What I Wore...#5

Several days late with this post! NaNoWriMo has been far too much of a distraction...plus Wednesday night is when Kirstie's Handmade Britain is on (anyone else watch that?) so for an hour every Wednesday night I am glue to the television! Actually this Wednesday I was writing and watching Kirstie, so whilst my novel characters were faced with peril I was giggling at Kirstie's flower arranging mishap. Awesome show :)

But rambling aside, here are some outfits.
I was really lazy with dressing this week. Again starting with my favourite outfit.

Wednesday 9th November
Vest top (worn underneath): Jack Wills (hand-me-down from sister #1)
Jumper: Happit
Jeggings: George at Asda

The jumper from Happit was originally from Dorothy Perkins, I think (Happit sold their own goods but also sold ex stock from other shops). It's lovely and soft, and the perfect length for my taste! I bought one in grey, too, and looking back wish I'd bought more since they were only £4 each!


Moving on, here's the rest of the week:

Tutorial: Doily Phone Case

Following my doily display head, here comes another doily craft!

I wanted to make something useful, and since I upgraded my phone not too long ago, I needed a new phone cover! There are many available in the shops, but most fit permanently onto the phone--all I wanted was a little pouch to protect it when I'm carrying it in my bag or pocket.

This was simple to put together, so read on for a suits-all-phones tutorial!

Time needed: approx. 20-30 mins (excluding glue-drying time; longer if you screw up like I did first time around!)

You’ll need:

Your phone

Fabric

Lining

Interfacing

Doily (or doilies)

Fabric glue

Sewing machine

1. Fold the interfacing in half and put your phone on top (fold at the bottom). Cut around it, leaving a couple of centimetres around the edge.
I cut two layers of sew-in interfacing since the fabric I chose was quite thin, and I didn’t have suitable iron-on interfacing!

2. Cut the same shape out of the fabric and lining. Iron the interfacing to the fabric if using the iron-on type.

3. Fold the fabric and interfacing around the phone, fabric on the inside, and pin up either side, leaving enough space to slide the phone out easily.

4. Sew the place you pinned and trim down the seams. Turn the case around the right way.

5. Decide the placement for the doily and glue on, following the instructions on the glue. I had to leave mine to dry for 30 minutes, which gave ample time to move on to the lining...

6. Follow steps 3-4 for the lining, but leave the little pouch with the seams on the outside rather than turning it the ‘right’ way.

7. Once the glue has dried on the outside of the case, slip the lining inside and fold over the top of the outer and lining inside. Pin down evenly.

8. This is the point where I bodged up multiple times! I had to unpick stitching so often that I almost had to start all over again! Sew along the top of the case to finish. Due to my bodge-job, I did two lines of stitching, but I think it looks okay!

My phone is nicely snug in its new case :) Now I can sling it in my bag and not worry about scratching up the screen. Whilst I use a screen protector and a plastic case, I feel it’s much better protected in a pouch.

What kind of phone do you guys use? Do you use a protective case, or do you keep the phone as it came out of the box? 

I made a sunglasses case to match this case; check back soon to see it!

Photography Challenge Week #16

I am so late with this one! Since the beginning of the month, I've been deeply engrossed in writing for NaNoWriMo and kind of forgot everything else. On the plus side, I've probably lost a few pounds from the junk food I've been too busy to eat ;)

Anyway, the theme for week 16 at the photography challenge over at A Step in the Journey was something you made.

Here's my shot, which doubles up as a teaser for the next tutorial I'll be posting!

Phone case

I don't have anything constructive to say about this week! There were plenty of things I could have photographed but some have already made an appearance here and others would have taken a lot of effort to unpack and set up for photographing. 

So you get a sneaky peek at my phone case instead :)

Will probably post the tutorial a little later. The 'What I Wore' post that was missing on Wednesday will probably go up tomorrow...provided that novel doesn't take over my life again!

Display Case and Assemblage

Okay so this is something I’ve wanted to share for a while, but with so many other little projects going on, this one got pushed back again and again. Luckily it’s turned into a handy little post to fall back on whilst I’m up to my eyeballs with volunteering and writing for NaNoWriMo. (I only wrote 2,000 words today, which is appalling compared to the first few days!)

So! A few weeks ago I yielded this awesome display case from a local charity shop, for the princely sum of £1.50. I took it home, intending to fill it with Stuff:

At first, I decided to opt for a natural, autumnal look. I braved the breeze and headed out into the back garden to grab what bits and pieces nature had to offer.

I also threw in some beads and cord, and some pine cones and conkers that I’d picked up on the way home.

And I ended up with this:

I opted not to use the feather or the green beads for this one. Neither quite fit: the feather didn’t match the ‘flora’ theme and the green beads were too bright. The green from the tree would go brown over time and still fit in with the rest of the contents.

Or would have done, had I not decided I didn’t like it enough and turfed it all out again!

Next I came up with this one, which I think is my favourite:

For this I used all the old cottons and scissors from the vintage sewing box I blogged about a while ago, along with some cardboard reels of cotton from a pound shop sewing kit.

Didn’t realise until editing the pictures that one of the thimbles slipped out of place...

Anyway. Again(!) I had the urge to switch everything around. I was really doing a lot of playing about with this case. Back in school I loved when we did an ‘assemblage’ project and remembering this I became desperate to make lots of little displays!

Here’s the final one I made, using a ‘metallics’ theme:

This display was probably the most fun, since I got to throw in lots of interesting objects I had floating around! 

I may end up staining the wood a darker colour, since I think dark wood gives more of a ‘cabinet of curiosities’ feel, which is what I’m after!

For now, here is one final assemblage I put together. It lies beyond this box…

Just a plain old cigarette box, bought from a charity shop, right?

Open the lid, and you have this:

This happened of its own accord really! I’d been planning to use the box for assemblage and had been keeping things in it that I’d use. I began to line up the little bottles and the corks, then threw in some tiny crystals. Suddenly my little box had a jewelled beach-like theme! For good measure, I filled the clear bottle with more crystals.

Putting together a neat-looking display in a case or box is easy. It’s basically home décor on a tiny scale! So long as you take into account colour, size, shape and theme, you’re all good!

I haven’t decided upon a permanent theme for the display case yet. Since I don’t have my own mantel to decorate, the case might become my answer to that! 

Now over to you. What do you think is integral to creating an interesting and eye-catching display? 
Do you have a particular way you like to display things?

Linking up along with all the creative people at the link parties listed in the side bar! :)

Photography Challenge Week #15

Just a quick little post this week, since NaNoWriMo is calling!

The theme for week 15 of the photography challenge at A Step in the Journey was your shoes.

I love shoes, and was looking forward to the theme, filled with ideas...then I forgot all about it until this morning, when Laura Beth's reminder email popped up in my inbox. Oops.

Anyway. 'Let's get some shoes. Let's party.'

Sorry, couldn't help the Kelly quote!

What I Wore... #4

Eek, okay, so I nearly forgot about this today!

Aside from a couple of lazy days, I think I did well this week. I broke out some old clothes that I'd previously customised or made, and also wore some of the jewellery I've posted tutes for in the past!

As a change from the past couple of weeks, I'm going to put my favourite outfit of the week first.

Of course, me being me, that would be what I wore on Halloween...

Monday 31st October
Jacket: Can't remember
Shirt: New Look
Jabot: Handmade
Corset: Corsets Boulevard on ebay (cheap but excellent quality)
Skirt: Ebay
Boots: Pleaser
Earrings: H&M, customised
Rings: Octopus/MK One/random shop in Looe

No closeup of the rings because I forgot. I love this skirt, because it's so unusual--obviously handmade. It's a little big on me so I don't wear it often. What's super about this skirt is that the eyes glow in the dark!


The rest of the week I'll put in chronological order. Here comes another outfit I quite like, though the picture isn't that good ):

Animal Hood

So yesterday evening, I heard about the 'Pinterest Challenge' over at Young House Love. (I read about it on A Step  in the Journey, a blog totally worth following!) The idea is basically to stop just pinning stuff and actually make some.

After popping over and reading about it, I thought, 'Awesome idea, I should participate!'

Then I realised when the creators of the challenge were posting the fruits of their labour, and the link party: today.

'Eek!' went I. But I'd already decided to do it. I trawled all the lovely things I've pinned in search of something I can make in a day. And I refound this, which I pinned just recently:

Source: greeneggsnhamm.blogspot.com via Kei on Pinterest

(I don't know why that source link won't centre. Blogger doesn't like me right now.)

I love the original, the moment I saw it I thought, "I have to make one!" (or two or three...). Then I did that naughty thing: I pinned it and did nothing.

Cue today, I abandoned all thought of NaNoWriMo, dragged out some fabrics and got sewing!
So here is mine:

This was a great stash-busting project as I was able to break into some of my huge collection of fabrics! I've had the fake fur for years--I bought it from Trago Mills whilst on holiday and (since it was cheap) bought rather a lot. I don't even remember why I thought I'd need that much; so far it's made two furry claw scarves, the above hood, some cat ear hair clips and been used to customise a jumper. And there's still some left! The gingham was originally destined to be a skirt or dress, but I never got around to making it, and the vinyl is leftover from a costume.

I had a few issues with the pockets! They ended up pretty deep...which is okay for me, since I have long fingers and long arms, and like to bury my hands right inside pockets :)

Wish I'd heard of the Pinterest Challenge sooner, it would have been fun to get more crafts done!

Anyway. The lovely people that came up with the challenge have made some fantastic stuff. Check out their posts here:
Young House Love
Bower Power
Ana White
House of Earnest


Now I suppose I should get on with NaNoWriMo...