Goodbye Pip

Pip asleep on the sofa next to Abe my dog :-)

Sadly I had my cat Pip put to sleep today, she had been unwell for a while but it was the right time to say goodbye. It is never an easy decision but it was the right one.

She was a quirky little character and she will be missed.

Pip in her favourite place, looking out the window :-)

Catriona's Dress

Last summer I had the opportunity to make Catriona's beautiful dress and also design the lace bolero that was to be created from the vintage lace of her Grandmother Wedding dress, below is the result.

1950's Style Dress

100% Silk Taffeta for the dress main fabric
100% Silk Habotai for the dress lining fabric
100% Silk Habotai for the underskirt upper fabric
100% Silk Organza for the underskirt lower fabric
 Vintage Ivory Lace for the Bolero
Handmade Freshwater Pearl & Sterling Silver Buttons

All the above materials challenging yet blissful to work with :-) 

1950's Style Wedding Dress

Handmade Buttons

Vintage Lace Balero

Button Detail

1950's Style Under Slip

Catriona looking lovely :-)

 Thank you Catriona for the opportunity to create something beautiful for your very special day you were an Angel to work for :-)

Plumbing Course Going Well :-)

My plumbing course is going really well, my tutors are really helpful and supportive and my fellow students are a great bunch of lads. Being only 5"2' the lads do tower over me lol :-)

That's me nursing my new tools I'd just won as a prize for doing so well and catching up with everyone in theory and workshop.

I started 2 months later than the rest of the students in my group so I feel this is a great achievement. Both Scott (Hubby) & Danielle (Daughter) are very proud of me :-).

I have worked very hard to catch up but my success has also been aided by the acceptance and support of my fellow students,

Thanks Lads :-)

Going back to college :-)

Well I took the plunge back in November and finally decided to go back to college, :-), I have decided to re-train as a Plumber :-)

It may not make sense to some people but for me it was an obvious choice.



I love sewing and jewellery making and I aim to continue indulging my creative self, but without the pressure of having to earn a living from it. I thought that doing something I loved and making money at the same time would be bliss but sadly it turned out to be the opposite. But I have learnt a lot about myself, both good and bad, which is always a good thing :-),and I can now build on that.

The next question is why plumbing ? 

Well to be honest it started a few years back, I was always on to my husband to train as a plumber, he is already a fully trained carpenter sub-contractor, I thought adding plumbing to his repertoire would be very useful, but due to work commitments he was never able to attend college during the day and there are no evening courses available for pluming around here.

He then turned the tables round on me, "Why don't you go and train as a Plumber" he said, "You'll love it", well it got me thinking, and for a couple of years now the thought has been floating round my mind.

I had been finding it difficult to make an income from my creativity, hindered by overly committing and under valuing myself, Yep as in the words of Alice in Wonderland, "I give myself very good advice but I very seldom take it". I became disillusioned at work for lots of reasons which prompted me to re-assess my life and direction.

That was it !!!!!, I rang the college got myself an interview and was offered a place and started the course on 4th November 2013, and I glad I did :-)

For me my work persona and my creative persona need to be separate parts of my whole so to speak, very philosophical I know :-) I need a job I love and allows me to use my brain but I also need my creative space to be my expressive escape.

So time will tell but I will keep you updated on my progress.

As for the classes, I will be unable to run the sewing groups at Superior Sewing Centre and Greystone Community Centre, but I will still offer one to one tuition at my home, details of which I will upload soon.

I will still continue to Sew & make Jewellery and sell my creations on my Etsy shop and I will also share tips and creations on my blog, which has been sadly lacking this year :-( but 2014 is a New Year for a New Start Yeah :-)

Sewing Class Up-Date

I am looking to start classes at;

 

Greystone Community Centre, 

 

 

Close Street, 

Carlisle, 

CA1 2HA

The classes will be held on Tuesday evenings from 6pm till 8pm starting September 2013

Please contact me for details

Winter Wedding Coat

As promised the Wedding Coat I designed for Tracey who got married 28th December 2011

Idea for Design Brief

The brief was a Victorian Riding Jacket with a hood and that would also keep her warm. We were not sure what the weather would be like on the day, December isn't known for it's scorching sunshine up north in the UK :-), after 3 design developments here is my creation,

Photography by Picture U, Carlisle

Back Pleat

Back

Side with Hood Up

Side View

I used diamonte shell clasps on the rear pleat detail and for the side closure which were purchased from Josy Rose Haberdashery, they are beautiful and really work with the deep Bordeuax Red Velvet,

The fur trim used were purchased scarf's and though not ideal I had great difficulty sourcing the right colour fur trim and these worked really well for colour match.

I am so happy how the overall design worked and very proud of the finished garment.

Creations like this are what makes all the hard work worth while :-

Harley Quinn Costume

Last summer a lady enquired if I knew someone who made costumes, being an adventurous sort I put my name forward ;-),

As it turned out she was going to be involved in a Flash Mob Dance in the centre of Carlisle and required a Harley Quinn Costume for the event.



Never one to shy away from a challenge, I accepted the mission to complete the said costume from a roughly dissected then hand stitched pair of lycra onesies, 1 black 1 red and 1 metre of white lycra.





I did my research, good old Google images, and set to work.

All in all when I completed the outfit I was fairly chuffed with my creation :-), picture below is the finished garment

Thank You Natasha for giving me the opportunity to create the costume for you.