Thoughts from the Bus Stop

Call the cops - it's #StripeyFriday!

There is a small group of silly souls who make sure that every Friday, they are wearing something stripey. This dates back many years, to one Friday at the company several of us used to work for, when, quite by coincedence, a whole bunch of people turned up in stripes... and the tradition of #StripeyFriday was born.

These days the stripey solidarity takes place on Twitter. Join us! Don your stripes, tweet a photo to @stripeyfriday, tagging it #stripeyfriday, and the Stripey Police will decide if they pass muster!
 

* SONG OF THE DAY: Kit & The Widow - A Policeman's Lot Is Not A Happy One *

Too Dirty To Love: a Charlotte Blacker animation for Caspar Babypants

Yay! Another lovely collaboration between animator Charlotte Blacker and musician-for-kids Caspar Babypants (a.k.a. Chris Ballew from The Presidents of the United States of America). Caspar says:

"Charlotte Blacker (Stompy the Bear) is back and made this little dreamy world for a little girl who LOVES mud to romp around in. I love that she has red hair just like Rachel Flotard who sings with me on this song. Enjoy and stay dirty kids!"
 

SONG OF THE DAY: BMX Bandits - Getting Dirty *

 

Heartease for Kids Company: knit something special for deprived kids

The Heartsease project is a collaboration between R&B Handknit Designs, The UK Hand Knitting Association and the charity Kids Company (www.kidsco.org.uk). Kids Company supports 18,000 children and young people who live in exceptional poverty and have experienced chronic neglect and abuse.

Through Heartsease, knitters can extend care to children they have never met by sending them special heart-shaped bags. There are two patterns, one very simple and one slightly more advanced - you can download them from the Heartease website. You can add any trimmings you like to make them really special, and even include an encouraging note for a young person if you want to.

The bags will be used by the Kids Company team in therapy sessions with the young people they are working with. The bags will contain messages of hope and the 'pockets' can hold small keepsakes and treasures.

Heartsease runs until 14th February 2014 (Valentine's Day).

* SONG OF THE DAY: Adele - To Make You Feel My Love *

 

Images 1&3 (c) R&B Handknit Designs, Image 2 (c) Kids Company

Bear brooch by Gabi Reith for Small Stories

This is my beautiful new brooch, handmade by Gabi Reith of Small Stories. I've been ogling her work for a while now, especially her limited edition, handpainted wooden brooches, which are inspired by fairy tales and nursery rhymes.

I promised myself that if I got some birthday money I would buy one! I did, so this 'The Bear Went Over The Mountain' brooch is all mine. It's gone on my new winter coat and it makes me happy every time I look at it.

You can buy Gabi's work on Etsy and Folksy.

* SONG OF THE DAY: The Shamen - Move Any Mountain *

Christmas Jumper Day for Save the Children

All images (c) Save the Children 2012


Friday 14 December 2012 is Christmas Jumper Day! People up and down the country will be wearing a Christmas jumper to raise money for Save the Children's life-changing work with the world's poorest children. You can wear an old Christmas jumper, decorate a plain one to make it festive, or...

Save the Children would love you to knit your own Christmas Jumper and have unique patterns available (see below) to download from their website, when you register for Christmas Jumper Day. Wear it yourself, give it to a friend or family member in return for a donation, sell it on eBay, or donate it to a Save the Children shop to sell on.

For more ideas on how to knit for charity, visit my Knitting for UK Charities page.

   

*SONG OF THE DAY: Tom Jones & Cerys Matthews - Baby It's Cold Outside*

Sheep loveheart for Sean & Aileen

Design and image (c) Kristen Bailey

This is a gift for Sean and Aileen on their first anniversary. Aileen loves sheep.

When she was getting married, Aileen sent me a swatch of the fabric of her dress, so I could match it with some satin flowers I was making for her (to be fashioned into a beautiful hairslide - see below - by our friend Cathy). I still had this little piece of material a year later, so I used it to back a heart cut-out on the reverse of this loveheart (but I seem to have forgotten to take a pic of this view before I put it in the post!).

* SONG OF THE DAY: The Housemartins - Sheep *

Knitting for new mums in Sierra Leone (Freedom from Fistula Foundation)

Mother and baby doing well thanks to the Freedom from Fistula Foundation

In Sierra Leone, the Freedom from Fistula Foundation manages The Aberdeen Women's Centre. This centre currently provides free surgeries to women injured in childbirth, runs a children's clinic, and now has a maternity clinic.

The goal of the new maternity clinic is to provide mothers in Sierra Leone with quality care during childbirth which will have the double benefit of reducing the number of childbirth injuries, as well as helping to reach the worldwide Millennium Development Goal #5 which aims to reduce maternal mortality across the developing world.

The Aberdeen Women's Centre now has the capacity to: deliver 1,500 babies each year in the maternity clinic; treat up to 500 women each year in the fistula clinic; and treat more than 6,000 children each year in the outpatient clinic.

The Freedom From Fistula Foundation has pledged to give each new baby a cardigan, jumper or blanket as a gift before they leave the hospital. They're extremely grateful for all donations in all colours* and sizes!

Completed garments can be sent to:

Freedom from Fistula Foundation
Robertson House
1 Whitefriars Crescent
Perth PH2 0PA

For more ideas on how to knit for charity, visit my Knitting for UK Charities page.

* Please avoid white, as it is associated with mourning in many African cultures.

Aleksandr, the Last Knitter

Aleksandr (english subtitle) from Aleksandr Team on Vimeo.

This lovely animation tells the tale of Aleksandr, the last knitter in a community who live above the clouds. They've been up there for so long, they can't remember why...

Fashion original Anna Piaggi dies aged 81

What a woman. In commemoration of a true original, I have few words, but lots of pictures, on my Anna Piaggi board on Pinterest.

* SONG OF THE DAY: The Rolling Stones - She's Like A Rainbow *

Donate Your Sunglasses

Screenshot from ShadeAid website

Shade Aid are collecting sunglasses to distribute to people in developing countries. Sunglasses cost as much as a year’s salary for people in Africa. Next time you buy a new pair, why not donate an old pair for someone in need? For a list of collection points, and a postal address, visit the Shade Aid website.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Tracey Ullman - Sunglasses *

Knitted animation: Stompy The Bear by Charlotte Blacker for Caspar Babypants

 

'Stompy The Bear' is a joymaking collaboration between singer songwriter Caspar Babypants and knitting animator Charlotte Blacker (see my previous post about her short film 'Little Red Plane'.)

Thanks go to Charlotte's dad, Roy, for contacting me to tell me about it! (My dad is also called Roy... aww.) And now for some more bear-based fun with everyone's favourite quirky Quebecoises...

* SONG OF THE DAY: Tricot Machine - L'Ours *

Dress A Girl Around the World: Pillowcase Dresses

These happy little girls in Malawi are showing off their new frocks. Each one was made, using a simple pattern, from a pillowcase! They were sewn by people in UK and Ireland taking part in the Dress A Girl Around The World project. Owning a new dress - the only one they may own - shows kids living in poverty in the developing world that they are special.

Dress A Girl Around The World is based in USA, but if you're in UK you can take part via the charity's UK International Partner, Louise Horler of Sew Scrumptious. In the first six months alone, Louise received and sent on over 1500 dresses made by British and Irish crafters! Some of them went to these little cuties in Goa, India.

Don't worry, the boys haven't been forgotten - you can also sew pairs of shorts for them! All details and patterns can be found on the Pillowcase Dresses section of Sew Scrumptious blog.

All images in this post are reproduced from the Sew Scumptious blog, by kind permission of Louise Horler.
 

* SONG OF THE DAY: Dolly Parton - Send Me The Pillow You Dream On *

Helping creative women flourish through microfinance

These talented ladies are the 'Esmeraldas de San Francisco' (San Francisco Emeralds), a group of embroiderers from the State of México in Mexico. They applied to Kiva, the microfinance organisation, for a loan to enable them to buy more thread and fabric to help them expand their business, producing embroidered napkins and tablecloths.

I lent them $25 (about £16) and 104 other people made loans of varying amounts, which made up the total of $3,025. Just a few weeks later, the group have repaid 5% of their loan, and eventually I'll get my $25 back and will be able to loan it to someone else who needs to borrow it.

I don't have the spare funds to *donate* much money to charity, and Kiva allows me to do a little bit to help by lending the same $25 over and over - how fantastic.

* SONG OF THE DAY: The Feeling - Sewn *

Brighton Fantasy: Gay felt appliqué ( #MagpieMonday )

A lovely charity shop find - this time in the Relate shop in Broadfield, Crawley - the December 1963 edition of Patons 'Stitchcraft' magazine for 10p! I going to buy it anyway so the pattern for a felt applique of Royal Pavilion in Brighton (my 'home' town) was a bonus!

I love seen the Pav rendered in stitches - most recently a knitted version by Peter from Temptation cafe in the North Laine. Well done sir!

* SONG OF THE DAY: The Lemonheads - Big Gay Heart *

   

This post is part of Magpie Monday - your chance to share your second-hand treasures.

Get aboard Brighton's Woolly Bus

Image via The Woolly Bus on Facebook

A Brighton bus stop has been given a woolly makeover to launch an appeal by a Hove yarn shop to raise money for The Martlets Hospice by covering an open-top double decker bus in knitting.

The lovely folk at Cocoon Knits in George Street are asking knitters to collect sponsors and knit a minimum of three 15cm x 15cm squares. To celebrate the end of the project the bus will be driven along Brighton seafront on the 20th August with contributors and guests aboard! The minimum sponsorship amount is £25 per entry but they're aiming to raise over £40,000 for the Martlets Hospice. More details at www.cocoonknits.co.uk. After the event all blankets will be broken down and sent to Africa with the help of Knit a Square charity to help keep AIDS orphans warm.

'Knit' a bit of a petition for Macmillan Cancer Support

I've knitted my bit of Macmillan's woolly scarf petition to make sure people with cancer can keep warm without the worry. You can get knitting too.

Patchwork Pattern Maker from the V&A Museum

   

This online Patchwork Pattern Maker is a great free tool from the V&A Museum in London, to coincide with their Quilts 1700-2010 exhibition (on till 4 July 2010).

Just complete a simple registration, then upload your own image (I've used my 'Duck House' design here), and the site will reproduce it as a patchwork pattern in your choice of 5, 10 15 or 20 colours, either in basic squares (either 10x15 or 20x30) or in squares and triangles (24x36), in a downloadable PDF which includes your individual colour key and tips on how to create your quilt.

You could also use your pattern as a cross stitch chart. I might try making my pattern up as a paper collage using colour torn from magazines. Thank you V&A!

Archives unlock fashion on film

(c) Screen Search Fashion

Screen Search Fashion

is an online resource which provides a guide to aspects of 1920s and 1930s fashion and dress as depicted in non-fiction film from the collections of Screen Archive South East(in collaboration with the Royal College of Art.

You can see what people wore on holiday, or at the summer fete or carnival. There's also a section dedicated to work clothes, including unforms. It's great to see original garments wore by ordinary people in real life - something even the best-researched costume drama can not do.

The clips are accompanied by photos of relevant items of clothing from local museums. It would be fantastic if, in turn, the clips could be screened within these museums' displays. I love looking at fashion collections in museums but nothing can compare to seeing how garments were worn, what they looked like in motion, and for which occasions they were worn.

It's a fascinating site to explore - I hope that over the next few years they're given the resources needed to extend the site to include film from the 1940s to the present day (so long as that doesn't include any of my family's 1970s home movies!).

Japanese Culture for beginners

Back in Crawley to see my folks a few weeks ago, I went to a 'Japanese Cultural Event' at Crawley's lovely new library. I have more enthusiasm for, than knowledge of, Japanese culture. Mainly the tradional stuff - geisha, kimono, graphic prints - but also modern phenomenon such as cosplay, especially the sort of outfits worn by the 'Harajuku kids' made famous by street fashion magazine FRUiTS. So it was great to get a good introduction from a Japanese person who lives in Britain.

Akemi Solloway is a lecturer and consultant on Japanese culture, and leads study visits to Japan. She started by explaining that she wears kimono all the time - she had her train ticket tucked in her obi! What really surprised me was that everything else she needed - purse, keys, etc - she kept in the long 'pockets' of her kimono sleeves. She also explained that while the fan she had on her was wooden, she sometimes carried a metal fan which could be used for self-defence if walking alone at night!

Akemi dressed a volunteer in a summerweight cotton kimono known as a yukata, and tied an obi round her waist which she finished with a big bow. The lady said it was likely wearing a corset - rather tight but good for your posture!

Then Akemi took us through part of the tea ceremony. Along the way she told us loads about Japanese history and modern Japanese culture, and told us about the two-day Japanese Art Festival she runs in Richmond every year, which includes art, music and food. This year it's 27-28 February, and it's FREE! I really hope I can get there.

A kaleidoscope of colourful knitwear: Jóhanna av Steinum

Browsing the website of the NICE Festival of Nordic Art and Culture, I came across this amazing knitwear by Jóhanna av Steinum, which is being exhibted at The Bluecoat in Liverpool.

Johanna is a fashion knitwear designer from the Faroe Islands – a small group of islands in the North Atlantic Sea, famous for having twice as many sheep as people and a strong tradition for knitting. Her garments are made by women from the Faroes and the Ukraine, where knitting is also an important part of the heritage.

Just look at the unihibted use of colour and pattern - great styling on this shoot, too. It makes me want to go and raid my cupboards for an outfit full of clashing colours and textures - or maybe chop up three patterned jumpers from the charity shop to make myself a new sweater dress... mmmmmmm!!!

All images (c) Steinum.net

 

64-knit colour: Biggan Yarns

At last, I've stumbled across a high-quality DK yarn with comes in loads of bright colours! Normally if I want bright colours I have to use 100% acrylic yarns, which are nice and cheap - great for making toys but not nice enough to use for clothing.

Biggan yarns come in 64 (!) colours and are a machine-washable 100% merino wool which is soft enough to wear against the skin. Biggan Design was founded by Swedish designer Biggan Dups. It's based in Australia, but you can buy Biggan yarn in the UK via Woolaballoo, for about £5 per 50g. I am sooo tempted to order two dozen different colours and crochet myself a beautiful shawl!

* SONG OF THE DAY: Terry Hall & Damon Albarn - Chasing A Rainbow *

Both images (c) Biggan Design 2009

Knitted Christmas post box

Finally got round to finishing my Christmas postbox! So it will spend a few weeks on top of my wardrobe with my other Christmas decs and then reappear in December. I love postboxes, couldn't resist this pattern. If you want to make your own, it's 'Clarence the Christmas Postbox' from Jean Greenhowe's Celebration Clowns booklet, which is out of print but easy to find on eBay.
 

Regretsy

 

I've just discovered 'bad craft' site Regretsy, and I haven't laughed so much in ages! Regretsy (tagline 'Handmade? It looks like you made it with your feet.') trawls Etsy for examples of truly excruciating handiwork and takes the p*** mercilessly.

They're currently mining a particularly rich seam of Twilight fan art. Other enticing categories include Dead Things, Pet Humiliation and Spelling Issues.  It's a guilty pleasure, in the same vein as red carpet fashion site Go Fug Yourself. For more bad craft, there's also Craftastrophe and Glitter Gone Bad.

* SONG OF THE DAY: McAlmont and Butler - What's The Excuse This Time? *

Loveheart for Eddie and Sharry

Wedding loveheart (c) Kristen Bailey 2009

Today is a very special day! My best friend from school is marrying the lovely Eddie, and I'm being a bridesmaid (my first time!). Sharry at I met on the first day at secondary school, when we were 12. I'm so blessed that our friendship has lasted this long.

Sharry will be a beautiful bride. The other two bridesmaids and I will be by her side in floor-length midnight blue satin, grinning, crying and trying not to trip over, I expect. I know how much planning has gone into making the day special for everyone and it will be fantastic to see it all come together. Congratulations you two!

 Wedding garter (c) Kristen Bailey 2009
 

Queen Victoria doll for Mum

 

Mum's really interested in Queen Victoria, so for her birthday I knitted her this doll of old Victoria in her mourning clothes. Once again I based the doll on Jean Greenhowe's Little Gift Dolls pattern, using the skirt from the Christmas Tree Fairy and the cuffs from Miss Valentine. The widow's cap I made using the veil pattern from the Summer Mouse in the Knitted Animals booklet.

I made Victoria necklaces of pearls and crystals, and pearl earrings, and a mourning brooch with Albert's cameo on it. The crown was knitted in silver crochet thread, using Jean Greenhowe's 'picot hem' pattern, and I sewed on crystal beads. Does her face look amused?
 

 

All images in this post (c) Kristen Bailey 2009

* SONG OF THE DAY:  The Divine Comedy - Victoria Falls *

 

Loveheart for Cathy and Tim

This little felt loveheart is a wedding present for my friend Cathy and her new husband Tim, who is from Canada. They met while working in Spain, and aren't sure which country they're going to make their home in, so I had to give them something more portable than a toaster!

Hedgehog pincushion

This (rather bald) hedgehog pincushion was made by me at primary school as a Mother's Day pressie. I can vivdly remember making it. My teacher had a large shallow box full of brightly-coloured embroidery silks, which I found so exciting that I got told off for sorting them into colour ranges when I should have been sewing! We stuffed our hedgehogs with chopped-up old tights.

Some of our dinner ladies had stayed on after lunch to help supervise the sewing. Take a look at the blanket stitch - can you guess which bit was done by a dinner lady and which was done by a five-year old?

House of Holland's paint chart dresses

I love the 'paint chart' striped dresses from House of Holland's Colour Me Happy collection - here embellished with Swarovski crystals and worn by Little Boots at Glastonbury...

 

...and here by La Roux in her video for 'Bulletproof'.

It's such a great design idea you wonder why it hasn't already been done. I love that he's taken the theme onto the tights too (and taken care to position the white bands at flattering points).

I hadn't been a fan of Henry Holland's previous stuff (I'm sure he'd be gutted to hear that...), but I love this. So simple but so striking and colourful. Well done sir!

1 Sept 2009 - EDITED TO ADD: Look, you can get the tights for a tenner!

* SONG OF THE DAY: 

Boney M - Painter Man *

Loving Luna Lovegood

Still from Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince (c) Warner Bros 2009

Luna Lovegood was already my favorite Hogwarts student, but since I saw Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince my affection for her has blossomed into a full-blown style crush. She wears the best stuff!

Some of it is really stylish, like the pink linen coat above which she's wearing on the Hogwarts Express when she rescues Harry after his beating from Draco. It has gorgeous puffed shoulders, a big wide collar and cute buckled straps at the wrists. Luna accessorises with functional yet still stylish SpectreSpecs (buy yours here) and her favourite Dirigble Plum earrings (tutorial here).

Then there's the sweet short-sleeved lilac cardigan worn over a loose cotton smock with a Peter Pan collar, worn in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Crochet your own using this pattern.

 
Images (c) Warner Bros 2007

Luna's taste in jewellery is a little leftfield - her Butterbeer cork necklace, Dirigible Plum earrings and beetle ring - probably homemade as she's a resourceful gal. You can buy yourself a set of Luna Lovegood jewellery but it's much more in keeping with her spirit to try making your own!

Image (c) Warner Bros 2009

Even when her wardrobe choices raise a few eyebrows (her Lion Head hat, the silver dress she wears to go to Slughorn's party) you have to applaud the girl for her individuality. She wears even the most outlandish outfit with quiet confidence, and best of all she's never boring. Tell Luna I love her!

* SONG OF THE DAY: The Only Ones - Another Girl, Another Planet *

Also:
Ravenclaw scarf knitting pattern
Butterbeer cork necklaces on Etsy

Coco Before Chanel

It was a beautiful sunny day, so I decided to wander over to the Duke of York's Picturehouse and spend a couple of hours in the dark in the company of Audrey Tatou, watching Coco Before Chanel.

I enjoyed it - it was fascinating to learn about her early life (the film ends just as she's setting up as a fashion designer). What struck me most was how different the garments she started making for herself were from the fashion of the day.

The film shows her making herself simple, comfortable, practical clothes from garments she's pinched from her boyfriends, while all around her the upper class woman are corsetted and wearing enormous frilly dresses and hats which make them look like wedding cakes. The young Chanel's homemade clothes look thirty years ahead of their time.

She's portrayed as a prickly but sharply intelligent character, going from rags to riches but not without taking advantage of a couple of rich admirers on the way. My favourite quote was when Chanel is asked how old she is and replies, "When I'm bored, I feel ancient" - a fantastic anti-aging tip, I think!

Robot shoes

Robot shoes (c) Kristen Bailey 2009

Wandered into Schuh this afternoon and spotted these wonderful robot-themed shoes (by Irregular Choice). They're too high for me AND they're £70, but I'm still glad to see shoes like these on the high street.

These sparkly boots are cute too. They make me think of the principal boy in a pantomime! I think they'd look good on Little Boots, who is a very stylish girl.

Dye Another Day

I love machine dye! A box of dye, a bag of salt and no messing. Sometimes I use it to tart up faded old tops, or if I find something in a charity shop which fits well but is a boring colour.

The ones above were originally a grey t-shirt with pastel heart print, a white t-shirt with red floral print and a white shirt with a black print (the stitching stayed white so must have been polyester).

I used Dylon Machine in Flamingo Pink. All these items in this post went in together, but took up different levels of colour according to their fabric content (highest natural content gives deepest colour).

I had two identical white M&S bras, but one them went grey when I acccidently put it in the wash with my jeans, so as I was dyeing the other things pink anyway I thought I'd throw it in rather than binning it. I didn't expect it to take the dye as it's polyamide (manmade, I assume) but it came out pretty well - free new pink bra!

I got this old tray cloth and a lace-trimmed antimacassar from a charity shop...

 ...and they came out beautilfully! The tray cloth was linen and that really soaked up the colour. After I'd had them lying around for a couple of days I realised they reminded me of Pearl Lowe's lace curtains. I'm so pleased with them, I'm going to find some more and try them in different bright dyes.

Cinema carpets

Foyer carpet, Odeon Cinema, Brighton Marina

Went to the cinema this week - the Blonde had given me her free ticket to the new Sandra Bullock romcom. I love the sort of carpets you find in theatres, cinemas and amusement arcades - busily patterned so they don't show up the dirt, but zany enough to say, 'Hey, let us entertain YOU!'

There are beautiful specimens in Flickr's Movie Theater Carpet group. Here are a few more I've found:

Vintage 'Venice' fabric... and the cream of Manchester

Found this fabric in the Martlets Hospice shop on Blatchington Road. I really shouldn't have - I have a whole bed drawer stuffed full of fabric waiting to 'come in useful' but this is the first time in ages I've fallen off the fabric wagon! It's a satin weave with motifs of Venice.

 

What sealed the deal was the shop's label (must have been a remnant), still affixed : 'Anderson & McAuley of Belfast - East Street and Old Steine, Brighton' - I love a bit of local history. If it had entrances on both Old Steine and East Street, there are only a few buildings it could have been in, but I can't find out anything about it, except some photos of the former flagship store in Belfast. I'll have to ask one of the older ladies at church if they remember it.

The 'pounds, shillings and pence' prices date it before 1971 but the Venetian motifs make me think it could be earlier - 1950s? There's nearly three yards of it so I might make myself something to wear - a pencil skirt maybe, or a cheongsam-style top - and still get a bag or two out of it to sell on Etsy/Folksy. Even the reverse looks good so that's something else to play with. Hmmm, thinking head on...

All images (c) Kristen Bailey, 2009

And now, for some Venetian-style refreshment, via YouTube...

Bjork doll for Plums

Back in September 2001, Plums and I went to see Bjork at the ENO. It was a fantastic night - even better than we'd imagined. For part of the gig Bjork was wearing a bright red Alexander McQueen dress with a sequinned bodice and feathered skirt. It must have had bells sewed into it, because you could hear them every time Bjork jumped and landed - she was her own percussion!

 

A few weeks later, wondering what to do for Plums' birthday, I was in Primark and spotted a little doll with long black hair, wearing a red pinafore, for £1. So I bought her, sewed sequins on her top and feather trimming round her skirt (and bells under it!), cut her hair and sewed a tattoo on her arms. And she went off to live with Plums.

She came back to me recently for a little TLC - the passing years have not been kind to the feathers! So I've tarted her up and got a shadow box from IKEA which I've lined with silver holographic paper and painted black -a little home to live in where her delicate costume will be protected.

Thread Wrapped 'Temari' Ball

Found this is a charity shop and thought it was just a homemade Christmas tree bauble, but I did some Googling to find out what the technique was and it turns out it's a temari.

Temari are tradional Japanese decorations or toys given as New Year gifts, originally made from waste scraps of fabric and thread. You can learn how to make one here and here, and or cheat - buy one on Etsy!

Hello Kitty cushion for the Blonde

Hello Kitty cushion (c) Kristen Bailey 2009

It was the Blonde's birthday yesterday. My little sister is a tattooed rock chick, but is also into Hello Kitty. So I made her this Hello Kitty cushion, with added piratisation!

It's made in white fleece - first a plain cushion, firmly stuffed, then an outer layer with a plain back and an appliqued front, which I blanket-stitched together over the base. Comfy kawaii.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Tom Jones - What's New, Pussycat? *

 

Humpty Dumpty, heading for a fall...

I found this colourful chap in the Shelter shop on Western Road. He reminded me of Humpty from Playschool (and the Humpty Dumpty in Jasper Fforde's fantastic 'nursery crime' whodunnit, The Big Over Easy)! He's in poor shape and I'm afraid I will be respectfully breaking him up for parts - the fabric Suffolk puffs (yoyos) which form his arms and legs.

They're a wonderful mixture of textiles from different eras - plenty of 1970s clothing and bedding fabrics, and a few from the 50s and 60s too. I don't know if I'll use the puffs themselves as many of them are stained or faded, but I'll study the prints closely and use them as inspiration for some future project. I feel like a kid in a sweet shop!

* SONG OF THE DAY: Neil Sedaka - Breaking Up Is Hard To Do *

  
  
  
  

The Royal Wedding

 

Finding this Charles and Diana commemorative plate in a charity shop reminded me of the street party we had to celebrate their wedding. The Royal Wedding - everyone was so excited! We all had to wear red, white and blue to the party. I was 6, and absolutely loved the sailor dress Mum bought me. We were all given Charles and Di notebooks and pencils (see below) and special Charles and Di coins.

I've hung the plate on the wall so that when I'm having a 'being single sucks' kind of day I can look at it and remind myself that being married isn't always all it's cracked up to be ;)

* SONG OF THE DAY: Adam and The Ants - Prince Charming *

 

All images (c) Roy and Kristen Bailey 1981 and 2009

Golden Girl

 

I saw these little porcelain shoes in the window of the Martlets charity shop on Blatchington Road on Tuesday evening after they'd closed. I reckoned they'd be sold before I managed to get back to the shop later in the week, so I took their picture.

But when I went back they were still there! I'd already picked up a little gold sequinned shrug in the PDSA shop on London Road earlier in the day, so here's a pretty pic of them together. Shame those shoes are too small for me :)

* SONG OF THE DAY: Goody Goody Two Shoes - Adam and The Ants *

 

I've seen Coraline!!

Sarah (here giving you her 'button eyes'), Mister Sarah and I went to an advance screening of Coraline on Saturday, and it was fab - colourful and creepy and full of amazing handmade details, including Althea Crome's unbelievably tiny knitting (see below).

We hadn't realised it was in 3D - we got given the glasses on the way in - and it made the film even more of an adventure. There's a bit in the opening sequence where a needle passes through a piece of fabric and comes straight out of the screen at you - we actually ducked! It's quite scary in parts too - a couple of smaller kids were taken out by their parents when the Other Mother started turning nasty.

For all things Coraline, check out the official Coraline website, and fanblog Evil Buttons. Book-wise, there's a Coraline: A Visual Companion, all about the production of the movie, and of course the original novel and graphic novel.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Johnny Tillotson - Poetry In Motion *

Also:
Empire: Interviews Coraline author Neil Gaiman
Empire: Interviews Coraline director Henry Selick
Movies.Ie: Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French talk about their voice work on Coraline
Village Voice: Stephin Merritt and David Greenspan Conjure an Unusual Tuner for Coraline

Mrs Sew&Sew is back

Images (c) IWM.org.uk

The Imperial War Museum in London has revived thrifty 1940s housewife Mrs Sew&Sew, the face of the Ministry of Information's 'Make Do And Mend' campaign during World War Two.

She has her own website, and a Twitter account, from which she'll be passing on her top tips for making the most of limited resources during the recession, including how to patch clothes, darn socks, unpick old jumpers to reuse the yarn, and how to adapt old clothes for new uses.

You can buy a copy of the original 'Make Do And Mend' booklet from the IWM's online shop, or view some of the pages from it on Peter and Cathey's Midnight Watch website.

The Bowlie Weekender: 10 years ago!

 

As Anne at I Like has pointed out, it TEN YEARS since The Bowlie Weekender - the music festival at Camber Sands Pontins in April 1999, curated by Belle & Sebastian. So here's a pic of me and The Blonde dancing in our chalet!

Bowlie veterans Orynthia, Tom and Petunia are building a fansite, and are asking for photos - better get scanning...

* SONG OF THE DAY: The Who - The Kids Are Alright *

Images (c) Kristen Bailey

Wings for a songbird

A lovely songbird from my church happened to mention on Facebook the other day that she wanted 'multicoloured wings'... so I've made her some - mainly in the hope that she will get me a free ticket when she makes her debut appearance on 'Later...' ;)

Listen to Anna Joy Deuk's Sweet Sounds on MySpace.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Alison Krauss and Gillian Welch - I'll Fly Away *

Elle Decoration at home with Matthew Williamson (and me?)

Front cover of Elle Decoration Jan 2009 issue (c) Elle Decoration (UK)

I love Elle Decoration - I used to subscribe but in recent years haven't been able to justify the expense (ditto Selvedge - ah, me...) and only get my hands on a copy on rare occasions. (Last year the Blonde bought me a copy for Valentine's Day instead of chocolate!).

But the zingy colours on the cover of the January issue stopped me in my tracks in WHSmiths, and once I'd read the details of what was inside I couldn't NOT buy it - Matthew Williamson, Barbara Hulanicki AND John Galliano all in one issue? Get in!!!

Matthew Williamson's home is very me - I could totally be his flatmate. And his muse...

Hey, Matthew? How about it? I'll potter about the place while you're at work, keep it tidy, maybe go out and 'source' things for you - for the house, or as inspiration for your next collection? I could take a look at your designs if you like, give you my two penn'orth on your next collection? What? Well, OK, maybe not the couture, but the one for Debenhams? And I'm pretty handy with a needle and thread - gimme some fabric, a pile of beads and sequins, a pot of tea and the Torchwood box set, and you can just leave me to it. No, really, it would be no trouble - it would be my pleasure. What? Oh, OK then - I'll wait to hear back from you. Love what you've done with the place! Ciao!

All images in this post (c) Elle Decoration (UK) 2008

Shelf candy I resisted...

I only managed to peel myself away from this gorgeous tea set in the YMCA shop by taking photos of it as a kind of visual methadone. It was so beautiful, but I won't use it, I don't have room to display it and it was £17 I can't afford to spend on fripperies... I just couldn't find a decent justification, darn it!

I even managed to resist these lovely shot glasses...

 

..and these sturdy graphic-patterned cups.

Which at least left me with the £3.50 I needed to buy this pretty embroidered tunic in Scope - just what I needed discovering that all my summer tops are either too small or completely knackered. Phew!

* SONG OF THE DAY: Heaven 17 - Temptation *

 

All images (c) Kristen Bailey 2009

Wallpaper choices we later regretted...

 

Clearly this photo was taken by a doting parent keen to record for posterity the occasion of their seven-year old going to the church's Christmas fancy dress party. A touching gesture, Dad, but did you and Mum never stop to consider the damage done to my young retinas by your questionable taste in wallcoverings?

Bubble bath bus and other finds...

 

Had a good haul at the Hove charity shops yesterday. First a hot pink V-necked top (George at Asda) from Barnado's, then a vintage sparkly silver and black top from Scope, followed by a pink H&M jumper with black stars on it AND a bottle of bubble bath shaped like a bus from Age Concern!!

 

The sparkly top is an old friend actually - I've had two identical ones previously! Years ago, when we were at uni, my mate bought one from a charity shop, wore it for a few years, got bored of it and gave it to me.

I wore it a lot, but due to its age the lurex part of the knitting was quite brittle and prone to snapping and unravelling. So eventually, reluctantly, I ditched it when it got beyond repair. A few years later I was thrilled to spot its sister in a charity shop - again, that lasted a few years then had to be retired. And now I've found number three!

The Mysterious Yarn Daisy Maker

  

I pulled this little paper bag - 'FREE Daisy Maker with the compliments of Woman's Own' - out of a basket of haberdashery stuff in the charity shop, looked inside and thought, "What the heck is this?!" I bought it and came home to get online and do some detective work.

It came as a 'flat pack' - you fold the pegs back so they stand up, then push the disc down so it fits between the outer and inner pegs. And that's a Daisy Maker!

But what do I do with it?! I found these 'instructions for crazy daisy yarm winders', and a 1948 crazy daisy winder pattern book, which might help but I think refer to a slightly different device.

Then I started getting somewhere - I found my daisy maker included in this fantastic list of yarn daisy makers and looms (mine is a '1000 flowers loom'). It's the work of Sarah Bradberry, whose extensive Knitting-and website is just fabulous - a real labour of love. She's also assembled a Daisy Looms and Winders set on Flickr.

Cathy of California's blog is packed with yarn daisy info and colourful photos, and her Etsy shop sells vintage yarn flower looms. There are other vintage looms popping up on Etsy and Ebay from time to time, or there is a loom currently available called the Knit-Wit.

OK, enough natter - I need to go and try this daisymaking lark myself... watch this space.

* SONG OF THE DAY: Daisy, Daisy... *

Queen Bess pins

I love it when I spot something in a charity shop which combines two of my interests, and it happened today! I love vintage sewing accessories (I used to work in a haberdashery), and Elizabeth I - and here is a tin of 'Queen Bess' pins, Wedgewood blue, with a portrait of Gloriana herself.

 
Images (c) Kristen Bailey 2009

* SONG OF THE DAY: The Searchers - Needles and Pins *