Jumper time...

Sorry all- this is an old post that somehow never got posted!!! So excuse the jumper trending- although, the weather in the UK going the way it is, it looks like I'm not going to be packing up my jumper anytime soon!!!

I have been into knitting for quite a while now, and after getting a few free lessons in knitting with colour and the fair-isle technique (thanks John Lewis!) I made this for the bf last year:

There are a few similar jumpers out there...

Jonathan Saunders

Topshop

Lazy Oaf

This year, I decided to be selfish and knit myself a jumper... seeing as there are a lot of animal jumpers out there this year, I decided to knit an animal, but couldn't find a pattern for a jumper I wanted, so I took a pattern for a regular jumper and found an image online that I wanted on the jumper and created my own, using this very cool free site http://www.microrevolt.org/knitPro/ to create a PDF file. Here is my finished jumper:

Here are some other animal jumpers around:

Joseph Tiger jumper

ASOS Cat jumper

Haute Hippie Horse Jumper

Also, just saw that Topshop have launched this jumper... how freakily close to mine is it?

I wonder what next year's jumper trend will bring?

The Curiosity project

Saw this website http://thecuriositybox.blogspot.com and had to sign up!

Quote from the webiste: 'The Curiosity Project is the brain child of wedding planner & stylist Tiffany Grant-Riley, who felt that with all the fabulous social media available at our finger tips enabling people across the world to communicate like never before there was still something missing.
The Curiosity Project is, simply put, a mass exchange of personally chosen gifts between anonymous participants. I give, you receive. You give, I receive...'


I love this idea- we all communicate now-a-days via e-mail/facebook/twitter etc and everyone loves receiving post- I even get exicted when my parcel from Amazon or ASOS comes through even though I know what I've ordered! So I think this idea is great! Imagine receiving an unknown box full of goodies from a like minded individual?
Have a look at all the previous boxes sent- they all contain amazing creative things, it's hard to choose my favourite!- but I think my fave has to be the Morroccan box as I love Marrakesh- my boyfriend took me there for my first birthday that we celebrated together.

I've already signed up and have a few thoughts as to what I want to include in the box I'm going to send out, so watch this space for photos of a Curiosity box (in hopefully my new flat!!!- all a bit hush hush at the moment- don't want to jinx it as we all know what happened last time!)

I'd encourage people to sign up and spread the curiosity box loving around the world! There are a few rules:



The Rules


❒ Once you've entered your name will be put into a hat and each participant will be drawn a secret recipient to send their Curiosity Box to.

❒ Once you've entered your address it cannot be changed, so make sure your parcel is being delivered somewhere safe where it will be received.

❒ The name of the recipient will remain secret (unless you are posting abroad) but the address will be emailed to you the day before the project starts (see 'To Enter' below).

❒ You will be told if your recipient is male or female.

❒ The maximum budget is £20 but you don't have to spend the exact amount.

❒ Each participant must use a box to fill. The size of the box doesn't matter, although be aware of postage weight etc.

❒ Make sure you address the box to 'The Curiosity Project' so as the recipient knows what it is when it arrives.

❒ You may include sweets or cosmetics providing you have checked what is allowed entry into your destination country via custom control and they are properly sealed.

❒ Your personal details will be forwarded only once to your secret project partner. Your information is not shared with any third parties.

❒ Please email your photos of your box and your reaction as soon as you receive it-we have hundreds of boxes to blog!

To Enter

❒ Participants may enter from anywhere in the world, just ensure you have a permanent address.

❒ Entry closes at midnight on Nov 7th 2011.

❒ You'll receive your partner's address by Nov 14th 2011.

❒ You must have mailed your box by the 14th of December 2011.

❒ The project will close on Jan 10th 2012.

Knit Picking

As the nights are getting longer and colder, knitting has taken over my time. Recently, I had a friend who got married and even though they didn’t have a gift list or ask for any wedding presents, I decided to give them a personal gift- a wedding blanket. Initially I wanted a cream blanket with a border and possibly some cable stitching down the side but I decided to knit something simple as I wanted to make it reversible. This is the image chart I settled upon:

With the pink border being moss stitch, the blue a straight knit only stitch and the heart a reverse stitch of the white area (if that makes sense). This is the result! I embroidered their initials on one side using the extra wool that I had. Please drop me a message if anyone would like to know the pattern to make this as it’s quite complicated to explain (although quite easy to execute!)

The whole blanket was made using: Yarn: ,Knitted on size 10 (UK) needles

Last Christmas I tried my hand at circular knitting- Snoods were everywhere on the high street and I wanted to experiment with some different stitches. I made myself a long purple snood and made a lovely green snood for my bf’s sister. Here are the images, I think that they both turned out quite well and I’m looking forward to perfect my circular knitting.


Currently, I’m knitting a large chunky scarf in a pale purple. I did make a mistake as all the diagonals were meant to have been facing the same direction, but I capitalised and alternated them- making it my own! The image shown is for a very long scarf but as I’m using a wool colour that has been discontinued, I may either stop when the wool runs out or use a different colour- maybe a pale pink or a different shade of purple....

Liberty of London have had weekend courses that cost £50 including a cup of tea and a discount at the shop cafe but when my friend called up, all the places had been fully booked. http://www.liberty.co.uk/fcp/content/NewsArchiveItem5/newsarchive L Never mind! There are actually free knitting classes at your local John Lewis store (if you go to the haberdashery section they should have a leaflet you can take) and my friend and I have both booked a class for this Saturday. With the abundance of Fair Isle knits (see D&G advert) I would like to start learning how to knit with 2 colours or more. I’ve seen some great patterns in the recent Rowan magazine num 48 (Russian doll spreads) and would definitely like to try knitting a dress.

Watch this space for further knitting tales!

The start of something sparkly.....

I have been uber creative this month, which is why I haven't blogged for a while. Here are the fruits of my labour. Everything I make is unique and I won't make anything again, so the buyer can be assured that they have something totally personal to them and something no one else will have! I have more ideas and collections will grow.
Let me know what you think and I'll accept any suggestions or ideas that anyone else may have too!

I am planning on selling them, however, I haven't gotten a plan yet as I have also just found a new job, so hopes of selling at somewhere like Spitalfields or Greenwich market during the week have been scuppered, but at least I now have an income, after living on the taxpayers money for a few months!

The sea sparkle collection

Grand Sable

Double Freshwater pearl bracelet

Sterling silver chain and findings with genuine white freshwater pearls











Belle Mare
Mixed freshwater elongated and round pearls bracelet
Sterling silver clasp on a nylon cord and mixed sizes of freswater pearls










Triolet
Shells, freshwater pearls and seed bead necklace
Gold plated clasp and chain with pink seed beads, shell and mixture of differen coloured freshwater pearls on a nylon cord.














Trou D'eau Douce
Freshwater pearl treble drop necklace
Sterling sliver chain and clasp with three chain drops decorated with irregular shaped freshwater pearls

Floral Skirt

Sorry I've not blogged recently, training for the race for life, job hunting and a lot of DIY'ing has taken up a lot of my time recently.

Last Saturday my friends and I all completed the race for life, so I'm going to relax the training for the time being.

Here is one of my DIY projects, that I must say, has come out quite successfully!


Take:

1 needle, a spool of thread, 5 boxes of silken flower petals and a plain grey skirt....

Posh dungarees

Wore this to see Alternative fashion week, held in Old Spitalfields Market. More about the fashion week will come in subsequent posts.

Necklace: Handmade
Turquoise silk, sequinned top: Tendences (in Mauritius)
Jumpsuit: PPQ for Oli
Socks: present from a friend
Peeptoe Sandals: Jeffery Campbell (bought at Urban Outfitters)

Nautical knit

Knitted by yours truly! My frist ever knitted garment! Originally a sleeveless top in the pattern, I extended it to make a tunic. Paired here with Tabio denim look leggings

Long awaited DIY post!

I made this necklace a while back, just haven't had time to post it! I don't know if you've read as far back as when I went to Florence, but I used these beads from when I perused the flea markets on the south side of Florence.I bought some purple crystals from swarovski and some other bits and bobs came from broken earrings etc.

London College of Fashion

I love doodling.. especially different ideas that pop into my head. I usually carry a small pad and pencil with me to jot down anything that comes into my head. I have pages and pages of dresses that I've noted down... the images aren't spectaular as they are after all just quick sketches and notes! But now due to being really frustrated that I can't make my ideas come to life, I've signed up for a course at the London College of fashion.

Please excuse the poor quality... they are only sketches after all!





































Don't get me wrong, I know the basics of sewing but that's just following a bought pattern that I don't have much idea of how to develop into my own designs. So I've signed up 'Customised Pattern cutting and fitting 1' by the London College of Fashion. The course is a 9 week course starting in January and I can't wait!!

Will try and keep you updated about everything more often!

My origami/ flower dress...

And here it is! From just a plain white halterneck dress from Zara:
To an origami flower unique dress!

Origami

What I love about this miserable weather that we have is the fact that I don't feel like going outside, therefore I am less tempted to walk around London- browsing the shops- and seeing things that I was to buy!

It also allows me to exercise some more creativity and yesterday I had an idea going around my head and it took me almost the whole day before I could finally make it a reality and it wasn't until this morning that I started making them! I was always into origami as a child and I remember one summer when I made water bombs, flowers, boxes, cranes etc. I spent the whole of the day yesterday looking for designs on the internet that I could transform from paper to fabric without having to add starch to make the fabric hard. Now origami has been all over clothes!

From designer:


Camille Howie's winning collection


Roland Mouret Helix Jacket with origami fold collar


Hoss Intropia Origami pleat top


John Galliano gown with intricate origami detail

Fendi's black dress with inverted pleat details and origami-inspired folds at empire waist.

To the high street:Purse from Etsy

Banana Republic Silk sleeveless top

Top from Click (a Korean Brand)

Annie Walwyn-Jones Origami skirt

So I found a great website- Origami Club that shows you how to fold simple designs- having an animated version as well as a diagram to show you. I was looking for a flower design similar to these details:Rodarte dress detail

Philip Lim Rose detail dress

I have made some origami flowers and am currently in the process of sewing them on a dress... come back to see what effect I've achieved!