Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Friday, 9 February 2018

Fabulous Frocks - The Little Black Dress

I've got 3 makes that need photographing, a pile of ironing to do and I need to put some more music on my Ipod before I take the train to Birmingham next week. 

But instead I'm sat on the sofa watching Derry Girls and drinking hot chocolate. 

So instead of doing something productive I thought I'd show you the book I got for Xmas!


This the the Fabulous Frocks Little Black Dress Book by Dolin Bliss O'Shea. I got it for Christmas from one of our best friends. He got me this and a picture book that documents the life of Coco Chanel.


The books comes with full sized patterns which you have to trace and each pattern comes with a variation. So for example the one above is the regular Liza Minelli version but the variation is for a long sleeved version which looks a lot like DVF.


The Audrey Hepburn dress above is my absolute favourite, in fact I've already made this dress [minus the bows because they just looked a bit daft on me] and the variation. Both of which need photographing! but if you head over to my instagram you can see a sneak peek.


This Joan Crawford might be the next one that I make!


I love this Coco Chanel dress but I;m not sure It would suit me, or if I'd even wear it a lot. 

All in all I'd say this book was an excellent Xmas present and I'm chuffed to bits with it. The sizing seems to be pretty spot on, I measured as a size small and both of my dresses fit properly with minimal alterations. 

So this book is worth a buy if you want to make some iconic frocks!

Hopefully I'll pull my finger out and get some outfit pictures done soon!

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

Wednesday, 24 January 2018

Cross Stitch Bookmark


I'm slowly working my way through blogging all of my pre Xmas projects. I did a lot of hand sewing before Christmas because, well, I'd tidied up and stuff hadn't I? And the last thing I wanted was extra cleaning and hoovering to do! 


I brought a cross stitch bookmark kit from my local charity shop for about £1. I thought it was complete but when I got home I found that whilst the needle, threads, Aida and sticky back plastic were there the instructions with the cross stitch pattern on were missing. 

WOOPS! Serves me right for not checking in the shop properly.


Now a normal person might have tried to find the pattern online or tried to work out the pattern from the picture on the front. But me? I decided to throw caution to the wind and just enjoy myself! 

It reminded me a lot of when we did cross stitch at primary school and we just did rows and rows of different stitches I found it very relaxing. 

[Also cross stitch lessons were just about the only part of school that I vividly remember enjoying. My neighbour Audrey used to come in once a week and teach us and I always really enjoyed it, mainly because she babysat me too so I'd already had cross stitch lessons and was pretty much allowed to do what I wanted!]


So yeah there's a lot of random stitches and pattern and really no rhyme or reason. Then after I was done all I had to do was put it between the sheets of sticky back plastic and I was done.

But I had an absolute mare trying to get the plastic to actually stay stuck around the cross stitch.


So in the end I covered it with a tea towel and ironed it, which made the plastic stick together and made my kitchen smell like a meth lab. Not that I'm 100% sure what a meth lab actually smells like..... but it was a vile smell.  


I read jaws before Christmas which shows how old this project is and I think I've read maybe 5? Books since then? My aim for this year is to read 50 books and so far I'm on number 6? I think? I'm reading bleak house by Charles Dickens at the moment [And simultaneously Harry Potter 1 for book club with my sister] I'm enjoying bleak house more than I thought I would. I've never read a Dickens book before and I was worried it might be a bit "dry". 

But if anyone does have any book recommendations please let me know! My tastes are pretty board! As you can see from this post! 

Much Love 

Frankie 

xxx

Thursday, 28 September 2017

10 Books I'd Recommend Reading

Okay so I know its a bit of a jump from my usual posts but we're all friends here right!? And if I saw you every day I'd be talking your ears off about what books I've been reading lately!

Plus a few of you said you'd like some recommendations and lets be honest with winter coming there is nothing better than snuggling up with a good book and a glass of wine!



Okay so when the telly series came out I couldn't stop talking about this book, and believe me when I say, IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE! Its also a huge wake up call for how things can happen in the government without regular people knowing! 



If your like a bit of drama and mystery and a killer twist then this book is for you! And not only does it get the Frankie seal of approval but my Mum and Sister loved it too!


The Pink Suit by [Kelby, Nicole Mary]

I've mentioned this book before but it documents the making of a "pink suit" for the "first lady" of the united states, and she happens to be wearing the suit when her "husband dies" [coughs,, Jackie O] Its a lovely story very easy to read with some great descriptions of how they made the suit!



Its a huge step away from Jk Rowlings usual subject matter of witches and Wizards but boy is it good! It focuses on the election for a local council seat and how it affects the people standing for it and those around them! She writes the characters so brilliantly that I was hooked from beginning to end! Its also very funny!



Set during the reign of Henry the 8th the books tells the story of Anne Boleyn's sister "the other Boleyn girl" Its a great book if your a bit of a history nerd like me! But a word of advice? Don't watch the film its naff!



This is another book about sewing! It's a dark comedy about a girl coming home as a successful seamstress and taking revenge on a whole town! The film of this isn't actually too awful once you get past the age difference between Kate Winslet and Liam Hemsworth.



This book is pretty dark and kind of heart breaking, but its beautifully written to say it deals with such a sad subject matter. It tells the story of a young girl who's just been murdered and now watches her family and how they try and cope with the aftermath WARNING: You may need tissues!



Its a book about chocolate what more can I say? Its a great story about a lady coming to town and winning them over with chocolate! BUT it will make you hungry definitely keep a bar or two of chocolate next to you reading this! 
p.s DEFINITELY watch the film!!!! Johnny Depp plays a lovable rogue and he is just all kinds of sexy!!!!!!! 



If you love fashion then this is a great book for giving you some insight into how the industry works! Its also funny and heartwarming! [The book is far better than the film!] To be honest I think its the book that made me realise I wouldn't be able to cut it in the fashion industry!



This is by far one of my favourite books ever and makes me cry like a baby every dammed time! [So embarrassing when your on a long haul flight to America!!!] The book is all about how people actions have consequences and how not everything is always what it seems! The film has James McAvoy in it and I think he's a bit yummy so I;m biased but its a pretty decent film, Its got nowt on the book but James McAvoy is shirtless at one point so ya know every cloud! 


In other news:

Life's a bit crap at the moment, hence the slightly random post. One of our friends sadly passed away this week and its come as quite the shock and I think we are all still dealing with it. I don't really want to put too much because I'll just start crying again but he was a long time friend and a lovely bloke. 

Its made me really sad and I just sort of want to sit and be for a bit before I try and get back to "normal" not that I can see their ever being a proper "normal"again. 

Much Love 

Frankie 






Saturday, 17 June 2017

Striped Dress

One day I'll stop posting princess seam dresses made using the pattern form the GBSB book. But today is not that day.

I know I know, at this point I'm even boring myself! But seriously how CUTE is this dress!

So yes the pattern is the princess seam bodice and box pleat skirt from the second GBSB book, but as per usual I've added a waistband in.

You can find this dress in other fabrics here, here, here.


It all started with this striped cotton that I was given by the lady at the car boot. At a guess I'd say there was about a metre and a half? If that? I had to do some proper tetris cutting to get all of the pieces out of it. 


The waistband is some mesh type fabric that the lady also gave me, I made sure to press the seam allowances on the skirt and bodice away from the mesh as its slightly see through. The neck and armholes are faced and then top stitched in place. The zip is recycled from one of lil mans old hoodies but it does means I have to put the dress over my head rather than step into it.


There was no way I was going to be able to match my seams due to the shortage of fabric so I just did my best to keep the lines straight. 

It was a super quick make I think it maybe took an evening? I even hemmed it by machine to save time, I did opt to use one of the fancy looking stitches on my machine though instead of using a plain straight stitch and I've got to say I quite like the effect.


All in all I love this dress! Its super cute and flirty for the summer, although I do wonder if its a bit short? I wore it to my mums over me made may and she mentioned that she could see my bum at one point and not to bend at the waist when putting Lil man in his car seat. Looking at these pictures it doesn't look too short? So maybe I just need to be more ladylike in general???

in other news!!

: good god its hot! I spent more of the day with a rather attractive pink sweaty tinge to my face!

: My sister sent me a copy of "the handmaidens tale" by Margret Attwood! Basically since the series started on channel four me and my sister have been having weekly discussions about the episodes and stuff [we even tweeted Attwood to ask a question but she didn't reply :( ], anyways I had asked to borrow her copy of the book when she had finished re reading it and well she only went and got me one of my own! I've already started reading it and have brought a stack on post its so I can make notes! Shes my favourite person to discuss books with and its like sitting in my English lit classes all over again! 

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

P.S Happy Fathers day to all the days out there! The biological ones, the step ones, the adopted ones and the mums who are doing the jobs of fathers! 

xx 







Friday, 11 December 2015

Christmas gift Ideas

I love gift idea lifts so here's some of my personal favourite perfect for the stitcher in your life!

Sewing Book, Sewing Gifts, Notebook Journal, Handmade Journal, Custom Notebooks, Vintage Sewing, Inspirational Gifts, Gifts For Sewers, Book

sewing + stationary = heart eyes

£7.99

Fabric Addict market Bag, Canvas Cotton Tote, Quote shopping bag, gift for sewer reusable cotton Grocery Bag, Eco friendly fabric bag
what with the new 5p carrier bag charge every sewer should have a bag to carry their new fabric purchases in! 

 £11.99

Gold Sewing Machine Necklace - Seamstress Jewelry - Gift For Sewer - Birthstone Necklace

This sewing necklace is a personal favourite of mine! I wonder if they do one of these in silver becuase it would be a perfect personal touch for my wedding!

£17.65

Teacup Pincushion,Repurposed Teacup Pincushion,Teacup With Roses,Christmas Gift For Sewer,Sewing Room Decor

This is just too pretty to words! An adorable teacup pincushion

£10.20


the Mystery sewing box from offset warehouse is hands down one of the coolest things I've ever seen! and as a bonus its a surprise!! I'm actually really hoping I get one of these or that I get some Christmas spends because I'm so curious about what's in them! [and I promise if I do I'll post a lil review!!] 

£14.99

Sock Love Monkeys Craft Kit

sock love monkeys craft kit, because its monkeys and stuff!

£15.00


this book by sewing bee runner up Chinelo Bally has already had some great reviews which is why freehand fashion is one my wishlist!

£13.60

So Santa I've been a really good girl!!!

Frankie

xx