New York - New York!

It was recently my birthday and my wonderful boyfriend surprised me by jetting me off to New York for a couple of days.

We had great fun in the big apple shopping and eating. Unfortunately I only came across one yarn shop (within a fabric shop) in the city but they did sell some nice cotton yarn at a bargain price of $2 a ball.

I'm a big fan of Project Runway (and Catwalk in the UK) and I was lucky enough to find that they were filming that latest episode in Times Square:



They also had a big tv up which the general public were on and here is a picture of me and my boyfriend:



Lastly, I was able to visit the well renowned fabric shop 'Mood' which is used by the contestants in Project Runway. Below is a picture of me with some fabric I purchased:



It was a fantastic fabric shop over 3 floors and it was very easy to spend hours in this place. I managed to buy some upholstery fabric for a telephone chair which needs refurbishing. I'm looking forward to sharing the pictures of the chair once its finished.

For anyone thinking of going to New York, I would definitely recommend it. If you like vintage/record shops, its well worth a visit to Brooklyn. Its also cheaper there than Manhattan.

Creative Stitches and Hobbycraft Fair at the Brighton Centre

I don't know where the last month has gone and I can see that its been some time since I last blogged!

I've been extremely busy working on some projects for the Debbie Bliss magazine which has been a real pleasure and I'm looking forward to sharing the designs with you once the photo shoot has taken place and they're available for public viewing. Unfortunately I'm not certain of a date yet so will keep you posted.

In the meantime, I'm volunteering on teaching people how to knit at the Brighton Centre for the Creative Stitches and Hobbycraft Event which is being held there this weekend if anyone is thinking of going?

I'll be there tomorrow (Friday) from 1pm.

Here is a link to the event if anyone is thinking of going:

http://www.ichf.co.uk/

Childhood memories

I recently met up with one my friends and his daugther who is 7 years old. She is at that age where she loves playing with Barbie dolls and when I last saw her I promised her that I'd make some new clothes for her Barbie.

I remembered when I was a similar age and I also had barbie dolls which I had knitted clothes for. I was able to do this as one of my old neighbours was an avid knitter and she gave me some 1970s Sindy Doll knitting patterns.

The other year my mum was clearing out her loft and found my old knitting stuff from when I was a girl and amongst this was the doll clothes knitting patterns. I therefore used these to make the clothes for the modern day Barbie.

The first item I knitted was a cape (see below):

It was funny knitting this again as I remember knitting one when I was a little girl. I added beads for the front opening as buttons.

I next made a stripey dress with a white stand up collor - see image below:

Again I loved the colours I picked to make it. On the original instructions it said to just sew up the back but I decided to adapt the pattern and also make it into a coat as well by adding a garter stitch border on the end seams (see below)

It brought back great memories for me knitting these items and reading the instructions again. I even found an original post-it note attached to the pattern from when I was a young girl with tally marks from where I had counted the rows!

  

Debbie Bliss

I had the real honour yesterday of meeting up with Debbie Bliss to discuss doing some designs for her 2013 Spring / Summer Magazine.

I had a really lovely day at her home / studio and she also cooked me a lovely lunch.

Will keep you all posted when there are some further updates, but for now, I'm extremely excited about next year's magazine which looks to be fantastic.

In the meantime, Debbie Bliss's current Spring / Summer 2012 magazine has just been released in the shops so definitely worth treating yourselves too :o)

Vintage!

Last weekend I noticed that a new vintage shop had opened up near to where I live. It was really nicely laid out and sold all sort of curiosities from different eras.

I managed to find some fantastic brand new old stock tootal vintage scarfs for my partner which he has already worn since I bought them. (His collection of scarfs is now starting to catch up with the amount of shoes/bags and boots I have).

Whilst in this shop I came across a vintage magazine called Vintage Explorer which is currently 'free' but they're planning on selling this after the first couple of issues. I've already subscribed as I found the articles really interesting. It also catered for men who are interested in anything Vintage.

Here is a link to their website for anyone who is interested in anything Vintage and may want to take a closer look:

http://www.vintagexplorer.co.uk/

Girl about town

Recently I've needed to travel around Brighton more and decided the best option would be for me to purchase a bike ideal for cycling around the city. I love the style of the old dutch bikes so decided to buy one of those. There were so many to choose from but I finally decided on the Batavus 2012 Old Dutch Bike. Please see below:



I absolutely fell in love with the maroon colour and cream wheels, saddle and handle bar. I also love the chrome front light. It has been a joy to cycle although I've unfortunately been unable to use it this week due to the very cold weather.

I decided I didn't want a front basket for the bike as I like the chrome front light on there too much. I decided it required something on the back but finding a basket in keeping with the vintage style of the bike proved to be a difficult challenge....I eventually found the perfect case for the back but then discovered the stock from Cycle Chic had been sold out since last year.

After much searching on the internet and trawling through various websites, I finally came across a small bike shop which still had the bag in stock....RESULT! I was so happy, and now my bike feels complete. Below is a picture of this most amazing bag which matches the colour of my bike perfectly!

The Twiggy designed brief case! Inspires me to design my own version!

I was having a chat with my sister today who is planning on purchasing a vintage case to decorate with paper and PVA glue. It reminded me of a case I saw on etsy which had been decorated with a Twiggy theme which I have a picture of below:



The case is currently for sale on etsy at the following link:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/85309039/vintage-1960-twiggy-inspired-fashion

I think its a fantastic piece of design and really well decorated. I have to admire this seller for her creativity.

Its inspired both me and my sister to make our own with images we love but we both have to find the right case first!

Spitalfields Market

Last Saturday I went to Judy's Vintage Fair at Spitalfields Market in London. I enjoy attending these sorts of fairs because there are lots of vintage clothing and accessories for sale. I also find visiting these fairs can be good source of inspiration for my future design work.

I arrived early thinking there would be lots of people but it was surprisingly quiet, which was nice as I could look at the stalls in a relaxing environment.

Whilst there I came across a stall which stocked lots of fun and quirky knitting related items.

Check out this website: www.allthefunofthefair.bigcartel.com for further information