walking down the street with it on it would be the first thing you noticed.

Lastly I've got a few finishing touches, mainly feathers to add to this fascinator:

Watch out. I think this thing is going to look pretty sweet when it is done and on.

Lastly, I'm sad to report that I still haven't finished my boots. It may be another 2 more weeks before they are done. However, I'm finishing them up with a lot more help and attention from the teach so they are going to come out much better than expected! Yay!

Crafty Sunday is this coming Sunday with Pil and Galia.

Foxy.

Underway

2009-01-12T06:35:00.000-08:00

My fedora is the green one on the left!

Lately, I've had the hardest time finishing anything. My boots are still not done from my course which ended in November. I've been waiting for a call from the tutor but, I' think I'll have to bug him once again. I guess I won't be taking anymore classes at the London College of Fashion. The classes are a bit over subscribed and expensive.

My hat making class on the the other had is awesome. I've started a felt fedora this past weekend and have nearly finished up a pillbox hat. It looks a bit like a turban so I've ordered up some peacock feathers for it and have been scouring ebay for the right vintage brooch. The last thing will be getting it to stay on my head. I'd like to use combs but I can't seem to find the small ones anywhere. Any suggestions?

I've also been plugging away at my next quilt. I'm just working on the squares at the moment. I've been doing quite a bit of applique. Pictures to come soon. Is there a place in the UK that quilts things for you? I mean after you have the topper done and the backing picked out?

This weekend I also finally got around to starting curtains for Jude's room, that's my bf's son. I finished up one but haven't started on the other one yet. I put it up though because the curtain that was hanging there was so disgustingly dirty. It is really London's fault though, it's just so darn dirty here. I don't really notice it all the time. But then once in a while you get grey curtains, or grey suds when you are washing your hair and you realize how bad it is. Jude's room isn't even on the side of the house that faces the street!

Has Mercury gone retrograde yet?

2009.

2009-01-05T07:40:00.000-08:00

Christmas and New Years came and went. Is it just me or did it go by incredibly quickly?

I managed to make some truffles and that's about it. The rest of the time I spent hanging out with family, eating and trying to stay warm. Christmas Day and Boxing Day were great cause I finally got to see the fruits of my labour lovingly received by my family.

These are some earrings I made:

Now comes the part of winter that I don't really care for. It's when you feel like you're waiting around for it to get warm. In England there is a fair chance that it might not get warm and sunny again before it's cold and miserable once more. Summer can be as short as two here.

I picked it though. So no sense in moaning.

Anyway, there are loads of things to do. I'm trying to get our flat ready for a new little grey flatmate. My parents' cat is coming to live with us sometime in March. I'm also working on another quilt and reading Suzi Quarto's autobiography. (I love the story but, I'm not sure I like the writing style.

Hats in the city, Hats in the city tonight

2008-12-18T07:28:00.000-08:00

This is my hat out and about on the town and finished off. Isn't it ace?!

I bought a block so I can make more at home. At the moment I'm stupidly excited about it!

Try this one.

2008-12-17T08:34:00.000-08:00

I've been planning on making boxes for some of the christmas jewelry I've been putting together. I finished up one, quite quickly, out of regular old white paper. It came out alright. I think I'll now move on to a thicker colored paper.

Check it out, try it out:

http://u-handbag.typepad.com/uhandblog/2007/11/quick-and-easy.html

This one is for me.

2008-12-12T07:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas is about giving. Sometimes it's about giving to yourself!

On my last but not latest trip to the Cloth House I bought this most fabulous plaid fabric with skulls woven into it. It's so lovely, I had to make a little purse for myself out of it. Someone else maybe getting a little something made out of this fabric too. It so luscious I would love to make a party dress out of it but, at £15 a metre (the fabric isn't to wide either) it would cost a pretty penny.

My latest trip to the Cloth House was today. It was for some buttons but, I forgot to bring cash and got sucked into the £10 card limit thingy. So, I found some dark green felt which I'm hoping to use for a pillbox hat. I still hadn't spend enough so I rummaged around and found this sweet horseshoe print fabric. Oh the possibilities.

Pearly Lee.

2008-12-11T02:52:00.000-08:00

I've been working on making jewelry for the ladies and girls in my family. It's not been inexpensive or quick. Which hopefully makes them all the more special. All the findings I bought were sterling silver and I decided to use semi-percious stones, pearls, swaroski crystals and a few pieces of czech glass.

Then one day while I was making I devised a really lovely way to present them. On the heads of Victorian Ladies.

This pair is for my Mom. She's already seen them so, even if she reads this the suprise hasn't been spoiled.

Tonight I'm thinking about trying to make a vinyl record bowl.

With a bow on top!

2008-12-03T06:26:00.000-08:00

Saturday, Rosie and I embarked upon a great trek to deep south east London for our first hat making class. It was such a journey. A bus to the train to another bus and then a 10 minute walk. It was also freezing outside and very early. The was sort of a bonus for the morning journey. It took a lot less time to get there than it did to get home.

The journey is however the only thing I can really moan about though. The day was amazing! I was the first one there. Eager beaver! But by 10 there were 6 of us. 3 beginners and 3 more experienced students. As beginners we worked on the obligatory fascinator.

We each got a wooden head which we covered in plastic wrap. We picked out which color sinamay we wanted to use and we were off. I used black, Rosie went for purple and Loretta used silver. We made the base first which took us a few hours. We blocked out the sinamay and sewed on the wire and edging. I didn't want a tear drop shaped base. They just remind me of 80s weddings, so I made a circular one. All the while there was Albanian music pumping from the floor below.

After we finished the base of the fascinator we went on to the trimming. There were three ideas on offer for decoration, leaves, rolls or a bow. I (obviously) went with the bow, Rosie decided on the feathers and Loretta the rolls.

Check it out.

I'm so pleased with my creation and inspired to make more that I'll definitely be going back, to make a felt fedora!

There wasn't enough time for me to get a photo of my finished piece with the feathers on but, I'm djing this weekend and I'm thinking about wearing it. So stay tuned for that photo.

Christmas Craft Sunday

2008-12-02T06:38:00.000-08:00

So I went to take some photos on Sunday at craft day but, my camera died after the first shot. The first shot is also very blurry. Err. Anyway, we had a little bit of a late start. I was messing around at home and lost track of time. So everything wasn’t really setup and ready to go till about 3:30. We started working on making Christmas ornaments. I brought along Styrofoam balls, that people could cover. There was felt and all kinds of other bits.

After a few minutes into crafting one of the cats did a big stinky one. We all nearly ran for the hills. Nasty. We persevered on. This is the ball that I covered: There were some really awesome ones that the others made too. I'm so annoyed I couldn't photo them so, I’ll try to describe them. Pony made one that was covered in pom-poms and tinsel covered pipe cleaners. We dubbed it planet Christmas. She also made a pink and purple owl which was pretty fabulous. Mae made a very delicate leaf covered ball which was a white christmas berry, Emily rocked the craft table with a orange reindeer with glitter blue antlers (sort of pictured above) and a pastel spot bauble. Clare made a rather amazing and dedicated shooting star which involved sewing, beading and a whole lotta glue.

It took me most of the day to make this though: I saw an photo on Cathy of California’s blog of vintage Christmas ornaments which I decided that I wanted to copy. I’ve dubbed it the Peruvian Christmas chicken. It may get some brothers and sisters and become a Christmas present. We shall see.

I don’t think we’ll have a craft day at the end of December, though maybe with everyone off of work and such, it might be a good time? Not sure. I’m thinking the one in January might be a knitting workshop. Yay!

Fascination Street

2008-11-28T02:25:00.000-08:00

My friend Rosie and I are taking a hat course tomorrow. I’ve been looking forward to it for a while. I’m not sure what I’ll get to make. It’s only a day, well actually I think it’s only a 4 hour class. It would be so nice to make a felt fedora but, I know it just isn’t possible. I actually emailed the woman who is teaching the class to ask what I could make but, no answer. Apparently, when Rosie called her initally about booking she was a bit awkward or off putting. I also left her a phone message to which she never responded. She did cash my cheque very quickly though. Hopefully, I'm just being somewhat horrible and really she is just a very busy person.

For some inspiration I watched Philip Treacy's 2003 couture show on his website. http://www.philiptreacy.co.uk/ It was that show all inspired by pop art. I love the Andy Warhol hair hat but, the photographic image stuff didn't excite me as head wear.

Last night I finished off this fascinator. It's very tame in comparison!

I used chicken feathers from my parents’ birds. A while back the roosters where being roosters, and waking the entire neighbourhood, so in they had to go. It was always known that they'd have to go so, it wasn't too sad. They were very beautiful birds, so in that respect they will be missed. I think killing them wasn't so easy, as my parents decided to snap the necks instead of chopping their heads off. Supposedly, it's more humane and easier. I'm not sure about that.

Anyway, I asked for the feet too but, I never got them. I think my parents may have thought I was kidding when I mentioned chicken foot brooches.

Rave about it.

2008-11-27T02:55:00.001-08:00

I've been off knitting in the wilds of Cornwall. I'm not sure where Pony has been.

Currently I'm working on a cardigan from this old Fleisher's Sweater Book:

It's just a black cardigan made with this knobbly "fiesta" yarn made by Texere Yarns. It's 100% wool and was bloody cheap at about £2 for 1 cone. I think it's 100 grams per cone. Definitely look at their website texereyarns.co.uk.

I also finally sign up to Ravelry. So far, I'm not really using the forums but, I have been looking. through patterns and checking out what other people have been making.

This Sunday is craft day. Yay!

Foxy.

More, more, more.

2008-11-19T03:02:00.001-08:00

Oh my. I just love cherries. These lovely little bags are made out of this sweet cherry vinyl Mr. Man picked out at the local fabric shop.

I've been sort of racing to get stuff together for Christmas. With my family not being in England I've got to get this stuff out early.

I drew up the pattern for these and then made them out of photo printed vinyl, cotton lining cloth and 7 inch zips.

Let's get Purse-onal

2008-11-14T08:26:00.000-08:00

I drew up the pattern for these little purses the other day. Then, while I was at my boot making course on Wednesday night (by the way the boots are coming along very well but, who knew it would take so long to put them together! It’s partially down to the fact that there are way too many people in my class all vying for the teacher’s attention and direction. I’m not sure I’d take another course at LFC because the classes do feel a little over crowded. Anyway, back to Wednesday night.) I found some bits of scrap leather hanging around. I took it home with me and made up these purses.
They have cowboy style pearl snaps and colored stitching for a bit of flair.

I know it's only November but, I am trying to get together an arsenal of goodies for the impending holiday. These would make quite nice little gifts. Even better if I stuff them with some of the jewellery I’ve been making. I’ve spent a bomb at The Bead Shop in Covent Garden recently. Eek.

Foxy.

Danny Glover.

2008-11-13T03:56:00.001-08:00

Well, I started on a new pair of gloves. These ones are also being knit on two needles but are done on smaller needles and are mostly done in stockinette stitch.

These are for my Mr. Man though the pattern is actually a vintage ladies glove pattern. Now, he by no means has little lady hands, so I had to increase the size of the needles. The rest of it is custom. Each finger is knit as long or short as you need it to be.

This is the pattern:
http://www.knitting-and.com/wiki/Bon_Voyage_Gloves_%28Vintage%29

I decided to fore go the cables and just casted on 54 stitches on 2.75mm needles and knitted in a rib pattern of k3, p3 for 20 rows. Then I started with the ‘commence the thumb gusset’ part of this pattern.

As a side note, I went to go buy more of the Jaeger wool that I had started these gloves in. They didn’t have any at John Lewis. When I asked one of the ladies who works there where the Jaeger wool had gone to she informed me that they are no longer making wool. Oh my! I bought some Debbie bliss stuff that is the right size and color but it is softer than the Jaeger I was using. Oh well.

After I finish these I’m thing about doing another pair, with an intarsia knit pattern in them. I thought it would be great to have snake gloves!

Foxy.

The dress that came too late.

2008-11-10T08:10:00.000-08:00

This was supposed to be my Halloween dress. Not a costume but just a dress for Halloween. Is that odd? I dunno. It seemed right at the time. Anyway, I started cutting it out before Halloween and soon realized that I did not have enough fabric. My bf bought me this fabric from some random fabric store he saw one day in some neither region of London. Meaning, I couldn't get anymore from him.

I looked on ebay and found what I thought was the same fabric. Ordered it and waited. When it arrived and I noticed it was the same print but a totally different fabric. Err. I decided that I wouldn't let that ruin the spirit of Halloween, even though it had already passed, and I soldiered on.

The new fabric was much stiffer than the old one. I think, it probably wasn't quite right for this dress. I mean, one arm on it is seriously puffy. But, overall it's not so noticeable.

The pattern itself is a vintage Betsey Johnson Pattern. I love Betsey. I'm in the shop so much that the girls that work there know me. Maybe I shouldn't admit that but, my love of all things Betsey has given me even more joy about my new creation. Oh yes. This dress rocks.

Get Together Craftily November 2008

2008-11-07T07:48:00.000-08:00

Here is the flyer for the next one:

There may be some gingerbread house action going on and maybe some wreath making!

Found! and then some

2008-11-06T02:29:00.002-08:00

Well, my lovely scarf has been found. Yay! It's been hiding out at The Boogaloo. No doubt it was a nice bed for Starsky and Hutch. (the pubs lovely cats) I've not seen it yet though, as Hanna picked it up for me. Hopefully, we'll be reunited tomorrow.

Monday was Jim's b-day and I baked him his favorite cake. A chocolate chestnut torte. MMM!

It's so so good. There is no flour in it though the recipe says to flour your baking pan. I ground up some almonds and used those instead. Fierce.

This is similar to the recipe that I used:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/CHOCOLATE-CHESTNUT-TORTE-13203

I didn't put any rum or brandy in, my recipe called for brandy. Maybe I should have cause Jim would have liked that but, I like it better without. I also just made the icing out of some more melted dark chocolate and a tablespoon of butter. Actually, it's probably worth mentioning that I used Lindt 70% dark chocolate bars for this one. A little expensive but, very good. I've made this with Nestles choc chips once before too and it was still darn good.

Foxy.

Lost!

2008-11-05T08:58:00.000-08:00

I lost my diagonal knit scarf. Damn! I think it was this weekend but, I'm just not sure where it could be. What a bummer. It hurts that much more when you actually knit it! Err.

What have you been up to?

2008-11-04T09:24:00.000-08:00

We were out celebrating Halloween! And making a few things too.

I made these orange gloves from the remnants of my jack o lantern teapot cozy. My friend Rosie said that if I knit a mask out of the same yarn that I could have been The Thing (Fantastic Four) for Halloween. Too right!

Then I decided to try these in a different color:

I am officially on a glove knitting kick. These are both the from the same pattern but adapted to the smaller gauge needles that I wanted to work on. It's that Urban Rustic Glove that is up over on knitty.com The pattern is a little funny. I've got a few random holes that I'm not sure about. I think a more furry or chunky type of yarn would suit this better, though the gloves already fell quite chunky on. The woman who designed them did it with a multicolored yarn. Maybe I'll try that next.

Foxy.

Enid Collins inspired owl brooch

2008-10-29T03:23:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to make a felt brooch for a while. I always see flower ones which I like but I wanted to make something a little different. Lately, I’ve been on a real Enid kick. I’ve got another one of her bags coming to me in the mail.

Finding wool felt is not the simplest thing here. We have no Michael’s or any other type of craft superstore. I guess the closest thing is John Lewis on Oxford Street but, anyone who has been to Oxford Street knows that it’s a pretty maddening place to get to. This is mainly, because of the throngs of crowds that you must navigate through to get to the shop. In the end, the thought of John Lewis makes me just want to buy stuff online.

All that aside, there is a little craft shop up on Blackstock road near-ish to Finsbury Park. They have all kinds of yarn, buttons, knitting needles, findings and wool felt. I went there to get my felt. Then, after a few days of contemplation I decided that I would make an owl brooch based on one of Enid’s insanely cute designs. Whalla!:
I think a few more of these are in order. I’d really like a chicken one for myself!

Foxy.

Scary in a different way.

2008-10-28T03:38:00.001-07:00

I’m not really sure that my jack-o-latern tea cozy should be seen. He’s a little wonky but, sometimes that is what makes craft projects. At the moment I’m undecided. I’ve got loads of this lovely orange wool left over. I had gotten it for Get Together Craftily but, we didn’t end up having enough time to start on the tea cozys on Sunday. Maybe I’ll try again?

Foxy.

Halloween is too much fun.

2008-10-27T04:09:00.000-07:00

We did some Halloween card making this weekend at Get Together Craftily. It was truely wonderous.

P and F.

We've been framed!

2008-10-24T10:05:00.000-07:00

I've gone deep into the world of frame bag making. I found some frames that don’t have a nice little metal loop attached to them for your handle. So, now I’m trying to come up with ways to put a handle on and for it to be attractive.

So far I have executed one solution. This would be on the red bag. I’ve used loops, which are also stuck into the frame. I think this works quite well. The handle also feels really nice because it’s wide and has good padding in it.
I’m going to try a few other ideas out like surface mounting the handles and attaching loops into the frame at a point nearer to the hinges.

So stay tuned.

Also, Get Together Craftily is this Sunday at 3pm. 13 Bodney Road, E8. We’ll have stuff together for making Halloween cards, Carving Pumpkins and making Halloween themes tea pot covers.

Foxy.

Leftovers.

2008-10-22T06:56:00.000-07:00

I have loads of left over yarn from past knitting projects. They all sit in one bag. There isn’t really enough to make any one thing with any one color so, I decided I’d combine them to make a neck warmer.

The color combination is somewhat insane but, I think it sort of works. The mixture of yarns is actually quite beautiful.

I also added on some random vintage button from my button stash. They don’t match either!

This thing does however do an awesome job of keeping ones neck warmed.

Foxy.

Scarfitty Scarfage.

2008-10-21T03:22:00.000-07:00

After years of having this yarn and that pesky pattern, I've finally finished this scarf! And look it matches my new hat!
The yarn is so nice a soft. It's also a mixture of some really great fall colors. I'd like to make some gloves out of it to match but I think it's a little too chunky. I had these lovely gold colored gloves a few winters ago that I'd love to replace. I lost one on the way to work and was devastated. They would have been great with this. Err. Anyway, there are some nice glove patterns over on www.knitty.com. This one in particular caught my eye: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter05/PATTurbanrustic.html

I posted the link to this scarf pattern in an earlier post too but, if you want to make one and don't feel like scrolling down here it is again: http://douma.net/Karen/knitting/Accessory-Scarves/Multidirectional_Diagonal_Scarf.htm

Big Glove.

Foxy.

That'll flat do it!

2008-10-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

Recently I bought some bag making supplies from www.u-handbag.com. Lisa also has a blog which has ace instructions on how to make bags. I really love frame bags and have been wanting one for a while, so I bought a silver frame.

It arrived so quickly that I didn’t really have much time to think about what fabric I was going to use and really plot it all out. That didn’t really hold me back though, I was just too excited. So, after rummaging through my fabric I found this nice vintage silver lamee (I’d been saving) and turquoise and white stripe cotton for the inside. (Like a day evening bag.)

I think the bag took about an hour to make.

Amazing!!!!

Anyway, I took it out and the darn strap came off. Err. It's big and I am not the kind of girl to just carry a few small bits in her bag. So, I decided to buy some stronger jump rings to attach the handle to the bag. While I was at it, I also decided to do a little adjusting on the shape of the bag. I gave it a flat bottom.

Then I took it out again. It was doing fine until I started jumping around dancing with it on my shoulder. The strap came off again! Err. So, finally I decided I’d use some fabric to close up the slight gap in the jump ring. I used the littlest bit of fabric and some fabric glue, wrapped it around the gap and it’s been staying together. Yay! And I learned my lesson about dancing with it on.

When Jim came home from his tour and saw it he said “Oh wow, where did that come from?” I said “I made it.” He said, “No way! Really? I can’t believe women have not been running down the street after you asking you where you got your bag from.” Isn’t that super sweet? The haberdasher liked it too and was impressed with my tidy construction. I’m so proud.

Foxy.

Places are set!

2008-10-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

I finished up the last one in my set of four crazy quilt placemats last night. I'm so pleased with them that I took loads of photos!

The boys in the house like this one best:This is the back of one. The quilting is done in the shape of lightning bolts!

Foxy.

Boot Making Part 1

2008-10-16T06:32:00.001-07:00

So, I enrolled in a boot making course at Cordwainers and last night was our 4th class. I love it. In fact, I think I am way too enthusiastic about it. Last night I found myself doing a little dance while I was cutting my pattern out. Last week, I had an inner dialogue going about how much I love the course which I thought I might share with the teacher until I realized that I was being kind of over the top. Though maybe teachers do want to hear, “OH MY GOD, I love this! This totally made my day, no wait, my week. I cannot wait for our next class, I mean I really love this…..really”? Maybe not?

In our first class we got our lasts. Mine is a pointy toe one that I can put a heel on to. Some other people choose flats. Those came with a rounded toe. I would have rather had a rounded toe but, there wasn’t much choice. Not that I really mind. The lasts are all so different I’m not sure the rounded one would have been rounded the way I like, anyway! After getting our lasts we spent the rest of that class putting masking tape all around our lasts.

In the second week we put some guidelines on the tape and then cut it off our last. The tape then helped us to make our main pattern or standard.

This is the making of my standard:

This stuff was all quite technical. I enjoyed it but, picking out leather is much more fun. (Class number 3)

I actually, thought I was going to make really simple black boots until all the leathers came out and I fell in love with this golden brown suede. Now, my design has changed a bit and I’ll hopefully be making something that looks like this:

In class 4, last night, we cut the leather. That was a very good feeling. I’m starting to see my boots come together.

The teacher does think that my design is a bit much. Though saying that, I was thinking about piping and also about having stars punched in the leather. Maybe he thinks I want to make some crazy 70’s glam platform bad boys.

I actually wouldn’t be opposed to that but, I’ve already got a pair of 6 inch silver platform boots!

Foxy.

ps. The Kiss coffeehouse is genius, don't you think?

He's long gone.

2008-10-15T04:09:00.000-07:00

My Bub (boyfriend) has decided to up and leave me, for a week of touring with his rockin' band. He is now bathing in beer and eating sausages in Deutschland. (Darling, Please stay away from the currywurst. They'll only make you sorry.)

As a send off and a forget me not, I made him this bag:It's got this very cool green dice patterned fabric on the outside and black fabric with white skulls and crossbones on the inside. Both of which he bought! (I'm plaining a halloween dress out of the latter.) The bag actually is made from the same pattern that I drew up for my tote bag (see the leopard thing a few posts below) but, he's got longer skinnier handles as per his request. Long strapped bag are more manly, don't you know.

I hope it serves him well.

Keep on rockin'.

Foxy.

AFTER LONG LAST!

2008-10-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

The skull and crossbones quilt is done. I am ever so pleased with it. I mean, this thing has been knocking about for a while. Mocking me and calling me lazy. But, I showed it that I've got the fortitude to 'getter done'.

Yeehaw!

Foxy.

My oh my mushroom!

2008-10-13T04:36:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to knit one of these for a while. According to the pattern, it's supposed to be felted but the wool I was using wasn't doing it. Oh well, I'm proud!

You can knit one too, the pattern is here:

http://kathrynivy.com/patterns/free/myriad-mushrooms/

Foxy.

Darn it.

2008-10-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

Feeling inspired by the darning that's been going on at Prick Your Finger I decide to join in and mend my old black cardi!It sort of looks like my cardi has scars now.

Foxy.

Quit it. Err. Quilt it.

2008-10-10T06:18:00.000-07:00

I've been working on tying up my patchwork quilt. I'm half way through it. Check it out: Foxy.

Tote it on over.

2008-10-09T02:32:00.000-07:00

I drew out the pattern for this simple tote bag the other day. The bag is big enough to hold a notebook. Not that I still carry notebooks around. I’ll probably use it for shoes or knitting. Then I rummaged through my fabrics and found this old leopard print fabric that I had wanted to make curtains out of. (Then though, leopard flannel maybe a little too much for curtains.) This anchor and wheel lining was also in amongst my ‘fab’rics!

Foxy.

Come Together

2008-10-08T02:06:00.000-07:00

We're starting our monthly craft get togethers at the end of the this month. See, we made a flyer:

Foxy & Pony.

Swishy Sweater.

2008-10-07T03:13:00.000-07:00

I recently bought a navy blue merino cardigan. It was darn cheap and fit really really well. BUT, it was a little plain. No pizzazz. Sure, you should have staple (plain) items in your wardrobe but still there is room for a little something special about them.

After buying the plainest jane of navy blue jumpers, I headed over to Kleins just off Wardour Street. They are a rather ace haberdasher. In the backroom on the ground floor they have all their buttons. There I spotted exactly what I had been looking for! A whole box of rhinestone buttons! Gasp. I grabbed the ones I wanted and paid £11 for 6. Ouch.

I got the sweater and the buttons home and sewed them on. Then I didn’t care about the price of the button anymore. They made my sweater be all it can be. Yes!

Check it out: The picture is a little blurry! oops.

Foxy.

I'm goin' Crazy Quilts.

2008-10-06T02:57:00.000-07:00

Oh no let's go....CRAZY!!!

My Great Aunt Pearl used to make crazy quilts. Even when she was 90 years young. (I guess you could say I come from a family of die hard crafters!) I've always loved the one that Mom has which Aunt Pearl made. It's got some really amazingly awful fabric in it but, it works! AND to top it all off it's backed in brown. Yum. Still it it a thing of beauty.

Recently, I've become aware that I've got a lot of scraps of fabric laying around that are good for nothing but, a crazy quilt. However, I still haven't finished my skull and cross bones quilt that I started ages ago. (I will be finishing it quite soon though because pondering the great quilt work of Aunt Pearl has helped me solve the final problem of that quilt. Anyway...) So, instead of making a razy quilt for the bed, I've decided to make crazy quilt placemats!

Here's the beginings of them:

Foxy.

Abuse, Reuse & Recycle. The story of a scarf.

2008-10-02T03:01:00.000-07:00

I think everyone has shrunken something wool by putting it in the laundry. The most memorable one for me was this amazing pea coat my mom bought me for Christmas when I was 15. I had been a pretty bad girl that year so it was kind of amazing that I got anything at all but, that’s not what I’m on about here. About two months after I got the coat I decided that it ready for a wash. I don’t think I had ever washed a coat before so maybe something was on it? I’ve never really questioned why I washed it. But I did! If that wasn’t enough I decided it needed drying too. Well, that was the end of that coat. (The lining so fine, which sort of made it all the more hideous.)

Last year, the washing machine struck again. A certain someone that is not myself but does live in the same house as me and might do my laundry from time to time happened to unknowingly slip one of my favourite black sweaters into the ‘felter’. It emerged child sized. I was a bit distraught. But I dried it and decided to put it in with my other materials in the hopes that I would be able to cut it up one day and give it a new life.

The sweater came out the other evening after I had enough time to morn and it was cut! I used the bottom bit, from below the arms down. That was cut into 4 equal pieces and then I used the sweating machine (zig zag stitch) to put them back together in the form of a scarf.

I was pretty happy with it but, it definitely needed some adornment. I recently bought some spray style fabric paint. So I figured this was a good opportunity to try it out. I rifled through my stencils and found the skull and crossbones. I laid out the stencil on the scarf, sprayed it, let it dry a little and sprayed it again.

The end results were pretty darn good. Maybe too go. So, I decided it needed a little more personal. I then got out some grey wool and embroidered around the outside and inside of the skull and bones. That did it.

Check it out:
Now, I know you shouldn’t go and reward such hideous behaviour as sweater or ‘jumper’ shrinking but, it is getting cold out and that certain someone did need a scarf.

Foxy.

Diagonal Knitting!

2008-10-01T01:54:00.000-07:00

A few years ago my Grandma gave me some really lovely Ultramerino yarn for Xmas. It was made by these people: http://www.artyarns.com/newsite/yarn_main.htm. It also came with a mutildirectional scarf pattern that she picked. (The story does go beyond this, someone told me that after finding the pattern in a book in the yarn store my Grandma told the clerk there she wouldn't buy the yarn unless they would make her a copy to the pattern. Reluctantly the clerk did it.) Well, I tried the pattern but there were a few key areas on it that made no sense to me. In fact, I'd say that that pattern beat me.

So a partial knit bit of this...

has been sitting on one of my knitting needles for a long time.

The other day I decided to have a look at it again. Years mature you and I thought maybe I was ready to tackle the 'demon' err diamond scarf pattern. No. It beat me again. So, I instead went and looked for a similar simpler pattern.

I found one here: http://www.burningbright.com/Karen/knitting/Accessory-Scarves/Multidirectional_Diagonal_Scarf.htm.

It's a good pattern and is very well explained. After a few days I have half the scarf done! (Though it does have a few little mistakes. I can't bring myself to take it apart and start all over again. It's therefore a scarf full of character.)

This is what it looks like knit:

Foxy.

Foxy Freakin' Cowboy Shirt Dress

2008-09-30T09:48:00.000-07:00

A moment of pure craftiness hit me a few months back. I've had the pattern for a cowboy shirt dress for a while. I got it after I missed this lovely cowboy shirt dress on ebay. Anyway, after my second attempt at making a cowboy shirt for my beau failed, (once again too small!) I decided it was time to make something for myself.

I went over to Mermaid Fabrics in Hackney Central. They have loads of stuff in there. Generally, for stuff with really good patterns I go over to Rolls and Rems in Holloway but, sometime you'll find something really super cute in Mermaid. I got a pinky-orange faux crepe type material and decided that I would go through my trunk of fabric at home to look for something for the yoke. At home after some consultation I decided to use up some of my ace Alexander Henry black tattoo fabric. (I just love that stuff.)

There where also a few options for the piping but, in the end I went with red which worked out well. The dress, overall was pretty easy though I did get a little confused when it came to the sleeves. Once in a while directions fail to make any sense to me. Even with diagrams!

Funny enough the most difficult thing about this dress was finding colored pearl snaps! I sent away for some from a company here in the UK called Millcroft Textiles. On their website they looked like normal pearl snaps but when they arrived they were those funny plastic cover metal things, like this:

Eek! The people at Millcroft kindly took them back and refunded my money but, then I still had to find the snaps. After a bit of looking around I found the Bee Lee Company in Texas. They have a very wide assortment of stuff, however I didn't manage to order anything from them because they don't have a online catalogue. I like shopping online. (I will in the future get some of those nice diamond snaps from Bee Lee.)

Instead, I went to Wendy at The Snap Store. http://thesnapstore.com/catalog/index.php. I got some pink, red and black snaps. I thought I use the pink ones initially but, when they came it was pretty apparent they wouldn't quite go. So I went with the red ones. They ended up looking amazing.

I wore the dress out to DJ, check it out:

The pattern:
The dress:
Foxy.