Fashionable Dreams, my visit to Liberty in Fashion

Well hello!

It's been an awfully loooong time since I last blogged. A lot has happened in the time that has passed, some good and some not so much fun. Life just happens to you sometimes, doesn't it? I lost my mojo for writing and blogging and then I fell out of the habit... But this morning I woke up with the desire to write again, so here I am!

Last weekend my husband and I spent the weekend in London (a total rareity these days, damn you mortgage payments!) and we had a lovely time just being us and bimbling about at our own pace, doing what we wanted. We did a number of fun things but what I really want to tell you about is the Liberty in Fashion exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum. Oh my goodness, it was wonderful!

This has been an exhibition I rather fancied getting to for a few months now and I'm so glad we went. Even Husand quite enjoyed it. Although, I think he more enjoyed chuckling at me proclaiming how I 'would SO wear that' every other minute! I've decided that the 1920s-1940s are my favourite style, and I lamented all the way around the exhibit that the dresses weren't available for purchase in the museum shop! Imagine if they were...! Sadly, the exhibition closes on 28th Feb, but hopefully it'll pop up again sometime in the future.

So let me get to it. This exhibition is dedicated to the influences that the now-world-famous Liberty London had in fashion since its inception. It went through from the 1870s up to the 1990s and showcased some of Liberty's most iconic styles and patterns of these decades. It was really interesting to see how ladies' fashion developed over the years and to see some elements that have definitely seen a revival over the decades.

Now, I could prattle on for ages about what I saw, but I figure I should let the pictures do the talking so here's a selection of the best bits from the exhibition. Sadly, I didn't make notes of the dates, designers or fabrics used but hopefully you'll get the idea of how lovely the pieces are. The lighting was terrible for photos (as is usual in museums) and I only had my iPhone, so these pics won't be the best but enjoy them anyhow.

One of Liberty's first capelets

This is the back of a beautiful velvet kimono

These just screamed 'Downton Abbey'!

The emboidery on this silk kimono coat was swoon-worthy

I HAVE to make a dress like this!

It even has a pocket!

Beautiful examples of hand smocking

This might be my top fave, check out the deep crochet lace trim!

Such a lovely print on this one, and hand smocking too

This is a velvet and silk pinafore, utterly gorgeous!

Hello 1960s flower power!

If only you could see how ORANGE this skirt suit was!

Velvet mini dress

I hope you enjoyed that little foray into fashion history. I don't promise to blog daily or even weekly, but I can say that I hope it won't be another two and a half years til my next installment!

Cheerio,

K x

Re-Covered Desk Chair

Do you ever look around your office/craft space and think 'I'm so bored of this room'? Well, I have recently, and it's probably because there are plans for the room to become the nursery in the next few months so I haven't made any changes to my office in ages. I actually want to just get stuck into putting the nursery together but that's another story!

Last night I felt the need to spruce up something in my office and so rummaged through my fabric stash and rediscovered this owly print:

I'm not particularly an owl print fan but I bought this fabric last year when owls were 'bang on trend' and made a few things which sold quite well. I had some left over which went back into the box for a rainy day. Ages ago I saw a pin on Pinterest from someone who recovered their desk chair so when I found it again yesterday it sparked an idea.

My comfy yet increadibly dull looking desk chair has now gone from this...

...to this:

The old fabric was a weird felt that every piece of fluff/cat hair stuck to like glue and so it always looked grubby (dislike). The owl print is a cross between a cotton and a linen so hopefully will not be a lint magnet. It looks rather spiffy if I do say so myself!

I simply took the plastic back off and unscrewed the base and then stapled the new fabric over the top of the cushions. Hey presto, 30 minutes later, and nicer looking chair! And the best bit is that when I do eventually move my office space into Mr PC's office, I can take my cool chair with me!

WIP: Crochet with fabric - update

Absolutely ages ago I had the idea to dye and cut up some old bed sheets to use to crochet with. Well, I have finally gotten around to cutting the sheets into strips and I'm now in the process of stitching them together to make the 'yarn' that will become something.

It has been a long and faffy process not helped by my need to have everything 'right' so I can't say that this will become a regular occurrence. I decided to stitch the strips together rather than knot them as I want the finished article to be fairly smooth and comfy under foot. My initial idea is to make a bedroom rug so I don't want whopping big bobbles in it as that would probably hurt your tootsies!

If you look closely, you will see that I have stitched right up the middle of the strips as I found this to be the least fiddly way to stitch them all together, even though it's actually more time consuming. I think the row of stitching can be a feature of the rug! This did however mean that I had to buy more white thread as it just ate up all my supply!

I'll be back at some point to show you what it looks like when I crochet with it!

Cath Kidston Love

Last week saw us take a trip to Cambridge for the day as Mr PC's birthday outing. Not very exciting, but it did mean I got to have a good rummage around the Cath Kidston shop which has got to be the biggest I've been in!

I find some CK items expensive and overpriced but then there are some things that are really worth the money. I got a two pack of tea towels in the sale for a mere £4! I would never pay the regular £12 price tag but £4 was much more up my street. And they are totally pink and girlie which Mr PC hates, so double bonus!

I did make another purchase of a bundle of fat quarters which I thought to be a reasonable £24. It's a selection of their most iconic prints and features my all time fave - the cowboy print!

I've no idea what I'm going to do with these lovely fabrics but I just had to have them! I do feel they need to be kept for 'best' but I know that would be wrong as they need to fulfil their fabric-y potential. Until I have a fabulous brainwave, they shall sit on my desk where I can keep an eye on them! 

Feeding the fabric addiction

Any crafter/sewer must, at one time or another, admit to a wee bit of an addiction to fabric and prints. Well, today's the day! My name is Kerry and I'm a fabric addict.

I try not to feed this addiction too much but yesterday I visited my local fabric shop of choice, the aladdin's cave of material. *swoon* I had  to go to the shop as I've been asked to make another of my royal wedding tea cosies and required the fabric. I was very good though and before I went I did a quick inventory of my stash and earmarked the 'good bits' to become various things which I want to make. So while I was in the shop I made myself stick to the shopping list of royal wedding fabric, wadding, calico, wooden buttons and ribbons for my projects. I was most impressed with myself when  I got to the til and realised I only bought one thing that wasn't on my list!! (this is probably beacause I didn't let myself even look at anything else in the shop!) This is it:

Medium sized cupcake print - perfect for a new product idea I've had!

These are my selections from my current stash for some new projects and new product ideas for the Princess Crafts shop:
The photos are a bit rubbish on account of it being so bloomin' dark today!

Shoes and handbags on blue background

Kitchen equipment - retro and modern at the same time

Musical notes

Lime green birides on grey background - scrummy!

Teeny tiny ballet shoes in vibrant pink

Ballerina fairies - I wish this was wallpaper for my office!

I did feed my addiction but managed to do it in a controlled manner, so go me!

PS. Come to see me at the Vintage and Handmade Market this Saturday in Chelmsford and get 10% off when you spend £20 just quote 'blog'. 

Fabric related happiness

On a recent trip to Ikea, I picked up some quirky fabric which makes me wonder how best to use it. It's different to what I normally like but the random modern print is pretty cool (and so 'Ikea').

 

Any ideas what this could be good for?

Food, food mixers and fabric

Hello! Hope the bank holiday was delightful for you, we had a lovely three days off. The weather was dubious here in Braintree but we had a good one anyway and even managed to have a bbq and eat outside (considering the schockingly bad weather this summer, I felt this was worth a special mention)!

Mr PC and I treated ourselves to an early anniversary celebration and went to Jamie's Italian in Cambridge and stuffed our faces with some great Italian food. I was majorly disappointed that they had run out of calamari before I got to place my order, but the tiramisu was pretty good so I forgave them in the end! Next time, I'm ordering the calamari ahead of my arrival!

While we were in Cambridge, we mooched the shops and spent a while in John Lewis which has to be one of my fave shops for browsing. There's something about John Lewis that makes me want to spend money I don't have... The Kitchen Dept always makes me swoon and I have decided that the Birthday Fairy should bring me this for my birthday this year:

Glittery metallic pink Kitchen Aid? Yes please! *swoon*

I NEED this in my kitchen. I actually stood in the shop and stroked it until the shop assistant asked me if I was alright...


While in the Haberdashery Dept - obligatory on any visit to John Lewis - I happened upon some lovely gold striped jersey fabric which I picked up (half price) for a wee project I found on Pinterest. Pics to follow at a later date. I also grabbed some cute fat quarters which are destined to become something special. I can't tell you what as it may be a pressie for someone, if I can bear to part with it, that is! But here's a pic so you can swoon over it just like I did.

Now it's Tuesday but it feels like Monday and I think I'm suffering Post Bank Holiday Depression, so I'm off to pick up the crochet hook to cheer me up.

PS. Speaking of crochet hooks, I sold my first giant crochet hook on Etsy yesterday, woohoo! Why not buy one and make a gianr crochet project?

Fabric related indecision

I'm a very decisive person and it is rare that I dither about trying to decide what to do. However this all changes when I visit my local fabric shop. Once I step foot in this fabric filled Aladdin's cave, I am so overcome with indecision that I can spend hours in there umming and ahhing about what to buy.

My most recent visit saw me going with no particualr needs but 'just for a look' and I came home with some fabulous fabrics that are just too nice to be chopped up and made into something! Take a look at these beauties!

Ginormous cupcakes!

Vintage style rose print

Twit-twoo! 

I have no idea what I will make with these, but for now I quite like looking at them and admiring their prettiness!

Memo boards in the making

This weekend saw a trip to the fabric shop where I buy most of my goodies and an hour was spent oo-ing and aah-ing over the delights on offer. My hubby was very helpful and patiently put up with my complete inability to make a decision while we were there! There is something about that shop that turns me into someone who just cannot make up her mind, and those of you who know me will probably find that amusing as I am usually a very decisive person!

I spent most of Saturday afternoon making new memo boards, which will be listed in my Etsy shop this week. But I just had to give you a sneak peek before then!

 Have you spotted the Christmas fabrics? More to come soon!!

 This print is one of my personal favourites!!

Proper photos of each board to follow!