Leather and Lace!

 Leather Bow Wrist Cuff

So, we are nearly at the final of the 3rd season of the great British sewing bee. I have loved this season so far and I can't wait to see what they need to make in the final episode. I was a bit sad though to see Deborah leave, she made some great fabric choices in her makes. I am going to have to make sure I keep an eye on what she gets up too after the bee (you can find her blog here: http://dfabricate.blogspot.co.uk/)

Colette Zinnia skirt in lace and silk crepe

I loved the theme of this week! Leather and lace have to be my favourite of all wardrobe fabrics ;) it's just a shame they aren't easier to sew with. I have done a couple of small leather accessories but never a whole outfit (can you imagine the cost!!). It did however make me have a little look back at some of the lace projects I have made which I am still super proud of, especially the zinnia skirt, I can't wait to fit into this again! 

Take a look at a couple of the other leather and lace projects I've managed over the last year: 

 Lace and cotton sateen prom dress from the first GBSB book

DIY leather bow elasticated belt tutorial

Jersey and lace Lady Skater

The good news is I have actually nearly finished my dress, so hopefully I can take advantage of this weeks lovely weather and get the pictures taken ready to show off for you next week. 

I'm also hoping to make a couple of book purchases, and hopefully issue 2 of the new simply sewing mag will land on my doorstep next week so there will be plenty to keep me inspired and entertained. 

Whatever you are up to this week I hope you enjoy it. 

Starry Starry Headbands

Its all getting a bit accessories crazy over here at the moment, but I have realised just how easy and fun a few little sparkly hair accessories are to make. Not only do I love to make them but I also love to wear them, so I am very sorry but you are just going to have to bear with me whilst I get it all out of my system. 

These little numbers are stars mounted onto a band of elastic which can be worn around the head like a headband. The perfect thing about the elastic is that you can place the star anywhere on your head to mix up the look, or even wear multiples together. I love how glam rock these are. Sparkly, pink, leathery and perfectly matched to my inner child/rocker.

I got the idea when I received issue 44 of Mollie Makes  which included a free kit on the front to make a 'Boho Feather Necklace'. I wasn't a huge fan of the necklace, it just wasn't something my style and so I couldn't see myself wearing it. The kit however contained pink and gold faux leather pieces which I just couldn't put down so I had to think of something else to do with them. This is where the stars were born.

They are made from a variety of real leather, the faux leather from the kit, some of the glitter fabric which I am sure you are sick of the sight of, some felt and some elastic cord.

It was so simple, I drew up two star templates and cut out a variety of small and large stars. I then used the glue gun to attach a smaller star to the centre of the bigger one and then glued it onto a piece of felt with a length of the elastic sandwiched between the leather and the felt. Finally I cut around the felt and tied a little knot in the elastic to make it fit the size of my head.

They are by no means perfection, but I like them a lot.

 

So whats been going on around here? We have had a pretty quiet weekend to be honest. We took the opportunity to start decorating the baby's bedroom. I say we, I mean Mr Fox did it all as I am not allowed to paint and was generally feeling a little bit under the weather. Its starting to come together a bit now though. We still have a way to go but at least it feels like we are moving forwards. Other than that we did a bit of DIY shopping and that was about your lot.

I have been trying to resit the urge to buy baby a cute little Christmas outfit. There are so many cute ones out there but I am conscious of the fact that he might be late, and so late that he doesn't actually arrive until after the event. In that case a cute little Christmas outfit is a complete waste. However friends are awesome and everyone keeps telling me I should just splurge on one little thing as I won't get the chance another time so I gave in and bought this adorable little pudding baby grow. Isn't it adorable! I at least figured it could be worn even a few days after Christmas what with it just being a pudding.

Finally... and no one will read this tiny little tag line, but the next post will be post 100!! I can't believe we are there already. I am planning to do a bit of a 'review of the year' and also a little giveaway themed from the last 100 posts so check back on Friday to see what's in store. I will leave the giveaway open for a little while to give as many people as possible the chance to get involved.

Leather Bow Wristy Cuffs

Do you like what I did there? Like fisty cuffs but a lot less violent!

Continuing on the love of leather and bows which seems to be a bit of a theme going on around here I made this lovely pink leather wrist cuff out of some of the leftover leather from the bow belt, a glue gun and a couple of poppers. Its so pretty and very pink, it matches my hair perfectly. A bit of a girly take on the normal goth style leather studded bracelets of my youth!

I used this tutorial by 'Oh the lovely things' and honestly this couldn't have been an easier make, it took about 30 minutes max, and that included waiting for the glue gun to heat up. The tutorial uses regular sew on poppers but as I have a whole bunch of proper leather ones from the bow belt tutorial I figured I might as well use one of these. So if you have a spare bit of leather hanging about, or an old bag/jacket destined for the rubbish bin I urge you to give this a whirl, the tutorial is really great. 

I don't really have a lot planned for my weekend, Mr Fox is off to a stag do, so honestly I think I will just take the opportunity to sit on my ass for a little while and enjoy the quiet time. I am going to see my grandad this evening, which will be lovely as I don't see him all that often. The baby bump is growing quiet significantly but is all happy and well, then Sunday we are off to a Fox family get together which should be lovely. I hope whatever you are up to you enjoy it and have a lovely weekend.

Ice Cream Brooch Kit by Tugba Pop and Giveaway

What better than ice cream on a Bank Holiday? Well its not actually been that great here, so instead of enjoying a cool lolly to keep the heat off, I delved in the these beauties instead! They are much cuter and definitely better on the hips don't you think (though of course this doesn't stop us have real ice cream as well!).

Anyone who has been following my Pinterest will know that I have been eyeing up this brooch kit since before Christmas. You can get your very own from Tugba Pop Illustration and I purchased mine from their Not on the Highstreet shop for a mere £5! I mean, why wouldn't you? Honestly, go do it now (well after you have finished here of course).

So what do you get for your money? Quiet a lot actually. There are detailed instructions on how to make your brooch, templates, tracing paper, leather to use as the backing, 5 fabric samples to make the pretty designs and a brooch back. The only things you will need to add are a sewing machine, thread and some glue (and more brooch backs if you are like me and were savvy enough to get a couple of brooches out of this one kit).

As you can see I opted for some sweet treats and choose a traditional ice cream and the fab style lollypop. The instructions in this were really easy to follow and the whole process was a delight. My favorite bit was deciding which fabrics to use, it took me so long there were so many variations! All in all it probably took me about 30 minutes per brooch, which is no time at all. This is a great little thing to make for some instant gratification. I didn't even use my leather machine needle, nope, you just need a normal sewing needle and some normal thread.

So, because I managed to get more than one treat out of this kit I thought I would take this opportunity to offer up a little giveaway for you to win the fab style lollypop brooch I have made using this kit. All I want you to do is write a comment below and let me know what your favourite thing to do on a summer day is. I will then pick a winner at random. I will leave the competition open until Midnight Sunday 01st June and will announce the winner on Monday 02nd.  Good luck everyboby and I really hope you enjoyed your bank holiday weekend.

DIY Fabric Bow Belt Tutorial

Hello, and happy bank holiday! Its a gorgeous day so you shouldn't be reading this, you should be outside enjoying yourself, but if you are saving this until after the bank holiday then read ahead.

Last week I brought you my leather bow belt tutorial to make your very own very easy elasticated belt featuring a leather bow on the front.

This week I wanted to show you that this pattern is so very versatile and so if you don't fancy having a go with leather you can make a version from your favorite fabric, how good is that! Whats even better is that this is a great little stash-busting idea, perfect for your favorite fat quarter, or just some of your favorite leopard print fabric that you use to make everything! This little version took me less than an hour to make yesterday whilst I waited for the supermarket delivery so gogo get at it. 

For that fabric bow belt you will need:

• Enough 2inch wide elastic to fit round your waist (colour of your choice)
• Some of your favorite fabric
• Heavy Interfacing
• Polyester thread
• 4 x popper notions (I used the same as my leather belt but you can use sew on as well)
• Popper tools (if not using sew on studs)
• Bow pattern (click here to download the PDF)

N.B. this will work with most fabrics but cottons work best. thicker fabrics such as denim/twill may not require interfacing, but anything thinner will to keep the bow looking sturdy.

The pattern follows the same basic steps as the leather version however there are a few additional sewing steps.

Step 1: 
Using the outside edge of the pattern cut out the following in both your fabric and your interfacing:
2 x large bow pieces
2 x thin center pieces
4 x rectangle popper pieces (on the fold)

Step 2: 
Iron on a piece of interfacing to wrong side of each fabric piece

 Step 3:

Using a 1/2 inch seam allowance sew around the pattern pieces as shown on the pattern document, making sure to leave one end of the large bow piece open to turn

Step 4:
Turn all your pattern pieces the right way up and press

Step 5:
Finding the center of the elastic, and with the ends of the bow folded in to the center at the back, stitch the center of the bow to the center of the elastic with a straight line making sure your raw edges or tucked in.

Step 6:
Tuck in the two raw edges of the center bow strip and stitch them together. Thread them over the elastic and bow so it sits neatly in the middle covering your straight line of stitches.
(picture details on these steps can be found here)

Step 7: 
Making sure your raw edges are tucked in fold your popper piece over the end of your bow and top stitch round all edges on both ends of the belt.

Step 8: 
Attach two poppers to each end of the belt making sure the tabs overlap neatly when closed.

Step 9:
Wear your new creation with pride, and contemplate just how many of these you can fit in your wardrobe!!!

Of course it would make me very happy to see your versions of these so please feel free to leave a comment linking yours, or send me a picture.

DIY Leather Bow Belt Tutorial

I'm so pleased to be bringing you this tutorial, its something I have had in my head for a while but had no idea how easy this would be to pull off having never, ever, worked with leather before in my life. So here we go, proof that you don't need to have any experience at all to have a go at this, it is that simple.

I have an elasticated belt, which I bought from a major grocery retailer, which I wear with everything. Mr Fox said to me the other week 'what are you going to do when that belt breaks' well Mr Fox, this is what I am going to do! This is going to be a very pic heavy post so I will keep them small and hopefully they will help illustrate the steps.

 

For the Elasticated Leather belt you will need: 

• Enough 2inch wide elastic to fit round your waist (colour of your choice)
• Some Leather (colour of your Choice
• Leather sewing machine needles
• Polyester thread (you should not use cotton as it deteriorates) 
• 4 x Leather popper notions
• Leather popper tools
• Hammer
• Bow pattern(click here to download the PDF)

Step 1: Measure the elastic around your waist and cut it so that it fits snug but is not over stretched. You will be overlapping the ends so this will give it a bit more fit.

Step2: Using the inner lines on the pattern (you don't need the seam allowance) cut out your pieces of Leather using the pattern as follows:
1 x large bow piece
1 x thin center piece
2 x back popper tabs (on the fold)

Step 3: With the front of the bow piece facing down fold the outside edge into the center  making sure the tap is on the other side of the bow

Step 4: Fold the other side over to the middle making sure the two long pieces are overlapping in the center and that the curves of the bow match on both the front and back.

Step 5: Folding your elastic in half mark the center point with a pin. Place the bow right side up with the narrowest point of the bow lined up with the pin. N.B. you shouldn't pin leather as the holes become permanent.

Step 6: With your leather needle in your sewing machine stitch a line through all layers of the bow and elastic securing the center of the bow to the elastic. Make sure to secure the stitches at either end.

*Check it out, you just stitched some leather on your machine! how easy was that (told you).

Step 7: Taking the center strip of leather fold this around the middle of you bow making sure that there is a small overlap at the back.

Step 8: Using the machine, with right sides together, secure the two ends of the center strip to make a circle. You can see I actually top stitched two lines on this piece. This step is entirely personal preference and is not required.

Step 9: Working from one end of the elastic string the center strip (now circle) feed the elastic through the middle and wiggle you leather a bit to get the strip into the middle of the bow with the seam at the center back. This should be tight enough to sit there without moving around. If its not just remove it and make the circle slightly smaller trimming off the excess.

Step 10: Take your two end pieces and fold them in half over each end of the elastic so the leather covers both sides equally and the fold is at the end of the elastic.

Step 11: Top stitch around all 4 sides of the two end pieces to secure in place

Step 12: Using your poppers and popper tools put two poppers on the ends of your belt. Make sure that you get them the right way round so that when they are pressed together the belt lies in a flat circle and the two end pieces overlap. My advice would be to punch the holes in one side and then overlap them punching the holes for the other side through the holes you just punched to make sure they are even. I am not going to show you how to use the popper tools, instead I am just going to link you to this tutorial which is all I followed.

Now pear your new belt with your favourite outfit and wear that sucker with pride!

Of course it would make me very happy to see your versions of these so please feel free to leave a comment linking yours, or send me a picture.

A sneak peak and the weekend I got my Husband back

Today is great, the sun is shining, its a 4 day week (followed by a 4 day weekend), I spend an hour less in my car each day on my commute, There was a man leading a trail of ducks and I saw a man with a beard like a walrus! Can the week start any better? As well as this, as you know, thanks to Mr Fox handing in his dissertation, I finally got my husband back. I can't tell you how much more relaxed we both feel now that is all over with, suddenly life seems a lot less stressful. It was however my intention to spend as much of the weekend together as possible and not run off to get lost in little projects on my own. So aside from taking a couple of pictures for my post the sewing has been strictly off limits.

We did however have a lovely weekend. We bought a BBQ (and lots of meat to go with it), ate pizza, saw friends and generally just hung out together. The sun has been shining here so everything is pretty good.

I am not a huge fan of a 'what's on my sewing table' post, but do you know what, that's about all I got for you right now so you will have to lump it! If you haven't noticed yet, yes that picture above is a piece of shocking pink leather!!! I know its incredible! I picked this up from the post office Saturday morning and I can't wait to get started on my little leather project. Since buying this piece of leather I have had so much inspiration of things to make with it. Assuming my little experiment with this stuff doesn't go hideously wrong I can see me buying many more pieces in my future. I am afraid the project is going to stay under wraps for the moment so you will just have to watch this space.

 

What actually is on my sewing table is this little number on top (can anyone guess the pattern from the sneaky peaky picture underneath?). The Jade/Teal is some stretch cotton sateen with some black stretch lace over the top. I don't think when I started this project I realised just what I was getting myself in for! You can see from the picture above that I have overlocked nearly all the seam edges to make sure that the lace and the sateen don't move about too much when sewing them together. Yes this did take me an age but hopefully it will make the assembly a whole lot easier. I have also decided that I really like Jade and Emerald greens for some reason, I think I need to find more excuses to work it into my wardrobe.

And to finish off I finally bought myself a copy of the Winifred Aldrich metric pattern cutting book which was recommended to my by my sister. This book supposedly gives you all the tools you need to be able to design your own patterns. I am not hugely interested in pattern drafting as a full time game (I would much rather leave this to Rachel) but as my main reason for sewing is to make things which fit better I hope this gives me a much better understanding for alterations and fit going forward. I look forward to getting into this book, though I fear it might bring on some headaches before I fully understand it all!

I hope you all had a good weekend and found something to celebrate like we did, here's looking forward to the 4 day weekend ahead.