Month: February 2011

Fairysteps Mustardseed Boots


Image © Fairysteps

These little beauties are a pair of custom made Mustardseed boots, handmade by Fairysteps.

I’ve been reading the Fairysteps blog for quite a while now, and every time Ren posts a new pair of shoes I have to keep my fingers crossed that they’re not in my size in order to prevent my bank manager from crying.

To see these boots in all sort of different colourways, you could look at Fairysteps on Flickr… or you could go and visit the Fairysteps Etsy store, and find out what’s in stock in your size!

For those who prefer not to wear leather, there’s a range of vegan shoes in four colours of Lorica suable material.

If the pointy toes aren’t your style (and whyever not?), there are also a gorgeous range of round-toed pumps with bows or ankle straps or flowers or buttons. And if that’s not enough, there are matching bags and little purses in every colour.

Do you think it would be excessive to have one of each?

Still knitting…

Debbie Bliss Andes

I did quite a lot of knitting in the run-up to Christmas, but haven’t been giving myself much time for it lately. I started a new Clapotis last weekend, and yesterday I dashed out to buy some yarn for a new hat.

(I dyed my hair bright red last week, and I thought a little hat might be a good idea, so I don’t startle everyone at work too much.)

I decided on Bree by Britanny Wilson, which is a plain-ish skullcap. It has a purl rib every nine stitches, and a pretty little bow. Hopefully it should sit neatly on the back of my head, and just let a little bit of red hair poke through at the front.

The yarn is Andes, by Debbie Bliss. I’ve been gently fondling this every time I’ve walked past it in John Lewis, waiting for the right pattern to come along. It’s made from 65% baby alpaca and 35% mulberry silk, and it’s incredibly soft and lovely. Two skeins was enough for the hat, so I snapped them up and brought them home.

The photo above was taken after knitting about half of the first skein.

I must admit that I’ve had problems with dye leaking out of black yarns before (I’m looking at you, Colinette), but this is ridiculous! I’m not even sure if I want to finish knitting the hat. I put a lot of effort into dyeing my hair pillarbox red, and whilst I am knitting the hat to cover it up, I don’t want it to be dyed black at the same time!

Also, as I commented on Facebook last night, I could not have more fluff up my nose if I’d stuck my face in a baby alpaca. This yarn sheds like mad. I’m sure it’ll turn into a lovely soft halo when I’ve blocked the hat and started to wear it, but this yarn is definitely going onto the “never again” pile.

Repeating Patterns

Back in April 2009 I made a pair of trousers using Vogue pattern 8367. (Now out of print.)

In October 2009 I went looking for a jacket pattern, and came across one which included a pair of trousers that I liked. The pattern was Vogue 8604, which looked remarkably similar to Vogue 8367.

Today I went searching for a pattern for high-waisted trousers, which is something I do fairly often, and came across the one above – Vogue 8717.

Is it just me, or are all these trousers actually exactly the same pattern?

Perhaps I should take a hint – stop looking for new trouser patterns and just make another pair from the one I’ve already got!

Lithuanian Felted Slippers

Aren’t these felted slippers absolutely magical? If I accidentally found my way through the back of a wardrobe and ended up in a mythical land where it was always winter and never Christmas, these are exactly what I’d want to keep my feet warm while I was there.

They’re hand made in Lithunania by ing00te, who sells them on Etsy.

She also has a blog (which is partially translated into English for those of us who can’t read Lithuanian!), and you can see her beautiful pictures on Flickr.

Some of ing00te’s slippers have cork soles, so that you can wear them outside. I love the detail of the little heel on this pair, the way it echoes the felted swirls on top. Just gorgeous!

Now I have to fight the urge to learn how to make felt slippers, because I need another hobby like a hole in the head. But if you don’t want to fight that urge, you can buy polystyrene lasts and all the wool you’ll need from Wingham Wool Work. There are lots of tutorials online to get you started, but this video from Ray Reynolds seems pretty comprehensive.

I’m just going to look through ing00te’s photostream again. So pretty…

Skulls & Roses corset modification

Skulls & Roses corset

Here it is again – the skulls & roses corset that I started to make a few weeks ago. Once I’d finished it I discovered that I’d made a mistake somewhere in the pattern – I ended up with a 4″ gap at the back that I didn’t want.

Emmylou suggested making a central panel for the back of the corset, and having two sets of laces instead of one. I put that together this evening, and this is the result:

Skulls & Roses corset

The corset now fits, it looks fabulous, and I’m thrilled to bits with it!

Conker Shoes

While we were in Totnes, I went to do a little window-shopping. For handmade shoes.

We didn’t find Green Shoes (because it turns out that their workshop’s not actually in Totnes but just outside), but we did find Conker. I tried on a couple of different styles to find out what size I need in Conker shoes (6E), but I couldn’t afford to buy anything. But now I know what size I need I can safely order shoes from the internet, the next time I have enough money in my Shoe Fund.

I also learned that 6E and 6F are the same width but the F has more instep space, which is a very useful thing to know when you have a high instep and wear orthotics.

The round toes and the crepe soles made these little boots (I tried on a lovely nut-brown pair) incredibly light and comfortable. I’ve been coveting these shoes via the internet for years, but now I’ve actually had them on my feet I want a pair (okay, several pairs) more than ever!

Down in Devon

Crow flying across the beach

Last weekend we drove down to Devon, to visit Paul’s family.

We stopped at Paignton seafront, where we played a dancing game on the pier, took lots of photos underneath the pier, and chased a big crow who was trying to break open an enormous shellfish by dropping it on our car! I am full of admiration for the crow for having learnt how to do this, but less impressed that he decided to throw things at our windscreen. Thankfully he didn’t break it, but I do wonder how many tourists return from the beach to find their cars vandalised!

After Paignton we went to Totnes, where we found a proper vintage clothing shop called Revival that almost caused me to go into shock the moment I walked through the door. Paul managed to dissuade me from buying a beautiful red tailcoat, just because the silk lining in the sleeves was completely shattered and the lapels also needed replacing or re-covering. I wasn’t certain how old it was (there was no label), but it was beautifully made. The pad stitching under the lapels was fantastically neat, and there were pockets in the tails, and the buttonholes in the cuffs were all functional. And it still had all of its original buttons!

Damn, I wish I’d bought it.
Mind you, whilst I could have replaced the damaged parts of the jacket, and made the sleeves an inch shorter, I didn’t fancy taking it apart sufficiently to make it short enough in the waist. So I probably would have ended up never wearing it, and eventually selling it on Ebay for less than it would have cost me to buy and restore it. So it’s probably just as well I left it behind.

Probably.

Corthay

I never thought I’d be consumed with desire for a pair of fluorescent orange patent shoes, but oh my goodness look at these! Aren’t they just mouth-wateringly delicious?

These stunning shoes are all by Corthay, a French designer based in Paris.

Pierre Corthay makes bespoke shoes by hand, and also produces a ready to wear collection from his own small factory near Paris. The shoes pictured above are all ready to wear… but sadly you can’t buy them in England. There are stores in several European cities (including Paris, of course!), plus New York, Tokyo and Osaka.

Given that there are no prices listed on the website, I’m guessing that these fall into the “when I win the lottery” category. I think they’re worth it though.

All images © Corthay

Butterick 4731

Butterick 4731, View A

I know I’ve already made one little jacket in this fabric, but when I looked at the whole outfit together on the dressform I wasn’t sure. S, I had a little browse on the internet, dashed down to the fabric shop, bought another pattern and made another jacket. As you do.

This one’s Butterick 4731. It goes with a very smart evening dress, and there’s also a pattern for another little bolero. The body of the jacket’s lined, but I didn’t line the sleeves as I wanted it to be very light. It was really simple to make, just five pieces, and no darts or anything. If I make this again I might actually add a couple of darts into the lower back to make it a little more fitted, but I want to wear this one first and see how easy it is to move in. It only uses just over a metre of fabric, so I think it would be fun to make lots of these in different colours of silk, and use them to liven up a plain outfit.

The unusual shape of the front of this jacket is really flattering, and I think it will show off the shape of the corset much better than the other one. It was a very quick and easy thing to make, and I’m really pleased with it!

Jeffery~West Rochester Timothy

Just over a year ago my friend Patrick introduced me to Jeffery~West, and these were the shoes I began to covet immediately. Unfortunately they were soon discontinued in this colour, and I wasn’t really interested in a black pair.

But thank goodness for Ebay, factory stock clearance and having small (for a man) feet! Thirteen months later, a pair of these beauties turned up in my size, and they’re winging their way to me as I type. Hopefully they’ll arrive next week.

This style, Rochester Timothy, are made on the same lasts as my red crocodile boots, and also made in Italy. Hopefully there’ll be a few days of fine weather when they arrive – I need to make absolutely certain that I wear them on dry pavements for a time or two, to make sure I don’t damage the toes!

Then I just need to find a black or grey suiting fabric with a purple pinstripe, so that I can make a lovely pair of trousers to go with them.