lately

Here's what I've bee upto lately...Scouring charity shops for 70s bedsheets and duvets which would perhaps be a bit too chaotic for a restful sleep, but perfect for recycling into bags and skirts...All these will be going on sale at the Cancer Research shop in Marylebone High Street, as part of reVamp





For these two bags I made the handles by shaping a piece of wire, adding beads, and finishing each end with a button.


For this one I used a bangle for the handle...I really like this idea because I always see lots of cool bangles in charity shops but I can't really justify buying them because I have hundreds and hundreds already...but now I will have a legitimate reason!

I really love the chunky floral print of the dark brown one, there's was some material left over, so I started making a dress for myself, but either I'm being stupid or the sewing pattern is missing some steps! It doesn't seem to be coming out right...and there isn't enough left to start over so I'll have to make some adjustments and try and use some of my sense to make it fit...

Oh and thanks so much to Estrella for the "100" award, I will get around to passing it on soon :D

a tiered ruffle affair

This month, my contribution to reVamp, the desginer collective who take charity shop donations and revamp then into fabulous new items, was very much tiered and ruffled. I think I've had my fill of layers for a long time, they are way fiddly and time consuming.
Here are the 'before' items in all their frumpy outdated glory:


And the 'after' results, going on sale at the Cancer Research shop in Marylebone high street.

No lovely model in the form of my friend Eric this time, but this second one can be worn as a top or a skirt



www.revampfashion.co.uk

Today I am having some jewellery making stresses and troubles :( This is made harder by the fact I'm now very eager to turn that purple jacket into a waistcoat, thanks to all the comments, and a couple of other makes for myself which are calling out to me. Oh well, here's hoping a revelation will come to me overnight to fix this problem.

reVamp launch

revamping

On Sunday I went to drop off the results of about a months work for reVamp. I posted about reVamp here a while ago, but to explain more about it, here's a quote from the press release:

"Cancer Research UK has joined forces with reVamp, the eco-couture designers, to launch an exclusive collection of clothing and accessories recycled from stock donated to Cancer Research UK shops.

reVamp’s collection, on sale in May, showcases the best in established and emerging design talent from across the UK. The collection will be available to buy at the Marylebone High Street Cancer Research UK shop in London, and online at the Cancer Research UK eBay store. "

So as I said in the previous post, Eric came and modelled the pieces I made, and here are some pics:
(I posted the "before" pics in this post)




We had to choose one piece to be shown at the launch, which is going to be on Thursday, so I've chosen the silver skirt with one of my tie-belts. I'm so excited for the launch, if it weren't raining and there wasn't studying to be done I'd be out skipping or dancing or some sort of celebratory bopping.

Tie-belts are something I started making about a year ago, to sell on my stall/etsy with my other recycled jewellery and accessories. As you can probably tell from this blog I'm quite the charity shop lurker, and I always used to see loads of ties in charity shops, so I dedided to make use of them. The cool part is that the way I make them, they can be fastened in different ways so that you can wear it around the waist, on the hip, in your hair...or anywhere else! So when I went to collect materials from Cancer Research I scooped up a stash of ties and here's what they look like now...





Now I just got to figure out that constant question, what to wear to the launch...

snow and a whole lot of sewing

Well I got up all bright and early in anticipation of going to chiswick car boot sale and found....it's snowing.....in april!! Despite the fact that the blossom is out and it's been sunny all week, and that it's supposed to be Spring! Argh, so no bargain hunting for me.

Last night I altered the charity shop red dress. After googling the label, I found that is it indeed corporate wear, so yes, it did used to be someones uniform! I just can't imagine what company's uniform this was really! I'm really loving it....mmm rolled-up-sleeve-buttons!

Apparently this week I can't seem to get a shot with all of me in frame, so be prepared for a lot of half bodies. This week I've been making skirts for ReVamp. The first one actually was a test, to see how the pattern would come out, and was some left over material from the costumes I made for eric's film, so this one is for me actually hehe.

I wore it out the other night, and I really love it, it makes such a nice outfit. I really should've taken a better pic before I went out, as I did my hair in a nice old-fashioned up-do with gold hairband, but I was in a rush. How come getting ready always takes longer than you think? So anyway all I've got is this blurry knackered at 3am minus hairstyle pic. The background is what the seating area looks like if you're a VIP hehe.

Actually we didn't have such a great time as other times we've been there. There was this crazy girl who was harassing/hassling people, and doing really over the top, throwing herself around dancing. She randomly came up to us and told my boyfriend she was a double secret undercover agent, then called me a slapper and a bitch, which I thought was a little unfair, since at this point her left boob was hanging out of her erm, classy top, from all the frenetic dancing and the minimalist nature of her attire. (And I don't mean a little bit, I mean all of it, sophisticated eh) Anyway at this point she got chucked out, but it kinda spoilt the mood.

This was supposed to be a pic of my necklace I'd quickly made earlier that day, but its kinda tangled and blurred again....Oh well.
Any good dark circle remedies anyone??

So here are my first makings for ReVamp They are all variations I did on the same sewing pattern. I'm not as satisfied with these as I am for the first skirt....the zips don't sit as nicely...I guess the pattern better suits heavy weight material like the first skirt. Which is a real shame because I was getting all excited about the pattern, and just to be sewing again in general. So now I think I'll move onto something different.....there may be some blouse pictures coming in a few days...

I put some black and white checked buttons as a change from the polka dots

and here's what it was before...a shapeless oversized 80's dress

(I really had to put them on to show how un-flattering and unstylish they look...on the hanger really didn't do it justice!)

No.2
before:

mmm an 80's paisley monstrosity!
after:

I'm really not satisfied with the shape of this paisley one...I think I'll have to alter it.

Apparently I forgot to take a before pic of this one, oh no! But just imagine more dodgy 80's style...
the print really reminded me of sporting stuff/school team houses and Griffindor for some reason, even though I'm really not a Harry Potter fan, so I added these lion head buttons.


Hopefully when my friends are back in town and not busy, I will rope them into some modelling and get some much better pics of these than me running away from the self timer.

A non-stop sewing,sewing,sewing week...very,very,very enjoyable. I'm so glad to be on study leave from uni, and so so not glad at the prospect of having to get on with revision soon :( Still, if I can mix in a bit of sewing alongside revision, I think I'll be ok!

ReVamp

Last Summer I was invited to participate in a new social enterprise which was being created, ReVamp, which was being formed to promote aspiring designers and artists who provide a sustainable, ecological alternative to high street fashion. The aim was to build a designer collective to produce recyled, reconstructed and revamped items of clothing/accessories from pre-used materials donated to charity shops, which would then get sold in the charity shops. (Cancer Research UK charity shops). Obviously, this was a perfect opportunity for me and a very exciting one too. Aaaand, a few months down the line, things are taking off. A couple of days ago I went to rummage through a room of materials, a treasure hunt through unwanted garments in need of a facelift. It was so exciting really! From a quick glance at this blog, it's probably quite obvious I adore charity shops, for getting materials for making my recycled/reconstructed things and for getting bargain oufits. So indeed it's right up my street, and I'm very very excited to get started.
I got loads of ties to be transformed into tie-belts...

..a few shirts/dresses to be transformed into things which will be revealed here soon..

and some pair-less single earrings,buttons and brooches to adorn them..

So today I'm on a mass laundering/ironing mission getting everything ready to be re-made.

http://www.revampfashion.co.uk/

*EXCITED*