DIY Fantastic: Fabric flowers

Following on with the celebratory wedding themes, today we have some gorgeous etherial fabric flowers for you. Now I know I've recently got engaged, but I promise I had this post all ready to go way before that was announced!! And although we whipped these these gorgeous fabric flowers up as more decorations for Claire's wedding, they're not just for nuptials, you could use them for any occasion that calls for a few extra petals!

These are the key ingredients we used:

1. A fabric of your choice. We went with a light gauze material in purple, to fit in with Claire's wedding theme. But you could experiment with all sorts of different textures and materials
2. All the usual sewing kit including scissors, pins, needle and thread
3. Cord/string/ribbon for threading the flowers together
4. Mixed buttons or big sequins to decorate

To kick us off I cut out a long narrow shape out of the purple material - I went for about 5 inches wide and about two thirds of a metre long. Again these are very vague, but that's the beauty, you can choose different sizes and lengths depending on the look you're going for.

Then fold the fabric in half length wise, to make an even narrower long strip, and start a running stitch from one end.

As you make your way down the material, start to slowly gather the running stitch as you see fit. The length of the stitches you go for can create different effects - a longer stitch will give 'bigger' waves in the fabric, whereas smaller stitches will give a tighter more wrinkled effect. (Hmm nice!)

You will find that as you gather, the material will slowly start to curl in on itself to create the shape of a flower. See, it basically makes itself!! :)

Arrange the curled layers into a flower shape that you're happy with and then flip them over to sew up from the back. A few long stitches across the back should keep it secure.

Finally, add a cute button in a contrasting colour in the middle of the front and hey presto! I found it was fun to sew them along a pretty coloured cord to almost create a flower garland.

So if like us, you have a tree in your garden that simply refuses to flower, don't sit around waiting for it to bud, just make some instead! Oh and you can add the fairy lights to it too, if you're feeling fancy! ;)

xx

Knicker Elastic Travel Fantastic: New York - Part II

You lot didn't really think I could fit ALL my NYC pics in a single post, right? Too right I couldn't! So, I've collected together a few more of my favourites to share with you below.

Straight to the top of the Rockerfeller for magic hour and the usual spectacular views:

Lunch of oysters and champagne in Grand Central Station, yum! Such a vast array of different types of Oysters, where to start??!

Trying to look like I'm not posing in front of this giant USA flag in Williamsburg!

The Yankees stadium in the Bronx! I LOVE the stripes of the grass. Dad would be drooling with envy if this was the neighbour's lawn!!

More views of New York's unique perspectives. Colourful murals from the high-line above and below the inside and outside the MoMa. 

Central Park cherry blossom and the ubiquitous American flags on each street corner! 

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club gig at Terminal 5

Oh and I have some super duper exciting news! On the last morning of our trip Mr Fantastic-to-be got one step closer to the real deal and proposed!! Here we are looking very excited celebrating with a breakfast of blueberry and bacon pancakes and mimosas! :)

Now I promise not to let wedding prep take over this entire blog, but I'm sure there may be a few decisions that need mulling over and a few bits and bobs here and there that need a diy makeover! :)

Mx

DIY fantastic: Feather birds!

These little fellas are gorgeous, super cute! I helped a friend make them as part of the decorations for her wedding day. It was so lovely to be able to contribute to her big day, even if just in this small way. They were used to decorate the wishing tree, where people could write wishes and messages to the happy couple. But, they could be used for anywhere where a dose of fluffy cuteness is the order of the day!

What I used: 

1. Polystyrene balls in various sizes (small ones for the head and bigger ones for the body!)

2. Feathers in any colour combo you fancy

3. Scissors. I actually found that sharp nail scissors worked the best - sharp and precise!

4. Glue. Be sure it's the sort that doesn't eat up polystyrene - we got through a fair few polystyrene balls before we found one which worked!! :s

5. Beads or sequins for eyes and facial features

(This is what the giant bag of feathers looked like before we sorted them! So much fun!)

Start off with two polystyrene balls, of different sizes. Think about the dimensions you want for your birds at this stage and pick out a body and head that look about the right proportions. Take the scissors and shave off a small section to create a flat surface to glue onto the body. Use a small amount of glue and hold together until they are bonded.

Next I used a small piece of wire and glue it into the base of the body - this is super useful to hold when   we get to the gluing bit!! Once you've decided on your colour combo for your feathered friend, trim your feathers and split into the fluffy bits and the smooth silky feather bits!

I used the fluffy bits on the underside to represent a soft fluffy tummy and then the smoother feathers onto for a sleek look. Starting at the back and working forwards dab a small amount of glue onto the balls and add the feathers bit by bit.

Next find your best big feather for the tail and glue it on to the back letting it arch up and backwards. Now, shake yer tail feather!! ;)

Finally I started using the smooth feathers to cover the top of the body. Work from back to front, covering the area and keeping the feathers in the same direction

Almost there now! To finish this fella off and give it a bit of character I used some sequins as eyes and a pair of triangles of foam to conjure up something along the lines of a beak! This is an area where we can give our creativity completely free reign and see what you can find around the house to put to good use!

These guys look fantastic in all sorts of crazy colours and can be big small, sleek, fluffy, proud, shy, cute, mean or just down right crazy:

Or you can model them on real life birds. Here's Claire (the blushing bride!) making a blue-tit, I'm afraid I didn't have a picture of the final article but rest assured he was fluffy and EPIC!! :)

DIY Fantastic: Lightning bolt t-shirt

Sorry for the radio silence folks, we've been a gallivanting of late,but are back in Blighty (worst luck!), but lucky for your it means more fun-filled diys. All together now...."yipee'! Alright alright, I'll calm down. Please excuse this excessive enthusiasm, I'm just excited to be back on the diy band-wagon! 

So on to today's diy, Ben's lightning bolt tee. After dancing our socks off till the wee hours in Amnesia last summer, Mr Fantastic determined he needed a new clubbing tee. And who am I to deny him this little treat? So rather than spend a small fortune in Amnesia's store, I jumped to it and whipped up this neon little number perfect for popping on before a party night!

These are all the ingredients you need:

The only special ingredient you need is the textile medium fixative that will set the acrylic paint. You should be able to find this in your nearest arts and craft store. The steps for this are truly simple and best of all can be tailored to whatever shape or image you fancy! I opted for a fluro lightning bolt to make this a party tee of the sort that glows under UV lights! :) Once you've decided on your design, then the steps are:

1. Create your desired shape on the front (not being restrictive here, you can do the back too if you wish!!) using the masking tape. I went a bit OTT and used quite a LOT of masking tape as I was worried about the paint running or seeping out, but with the consistency of my paint this didn't seem to happen (bonus!).

2. Then follow the instructions on your textile medium to combine it with your acrylic paint (mine said equal parts of medium to paint) combining colours to get that perfect shade.  

3. Next start filling in your design. Depending on your colour choices it may be handy to do a plain white undercoat, think this would have helped in my case for sure! I wanted the yellow to really pop so I had to put in a few layers to get the desired effect. With the layers I kept them as thin and smooth as possible and allowed a fair few hours between coats. (Does this sounds like a Dulux guide to you?!!) 

4. Allow your final coat to dry thoroughly and then gently peel off your masking tape to reveal your design. I was chuffed with the really clean cut lines I achieved, go masking tape! 

5. And super important the last bit - iron your design thoroughly before letting it anywhere near the washing machine! In fact I'd stick with hand-washing, just to be on the safe side. I ironed it over baking paper and a tea towel to avoid stickage, but make sure it really sets!

Then pop it on and party!

And finally, because you know we can't resist ending on an out-take or a truly ridiculous gif. Plus, this one is just too good not to be shared!

Fabulous darling! :) xx

Knicker Elastic in the Big Apple

Hi guys, sorry for the radio silence. I got abducted by Mr Fantastic and whisked to the other side of the pond for a lovely mini-break! :) New York City was JUST as cool as I'd always imagined. Like a bigger, brighter, badder London...but with friendly people that actually talk to you! :p

As you can imagine I snapped away constantly! Those of you on Instagram (@knickerelasticfantastic) may have seen a few prime peeks already, but as well as those here are my favourites!

Our first view of NYC in the bright light of morning. This was our street in East Village, just perfect!

Straight off we started exploring for a legendary all American breakfast. Maybe the infamous Katz's between the monster trucks?! Apparently the spot where Meg Ryan once got a little overexcited in a certain famous film! ;) Nah, we eschewed this in favour of the tiny Shopsin's in Essex Street Market for their quirky macaroni cheese pancakes, surprisingly yum!

A lovely stroll around Central Park. We grabbed a prezel, hot dog and a GIANT iced coffee and stopped to watch the local softball team kick up a storm in the dirt! You go gals! (p.s. LOVE the pink helmets!)

Skyscrapers through the trees in Central Park! The light was gorgeous everyday. And what a lovely spot for a romantic picnic.....or a snooze!

I was keen to check out Brooklyn flea market and despite a disastrous cab ride all over Williamsburg and ending up further away than we started(!) I'm super glad we made the effort! The stalls was fantastic, full to the the brim with of all sorts of weird and wonderful vintage gear and trinkets. I could have filled 10 suitcases with unique treasures from that place. Too bad we only had hand luggage!! :(

A few more city snaps from the big apple: The Meat Packing district, Mr Fantastic amidst the fast moving crowds in Grand Central Station (...hmmm where to next..?!), skyscrapers and a frenzy of yellow cabs in theatre land.

Nope, too right, I couldn't cut down a whole long day to a mere few frames, so there may indeed be a second instalment to look forward to too...watch this space! :)