One of our Green Hosting clients (my real life in web design and web hosting) is the brand new Queens of Vintage, a blog dedicated to those who love vintage and let’s face it there are plenty of us aren’t there?

The Queens of Vintage site has a featured section called ‘Make and Mend‘, which is a growing resource of ways to give vintage items a new lease of life. Right up my street.

In fact I’ve been thinking about re-vamping a dress of my own just like the maxi dress article. For easy peasy vintage customisation and lots and lots of vintage style visit www.queensofvintage.com

Anyone who has made something with a zip and a lining will know exactly what I mean here. Linings on their own? Easy. Zips on their own? Not bad. Linings and zips together? Hmmm.

Before I was made aware of a fantastic way to tackle this puzzle I literally used to dream about how to solve it (yeah, I do sweat the small stuff). I just couldn’t picture how I could have both zips and linings using the ways that I knew to add them separately. Well there is, in fact, a very nifty way to do it. Continue Reading »

Ta da! Here we go, completed skirt ready to be worn….

Excuse the pose. I didn’t think it would look the same hung on a coat hanger.

I’m lucky to have a creative job and Thursday afternoons would usually find me in front of my computer making something from virtual materials, pixels and code. Yesterday though was different, I escaped from the office to sit Hannah’s ‘Alterations Afternoon’ class.

Before I go any further, here’s the link to Hannah’s workshop list. I had a great afternoon and learned so much. Hannah is a very patient teacher even when you manage to mess up a zip 3 times! Ahem, moving swiftly on. Continue Reading »

On Thursday I’m going to be attending my first ‘official’ dress-making type class with the lovely Hannah of Hanna and Bella.

The ‘Alterations Afternoon’ lesson is where I will learn how to fit, alter and mend. This is going to be a big milestone for me in terms of understanding some fundamental principles and so important when it comes to sustainability.

Learning these types of skills means I’ll be able to take existing pieces, Continue Reading »

I really like the colour orange, how can you not like it? It’s warm and cheerful. Some of my favourite things are orange – marigolds, sweet potatoes, goldfish…

Read up on colour symbolism and you’ll find that the colour orange is associated with happiness, heat and flamboyance.

Despite my declaration for a love of orange there is a distinct lack of it in my wardrobe and in our home. Continue Reading »

I was first taught to crochet by my good friend Claire, of Pinky and Boo fame, about a year and a half ago. I’d seen her create lots of beautiful blankets, flowers and other lovely items in such an effortless way that I wanted her to show me how to do it too.

I guess I could have picked up just about any beginners’ crochet book and had a go at teaching myself but convinced that I don’t learn properly that way I wanted a master to show me. I gave Claire a few headaches at first I’m sure because I just wasn’t ‘getting it’ but after lots of false starts it finally sunk in. Continue Reading »

Happy New Year! What a good time to start learning new skills! Although I suppose that before I can move forward and measure my progress I have to take a quick look back into my crafting past.

So what can I and can’t I do? Well, I’m not an absolute beginner. I can find my way around my sewing machine, although I haven’t got to grips with everything these wonderful contraptions can do yet. I can hand sew and embroider a little and I know a couple of crochet and knitting stitches. I have a few basic beading tools and accessories for making jewellery too. But there’s room for much improvement and so much to learn. Continue Reading »