Cravat and Jabot

My friend Yarrow had his birthday last week, so I made him a present.  Seeing as he's also gonna be playing vampire 1880 when it starts I figured fancy neck wear was a good gift.

I made a jabot and a cravat as I couldn't decide which to give.  The cravat tutorial is this one and the jabot tutorial is this one.  I love the cameo, which I got from this super cool shop on Etsy.

And here is the birthday boy with his present, with cake and looking lordly.  We had a lovely afternoon of shopping and afternoon tea!

Kit Bag

I will get back to Ossia, I promise I've not forgotten her accessories!  However, neither have I had time to take pictures, so for now have a look at one of the bag kits I got at the kit fair and have made up!

I got Louisa's Bag from Craft and Cotton, in kit form.  I couldn't see it as a kit on their website, but they have a lovely range of other bags, or you could buy the pattern and the frame and use your own fabric I guess.

I found the pattern a reasonable one to follow, though it felt like it was written from a quilters point of view, rather than a dressmakers, if that makes sense?

Still, I got through it with ease!  I did find sewing the frame in place a bit fiddly, but nothing too bad.  It took an evening and an afternoon for me to assemble the bag and I've been using it as a handbag ever since.  I love it!  The only thing I might change if I make it again would be to do a cross body strap.

The photos were taken on a night out hence the slight blurriness but I hope you can see how nicely it sits on my shoulder.  All in all, I really like this bag and I'd definitely consider another kit from Craft and Cotton.

The Knitting and Stitching Show 2015

Yes, as usual we headed to London in Mid-October for the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace.

I do so love this as a day out, although I have to say afternoon tea was so disappointing this year we have decided not to go to that again.  The tickets were wrongly printed and needed correcting at the door, the cake wasn't that nice and the first cup of tea I was served was cold.  Next year we'll just pack our own cake and sit in the picnic area.

The stalls however were as fabulous as ever (I wish I could show you, but for the most part the stalls discourage photos) and my shopping was varied and fun!

This is my complete haul of goodies, as usual with some stuff hidden as it's due to end up in presents.  

 I got a set of paper scissors to cut pretty scalloped edges and two different bag kits which I'm really looking forward to making up!

 I got this yarn from stylecraft and I am hoping to make a hat and fingerless gloves from it, I have Plans for the lace edged zips and limiting myself to so few embroidery threads was really hard!

I will try and show off bits as I get them finished, we shall have to see! I also took a few photo's from the exhibition.

I adored this wall hanging!

These figures made up a chess set and were wonderful! 

And I thought this one rather fun!

Introducing Ossia - Part 3

I didn't entirely make this cape from scratch.  Remember this?  Well, I wasn't using it for anything else, so I ripped the old lining out and put a new one in, plus made it a ribbon tie rather than clasp fastening.

As you can see, the green trim isn't an exact match for the kit, but I left it due to it being a pain to unpick from the boiled wool mostly.

The lining is now a linen-look cotton in brown polka dot.  It's a bit thicker than the previous lining and because the boiled wool is apparently still stretching I left the lining hems separate this time!

 It adds the right amount of extra warmth to the over-robe and handily also means I have a hood, though I must admit I have no idea how the hood and antlers will work together!

Introducing Ossia - Part 2

As I said last week, Ossia also has a cape and robe, for her warm layers.

This is her sleeveless over-robe.  It's very, very warm!  I made it out of upholstery suede and lined it with faux fur scraps from various projects (some generously donated by Xanthipe).

As you can see, I flat lined it, then stitched the panels together!  The pattern is a modified Simplicity 2359.  I gave it a fur edging by making all my fur panels too long, folding them over the edges and stitching them down on the outside.

 In case you are wondering, the tail buttons on so I can make sure it's attached to the outer layer of whatever I am wearing.  It works surprisingly well!  Despite vigorous running, fighting and jumping around all larp it didn't come loose at all!

This works brilliantly as a way of staying warm and cosy, but in case of rain and cold upper arms I do also have a cloak that I will show you on Thursday.

Introducing Ossia - Part 1

Yes I have a new character!  This year I am playing a Animal druid by the name of Ossia Cervidae.  I have made quite a few bits of kit for her, so I have decided to split this over several blog posts!

The dress is made of linen, cotton and some scraps of a poly lace that was from one of my mum's ball gowns.  The pattern is a heavily modified Simplicity 0501.

 I decided that as much as I love Hattie's gown, this year I wanted a dress I felt pretty in but could still run around in.  The accessories are what make this kit, I feel, but the dress provides a great, practical but still lovely base layer.

I bought the antlers on Etsy from here, and the tail came from here.  Everything else (gloves, leg warmers not pictured here, belt pouch and bag) I made.

The makeup is from a tutorial found here, that inspired the whole character!  Next up I'll show off her sleeveless robe and cape.

Dorset Buttons

Dear friends, let this be a lesson on being careful what you wish for!

Aniseed's physrep gave me a beautiful crochet book for my birthday and filled it with post-it-notes with sweet comments!  On one of them was admiration for a Dorset button.

Luckily (or unluckily depending on how you wanna look at it), I know how to make Dorset buttons!

I spent a week or so working on these whilst ferrying children places and I'm really pleased with them!  The thread is a variegated cotton in her new character colours!

Once I had located a pretty bag to pop them in, I felt it was a good job well done!  Happy Birthday Trouble!