Niamh-makes-things: April 2012

30 April 2012

Mad Hatter - Deirdre Hawken

Hi all,

Last year I went to the Knit and Stitch show, at Alexandra Palace. I can remember feeling very overwhelmed by everything going on. There were soo many stalls selling really cute buttons, fabrics, sewing kits and fabrics, along with hand made goods. There were a few things that stood out to me, and one of them was the miniature hats designed by Deirdre Hawken. They were soo cute and looked soo realistic.
On a recent trip to London I popped into Fortnum and Masons, and had a little Deja Vu. There were the hats!!! Once again I was able to see them, and to revel in their cuteness. Here are some that I think are pretty cool. If you want to see more click here

xox Niamh xox

29 April 2012

Stitch by Stitch : AS top

Hi all,

Last year for my AS textiles coursework I made a top. Not just any top, this one was decked out with frills :) I used a jacket pattern and flipped it around, so that the top fastened at the back with a row of covered buttons. I decided to use a black georgette fabric which draped really well. It has quite dramatic sleeves with frills attached to the sublimation printed cuff band (covered buttons on the back use the same sublimation printed fabric). The frills are echoed on the neckline, cuffs and the lower part of the bodice. I had an a-symetric hem, which made the length a little tricky to work with as from the back it was long enough to be a dress, and from the front it was short enough to be a top. See what you think....

xox Niamh xox

28 April 2012

The Ballgown : House of Worth

Hi Guys,

Soo... another ballgown post. (^_^) This time we are looking at the amazing work of Worth. Charles Frederick Worth is a legend, the real father of the haute couture industry, he has a lot to answer for! If I was Cinderella I would demand that my fairy godmother poof me into one of his creations. Nothing made nowadays even scrapes at the surface of some of his designs. So I though it was only fair to include some of the ball gowns...

1887, Love the combination of colours in this gown,
and the embroidery and beading.

1893-94, these sleeves are amazing.

1895-1900

1898-1903, The beading/sequining in this dress is quite amazing
(must have taken ages). I can kind of see a face in the skirt (eyes and mouth)
Anyone else see it???

1898, butterflies help give shape to the skirt,
and soft floral fabrics on the bodice give the impression of real flowers

1900, This one is so cute,
notice the corn embroidered on the skirt.

xox Niamh xox

27 April 2012

Pattern of the Week no.2

Hi again,

Here is another pattern of the week, this time I managed to find this vintage vogue model pattern for a 1930's dress. It just screams 30's glamour to me. Bias cut, Madeleine Vionnet, low back, and the silhouette that saw women become very long and elegant. (sigh... if only I had the time to actually make this dress!, and the ability to change its size. Some day........)

xox Niamh xox

26 April 2012

Trend : The Peplum

Hi guys,

So there has been a lot of talk about the peplum recently, (and I'm probably a little late talking about it) but I loved this statement shape so much I felt like I had to post some pictures of my favourite ones. Some of them are more structured approaches, some are softer frills (frills are the ones that have been in the lime light recently) I think that the term peplum can apply to a wide range of examples, they do not have to follow strict rules. So enjoy...

Vera Wang eyelet stretch silk and printed crepe peplum top

Rosamosario - Big Babol Girl cotton and lace peplum jacket (picture doesn't do it justice!)

Top Shop - Peplum scuba pencil dress

Alexander McQueen

Dior

Alexander McQueen

Jason Wu

xox Niamh xox

25 April 2012

Stitch by Stitch : Skirt

Hi all,

I thought I would share something else I made. For school we had to draft a basic skirt block, then adapt it to make it a bit more interesting. It wasn't a very long project, only a couple of lessons so I decided that I wasn't going to spend any money on making it. I used leftover fabric from our dining room curtains, and 'borrowed' a zip from school. I didn't do any major changes, but made it from 4 panels, instead of the traditional front and back. I put 3 frills on the side panel (anything with frills or gathers and I tend to get excited!)
Heres what it looks like (willingly modelled by Winnie my mannequin :) .....

If I was to do anything different I think I would have made it a little shorter, and tried to give a bit more volume to the frills, maybe by introducing some netting. Hope you like it :)

xox Niamh xox

24 April 2012

The Ballgown : Charles James

Hi all,

I thought I would start looking back a bit further for these Ballgown posts, here is a good'un. Charles James was a fashion designer, and was known as Americas first couturier.
"James looked upon his dresses as works of art, as did many of his customers. Year after year he reworked original designs, ignoring the sacrosanct schedule of seasons. The components of the precisely constructed designs were interchangeable so that James had a never-ending fund of ideas on which to draw. He is most famous for his sculpted ball gownsmade of lavish fabrics and to exacting tailoring standards, but is also remembered for his capes and coats, often trimmed with fur and embroidery, his spiral zipped dresses, and his white satin quilted jackets."
I managed to find some finished garments by him, but also some toiles that proved interesting to look at, to see how he went about constructing the gowns...

Four Leaf Clover dress, 1953

Evening Dress, 1948

Evening Dress, 1952

Muslin, 1946

Muslin, 1947

Muslin, 1953

Evening Dress 'tree', 195

Muslin, 1947

1949-50

1951

I love the silhouettes he has used, particularly the evening dress from 1948 and the 1951. With the more simplistic bodice and then the show stopper skirt!

xox Niamh xox

23 April 2012

Hunger Games - Effie Trinket

Hi all,

Heard of the Hunger Games? Seen it? Well if you haven't I would recommend it. I haven't read the books, but after watching the film I am going to. I loved some of the costumes that were used in the film, particularly some of the outfits of the people living in the Capitol. The character of Effie Trinket, who comes to district 12 to collect the two hunger games participants has some amazing outfits. Take a look...

This Dior ensemble reminded me instantly of Effie Trinket, even though it was created years before the Hunger Games film was even in pre-production. I think its the sleeves that does it, and the colour.

I love the interesting silhouette of this dress. The gathering at the waist is remenisent of the 1950's style, the fabric is like that of traditional Chinese dress, and the off the shoulder design with low cut front gives a fresh and modern look that is iconic of the Capitol.

You have got to love those sleeves, and the oversized corsage. That is some pretty intense eyeshadow

This pink jacket, is the first outfit we see Effie wear in the film. Those sleeves, wow. Do you see the link between this one and the Dior?

It seemed that every time you saw her in the film she was wearing something different, and her peroxide hair was tinted a different colour to match. Her matching makeup pulls the whole look together. The costume department for this film, stylists and makeup artists really did a good job!

xox Niamh xox

22 April 2012

Niamh-bakes-things: Easter treats

Hi all,

I thought I would share some of the sweet treats I baked for Easter this year (I know it was a few weeks ago!). This included a cake which I decorated on my own (very first cake I have every decorated, quite chuffed!) It was a lemon cake, with jam filling and butter cream icing.
The other thing I made was sugar cookies, cut using my new egg shaped cookie cutter. I had so much fun with the food dyes!
The cake was made using my mothers trusty recipe. 7 eggs, then 14oz of caster sugar, self-raising flour and margarine. Then zest and juice of 1 lemon. Blitz it all together then pour into lined tins. Cook for 45 mins in oven at 180 c. Take out, let it cool. Then decorate to your hearts content!
The sugar cookie recipe I got from the internet, here's the link:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-rolled-sugar-cookies/
Both were very yummy.

xox Niamh xox

21 April 2012

The Ballgown : Dior

Hi all,

With the upcoming V&A exhibition : Ballgowns, British glamour since 1950 (19th May 2012 - 6th January 2013) I have been reminded of the fairytale gowns that graced the pages of my favourite fairytale books that were read to me when I was little. Sure, in this social time ball gowns are a rarity (if only I was born in a different century!), but a girl can dream. I am going to look at a few different designers but lets start with the great Dior (most of these are Galliano's). Enjoy: