The reason I haven't posted anything in the last week or so is due to a looming deadline. The project is for Textiles and the theme is Culture and Tradition. I still need to work on the sketchbook, but this week was the "exam" where we had 15 hours to make our final outcome.

I chose to make a skirt which I drafted the pattern for myself and I've actually quite pleased with it. I did make a toile which does fit me but I have no idea if the actual skirt does. I'm not really bothered if it does or not since that's just another stress I chose to ignore. And bear in mind that this skirt is not something that I would wear outside of school and there was only enough time to take poor quality photographs with my iPod.

I've been trying to not spend money recently and I'm desperate to go shopping so I thought making a few  bracelets might help solve this problem. I've seen variations of these bracelets around so I thought why not make myself some.

I used bits and pieces I already had, so yay for free stuff! The watering can and the floral star were from my mum's broken jewellery collection and the blue stone was from a market in France somewhere. Avignon perhaps? The cream chain was leftover from the beads used to make my last project. I don't expect them to last long since the original necklace was so cheap.

This week I received my first award! How nice of Sarah of The Forty Acre Wood to nominate me. The purpose of this award is to nominate your favourite small blogs. However, I don't know many small blogs and so I don't re-nominate people, I thought I'd share something instead to make up for this. So here is my list of tutorials that I've had bookmarked for ages and now have somewhere to share them.

 
 

1. Paperbag Waist Skirt

2. Crochet heart garland

3. DIY Burberry Skirt

4. Earring Necklace

5.. Sailor Knot Bracelet

6. Handstitched Notebook

7. Resizing a cardigan

8. Teacup Pincushion

9. Tank Top Tote

This was a necklace I made for my Mum's birthday and I followed this tutorial by Tilly of Tilly & The Buttons.

For this necklace I used scraps of fabric that I had leftover from previous things: a printed silk for the body of the necklace and a plain navy cotton for the straps to add length to the necklace and because I thought the silk would be too slippery to knot it for the fastening. I used beads from an old necklace and to prevent the pattern from the beads showing through the printed silk fabric, I added an extra layer of white polyester lining fabric.

Hopefully, Mum will like it. I picked fabric in colours she wears alot. Towards the end of finishing the necklace, I did start to rush it as I knew she'd be back soon hence the messy topstitching at the end of the straps. I should have used a matching navy thread...

P.S. I have no idea what is going on with my ear in the 3rd photo. Weird...

So the fabric I ordered for my Leaver's Ball dress has arrived! I decided to go with a navy blue colour since I'm more into subtle colours and I have shoes and other accessories that would work nicely with this colour. It will probably end up looking a bit like my Pre-Raphaelite dress except this time, I will use a long enough zip.

I ordered two fabrics: georgette and satin-backed-crepe. The satin-backed-crepe is actually in two pieces because the website I ordered them from didn't have one piece of fabric that I was the size I wanted. So now I have about half a metre more than I originally ordered but I'll probably end up needing it. 

I was worried about the satin-backed-crepe being a little too heavy and I really couldn't tell from the fabric samples. I want this fabric to make up the actual structure of the dress, so I can drape the georgette over the top of it, so it needs to be fairly heavyweight, but I want it to drape nicely and kind of flow when I walk. I think the fabric will do what I want. I just need to start making it asap so I don't run out of time.

Handmade Bucket List No. 4: Prom Dress

Next month, my school is having a Leaver's Ball for all the people who will be finishing school this academic year. It's kinda not really a prom. We had a "prom" almost 2 years ago after finishing GCSEs and I think I prefer the word "Ball" better. It sounds more grownup I guess.

Anyway. I seriously think that getting ready is the best part. I love trying to decide what I'm going to wear and there was no doubt about it. I am going to make my dress. I've been compiling a folder of inspiration on my computer for months now and I think I've made a final decision but what's in my head may look different to what I will actually be able to make, so I'll just post pictures for now.

I'm so excited to actually start making it! As you can see from the photographs, there are a few themes going on that I'm intended to incorporate into my dress. Strapless, floorlength, drapery, sweetheart neckline. And that's all I'll leave you with for now.

Images from 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Handmade Bucket List No. 3: socks

Like No. 2 on my list, I wouldn't pick a very complex pattern in fear that I wouldn't wear them very much. I tend to gravity to knitting patterns that are photographed nicely and are made up in a colour that I would wear like cream or grey. I'm not too adventurous with colour but that's my style. I'm a big fan of neutral subtle colours.

All these images are from Ravelry so in theory I could make any of these socks. Excluding the last pair. Aren't the childrens pair just the cutest? If there was an adult sized pattern I would be knitting those socks up asap.

Images from 1, 2, 3, 4

So after digging around in the loft for a while, I came across the quilted cushion that my Mum made, which I mentioned in a previous post. I took photographs to share it with you. I think it matches my duvet cover quite well.

I've also started making my own quilted cushion cover in the same style as my Mum's. I've been following an old Threadbanger video and using up scraps of fabric. Here's just a little sneak peak at what it looks like so far. It's quite time-consuming and is making my fingers raw with all this handsewing.

Hopefully, if all goes well with this project, I'll take on a full sized quilt, except I'd use a half square triangle technique. Yep. I've done a little research into quilting. However, I don't think I'll be doing any handsewing only projects for a while after this cushion cover is finished.

Handmade Bucket List No. 2: a jumper

I really want to knit a jumper at some point in my life. I have no idea what I want it to look like. I think simple would be best since I'd probably get more wear out of it. I'd hate to go too all the trouble of knitting a jumper and then not wear it because I no longer thought it was "in".

Images from 1, 2, 3

I originally intended to focus this blog just on my little handmade projects. However, I kind of want to start a little blog series. Just so I can make a record of my thoughts in one neat little place. So without further ado, I give you my handmade bucket list blog series: a series of posts about big projects I want to take on at some point in my life.

1. a quilt

I really really want to make a quilt someday. I think it would be the perfect way to use up scraps of fabrics and it really doesn't look too complicated to make. Just a lot of sewing in a straight line. Except I'm not too good at cutting precisely which is a big issue for quilting. Now matter what, I will get around to making one someday. 

The images above make me want a quilt so badly. And I love the idea of taking on board a huge project and the sense of accomplishment after finishing it. The quilts in the images look simple enough to recreate but look so good because the combination of all the different fabrics works so well together.

Maybe a pillow would be a good starting project? Small enough to get to grips with it as well as taking less time. I'm sure my mother has a quilted pillow that she made. I'd love to find it. I remember admiring her hand stitches since they were so tiny and neat...

Images came from Dores Handmade, Design Sponge and I have no record of where the quilted pillow came from so if anyone does recognise it, please let me know.