Shiny New Stuff! Woohoo!

Received an exciting package in the post this morning, full of lovely fabrics from the US! I giggled and bounced on the doorstep, but was already running late for work, so had to take them with me and open the package on the bus. Luckily there weren't too many people this morning...

I have some with daisys, some with ladybugs, some with bees and some amazing Alice in Wonderland fabric. And a ton of other stuff too. Eeek!

This is one of my favourites...

Can't wait to make it in to a little hat, it's gonna be so cute :)

I also have a shiny new printer, purchased by the boy, and access to Photoshop and Illustrator, which means I can sort out some lovely pictures and open an Etsy store, woohoo!

Watch this space...

I Have Been Doing Stuff, Honest Guv...

I really have. Yeah yeah I hear you scoff, but I so have, I've just been too busy to write about it. My actual job, the one that pays for my expensive creative type thingies has been a bit mental, as the boss has been preparing to go on holiday, which always results in manicness (hmmm, suspect that's not a real word...) I am making a real effort to leave at 4:30pm though, rather than thinking oh I'll just call that client/sort out that file/deal with those documents and ending up staying for another couple of hours. I think I'm still trying to get used to a job that lets you leave in the middle of the afternoon!

Anyway, I have been making loads and loads of hats, having acquired a lovely glass head as my new substitute hat block and I'm actually really happy with most of them, specially the little nautical inspired ones. I will take photos over the long weekend and post them soon...

Also, I wore one of my new creations out the other weekend and was stopped on the tube by a group of girls who said it was fab and asked where I got it. Now, this is where I should have been super confident and handed them a business card, pointing them to the website from which they could purchase, but (a) I have no business cards, (b) I have not yet set up a web shop and (c) I am rubbish, specially at any kind of self-promotion, so I just mumbled something about "thanks I made it" then ran away. Arrrrggggghhhh! Sometimes, I wish I were American...

I Made a Shiny Thing!

Yep, tis true. For the first time in three years I actually sat down and made something out of metal. Woohoo!

I had been feeling a bit despondent about the whole thing, as I realised that all of the designs that look amazing in my head need to be made out of silver clay. Now, I've never sculpted anything in my life, I just figured, you know, how hard can it be right? Turns out, quite hard. I thought I'd have a bash with some Fimo clay first, rather than starting off with the silver clay. So, I happily sit with my block of clay and attempt to sculpt a 15mm high Marie Antionette figure. I officially suck at sculpting. It looks like a frog and I squash it in a fit of pique.

The boy did suggest that perhaps 10 minutes was not really enough time to master the art of miniature sculpture and maybe I should start with something a bit simpler than an 18th century queen, but what does he know, right?

Anyway, I thought I'd have a go at a rollerskate next, as that's the first thing I need to make for my derby charm bracelet idea. My first attempt did make me giggle, if nothing else.

Tada!
Okay, yeah, I really do suck at sculpting :)

I had another couple of goes at just the boot part, as I'm going to be making the plate and wheels from sheet silver and tube anyhow, rather than sculpting them, and it kind of got a bit better as I went along. Not much though...

Had a bash at sculpting some cupcakes as well, which didn't turn out too awful after the first little squashed disaster...

Well I wasn't really getting anywhere with the Fimo, so I decided to set myself a target of at least starting Jennie a derby charm bracelet for her birthday by making a little nameplate charm. Her derby name is Dr Feral, but everyone calls her Fez, so I figured I'd just make a little Fez nameplate in the same font style as her team's (the Suffrajets) logo, which looks like this:
It actually turned out okay, seeing as I'm pretty rusty, although there are a billion things I'd do differently if I started over, as there are imperfections that annoy me about it, but here it is:

And I didn't break a single saw blade :)

So, onwards and upwards then I guess. I need to get back to the sculpting practice, finish the skate and design some more derby-style charms.

I'm off to set deadlines and make a plan...

Cocktail Hat - Take 2

Okay, the hat thing... So yeah, I thought about it for a while and decided I'd try something different.

I pretty much stuck with the previous instructions for the buckram, as that seemed to work okay, it was when I covered it with fabric that things went slightly awry.

So, as the base wasn't curved enough for my liking and went all flat and wonky, this time, I tried cutting through the buckram circle from centre to outside edge and pulling the edges together to make a slight cone shape. I then stitched along the join to secure. Like so:

Yay, it worked!

I then make a similar cut into the felt material and stitched it in the same way down the join and also stitched it to the edge of the buckram to make a solid base to attach the finishing fabric.

I used the same principal as before, cutting my fabric a half inch bigger than the base and stitching at the back to hold in place. I then placed a circle of black satin on the back to cover the stitching and bound the edges with ribbon. Which went a whole lot better once I realised I'd threaded my sewing machine like a retard.

I failed to take pictures of all the stages, as I needed to finish the hat in a hurry for my friend Jennie's birthday party, but.... drum roll please.... this is how it turned out:

And the back:
All in all, it didn't look too bad, so long as you didn't look to closely. The bits I buggered up, I think I know how to fix for the next one. Woohoo! I made a hat :)

In other making things news, I also made some cupcakes for Jennie's birthday party. Which was also Valentines day, hence the hearts.

Yeah yeah, I know, I'm supposed to be a jeweller and stuff and here I am faffing about making hats and cupcakes. But stick with me, I promise something shiny really really soon...

Sweatshopbytiq/Kawaii Parlor - Beware this Seller! AKA Royalteababy...

Ugh. Had the most awful experience of Etsy ever so I thought I'd do a little review. I attempted to purchase an Alice in Wonderland corset, kinda gothic/pirate striped top from Etsy seller Sweatshopbytiq in May last year. She eventually sent me one 4 sizes too big, even after I gave her my measurements, then told me to return it to her (at my own expense, even though it was her error) and she's still not sent me a replacement, won't provide a refund and ignores all my emails. I'll get round to typing up the whole story at some point, but basically she is a liar and a thief, so if you're ever thinking of buying anything from this seller, I would strongly advise don't. Just don't.

It just makes me sad that people have no conscience and are happy to rip you off. Sigh... Oh well, I hope karma gets her, someone steals all her money and she is left bankrupt and destitute!

Edit:

Please see updated post here to find out how it all turned out and for lots more info from a ton of other people ripped off by this girl http://weloveshinythings.blogspot.com/2009/05/sweatshopbytiq-update.html

How to Make a Cocktail Hat. Or, How Not to Make a Cocktail Hat...

We'll see how it turns out :)

Having googled the making of hats, I've sort of picked bits out of a few sets of instructions and combined them to see what happens...

Instruction 1. Buy hat block

Well, instant fail on that one, as they're £150. I know, I think, I'll use a mixing bowl instead, that's kind of head shaped, right...? Turns out, not so much. In fact, a mixing bowl is a very poor substitute indeed for a hat block. Remember that. Having wandered round my house looking for something head shaped, I have a sudden brainwave. Roller derby crash helmet! Well, at least it's the right shape...


Instruction 2. Acquire buckram fabric. Steam over kettle, having removed lid first to prevent it switching itself off automatically.

Aha! That I can do! Well, kinda. Please don't fill up the kettle right to the top, or you'll end up with boiling water flinging itself in your direction. Fact.

So, after tipping half the water out the kettle, I managed to steam the buckram with only occasional squeaks of pain as I put my fingers too close to the steam.

Instruction the third. Cover hat block with cling film. Pull buckram taut over hat block and secure at the bottom with elastic band. Steam each corner in turn and pull down firmly until no bumps are visible.

Doesn't sound too hard right? Well, the difficulties of pulling the elastic band down over the crash helmet (erm, sorry...hat block...) so it doesn't ping back in your face aside, it's rather a challenge to steam corners over a kettle. Aha, I think, I'll use a steam iron to direct targeted jets at the corners. Brainwave! Having consulted the boy on how one uses an iron, this actually worked quite well, and eventually I have a buckram covered helmet with minimal lumpage. Go me!

Next instruction: Draw circles using newspaper template onto the buckram, then remove from hat block.

Well, I used a set of compasses instead of newspaper, just because I seem to have about 5 sets of them for some reason, and this bit actually went rather swimmingly, it not being terribly challenging. Removing the buckram from the helmet was more troubling. I suspect it may be easier if you use an actual hat block. Anyway, buckram eventually removed and circles cut out. Tada! Now it gets a bit more tricky...


Next: Affix milinery wire around the edge of the hat base and bind.

Don't want to. Can't make me. Mainly because I want to finish the edges of the hat when I'm finished by putting it through a sewing machine, which may prove a wee bit tricky and detrimental to the machine's health if it has to sew through a bloody great bit of wire. So yes, I'm skipping this step. Oooh, naughty...

And the next one. Cover hat base with a layer of foam to the edges.

Hmmm. Is felt okay? I don't have foam... Well, seeing as I'm now firmly off-piste, instruction-wise, what harm can it do...? So, cut a circle of foam (aha, the trusty compasses again) and place over the hat base. Put in a couple of stitches to tack it in place, the cut another circle of whatever material you want your hat to be an inch or so bigger than the felt. I'm going with black satin. Just because it's there and this is kinda experimental. So, cover the felt tightly with the black satin and affix on the reverse side by pleating the material and hand sewing so you can't see the stitches on the right side.

So, how did that go? A general fail I would say. The hat base warps where I've stitched it and no longer resembles a nice little curve. Hmmmm. That'll be the point of the wire then :) Nevermind, from now on, let's completely wing it...

Next installment soon, once I've regrouped, fed the instructions to next door's cat, and worked out the best way to make it all up as I go along.

Squeal! Snow!

I woke up this morning to a six inch blanket of snow covering everything. I haven't seen snow like this for years! And despite the fact that Britain grinds to a shuddering halt every time we get more than a single snowflake, it was incredibly beautiful. I briefly considered cycling to work, but was glad I thought better of it upon seeing all the stranded, icy people walking with (and falling off) their bicycles whilst I was walking.

I took some pictures with my phone, as I've not really had a go with the little camera on it yet, and they turned out okay actually.

This is the view from my window this morning at my snow covered little garden. It looks much prettier when covered in snow and reminds me that I need to do some serious garden maintenance soon...

Highbury Fields on my way to work. It was such a nice atmosphere walking to the tube station. I had conversations with three random strangers and one small dog, which was most un-London of me.

Highbury Fields again. It ended up taking me way longer to walk to work than it should have done, as I kept stopping to make big stompy snow footprints and take pictures. Seeing as hardly anyone else in my office bothered to even turn up, I didn't feel too bad about dawdling in the end :)

A random lampost...

And a very snowy bicycle.

I walked home through Highbury Fields again, and all the perfect snow of this morning had been turned into snowmen. I wish I'd taken the day off too.

There were all sorts of snow creatures, from the disturbing, above...

To the pretty amazing...

And this one was just plain cute.

Apologies for lack of jewellery making blogging, I have suffered a slight crisis of confidence, more of which later, but tonight I shall try and make a hat...