A Pin Up Picnic... In A Bar!

Every year, The British Belles put on a little meet in London of pin ups and vintage style lovers. The original was named Pin Up Picnic In The Park - since it was pin ups... in a park. But sadly we're British and rain moved the event from Hyde Park to cocktails at Barrio Shoreditch. And so it was a Pin Up Picnic.. In A Bar!!

I always have big ideas about making special themed outfits for events like these, since they're a great excuse for real dressing up. The problem with that idea, though, is I'm too lazy and busy to do that, and I end up picking out whatever is clean on the morning of.

I ended up picking up my Check, Please! dress, because in my world, gingham is a neutral. I made this dress in 2013 and it's the only one from my early sewing that I still wear!

It's been so long since I went to any sort of event that I feel like I've forgotten how to socialise! I spent a lot of my time with my housemate Ellie outside sheltering from the rain.

But don't think that I didn't have fun! Barrio Shoreditch was a great, colourful venue that was the perfect backdrop for cocktails and meeting friends old and new. Plus, there was a lot of tips about hair being thrown around - and I love hair tips!

I've mentioned my anxiety before, but I was wondering if you guys deal with it and any tips and tricks? I need to push myself to go to more events, but that pesky anxiety really gets in the way!

I know I've posted about The George bag before, but it's still my absolute favourite designs we do. I'd suggest grabbing a George item now if you've wanted one. The line is being discontinued! We do have a new pub design on pre-order, if you do miss out.

Hair Flower&Necklace; Handmade
Cardigan; Collectif (old)
Dress; Handmade
Brooch; Luxulite
Bag; Vendula London
Shoes; Melissa

Tartan Puns Are Hard - I Made a Thing!

No, you're not imagining things, I really HAVE made something for once, and photographed it, and then blogged it! Damn, if I could do this regularly maybe I'd be good at this whole blog thing.

Anyhoo.
I don't get to make stuff as much as I used to these days, I've been spending so much time doing that whole traveling to China and Japan thing, and trying to fit normal life in between has been hard enough!

But I digress, I MADE SOMETHING!

The fabric is an unidentified-fabric-content grey tartan I picked up from my favourite bargain bin at Rolls and Rems in Holloway probably about two years ago now. I had the idea of a pinafore in mind as I was buying it, and into the stash it went. Then with the move and a cull of unworn winter items it was time to get it made in time for winter!

And in true Melody fashion, I didn't. It was finished in February. Typical, haha!

The construction is incredibly simple, It's a circle skirt (as always, I use the By Hand London Circle Skirt App) with ginormous pockets that could fit a small human with a literal square of fabric for a bib and strips for straps. I stupidly didn't take a photo, but the straps cross over the back.

 BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!

The bib of the pinafore is REMOVABLE.
You heard me, I only went ahead and made something cute, functional AND I can do a Clarke Kent style transformation from pinafore to skirt in seconds! I'm so pleased with myself, as you can tell.

The bib attaches to the front of the waistband with four buttons and at the back with one button for each strap. An incredibly simple idea, but it's proved to be a goodun' for me, since I like a bit of choice.

There was a few hiccups with this skirt, though. Using cottons for most of my sewing life, I have never experienced an uneven hem that was particularly noticeable on a circle skirt, I'm guessing because it didn't have the weight to it that this does. So it's a bit longer at the sides than the front and back, and although it's not horribly noticeable it ever so slightly grates on my nerves.

And as you might be able to guess from the above photo - I aligned the pockets to the pattern of the fabric instead of the shape, which means as the skirt sits as a semi-circle, it's wonderful. But they slope at the out corners when being worn. An easy fix, since they're just patch pockets - but you guys know I'm so lazy I will never bother!

Scarf: Vintage

Top: Primark

Earrings: Bow and Crossbones

Necklace: Handmade

Brooch: Second hand, god knows what brand!

Belt: Primark

Bangles: Splendette

Shoes: Miss L Fire

Bag: Vintage

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Strawberry Sundae with Florence Carousel Photography

These are from the first of the two photoshoots I did with Florence Carousel in September (the second shoot is here) and I can't even explain just how much I absolutely adore these images. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Florence is such a talented photographer. You need to check out her main website and her other site, The Street Style Carousel to see just how wonderful she is at capturing style and beauty.

This outfit is possibly one of my absolute bests because it's so matchymatchy and delicious. 

This skirt is another dirndl that was made around the same time as the All Hail The Gingham Queen Skirt in exactly the same way - it's simply just my favourite cotton gingham from Rolls and Rems in Holloway pleated onto a waistband. This one is lined in white cotton, has a centre-back zipper and gigantic patch pockets with ricrac trim.

Simple, but effective! 

Teamed with my original 60's cross-stitch bag with strawberries and strawberry accents on my Miss L Fire Sundae shoes (from 2013) and a handmade strawberry necklace - I will happily say I'm horrendously matchy-matchy, but god, doesn't it just WORK? 

Hair Flowers: Lady Lucks Boutique 

Earrings: Bow and Crossbones

Necklace: Handmade

Brooch: Luxulite

Top: Collectif

Skirt: Handmade

Bangles: Splendette and vintage

Bag: Vintage

Shoes: Miss L Fire

All photos are taken by and belong to Florence Carousel. Use of these photos is only permitted with her approval.
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All My Royal Subjects - With Florence Carousel Photography

Back in September I was lucky enough to do a little shoot with the amaaaazing Florence Carousel after work one warm day whilst the colours of the trees were changing, and I wanted to show you the photos, because frankly? They are AMAZING.

This was the second half of the shoot, and I changed into this outfit in a weird toilet cubicle which was not easy when it was absolutely bloody boiling!

Although this dress isn't technically finished (currently it's strapless as I need to put the straps on, plus add pockets in) it was formed enough to show it off. I bought the fabric from Fabric.com with vouchers I'd been given for my birthday (thanks again, Kristina!), and it's a nice lightweight cotton - nothing too exciting, but it does what I wanted to do, which was simply to make a bright green sundress!

The pattern is the No Cock Nor Tails bodice and a pleated dirndl, of which there's really no more to say than the other dresses featuring the same components, because I have this habit of making the same two dresses.

I'm not very natural at doing any modelling, I can't take myself seriously enough to pose without pulling faces between every shot - but Florence knew what she wanted and made me very comfortable until it started to just flow naturally, resulting in some pretty amazing photos, if I'm allowed to be quite so big headed! She literally has so much talent at portraiture and I love every photo!

Plus she chose a perfect background, this is the fountain outside Buckingham Palace, of which many jokes about me looking over my royal subjects/peasants ensued - because I'm basically The Queen. Right? RIGHT? 

Hair flowers: Lady Lucks Boutique and handmade

Necklace: Handmade

Earrings: Bow and Crossbones

Brooch: Luxulite

Bolero and Belt: Collectif

Dress: Handmade

Bangles: Splendette and Lady Lucks Boutique

Shoes: Miss L Fire

All photos are taken by and belong to Florence Carousel. Use of these photos is only permitted with her approval.

All Hail The Gingham Queen!

It's been said before, but I'll say it again.

I bloody love gingham.

This is the second in three items I've made recently in gingham, and yes, it's exactly the same gingham from Rolls and Rems in Holloway as every other bloody gingham item on this blog.

But hell, when something works for you, it works for you, right?

 

I've got a bit of a gap in my wardrobe for skirts, and especially one for slightly more casual outfits for when I can't be bothered. So, a length of gingham got pleated up to become my new favourite skirt!

Bloody typical my bag is the wrong way around in this shot!

There's so little to say about this skirt, it's fully lined and has gigantic pockets I keep trying to fit the dog in - with a bit of tiny pompom trim across to make it a little bit more exciting than it really is. It's a simple dirndl skirt, with three-inch box pleats instead of the traditional gathering.

It just so happens that the day I planned to shoot this skirt, the amazing Katy from Luxulite sent me the most amazing brooch and earring set - IT'S BLOODY GINGHAM. Can you think of any accessory better suited to my severe obsession than this? They're absolutely gorgeous, and I can't recommend Luxulite any higher than I already do.

 

Hair Flowers; Lady Luck's Boutique

Necklace; Vintage
Brooch and Earrings; Luxulite

Top; Boohoo (last year)

Belt; Collectif

Bag; Vendula

Bangles; Splendette and Vintage

Shoes; Rocket Originals

And even stranger? Karen at Did You Make That? just announced a Ginghamalong!
Who else is joining me in making a gingham item by 13th September to be in for a chance to win even more gingham? Of course, the self-proclaimed Gingham Queen is on it!!

Sunshine Through The Clouds

Well hello beautiful strangers!

As you may have noticed, I took a little unannounced break from blogging whilst I got myself moved and sorted into my new place - of which I'm now very happy in with the addition of my brand new sewing desk (more on that in a later post!)

But for now I wanted to play catch-up a bit with some sewing projects, this one being the last thing I made in my last house, which gives me a little bit of an emotional attachment to it.
It's pretty lucky that I honestly think it's my best project to date, and quickly becoming a favourite dress!

So I've gone a bit colour-crazy recently and I've had this idea of a red and yellow colour combination in my head for a few years, and it's only really now that I've actually decided to act on it. I got myself down to Rolls and Rems to scout out my trusty 1-inch cotton gingham (you can see everything I've made with it under the gingham tag) in a slightly offensively bright shade of yellow.

The pattern to this dress is another variation on the No Cock Nor Tails pattern I drafted a good few years back - with the baggy nipples of the Big Ol' Black dress rectified somewhat unsuccessfully as it's still just a touch tight on the bust.
The skirt is old faithful - the pleated dirndl. It's basically a copy of the Check, Please dress in yellow instead of red. But once I like a pattern I really do stick to it!

To keep a bit of a differentiate between the Check, Please dress and this one I added my new favourite trim in the world - POM POMS! from Frumble Fabrics onto the neckline, hem and pockets. I always find it amusing how such a small amount of trim can really make a garment pop - and I find people seem to go a little nuts for pom pom trim.

Other than the fitting issues of the failed FBA adjustment from my last version from this dress, I think this self-drafted pattern is really teaching me about my body - how my shoulders slope and why the straps don't stay in one place, where my waist actually sits and the way thing such as belts sit on them, and how the top of my back slopes and why I always have a gape in the back of my dresses.

This dress features a lovely scoop back that looks fine when I'm relaxed, as you can see below, but as soon as I move the thing can fit a small dog between me and the fabric - and although I like small dogs, thats not my preferred way of carrying animals.

However, my hair looks pretty amazing though, so we can focus on that instead of fit issues, right?

But I love this dress, and it's absolutely perfect once the sun actually decides to shine in this crappy excuse for a summer!

Hair Flowers; Lady Lucks Boutique and a gift

Necklace; Handmade

Brooch; Luxulite

Bangles; Splendette

Bag; Vendula

Shoes; Miss L Fire

A Big Ol' Black Dress

The Little Black Dress (LBD) has been considered a wardrobe staple for every woman since the days of Coco Chanel - chances are, if you wear dresses, you've got a LBD hanging in a wardrobe right this moment.

I, however, don't really do little. Go big or go home, right?

In comes the Big Ol' Black Dress (BOBD is much more amusing than LBD).

I wear black dresses a lot. And since I'm running out of variety in my BOBD wardrobe, I thought I'd knock this Big Ol' lady out with just some plain cotton (possibly a pique) that I got from my friends over at Rolls And Rems on Holloway Road.
It's a really lovely quality cotton, but the issue I have with anything 100% cotton is that it just absolutely has to crease at every bloody opportunity it can. Infuriating but so lovely to work with.

The pattern used is my self-drafted No Cock Nor Tails pattern, but with an added full bust adjustment because the original didn't really accommodate my larger-than-I-think-it-is bust.
However my first ever FBA didn't go so well, and I ended up with some weird bagging right on the bust apex (AKA baggy nipples. No one wants baggy nipples) and some extra fabric in the arm scythe, the former isn't that noticeable, but you can definitely see where it doesn't fit right in the arm holes in this picture;

So this dress has inseam pockets in the box pleated dirndl skirt, a lined bodice, and a centre back zip I screwed up with the insertion so there's a gap in the top, as you can see in the photo below. I'd say I'll put in a hook and eye, but since becoming single, there's no way I can undo that sort of fiddly thing myself.
But you know what? It looks pretty good, it feels pretty good, and it's a great BOBD.

Now. I'm going to stop talking about the dress because although it's great and all can we just take a moment out to TALK ABOUT MY HANDBAG?

This is The George pub bag from Vendula London and it's quite frankly the greatest handbag ever.

One, it's a fucking pub. Two, you can take the handle off and use the long strap to wear it as a cross body bag (two handbags in one, yes please!) Three - THE LITTLE SIGN OPENS UP.
If you're in London, pop into our shop to see this beauteous thing in the flesh, because it is just so amazing.

Hair Flowers; Lady Luck's Boutique 

Earrings; Bow and Crossbones

Necklace; Handmade

Bolero; Collectif

Brooch; Luxulite

Belt; Primark

Shoes; Miss L Fire

Bag; Vendula London

Me Made May - Week Three!

Moody British Picnics Dress | When Life Gives You Lemons Skirt | Last of the Summer Gingham Dress | Check-ah-Check-ow Dress | When Life Gives you Lemons Skirt

Okay. So. I promise I do have a few non-MMM-round up posts in the pipeline, but I've been a busy bee and my photographer/best friend has been otherwise engaged so there has been less time to take proper photos of some things I've made/worn, and I'm putting actual effort into dressing at the moment!

I think it's safe to say that the red gingham Butterick B5880 is my most worn dress so far - and I'm honestly thinking of making a few more of them in different colours because they're so easy to wear and get a lot of attention.
Of course, I managed to wear exactly the same outfit on Tuesday and Saturday, but I went to three gigs this week (Girugamesh's last London show before they disband and two Funeral For A Friend gigs - the last. ever. shows. I cried a lot) and I really like the harness and striped skirt combo. It's like a slightly 'edgier' look than my usual style, which is something new for me.

How is everyone else getting on with their challenges? I'm finding it surprisingly easy, but then again I'm outfit repeating constantly! Clearly I need to get back on my machine soon!

P-P-P-Polkadots!

I've spoken about Rolls and Rem's remnant table before, right? This is yet another great find. Similar fabric to the Striped skirt I made, this is a stiff canvas-like cotton which just behaves beautifully through a machine, and provides great structure for a flared dress such as this one.

The pattern I used for this dress was an altered version of the No Cock Nor Tails dress I made several years ago - the difference being that I added a ruched bustline by taking the bust of the pattern, slashing and spreading, and gathering it. I opted to keep it with a frill instead of setting it into the bodice, but that was mainly just pure laziness on my part. It looks pretty adorable with the ric rac trim though, right?

The dress was actually made a whole year ago before I went on a night out - believe it or not! I had a real problem with overestimating the ease and the whole thing was massive and generally badly-fitting. So it got thrown in the wash and was set aside in my ever-mounting pile of alterations for another day.
Then after a re-discovery, I threw it through my machines and thought that was that.

But readers. This is me, and I am not a lucky person. The bloody thing shrunk in the wash without me realising, so the dress is preeeeeetty damn tight now. And I even had to cut out the bust of the original pattern (which at this point pretty much served as a lining for the ruching) just to make sure I wasn't giving myself pancake boobs!

However. The damn thing juuuust about fits, and quite frankly I love it. I'm still a bit of a sucker for a polka dot every now and then, and the off-white polkadots are a really welcome addition to my black obsession recently!

So! Lets get down to the nitty-gritty, yes? The dress is unlined (the fabric is thick enough without that!) but the neckline and straps are faced, and all the seams are overlocked. The hem was done with bias tape as I find it's really just the easiest way to hem a full circle skirt without any weird puckering.
And you'll be shocked to hear this, but there are NO POCKETS in this dress. I'd originally planned on patch pockets with ric rac trim, but honestly it looked pretty stupid and I've never really gotten around to popping in some in-seam ones - it might happen one day when I get too frustrated with keeping my phone in my bra, though.

Bolero: Collectif

Earrings: Bow and Crossbones and Luxulite

Necklace: Vintage

Brooch: Luxulite

Bangles: Vintage and Splendette

Handbag: Accessorize

Shoes: Swedish Hasbeens