Vintage Holiday Goodness

Last week I went on holiday, which is why it was all a bit quiet on here. I didn't go far, just went up the coast with my Sister, to Lyme Regis, for epic walks and scones galore.


It's such a beaut of a town, with adorable little, higgledy piggledy, independent shops and delicious ice cream coloured houses:


We did a massive walk on our first day, along the cliff path from Lyme Regis to Seaton, which took 4 hours and practically crippled us for the following day, but we managed to fit in some ace charity shopping.



We were in Bridport when I snapped this up for a pound, much to my sister's disappointment at not spotting it first:


Then in a sweet little vintage shop in Lyme Regis, called Sublyme (do you see what they did there?!) I got this gorgeous, gorgeous, GORGEOUS 1950's tea dress for a tenner! I've made a couple of alterations to it, and it is up there in my top 5 dresses now. LOVE IT!


Also, after trying on an extremely overpriced Aquascutum quilted jacket in a charity shop the other day, and seeing all the ace equestrian style stuff in Zara, I couldn't resist this scarf...


Perfect for my winter 'Balmoral' look:


Incidentally, amongst other things, picked this little beauty up in Axeminster for a couple of quids:


And to reassure the boy, I hadn't forgotten about him and the cat, I picked up a pebble from the beach to paint of the three of us on the telly:


And a postcard on the back to him and Jacques Cat...


Anyway, that's all for now... blog you laters

Postcard lovings

xx

Alphabet Goodness

It took me a-a-ages to make all 26, but here they are, and how gorge do these circus inspired letters look in juicy metallic colours?


So, you can get wear your initial in necklace...


Or brooch form:


So do I need to spell it out?

Don't be...


Get yours here!!

Letter Lovings

xx

Ratzilla

This morning, I logged onto Facebook and found this link left on a friend's profile:
Invasion of the Giant Rats


Actually hideous, and probably a little exaggerated, but it gave me an idea...

Everyone makes fox stoles, even I've just finally finished the leather fox stole I started making 6 years ago, but what about a GIGANTIC rat stole?!

I got to work, and here is the rat wrap, the perfect accessory for next season's camel coat:


You can buy this Rat Wrap here.

He'll keep your shoulders warm, but won't give you Weils disease. So that's good.

And check this out, which I came across while searching for rat images:


RATASTIC!

Rodent Lovings

xx

Shoe Story

I might have already told some of you this freaky story before, but I've just entered it for the Selfridges Shoe Story doo-da, to win many lovely shoes, and thought I'd pop it on the blog for your creepy pleasure...

This is a true story, and is a might be a bit diluted as it happened a while back now.

One hot summer's evening a few years ago, after a couple of glasses of wine, I was ambling to my bus stop on Oxford Street, when I was approached by a rather sweaty man, wearing very short shorts and steamed up specs.

He said he'd noticed my shoes, and I looked like I enjoyed shopping. He then went on to tell me he was doing some research into people's shopping habits for a book he was writing, and would I be interested in being a case study? Every shop he observed me in, he would pay me £10.


Let me tell you now, I was skint (I'd recently spent all my money on a pair of Miu Miu tapestry wedge sandals), naive (I hadn't been living in London for long) and did I tell you I'd had a couple of glasses of wine that evening?! Anyway, as I stood at the top of Oxford Street, I thought to myself, £10 per shop could make me A LOT of money, so I agreed, and he suggested we went into Clarkes where I should try some shoes on...

There were conditions though. We had to rush through this, as there were many shops to go to, and we didn't want to attract the staff's attention to slow us down. AND he had to put the shoe on my foot. I thought this all sounded reasonable in my slightly sozzled state, so in we went and as I stood there looking at groovy granny sandals, it suddenly clicked. This man wasn't interested in watching me shop, he was interested in putting shoes on my feet! I had attracted a foot fetishist!!!

Mr Foot Fetish obviously saw the look on my face, as my brain switched on, and he swiftly escorted me out of the shop, and asked whether everything was ok. I told him I felt a little uncomfortable, and had to catch my bus. He kindly offered me his phone number, in case I wanted to re-consider, but I sweetly declined, and fled as quickly as possible.

I haven't worn these shoes for a long time now, but whenever I re-discover them in the dusty depths of my wardrobe, I can't help but laugh... in a creepy sort of way!


Anyway, I will blog properly tomorrow.

I am too tired to do so now!

Shoe Lovings

xx

Unfinished Business

In my last blog, I mentioned my tendency to never finish projects, which got me thinking, 'How many unfinished projects do I have lying around?'

Here we go...

Saucy 60s girl, stitched around 2003... then just hung about in a box til now:


Leather fox stole, started in 2004...


Lady of Guadaloupe applique, started circa 2005...


Bottega Veneta inspired handbag, begun around 2005... never finished:


The image on my business card, and I did make a handbag for my sister with this design on, but this replica applique has sat about since 2006:


Massive mexican sugar skull applique, which I think I might make into a bag. I stitched this around 2007!


A Typewriter all stitched by hand, in leather seemed like a good idea in 2007. What a surprise, I never got any further than this:

Lummy cripes... the list goes on and on:

A herd(?) of horses:


A sexy lady in a lifebelt:


Some tattoo design thing, that I got bored with, halfway through the cobweb!




And this is just a tiny taster. Having unearthed them now, it might have almost inspired me to finish them.

But I'll keep you posted on that idea!

Inconsistent Lovings

xx

A-Line Dresses and Pearly Kings & Queens

I've been after an A-line dress for aaaages, to wear with a very lovely vintage 60s long jacket the boy bought me a while back. A-line dresses don't seem to be in fashion at the mo though, and vintage ones are always a size teeny weeny, so I gave up looking for one, and decided to try making one.


The last dress I made was in 1996, and was black stretch lace. Basically it was a long see through lacy vest, and I just wore it with bra and knick-knocks like the brazen hussy I was... 14 years later, I aim for a slightly classier look. I emphasise 'slightly'... I mean 'Classy'.

So, not being too familiar with darts et al, I pulled out a couple of brill sewing books to help me:


A Guide to Basic Sewing from the 70s, and the ace, Eithne Farry's 'Yeah, I Made it Myself'.

And between 2 seperate sets of instructions and a bought shift dress, I managed to cobble together some sort of pattern...


And then ruddy well made this beaut, out of some black canvas-y fabric, just as a bit of a tester:

And it only took me an hour or so, AND I managed to put a zip in the back, and satin-y bias binding around the neck line, and arm holes.

Then I thought about how to make it a bit snazzier, as it was actually quite a good little dress, and my first thought was of the Pearly Kings and Queens of the East End, as I've always wanted a pearly item of clothing, so this is how I've found myself ordering hundreds of pearly buttons off Ebay.


And going by the designs on these guys, I've decided on scalloped edging, bells, anchors, hearts and horseshoes. Ambitious? Moi?


Here is my pearly dress so far:


It is going to take me freakin' ages, and I have no idea when I am actually gonna wear it, but in my head, I have already designed the hat to go with it, and it will be the best outfit ever!

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on my progress. And if you don't get any pearly dress updates, just give me a nudge okay? Many of my projects get left half done, and I really don't want this to be one of them...

Pearly Lovings
xx

P.S. How cute is TobyBoo's Pearly Tooth Pocket?


Buy yours here!!

August T-shirt Special!!

It's August.
It's a bit hot.
You need a new T-shirt.

Now you can get the Captain Fishcake Tee reduced to a tenner, from 15 squid, here.


Get one, before they run out- there aren't very many left now...

Girls, wear it like this:


Boys? Wear it like you wear all your t-shirts- with a pair of jeans!

Bargain T-shirt Lovings

xx

Gabberdashery at Standon Calling

What are you doing this weekend?

If you are heading to Standon Calling, make sure you make a beeline to the Gabberdashery shop, on the temporary 'high street', where you will find a delicious selection of Love From Hetty & Dave treats!


Gaberdashery is an exciting new project developed to showcase and sell pieces inspired by Gabby Young and her style. And her amazing style is definitely something to be talked about:


Up and coming artists, illustrators, fashion designers and craftspeople are contributing everything from handmade lace gloves to customized tea-cups; if its eclectic, artistic and 'Gabby' then Gaberdashery will be selling it!

And for a little of the personal touch, Gabby and Katie (stylist and partner in the Gabberdashery
project), have now got their very own Love From Hetty & Dave heart pins, which you'll see them wearing at future events...


So if you go, don't forget to watch Gabby Young & Other Animals. Beautiful, beautiful music, described as "if ani difranco had sex with jeff buckley in 1920 while on acid listening to ella fitzgerald...that would be the wonderful music of gabby young..."


Stylish Musical Lovings

xx

Naps with Cats and Purses and Prizes.

Today I was a very busy bee, and got busy with the sewing machine, making purses such as these delights...


They are all one offs, and available here, ready for you to buy.

They are nice and big, and fit loads of stuff in.


I keep my purse, keys, phone and i-pod in mine. I usually carry around a gigantic bag, so at least I know everything is in one place, and I don't have to go rooting around for ages.

You can keep your make up in it...


Your pens and pencils...


Keep your jewellery safe when on the move...


Or anything you like really.

Anyway, enough of purses, I'm on a mission to get 300 followers on Twitter. Once I reach 300, there will be a lovely 20% discount for all Tweeters, and a goody bag for one lucky random.

What's in the goody bag?



That's right! A bunny ring, a cupcake necklace, a skull headband and a gold owl brooch.

Generous aren't I?!

So get following, and get tweeting!!

Twitter Lovings

xx

Ring-a-ling-a-ding-dong

Mmmm, summer time means ice cream, and ice cream colours are my fave.

Here are some ice creamy Mexican sugar skull rings to adorn your fingers, which you can buy here for a mere £12.


There are juicy strawberry and cute cupcake rings too:


And you've seen the likkle animal ones before...



Check 'em out here, and dress up yer digits.

Also, don't forget, you can get your own plush severed hand too- only a few left for £10, so get in there quick and buy yours here before the price goes up!

Ice cream lovings

xx