Once I had a love and it was a gas, Soon turned out, had a heart of glass

I started out todays design wanting to do a beautiful eye-catching dress that was completely covered with sequins. However when I began arranging them I felt a cascade of them down the front looked so much more dramatic. Especially against the stark white of the background. I think it's a really good mix between the tackyness of sequins and flashing the flesh, and a classy embellished cocktail dress.

I'm looking forward to the end of this week when we're having our big Jubilee party at school - I will patriotically be sporting my red, white and blue attire. We break up for half term on Friday and I'm off out in Liverpool on Saturday night, then my usual night out in Wigan. Only have an outfit for one so if anyone fancies whipping me up a life size version of this dress then do feel free!
 

My apologies for the reflection of my pesky hand in the photo, I twisted myself into all kinds of shapes to try and avoid it but we're stuck with it I'm afraid!

"Where did the little dancing fairy go?"

This dress started off as a napkin from a meal we had at La Mama's in Standish. I started cutting petal shapes out of it and it turned into this lovely little flower fairy dress. I couldn't resist adding some wings on to finish it off.

The title of this post was said by a lovely soul looking for my good self at Glastonbury the other year. I'd love to go back with this dress on and frollick to my hearts content.

Dancing in the deepest oceans, Twisting in the water, You're just like a dream

Bit of a change from dresses today, brought on by the glorious weather we've enjoyed so far this week. It was officially the first day the kids at school were allowed on the school field! Oh the excitement when the rumour first went round! And it was true! Cut grass! Jumpers as nets! Other cliche misty eyed memories!

And so I got to thinking about holidays. I've got a little one booked for June in Cornwall; we're goig staying in a luxury yurt - v.exciting! I shall optimistically be taking my swimming costume because you just never know. I much prefer 'one-pieces' over bikinis and last year I splashed out on this gorgeous 50's style one and I cannot recommend it enough. It makes you feel completely devoid of any body hang ups and the retro styling is so glamourous, I wish I could wear it all the time! And so I'm thinking of purchasing another vintagey one, inspiring me to design this little number. It's the same shape as the one I've already got, made using some pastel pink polka dot wrapping paper I had lying around. It's got two layers to create a flattering skirted rear and would skim over the wobbliest of wobbly bits.

Warning; these costumes may result in unnerving levels of body confidence. Wear with caution.

Yeah she looks like a painting, Jackson Pollock's number five

I've been a massive Stone Roses fan since first hearing them on a compilation CD 12 years ago. After years of resigning myself to watching their tribute bands they announced their reunion and subsequent gigs in October 2011 and I couldn't believe it. I was really worried and sceptical at first but I was of course first in line for tickets. It's now little more than a month away and I'm excited/nervous in equal amounts.

I've also got to thinking about what to wear for the gig. I've got an old faithful Ian Brown top I may throw on, or I may do something altogether more exciting and try to make my own dress inspired by the band. Their artwork, with it's Jackon Pollock influences, is very recognisable, and I think it would look great on a dress. With this in mind I had a little practice using some old NME's.

I love how the skirt has turned out, but I ummed and ahhed over the top part for a bit. I'm still not sure whether I should have used block colour such as black or dark green instead of cutting up Reni's sleeve from a poster. It's given me some ideas though, so who knows what I'll turn up wearing eh?

Edit: I did end up making a dress, click here to have a look =)

Go ahead put your red dress on

I'm out all day today watching the play offs then the champions league final in Preston, then possibly ending up on a night out in Liverpool. Obviously I've no time for dressmaking so here's a little 'What I Wore Today' post instead.

I bought this 'Chelsea Girl' dress from river island last weekend on a desperate shopping spree for a Cribs gig I was attending. I needed something to go from gig straight to a Manchester night out and it was ideal. Really easy to wear and came with a little red slip underneath it. The navy tights (that probably look black in this post) are from tesco and make a nice change from my usual black opaques The navy suede/leather (fake I presume) shoes were a Primark bargain for £8 and seem to be holding up well. The Lee denim shirt was a gift from Gav that I throw on all the time to finish an outfit.

No matter where I roam, I will return to my English Rose

Today I decided to try and make an actual miniture dress, as if it were for a doll. I've never done anything like this before; proper grown up lady sewing. Stiches and tucks and turning things inside out. So I'm quite pleased with how it's turned out. It's by no means perfect but a good first attempt, giving me some time to get to grips with my needle and thread.

I used an offcut from some Cath Kidston material for the skirt; giving it a whimsical summery feel, and some plain white cotton to set it off nicely. In real life this dress would look lovely with a tulip shaped skirt, but I'm not quite there yet. It would also have armholes that weren't sewn up. Oops.

Nature is a language, Can't you read?

Today I found some alphabet stamps I bought a while ago when I was teaching Reception. I couldn't use them because they used that silly 'a' that children of that age don't recognise/use, so my kids never got to experience the stampy fun I had when creating this dress design! I wonder how else I could put these stamps to use.

This is a simple white skater dress with lilac, forest green and black lettering. I had quite a selection of inks and struggled to come up with a colour scheme but I think this works well. I only realised when making it that the 'skater' part comes from ice skating dresses and their little flirty skirts. I think that's always gone over my head cos I always relate that word to Avril Lavigne and tweeny moshers. I think I like them even more now.

Promotions aint my thing, Name badges are not interesting...

Apprentice Wednesday is becoming one of the major highlights of my week. While watching it tonight I got to thinking about what I would wear in the board room. It would be a little more formal than my usual work wear; with teaching you have to think practical, comfortable, and not be too fussed about paint splashes and various bodily fluids that will end up on there. With this in mind I designed a little dress that I'm sure Lord Sugar would be very impressed with!

With best of British buisness styling in mind, I had to go for pinstripe livened up with mulberry colouring. It's sort of double breasted and a very modest length. On reflection I decided it looked a little like the tunics you see trainee beauticians wearing, so I added some details such as black piping, buttons and a belt.

We all have our own life to pursue; our own kind of dream to be weaving...

Welcome to my new blog! This blog is dedicated to a creative journal I plan on keeping. I have started with a dress design and may continue with these, but I may also wander into other design ideas that I have; we shall just see how it goes!

This was woven using strips of recycled paper using a summery tropical colour palette. I like the tailored shirt shape of the dress and would love one like this to add to my workwear wardrobe.