Claire February 7th, 2008

Eleven, actually. I have started making the roses for my wedding dress. I also bought the pattern for my wedding dress – after lots of thinking, and long chats with my friend Rach, who knows be better than I know myself I sometimes think, I am making my entire wedding dress. I had originally wanted a corset, and my friend Lisa was going to do that for me, then I would make a skirt to go with it, but I couldn’t afford it, buying the fabric and all the other bits and bobs like netting etc, and paying her a decent wage for the corset – it would have cost almost £500. So, back to the drawing board.
Rach took me to try some dresses last week just for ideas of styles and colours – apparantly I suit ivory not cream – I would never have even thought about that. I knew there were different colours but assumed that I suited most of them. I look jaundiced in a cream – not a good look! We then had a look at patterns in John Lewis and I chose a reissued vintage Vogue pattern from 1957 – very New Look Dior, ballerina length skirt with a huge amount of fabric, and I am adapting it for it to be sleeveless. I really wanted to post a picture of it, but David sometimes reads my blog, and I don’t want him seeing it (sorry dear!) so you will have to wait to see it too. I am though, going to make a toile, so I will pick a similar weight cotton to the duschesse satin I have my eye on and make it up as a summer dress – trial run to see where it’s likely to go wrong!

I also managed to find some of the embroidered tulle I fell in love with for half the price on eBay that will go over the satin. Then it will be covered in these crochet roses. I have done some cream, some white and some a colour in between, and all of them are vintage threads. I have toyed with the idea of making vintage lace leaves too, but I don’t know – I do know that I am useless when it comes to making the crochet leaves. So 11 down, only another 150 or so to go…

Whilst I am here (2 posts in 2 days – what the heck is going on?) I thought I would show you some of the embroideries I have been doing to applique onto face cloths for the craft fairs I am booked onto. I may list some on Etsy too. These are all from Jenny Hart’s patterns and were so easy to do - I am also doing some that would appeal more to boys, or tomboys for that matter – rockets, aliens and racing cars. I’ll post some more pics when I am done and they are in situ. I just didn’t want all my posts to be moans, promises to tidy myself up (it is better, but since things got moved into my sewing room over the weekend whilst trying to sort the rest of the house out, it looks worse, although nowhere near as bad as it was – at least things now stack up…) or being smug about what I managed to find in a charity shop.
Who knows, I may be back again tomorrow x

• embroidery , pinky and boo , wedding
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Claire December 28th, 2007

There’s no place like home… why, dear readers the heck do you think I would be quoting dear old Dorothy a few days after Christmas? Well, as you can probably see from the picture below – I am wearing a fabulous pair of red shoes. Not just any old red shoes though – the ones I will be wearing at my wedding. Not that I think I will be standing at the alter and clicking my heels together 3 times, of course, but I tell you, trying to find red round toe shoes with a kitten heel (I’m already a couple of inches taller than David and so I don’t want to tower above him…), preferably with a little bit of glitter on them, in a size 8, is near on impossible. Yes, I have huge feet. Yes, I find it very hard to get shoes in the sales.
My Nanna used to say to me that “at least I wouldn’t blow over in a wind” I think in an effort to make me feel better, although I did sometimes doubt her motivation for saying quite a few things. But I succeeded and found the ones I wanted for £15 – what a bargain! Good job really as I don’t have much money to put my outfit together on. Also another reason for making it.

I love these shoes! Anyone who knows me will know I develop obsessions with different things, and you may have noticed that I have a bit of a “thing” for bluebirds… I also have a bit of a “thing” for the Wizard of Oz, and red shoes.

I am also having a bit of a “thing” for being at home at the minute – I have been rushed off my feet this year so much with work, and launching inky and Boo, moving and the rest that life has thrown my way this year, and now I don’t have to be back at work til 7th Jan, so at the minute, there is no place like home...I recorded the Red Shoes with Moira Shearer – one of my favourite films from childhood, so I may settle down later with some crochet and watch it, whilst wearing my new red shoes… Bliss!

Some other sale bargains I got were ( in charity shops) this Carlton Ware bowl filled with buttons for £2, and 3 silk type scarves for £1 each
- these I will be making into bags and cushions for Pinky and Boo – my original idea for Pinky and Boo was bags, as you can read about in my first few posts. However, I have so far not made or sold any bags for Pinky and Boo. I have a ton of them cut out, and some almost completed, so I will be making an effort to get these done as soon as possible to get them out there. I also got this fab book for £2

- it shoes you how to make kites, wigwams, embroidery hoops (why?) and all sorts of really random bits and bobs.

So that is what I shall do – get myself some Pinky and Boo stuff to do, settle myself on the sofa, and enjoy having the house to my self. Hope that whatever you are up to is fun and makes you happy xoxo

• pinky and boo , thrifting , wedding
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Claire August 23rd, 2007

Really wanted to post today and try and work myself out a little bit. In exactly one years’ time I will be getting married to David. Now that may not seem like a big thing to a lot of people, but the planning and organization stuff is scaring the pants off me. Aargh! It isn’t the thought of marrying David – I was over the moon when he asked me although his timing was a bid odd. He was due to move to London to help his firm relocate, and the night before he left for London he asked me, after taking me out for a meal. We were sat in a quiet pub having a drink when he asked me to marry him. Looking back I now know why he was like a cat on hot bricks leading up to this – he was more fidgety than usual and I remember just feeling sad that he was moving away for a while. I cried in the pub (great) and 5 minutes after he asked me some guys decided to have a massive row with each other, including breaking each others’ mobile phones, right next to us (such is living in Nottingham…). We have been together for 3 1/2 years now and he still manages to give me butterflies every time I see him – thought it would have worn off by now, but whilst it hasn’t I appreciate it. He also, no matter what manages to make me smile, and luckily we share the same twisted sense of humour. I’m looking forward to being married.

This is the church we will be getting married inIt’s an Ballintoy, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. David, my fiancee grew up around there, and his fathers side of the family are farmers in and around the village. We chose here to get married as although we met and live in Nottingham, this is the church where David was baptised, and I am more than happy to have the wedding in Ireland as we have spent many happy holidays there. Since my parents died I have felt like I have had no real base. I grew up in Hull, East Yorkshire, but the only link I had there when I moved away to go to University was my mother, and after she died I never went back again. David’s family, like my friend and housemate Rachel’s family have made me feel so welcome, they are like surrogate families to me, so I have been very lucky.
If you haven’t been to Northern Ireland before, I would recommend it as a holiday. Please don’t expect the best weather ever – it won’t happen, or at least not that often! But it’s very pretty on this stretch of coast. Ballintoy is not very far away from the Giant’s Causeway. The village is tiny and in English standards, remoteas you can see, but very pretty. We will be having a relatively small wedding in Ireland, and when we get back to Nottingham we can have a big party here. I have planned my dress – 50′s style with a corset top half (made by my friend Lisa who is amazing at doing things like that) and a full, ballerina length skirt. Most people I have spoken to have told me that I will regret having a shorter length dress, and it should be full length, but I am happy with what I have chosen. Rach my friend suggested it in the first place – anyone who knows me is aware how clumsy I am and have tripped up and fallen more times than I can care to remember – my knees are damaged from the extent of my trips! So a full length dress would be an ideal trip hazard (risk assessing a wedding dress eh? I need to get a life!). I also wanted to make my dress, and for it to be personal to me. David’s granny (what she doesn’t know about crafts is not worth knowing quite simply) showed me how to make the Irish crochet flowers I have been using to decorate my pin cushions I showed you yesterday, and I would like her to make some (lots) that I can applique onto my dress as I think that would be a lovely touch, especially as I plan on using Nottingham lace on my dress – kind of combining the 2 sides in one dress.

Will definately keep posting about the progress of the wedding. I don’t want to turn into a Bride-Zilla – I have seen too many people get like that when they are getting married, and I want to enjoy the process. Just seems to be getting closer and nothing is getting booked. We have the church booked, I have commissioned my friend for the corset, I am losing weight to fit said corset (and to feel good about myself in photos), bridemaids have been asked. And that’s about it! We will be having a trip over to Northern Ireland soon ish to have a look at reception venues and guest houses so we and others can book what they need to. I have a feeling that there is tons more I should be doing at this point, but I have noodle brain when I try and work it out. Any suggestions will be appreciated!
365 days and counting….. x

• northern ireland , wedding
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