And a Craft Post

3 posts in a day. What a treat for...everybody!

Ok, this covers the huge number of craft things I have recently accomplished. Both of them.

To begin:

Nail Varnish & Wire Flowers!

Inspiration for this make came from a picture on Pinterest which led to here. It's a beautiful picture, and reminded me of something similar I did many moons again when I was in the Girl Guides!

I had my aunt over for the night, drinks were had, radio song requests were made, and crafts were considered. This won because it looked very simple and we had all the resources to hand.

Oh were we wrong.

Good Lord. What a palava! The tip here is - make your petals and leaves small. Don't make them wider the the full length of the varnish brush. Just trust me on that. Many swears were had that night. It really is just a case of having a go and finding out as you go along. Worst tutorial ever, I know. Sorry! Go slowly - you need the varnish 'bubble' to almost dry as you're pulling it across, be gentle, and be very careful 'handing it off' to the other side. If the bristles flick into the wrong side, you won't be pleased. Believe me.

My First From-Scratch Item of Clothing!

Huzzah! 

So here's the background - I've been sewing for a while now, mostly handbags because I can generally deal with straight lines. I've always wanted to attempt making clothes, but I'm scared of patterns and hate cutting nice fabric if I'm not confident with what I'm doing.

I've made alterations to objects (refashioning, upcycling, etc), and I've made fancy dress outfits by sewing onto a bought item, but this was the big one. The first item made from scratch.

This is the blog I was reading that gave me the inspiration. I really wanted to give the whole infinity dress a go, but didn't have enough material for the straps, so just went with the skirt instead. It's a full circle, hangs beautifully, and I even managed a little pleat in the front! Very swishy :)

I used a (Walmart bargain!) jersey knit, so it's got that thicker-than-cotton, snug-winter-clothes feel to it. Because of the stretch I found myself getting annoyed at pins so used little pegs to hold everything in place. 

There's not really much more I can tell you about it, so here are some (bad) pictures. I'll update them when I remember to take photos when it's daylight!