Cath Kidston Strawberry Summer Dress

After all the sunny weather in Scotland combined with a holiday planned in Greece I spent this weekend making a summer dress. I treated myself to my favourite Cath Kidston mini strawberry print and went for a very girlie and simple smock dress.

And here is the back view:

I was originally inspired by the 8 Dollar Dress Tutorial on Burda Style, however I ended up following the directions in the brilliant Making Stuff: An Alternative Craft Book. The smocking involved winding shearing elastic on the bobbin of my sewing machine and using a co-ordinating thread on the top. As I sewed around in circles using my machine feet to measure an equal distance from the previous row (avoiding the need to mark lines on the fabric), the fabric naturally started to gather up giving just the effect I was after.

The pattern was very simple and involved creating a rectangle that was comfortably wider than my hips (the widest part of my body) and 5cm longer than the length I was after to accomodate the hem and seam allowances. The final measurements of the rectangle were 115cm wide x 85cm and seem to work for a 10/12 dress size.

As ever I wasn’t happy just leaving the dress at that and started playing with some ruffles. First along the bottom hem:

And then down the skirt:

And then along the top edge:

Despite the experiments, as someone who tends to put off decision making I have kept the dress plain for the time being but have kept the ruffles close by for when I feel inspired to get my sewing machine out again….

Fashion Show at Funky Opticians Oscar and Fitch

To celebrate the end of the HND in Fashion and Textiles we were invited to take part in a fashion show at funky glasses designer Oscar and Fitch. Seeing all the glasses laid out was like being in a sweetie shop:

And the shelving very eye catching:

The clothes were all modelled by the degree Dance students at Telford who were fabulous and whose confidence really showed off the clothes.

It was great to see all the outfits coming together:

The dance routines were great and suited the theme of Full of Eastern Promise perfectly:

The show also included the First Year HND Little Black Dress projects – wearing of course some very striking glasses:

And the Botanics project completed earlier in the year:

And our shirts from the 1st year also had an outing. I loved the way that Mark carried off my shirt with its over long sleeves and peter pan collar.

For more photos go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/bellacranmore/sets/72157619498218554/

Fascinating Fascinators

For my latest artist date I have been playing and creating fun headbands and fascinators. This was inspired by the short introduction to millinery on the HND and is well timed with the opening of craft superstore Hobby Craft in Edinburgh which has proven to be a good supplier of headbands, ribbon and fabric glue etc. Here are some rather ‘arty’ photos which demonstrate that I have never really got to grips with the timer on my camera!

And a close up of the feathers and the covered headband:

And as every girl knows, if one feather headband is good, two must be even better…

This close up shows the different colours of the feathers with blue and purple highlights:

And of course with the summer wedding season getting into full swing, something a bit more over the top is also going to come into good use:

And with all the Suffolk puffs I have been making it was inevitable that one made it into one of the pieces:

And who could resist such a  healthy plumage of feathers and net:

If you are interested in having a go yourself feathers can be bought from C.J.Milinery and from etsy shops such as Do You feel the scent? However one of my next projects may well be making my own feather pads. Since I have started wearing my feather headpieces friends and family have started offering me bags of feathers…