All about the knits

Evening, enjoying your Saturday?

Here's what I've been doing/wearing this week:


Top - Gap, Cardigan - Zara, Jeans - River Island, Boots - Oasis



I've had these boots for ages but they aren't particularly comfortable so they rarely make it out of the wardrobe. I like to think the look like Vivienne Westwood Pirate boots.....

I've also been making toys for my kitten! I tied a few toilet rolls to some string and he loves it!



Thomas and his homemade kitten toy!

 This weekend I went to stay at the De Vere New Place hotel near Wickham. We only paid £39 for our room and found it to be lovely! The accommodation is not in the building below but is in a separate block of apartments. You get free use of the swimming pool and gym, and you can go for a nice walk around the grounds.



De Vere New Place





They also have a treehouse room !

This is what I wore (going for the preppy look...)



Shirt - Crew Clothing, Scarf - Covent Garden Market.

 Today, I did a bit of shopping in Southampton and managed to find some super bargains in Gap. They have an extra 25% off their sale at the moment which means that the slippers, snood and hat below only came to £11!! Bargain.



Fur slippers - Gap




Hat, Snood, Slippers and Jumper - All Gap.

 You might think from this look that I'm heading off to be a Chalet girl.....but actually it's been that cold recently. I just like to be snuggly.....

Make your own tablet/kindle case tutorial

Hiya! I've posted some photos before of my home made tablet cases and here is the simple tutorial behind them! Any questions, drop me an email from the tab at the top.

What you need:
A large square of fabric that won't fray at the edges
Fabric scissors
Cotton thread in colours that blend with your fabric
Wadding or stuffing
A button
Some bias binding (edging for sewing neat edges on fabric)
A small piece of ribbon

Step one:
Cut out 2 pieces of fabric that are twice as long as your tablet/ kindle and leave an edge of about half a centimetre for the seams.
I did this really roughly by laying my tablet on the fabric then folding it over to create double the length. Then I laid this bit of fabric over another bit and cut around it to make two.

You also need to cut out two pieces of wadding (padding) that are slightly smaller than each half of your rectangle. You should end up with the pieces below:

Step two:

Place one fabric rectangle on top of the other, wrong sides facing each other. Fold in half and pin down the longest sides.

Step 3:

Turn it all inside out so you have a lined "pocket".

Step 4:

Fill the inner two "pockets" with your pieces of wadding.

Step 5:

Now you will have a rough seam around the top so it's a good idea to sew on some bias binding. I got mine from Hobby Craft and it comes in all different colours and widths. It is basically like strong ribbon which has be ironed in half so that you can fold it over and edge and sew it on. Pin it in place a little bit at a time and sew VERY NEATLY around it! This is the bit to spend your time on.





Step 6:

Finally, sew a button on the front (being careful to hide your stitches by only going through one layer of fabric.) Add a button hole by folding a piece of ribbon in half and stitching inside.

Put your tablet or kindle in it's new home and enjoy!!



You could also adapt this tutorial to make a case for your glasses or make it smaller for your mobile phone. If you are super clever, you could add a zip to the top!

Enjoy!

SS12 Fashion Trends, Or A Lack Of Trends?

I can't be the only person who has noticed that over the past few years, there have been no new trends to speak of. If you happen to follow fashion by reading Elle magazine (as I do), you might have noticed that a lot of trends are coming back year after year but with a slightly different name.....

Here's an example:

This year, Elle sights one of the trends for spring/ summer 2012 as "Ultragirl." This look is all about pink, sugary colours, and all things frilly and sweet.
Sound familiar? That's because this trend is also known as "romantic" and has appeared several summers in a row for the past few years.

Here's what it looks like:



The "romantic/girly/ultragirl trend"


Funnily enough, if you type "romantic trend" into Google, the suggestions you get inlcude "romantic trend 2009" and "romantic trend 2010"........

Another example:

This season, Elle are calling it "Mash Up", last season it was "Tribal" and the year before that it was "Ethnic."
What this basically involves is looking like you have been travelling all summer and have bought clothes from every country and then have worn them all at once, in one outfit!

It looks something like this:



The "ethnic/tribal/mash up trend"


And then there is the old classic "Nautical" which comes around literally every year in that awkward gap between winter and spring when no one knows what they should be buying. This blue, red and white trend has also been disquised as "Americana" in the past....but with some stars thrown in.

I actually quite like "Nautical" so I don't mind it cropping up once a year!



The "Nautical/ Americana" trend.

So there you have it. 3 top trends to try out this year! But let's face it, you probably already have elements of this already in your wardrobe. I'll be digging out my Primark lace dress and red, rope trim shoes for another year. (I never got on board with Tribal....)

Winter blues

Afternoon.
So, I've been in a bit of a grump recently. Almost everything is annoying me or stressing me out....time to read some "Don't Sweat The Small Stuff" I think! Having a cute, little kitten to cuddle definitely helps too! Did I mention that when we took "Coco" to the vets we found out that she is actually a "he" ? So now we have renamed him Thomas. Or Tom Cat as I like to call him!

Anywayz, here's a quick run down of what I have been wearing the last few days...

The jumper is the one I got in the Topshop sale. Everything else has been in my wardrobe for a while!

Right, I'm off now for a cup of tea. And maybe a nap.

HaPpY NeW YeAr!!!

Well, that's another year done. It was a pretty non-descript year for me. The only note worthy thing that happened was getting pregnant and then no longer being pregnant.....

Many of my friends have got married last year, or got engaged or had babies. I'll be working on all of those things this year :)

Christmas presents and Sale shopping

I thought you might like to know what I got for Christmas and also the bargains I got in the sale!



Nail art pen £6 from Topshop





Batiste and Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Conditioner

My boyfriend got me the skinny jeans above and the hair products. And also a Terrys' Chocolate Orange with popping candy in it. Nom nom!


I took these photos with my new camera - the macro setting
is soo much better than on my old camera!



And now for my sale bargains...





My new duvet cover is Julien MacDonald for Debenhams





I've been going to the gym a lot recently so I decided to
invest in some new scales...



Wearing my new skinnies and jumper - and my Missoni for Specsavers glasses!

So, what do you think? I've spent quite a bit over the last few days but I'm chuffed with the things I got! And just to round off this post, I have another picture of my lovely kitten, Coco.

Happy New Year Everyone !