Friday 28 September 2012

Mushroom?!

Oh yes, I have indeed been having fun - well, last Sunday to be precise, as it took me the whole day to accomplish a project I've been longing to do. I. Have. Found. Time. To. Do. What. I. LOVE.

 Do you remember me rambling on about that Burdastyle Bag that I wanted to have a go at making? Well, I've done it. I stuck to the original pattern as I wasn't too sure how the Burdastyle patterns would turn out, but I must say that I'm rather impressed and pleased with myself!
I came across this fabric at work - it's a silk blend fabric used primarily for soft furnishings, so I thought it


 would be ideal for its purpose. it did fray quite a bit, which annoyed my Dad more than me because it kept sticking to our table.
You might not have realised this yet but I LOVE toadstools. I'm trapped in this faerie escapade which I adorn and hold to my name like a chameleon does to his flies (the bug type, of course. Strange way of thinking, I know!). So, without further or do, my motif is the hand embroidered toadstool. Yes, you read that correctly, hand embroidered. It's such a beautiful way of adding colour and texture to a piece without being overwhelming and overly complicated, because anyone can do it at whatever level. The stitching did become a little loose here and there, but I feel that it adds to the quirky character of the piece. The final amazing element is the Elephant-print lining. My jaw dropped when I saw this come into work. It's a 100% cotton fibre, and it came in the Dark Blue (pictured) and Red, with me choosing the blue to not overpower the concept of colours used in the rest of the bag.

I'm in love with it and really hope that I end up making more Burdastyle products soon!!

Sunday 16 September 2012

Enough of all this shinanigans!

Let's put the previous posts behind us. *shoves them back a long way* There we go! And welcome to a happier me *smile stretches across face*. Hang on - stars? What's all this about? Oh yeah, I'm happier again! And feeling my eccentric self fitting back into place nicely. And you know what? It feels sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo GOOD.

I continue as I mean to go, and find myself finally getting some photo shots of the many beauties I'm making. Knitting has been more successful than my heartwarming love for sewing and dressmaking - my second year at A Levels is once again taking priority. Oh, and I found the artists for the 'Ball- Gown's For All' post: Brian and Wendy Froud. They. Are. Amazing.
Still, I have for you pictures, yes, wondrous pictures of the things I've made! I'm still learning and always looking to improve, but I'm pleased with the originality of the outcomes. Take a look and see what you think:


 This first garment that I made was for our 2011 School Prom. Although having designed a complicated and amazing piece, I ended up keeping it relatively simple due to time and deadlines. I'm actually impressed how the back turned out in the end, as the gathered fabric was incredibly tricky to work with. I also had to take it in which did wonders for my self-esteem on the night. The pattern I used was 3878, of which I adapted the shape of the corset-style top to create this weird shape.
                                     The materials were courtesy of  Abakhan.co.uk.
 This Purple Jumper was my first ever knitting project! Woop! - YES, I am excited because I made something with yarn. Successfully. I used a Patons DK yarn in the muchly obvious purple shade, (sorry, I can't remember dye-lot and shade numbers!), and voilla! The garter-stitched hem, cuffs and neckline was meant to be in a rib stitch, but at the time I was struggling to understand how to do it! it's comfortable, has a hole in the back which I deliberately didn't take a picture of to show you, and I love it to pieces.

 I then fell in love with a Rowan Kidsilk Haze pattern, which you can see opposite. I've got to admit it might be tricky to see against the body form due to the irony of the colour choice, but it turned out better than anticipated. the trim along the top neckline was knitted, not crocheted which was actually quite unusual. It forms a lace- like pattern, and gives it a more 'sophistiated' style against the simplicity of its shape. I'm not to keen on the straps though, as they look like they could cut in (no, I haven't worn it yet) but this could be due to my tight stitching's, which I'm aware that I need to do looser.
 I did this skirt a LONG while ago - 3 years ago, to be more precise! I'm always inspired by the DIY take on fashion as well as the beauty of couture pieces, but before that came about, Generation-T was my love. This was taken from the first book published, project 'you can pleat me'. Using some old and boring t-shirts, I got snipping away and ended up with this. I have now found a better use for jersey fabrics!

 Another Rowan pattern, but using Freedom Spirit Chunky yarn instead. I started this last September, and finished it in March of this year. Yes, I'm slow, but it's so worth the wait. It's quite heavy and a little bit itchy due to the weight and texture of the yarn. The colour was mainly the purpose of which I bought it, as it reminds me of beautiful Autumn leaves when looked at closely. I'm not too keen on the neckline on this one, but it's certainly going to keep me warm this winter!



 My most recent projects are my beloved hat and scarf. I used some amazing Aran yarn that my beloved Grandma left me after she passed away. (I'm still crying about it deep inside :'[ ). The scarf consists of a four-row pattern being repeated over and over to get the desired length, and the leaf-tassel's were an intriguing find of which I found in 'knitting on the edge'. Now, THIS keeps you warm - you don't even need a snood! The hat is also gorgeous and I've finally mastered doing rib, HOORAY!

So, that's what I've been up to so far. But you see, This is my life and what I've always wanted to do. MAKE AMAZING THINGS. I'm currently working on three other projects that I hope to share with you as soon as I've finished them....

Alimcfadian x