Gingerbread castles!

Apologies for the huge delay in posting, i have been preparing my mind for Christmas, and what better way to come back than with a gingerbread castle, that was sketched and then created with military timing. I cannot possibly eat it :)

Jx

Wow

Best coathanger, ever!!

Jx

Christmas windows :)

Desigual and Liberty...well done

Jx

A trip to a magic world

The current exhibition at the Museum of Childhood in Bethnal green is entitled Magic Worlds, and as soon as you step into the patchwork tiled buildings you can see why. There is an installation that instantly makes you want to go home and build a den. Plus a alice in wonderland style tea party with a custom built tunnel to the next topic. Ohhhh and i couldn't help but sit down and watch a little sooty and sweep from the 60s doing magic tricks, amazing.

And how about these for dressing up costumes?? Especially the brick jumpsuit, what a winner

Jx

Cake anyone?

Blueberry cake and a rose earl grey.....hello thursday!

Jx

Birthdays :)

Man i love a birthday, no honestly i think it becomes an obsession sometimes. Just the thought of making something especially for someone is completely motivating..perhaps i should put more of this mind set into my work, one day!

Anyway this week was my wonderful mum's birthday and here are the 2 patchwork cushions i made so we all stop fighting over the only one pillow we currently have. I picked the colours from her favourites and enjoyed the super quick speed that cushions are made, what a treat to not have a silly hem or collar to attatch.

Fun weekend sewing Jx

A vintage day out

Today was the day i finally managed to see many of the vintage shops/wonderful shops i have seen countless times recommended on blogs or magazine and i have to say i was very excited by the huge amount of places i have never seen properly!

I started off at the vintage kilo sale run by Judy's affordable vintage fair where i found many treats including these amazing polkadot flared dungarees, 70s bright green print cotton dress, super sweet shift with white collar and 70s lined jersey dress with wide collar. Oh and this copacabana style top and floral skirt will no doubt provide some fun outfits. I must say as it was my first kilo sale, it was quite an experience....whilst there are of course treats to be found, there is also A LOT of terrible items that you just watch people bundle into their bags without really thinking. This makes me just a little sad because all this terrible vintage could be re used and made into something much better rather than sold amongst all the truly good stuff to people not understanding vintage fashion properly

Anyway, i then decided to make my way up brick lane, distracted by countless vintage shops and here are just a few images of my favourite things and things that i think i would be happy to wear every day. More prints please :) I really liked the set up of "The Shop" on Cheshire street that has shelves full of vintage fabrics too as well as a vintage room. Oh and vintage heaven on Columbia Road which then led me on to.....

)

Jessie Chorley's shop, which if you have never been to, you must visit on 152 Columbia Road because it is a shop filled with wonderful ideas and storytelling. I especially liked the enamel name badges which are completely personal and beautifully made and if my secret santa is reading then this is a MAZZIVE hint!

So all in all, what a day and what an extreme amount of walking! Next time i will have to make more time to stop in one of the many many cake shops i walked past, ohhh how very tempting!

Jx

Patchwork Pussycats

It's most definitely TOO cold today so i was very happy to be welcomed home to ralph and a roaring fire, wonderful!

Jx

Surprise boot sales and vintage

A fun day trip on saturday was a very welcome break, especially when a surprise car boot sale appeared on the road! My favourite stall was this man who had the strangest mix of stuffed cuddly dogs and traction engines...oh and a model sailing boat. What else do people expect to find at car boot sales?! I settled on an amazing 50p pocketwatch and another porcelain swan, i promised myself this was an especially good one.

Then on the way home i passed through Buntingford where there is a great little vintage shop tucked away on the high street called Flutterbys where i saw all these wonderful prints and ended up buying the 60s navy/mustard/ white print. Oh and the pea green sequined Frank Usher dress was also a favourite.

Oh and these china dogs just looked at me longingly....clearly if they were were cats, i would have without a doubt be looking at them right now

Jx

Tapestry treat

I have just found this snowy deer and squirrel tapestry in Oxfam and i have to say i am pretty impressed, at least it's a reason to enjoy the thought of snow and cold cold winter eeeeeeeek

Jx

Another Week another fair..

This time in Ware (where?!) and there were plenty of prints that caught my eye. Especially this 1950s sundress with horse print in super bright colours. Also this collar made me want to gather all my shirts and embroider all the collars. Sounds like a fun day to me
Jx

Spot the leopard print

Wowee that was a delay in posting, due to a manic few weeks but i am back i promise!
Just a small post to admire this increidble vintage french print i found on a blouse, leopard print made from leopards? yes please
Jx

LFW

Here are a few photos of my favourite things from my visit to LFW. Whilst my heart lies with Lu Flux and her wonderfully colourful interpretation of tiki masks and polynesian inspired summer collection, there were also a couple of others that caught my eye too. I was completely obsessed with this sunburst dress from Holly Fulton which one of her lovely assistants held out for me here. Plus the use of amazing hand embroidered details and 60s huge sequins, i would quite happily wear those clothes all year round. Also Mary Katrantzou's pieces as expected were just too incredible to miss out. How can anyone not enjoy this much print?!

Jx