Knicker Elastic Slope Style!

So although our ski trip consisted of primarily white-outs, the snow and cloud all seamlessly merging into one, I did manage to snap away on my i-phone once or twice in the brief sunny interludes! So here is our series of postcards from Meribel:

We snuck off piste for some fun back route adventures, we danced to the beats of La Folie Douce, we cheered on the Meribel ice hockey team and at the end of the day we flopped on to the bed exhausted and just looked at that view!

The Grand Tour

Okay, it's hardly a grand tour - we only have two rooms for starters! But we have been in our flat for coming up to three years, and I love it! It was the first place we have shared together and for that reason I shaIl always treasury the memories we have made here. However, despite the best intentions I know it's far too easy to forget so I am making it my mission to document everything about our little haven called home before we leave.

We live in a cute flat in a Victorian terraced house with high ceilings, bay windows and quirky original features. I shall pop up a few of my favourite photos and thoughts every so often over the next couple of months before we have to pack up our belongings and make a new place home for the next few years.

First up are a couple of vignettes from our living room...

A few things to mention about the little tit-bits we've cobbled together over the years in our living area. The blue chest was inherited from my folks, it was varnished wood before, but I'm afraid I couldn't resist turning into a funky blue colour (sorry to the purists out there, Izzwhizz). I kept the original hardware and I love how it contrasts with the bright blue colour.

The large poster print above the fireplace we picked up in Riva Torbole on Lake Garda, Italy on a family holiday last year. It reminds me of my Grandmother's Italian heritage and her time growing up in Italy. It's massive and it was a real mission finding a red frame big enough to hold it! 

The canvas bag is sort of matching as I picked it up on the same holiday and mostly holds my plethora of magazines these days. On the other side of the fireplace are my prized red cowboy boots. These were a hand me down from a family friend and are my go-to gig footwear (they can take a beating and just keep looking better and better for it!).

The bits and pieces on the mantelpiece are constantly changing. But they are usually a collection of bric and brac I have collected or that hold sentimental value and are nestled in and amongst photos of family and friends that I switch up every now and then. 

p.s. please excuse the monstrosity of a tv, that's all down to Mr Fantastic. And yes, that was the tennis he was watching as I scuttled around him snapping away! My saving grace was the fact that I did a massive tidy-up job in order to get the place looking spic and span for the shots!

DIY fantastic: Feather print vest top

We're back! Ha, I'm sure you didn't even know I was gone! ;) Anyway, we're launching straight back into some new sewing projects over here, no messing around!

First off the starting post is this feather print vest top. I found the fantastic feather print cotton in my local fabric shop and it immediately appealed to the inner cowgirl in me, so in the shopping basket it went! Printed vests are a staple round here, I can't have too many of them! So I pulled out an old fave to use as a pattern and got to work...

What you'll need:

• Some fun fabric, I chose 'Geronimo' a feather print cotton
• Pen and paper to make your pattern (I used newspaper and a felt tip pen. Keeping it real!)
• Needle and thread / sewing machine
• Scissors

The steps:
1. Lay out your existing top on the paper and draw around each component (mine was just the front and back) leaving a 1/2 inch excess for seams etc. Cut this out and you now have your pattern!

2. Pin your pattern over the material - take note of how the print will lie once it's cut and sewn and pin the pattern on accordingly.

3. Cut around your pattern and pin the two pieces together.

4. Sew the two pieces together to create the seams on either side. Then fold over the edges around the neck, arm holes and along the bottom and pin. I folder them over twice, each fold was about 5mm. Then sew along these too.

5. I also added a small dart under the arms, as per the top I was copying. The easiest thing with this is to try it on as you decide on the size and placement of the darts so it fits well

And hey presto you have your finished top!

Travels: Mountains Ahoy!

Apologies for the radio silence over the last week, we have been super busy! I am blogging from the beautiful French Alps, more specifically in Meribel, in the Three Valleys. It is wonderful, such a cute town and resort and the mountains are majestic! The snow is fantastic and plentiful, BUT other than a few hours of glorious sunshine on our first day, it's been constant white-outs. Great for the snow, but not ideal for snapshots! All I've managed to capture so far (on the occasional moments I'm brave enough to whip out my camera in these blizzards) is seas of white with a few odd blurs in the distance!

So, rather than bore you with a page of white photos, I thought I'd pull out a couple of classics from a previous trip to give you a flavour of what's going on down here and what we're hoping to get up to over the rest of the week!

These are genuine 80s onesies that I found when I raided my folks' wardrobe, the real deal and aren't they fabulous?! Admittedly they are only practical on sunny blue skies, technology has come a long way in the last thirty years (wow, that long?!) there was no 'waterproof but breathable' gear back then!

  So wherever you are, in the sun or snow, wishing you a bon ski!! :)

DIY fantastic: Denim pool cue case

What?! You don't have a burning desire for your very own denim pool cue case? Nutters. Okay, okay, I'll square with you, this was a commissioned piece that I made to custom fit Mr Fantastic's very own pool cue. It had to be manly, protective and durable. Given it's coming up to V-day, maybe the man in your life needs something just like this?! But as well as storing your / his prized pool cue it could be customised for any long (ish), thin (ish) articles you need to store or transport in a practical (but stylish) manner! I'm thinking hockey sticks, umbrellas, pogo sticks...it pretty much works with anything!

What you'll need:

• A pair of worn or distressed denim (be practical about the level of distressing, full on holes aren't going to help if your item to transport has small components that could fall out of said holes)
• Needle and thread (or a tough beast of a sewing machine!)
• Cord for the drawstring
• Contrasting material/embellishments as you wish

Steps:

1. Take your worn jeans and cut a section of the jean leg to a good six inches longer than your snooker cue (did I say pool earlier? I wouldn't know the difference!), this is to allow some room for seams and for a drawstring at the top.

2. Then if you want your case to be narrower than the width of the leg (as was the case for the skinny cues) you will need to cut the length of the leg to the desired width - plus an inch for seams.

3. Now's the time to add any embellishments you want. We added the initials BN to pocket in blue and white stripes.

4. Once you are happy with the size of your denim, turn it inside out and fold into two. Pin and sew along two sides - one short side (this will be the base of your case) and one long side (to be the side of the case) leaving the opening at the top.

5. Next, to create the drawstring channel, take a section of your contrasting material and cut a section the same width as the case and about 2-3 inches tall. Sew this onto the top and sew around it twice to create a channel to hold the drawstring. Make two small slits at either end of the seam for your drawstring.

6. Take your cord and attach a safety pin to one end and use this to feed it through the channel you have made. Knot off the ends and hey presto - just pop in your pool cue!