Pattern reworking on Simplicity 3782-Sizing up

To be 100% honest, I have never made a plus size gown before, the largest gown size I made was a size 12 and I didn't modify it one bit, I'm quite liking this challenge! Muriel is a size 20-22, and the pattern I have only goes up to a 20, which is in places, a few inches taller and a few inches thinner than she is. Obviously made for size 20 models who are closer to 6 feet tall, and not for a petite lady. So I have to do some clever reworking. I want things to be held in, supported, and fitted, and so I have gotten some spiral steel boning in addition to plastic boning I will be using for the bodice. I cut out a mockup of the bodice last night and added extra room for the bust and waist, and also modified the collar a bit so it will be a bit taller, and stand up more. I made a bit of a whoops though, and didn't cut it long enough to accomodate the extra width I added in the back, so I have cut another panel to add to the back of the neck. I am quite liking this challenge, larger size=more fabric which= more room to decorate! Buuut, she wants a fauirly simple gown so far, fitted sleeves with shoulder rolls, single skirt no problem, but not a lot of trim on the bodice. I'll add a touch more on the shoulder rolls :-) The light olive green tone should go beautifully with her olive/golden undertoned skin and dark hair too, I'm so excited! I am mailing out the bodice mockup tomorrow, and then I'll start work on the skirt, sometime tonight, or tomorrow. I am annoyed with the habutae silk as it is a synthetic and therefore tricky to work with. It flows and hangs beautifully but I need to iron it on a low setting. I'm torn as to whether I should starch it to make it stiffer, or sew it while it's all flowy, I may starch it on the skirt, along the pleats to help keep them in place...we shall see.....

I have made this one out of a stiff curtain lining fabric, and will stitch it together today and ship it out to Muriel tomorrow so she can see how it fits. Until then, I have Di's gown which I'll be cutting out the bodice mockup tonight and putting it together as well so I can hopefully ship both tomorrow. I'll then start work on the skirts for both of the gowns and Di's partlet.


Finally! It's 3D!



The Peacock Gown

I have a gorgeous green false silk fabric for the main part of the gown, and a 100% real silk cream coloured sheer fabric for the partlet, and bits of the sleeves. I also have a copper coloured false silk for the sleeves and forepart and stomacher, and I am going to be adding embroidery in green, olive, gold, copper, cream and royal blue, as well as beading in the same colours. I have several designs in the works, here is the first one, The partlet is sheer cream silk with embroidery and beading, the stomacher and forepart embroidered and beaded, I think I'm going to rework the sleeves somehow... 

The fabrics are below... 

Gown for you, gown for me...

I'll be putting some photos up here soon, but for now this post is only going to be text! I went to the fabric shop again today to get more of the satin backed dupion (false silk dupion) in the peachy blush colour, and I decided, on a whim, screw it, I'm going to grab some for a gown for me! So I got some of the same in a copper colour, and in an emerald green colour, and will soon be making myself a STUNNING gown. After I finish everyone else's. I am going to go more ornate with the sleeves and be making a partlet so I grabbed some 100% silk paj, a very fine, soft floaty silk in cream that I'll be using for my gown, my partlet, and for Di's gown, to puff through the slashes in her sleeves. I have been asking my hubby for about a week now to bring the vacuum to the top floor, but he's away for the day now so I guess I'll have to get off my butt and do it. The top floor has bits of faux fur littering it from a velvet pirate frock coat I'm working on, or was working on, and the green habutae and the gold velvet for the two gowns will not really look great covered in what looks like little hairy spider legs. Not to mention it will be a pain to get it off.

For now, I'm off to take a tiny nap, then when my daughter wakes up, a bit of cleaning, vacuuming, then I get to start ironing out the fabrics and laying out the pattern and cutting!

Photos and sketches to come soon....

Gown updates Muriel and Di

Just got in contact with Di, she loves the blush silk so I can use it! I'm so excited, I love that fabric, I'm going to get another metre of it just in case, and some very thin muslin as well for inside the bodice and for the mock-up. She wants sleeves like the ones in this portrait of Isabel de Valois above. I am using a modified Simplicity payttern 3782, and making the pattern that is shown in the red gown on the cover. I have no idea whatsever how to do the longer black part of the sleeves in the portrait as I can honestly not see them very well, so I will be looking at other extant portraits from the period and trying to come up with a similar design. I already have a pattern mockup to try with the sleeves, we'll see how it turns out...

New Gown project DI 1

I have a second gown on order for a lady named Di. She also chose the Queen Mary gown, but wanted it in a fabric that looked like a lovely blush pink colour. Upon arrival, the fabric was a vibrant orange. Yes, not pink, orange. Nothing like the photo. In my entire conversation with the owner of the company, while I described the fabric as pink, pinkish red, and blush coloured, he never once mentioned that it was orange, not pink. He only said it was 'darker' than the photo. I had to return the photo at a loss of £4.70 for their shipping, which they won't refund, and at £7.20 for return shipping. I am not impressed. At ALL. The original photo is this

The colour is closer to this above, only a little more brown. I was definitely NOT happy. Anyways, after that fiasco, she opted for cotton velvet. I managed to find one that set me back about £65 but it is, to me, a pretty light gold/fawn colour, and is fairly thin pile, but soft, easily workable, and pretty. I also found a satin backed silk dupion mix fabric in a slightley darker version of the pink tones in the first fabric, and it is gorgeous! I also found some lovely braid trim in the same colour and some ivory braided trim, as she liked the colours of my white gown in the Mary gown listing on etsy. The gold velvet I found is a bit less yellow than the gold in my gown, but the ivory colour is the same. I still am awaiting confirmation from her to see if she would like to use the silk fabric in the blush pink, which I think would look awesome! But it's her gown, so we'll see!!

The trims, satin backed dupion, and the cotton velvet

Random sketches for decorating with the braid trim. I will be using #3 from above for the bodice, with different sleeves....

New Gown projects! MURIEL 1

This is the first project diary post for a gown for a lady named Muriel. She had ordered my Queen Mary gown from etsy, http://www.etsy.com/listing/64035274/ooak-queen-mary-of-scots-elizabethan-era .
She wanted habutae silk, a false silk made in Japan that apparently looks like real silk. I am a little skeptical about those claims, but the fabric when it arrived turned out to be lovely! It is a lighter-tone olive green, slightly shiny, but not a lot so the gown will still look period, and it is going to be trimmed in gold (non-metallic) braid. I am lining the bodice with some soft khaki cotton muslin, and it will also be stiffened up with several layers of fabric as well and boned to keep her curves in place.

The fabric on the left, is the muslin, which is actually tan, not green. The bluish looking fabric, is actually the green colour that the muslin shows up as in this photo, it's the habutae silk. It's also not as shiny as it looks in this photo. The braid is the only thing that came out looking similar to real life!!

I got 2 metres of the muslin and 8 of the habutae, and finally the pattern, Simplicity 3782 arrived in her size! As it is, I will need to make adjustments to the pattern anyways, but her measurements are a little bigger than her size so I'll have to modify the pattern even more. I am cutting out and pinning the skirt today, as well as making the muslin mockup of the bodice to send to her for fitting before I start chopping up the habutae.

She only wants a little trim and a single skirt so the main challenge in this gown will be fitting it, not adding 'pretties'. More pics to come soon!

The center fabric is the colour I used

I am trying to sketch where I plan to put the boning.....Muriel has more than me in the frontal department and I want it supported, not sagging, for the overall look of the gown and as far as being period-accurate as well, it needs to be supported, and shaped, and dammit, against all odds, I will win. Eventually, I think. lol

New projects, old year

With the year almost out, I have found not one, but two jobs, only one of which I will be keeping after the new year (I hope!) and luckily it is my favourite! I haven't had much time to do any projects because of them though, I am working 6-7 over-full days per week! Finally I have found a little time to set up my etsy shop and one of my gowns in particular has generated quite stir! the Queen Mary of Scots gown, which is a fairly simple one piece gown has had 4 detailed inquiries, one custom order request already made, and a second  and possibly third one on the way! Two gowns are green, one is olive green with tan trim and the other is a light sage green with berry red lining and trim, and the final gown will be red or white so I will be filling my house with festively coloured swathes of fabric soon! I am waiting on a fabric sample to arrive so I can make sure that the fabric I'm getting is the correct colour, then I'm off on gown number one! There will be a few difficulties with this one, first being that I cannot measure the lady myself and have her in for fittings, secondly, I have to alter the pattern possible quite a bit, and third, she does not wear a corset and is on the more voluptuous side, and has chosen a very thin fabric for the gown, and I do NOT want it to sag and look unflattering so I will have to be very creative with extra lining, and some extra boning. Gown number 2 will be a heavier weight twill, and gown number 3, cotton, so the fabrics will be much easier to work with than gown number one, which is being made with false silk. It will be a learning curve for sure, but I'm going to do my damned best!!! I'm using French seams on all the gowns, the bodices will be lined, trim hand sewn, and luckily, the ladies seem mostly content to have me use a hidden zipper...so far...

Random Recipes #1 & 2 Vegetarian Indian Style soup & Rosemary garlic loaf

I just threw this together (as I do with most of my meals) and I love it so much I'm writing it down! It makes a lovely fragrant, tangy and slightly spicy indian tasting soup. You could always add chicken, but the garbanzo beans add protein enough for a veggie meal. I sometimes add kidney beans as they are full of iron as well.
2 cups jasmine rice
3 cubes vegetable stock
6 cups water
4 tbsp basil
8 cardamom pods, crushed
Dash of mild madras curry powder
2 tsp garlic
1/2 chopped white onion
Dash of cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
1 tsp crushed chili pepper
4 tbsp lemon juice (or to taste)
Frozen peas/corn/cubed carrots
1 can garbanzo beans
Olive oil

Fry the onions in the oil until slightly brown, then add the cayenne and chili and cardamom. Add the water, and bring to a boil. Crush the stock cubes and sprinkle in. Taste. Add salt. Taste again. Add the rice and boil, stirring occassionally for 10 minutes so the rice doesn't stick on the bottom. Add the vegetables, basil, garbanzo beans and simmer for a few minutes more. Add lemon to taste and enjoy!

I made some homemade garlic rosemary wholegrain bread and dipped it in this soup, and it was fantastic. For that you'll need
3 cups whole wheat flour
dash of olive oil
4 tbsp dried rosemary
2 tsp garlic powder
4-8 tsp salt (a little more tends to taste better, but do take a nibble of your dough as you can't take the salt out!)
4 tbsp sugar (to feed the yeast)
1 packet of yeast
warm water
1 tsp baking powder (optional)

Mix all dry ingredients together then slowly pour in the water and oil while kneading until it makes a firm, but moldable and smooth lump of dough. Knead for 6-8 minutes, then place in a lightly oiled baking dish and let rise for 30-35 minutes. Bake in an oven at 350F or 180C for 20-30 minutes, or until crust is crisp and browned and a knife/fork/toothpick in the center comes out clean and dry. Let sit for a few minutes before serving with butter. Yummmmmmmm. For a little more fun, you can make a rosemary/garlic tea, and use that as the water as well, or use diced fresh garlic, or fresh rosemary sprigs. A little more salt also usually tastes better.

New projects!

My awesome, colourful tropical fabric...

I've decided to start using French seams and rolled hems to finish my clothing and costumes, up until now, they only looked pretty on the outside!



A bit hard to see, but this is a dress I've almost finished for myself, made from an awesome shawl, and a beaded tapestry accent pillowcase. By far my absolute favourite!!



I need to get a dressmakers dummy...really, this is an awesome, asymetrical neckline dress with a full skirt (almost a full circle) and a cinched in waist. I made the belt in matching fabric per the pattern instructions, but I think a contrasting colour might go better. I've hemmed the armholes and hem with a cool embroidery stitch in the shape of a tulip with my new (old) machine.

I FINALLY have a sewing machine that works, and works well!!! After a scary little bit of incorrect tension (which I managed to fix on my own!!!) and a lot of perusing the manual, I've figured out how to use it! It's an older model Toyota machine with these cabs (plastic gear thingies) that you have to put in the top of the machine to change the stitches. I'ts got straight, zigzag, overlock, buttonhole, reverse and a lot of decorative stitch functions which I'm super happy about! so I've finally finished a 60's style sundress I started, oh, 2 years ago by hand...and I'm nearly done with another dress I made mostly by hand out of a cotton paisley shawl/scarf and a small accent pillowcase.

Almost finished with a dark maroon stretch velvet ghawazee coat, and a little cream cotton nightdress for Lily as well.....
Happy days...

Easy-Peasy Fall Papier Mache Candy Bowl Tutorial- Kid's Crafts

So, I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do with my nearly two year old daughter one evening, and suddenly remembered doing a papier mache project in school. It was simple enough, it was easy, and best of all it was cheap! She and I had a brilliant time, and she made her very own candy bowl in time for Halloween!

For this craft you will need

A small round balloon, or a small bowl as a mold
Vaseline, if using a bowl
Non toxic Glue-Elmers' works great or you can make your own by mixing flour and hot water thoroughly into a paste. I added glitter to ours.
Construction/Craft paper (the rough kids colouring paper) in your choice of colours. Expect to use at least 10 A4/8.5 x 11'' pieces
Another small bowl full of warm water. A wide shallow one works best
A paintbrush to brush on the glue

Step 1 Blow up your balloon, or grease your bowl with vaseline
Step 2 Rip the paper into shreds- my daughters' favourite part!
Step 3 Soak the paper for a few seconds in the warm water
Step 4 Lay the wet paper on your mold and press or smooth to help it mold to the shape. Remember if you are using a bowl to not curve the paper over the rim as you will find it very difficult to get it off after it's dried!! If you are using a balloon, remember to leave a wide hole at the top for the opening of the bowl
Step 5 Paint the paper with your glue, getting all of it
Step 6 Repeat steps 3-5 until you have a coating of paper about 1-2mm thick at minimum.
Step 7 Leave to dry. If using a balloon, wait about 2-4 hours, or until it is just barely damp, but still moldeable and will hold it's shape, then pop the balloon, soak just the bottom, and flatten the bottom on a hard surface (I used a jar to tamp down the bottom on the inside). Add another coating of glue, and let sit until thoroughly dry and hard
Step 8 Trim off any rough edges around the opening, and smooth the outer surface of the bowl (you can gently use a fine sandpaper for this if you want to do it) and glaze with one final coat of clear glue, or clear spray paint, or glittery spray paint and let dry.

Additionally, you can glue on fall fabric leaves, buttons, or other decorations once the bowl has dried! I am going to be making one of these in all orange, and then cutting out a jack-o-lantern face. I will be using the flour glue method as a glaze, and making a wide hole at the top to reduce the flammability factor.

Photo of finished bowl coming soon!

New and Permanent Etsy Shop is Open, and Costumes are in!

Check out my listings here:

Elizabethan Gown
http://www.etsy.com/listing/59400929/ooak-custom-elizabethan-renaissance-gown?ref=v1_other_2
Baby Elizabethan Gown
http://www.etsy.com/listing/59406096/baby-or-toddler-elizabethan-renaissance
Tudor Gown
http://www.etsy.com/listing/59402120/ooak-custom-tudor-renaissance-gown
Italian Renaissance Gown
http://www.etsy.com/listing/59269199/custom-ooak-juliette-italian-renaissance?ref=v1_other_2

New Etsy shop will be up soon! The Enchanted Creatrix

My old Etsy shop under the name AnimaInvicta is being made redundant. All the products currently in there will continue to be for sale, however any new products I make will be under the name EnchantedCreatrix on Etsy. I have decided that Sensual Decadence will continue to be the name of this craft/project blog, and will also be the name of my line of essential oil perfumes and massage oils which I will be relaunching in a few short weeks (on my new Etsy shop of course!
Sensualdecadence.co.uk will soon be the new url for this blog.
The Enchanted Creatrix will be the official business name blanketing all my new creations including the SD line of fragrances, as well as encompassing my potions, wands, costumes, handbags, accessories, jewelry and everything else I make. The reason for this is that not all of my products fit under the name Sensual Decadence. Not all are sensual, like my line of little girl clothes and costumes I'm working on for instance. Not all are exactly decadent, like some of my more shabby chic and country craft themed things (like some decorations I'm working on and some of my natural handmade soaps and bath salts). I'm going for a more natural homemade look for some things. The decadence will still be there in the costumes, clothing and jewelry of course! But the name seemed to fit best the products it was originally designed for, my perfumes.

The Enchanted Creatrix came about as a name (enchantedcreations.com and .co.uk are taken, by those annoying search engine sites) due to inability to get the urls I wanted, and also as a sort of description of me, the one who is creating these objects. I've always lead a bit of an enchanted life, not in the fact that I've had all lovely experiences, by far no! But by the fact that I have magical coincidences and lovely things that are unexplainable happen to me frequently. And it fits better with my faerie wear, wands and potions which I'm making! It is also a bit more catchy, and doesn't put some people off like the 'sensual' part of Sensual Decadence which many people assumed was some sort of sexual product reference. Prudes. But oh well. there is my long winded introduction!

I have 2 emails sensualdecadence@gmail.com and enchantedcreatrix@gmail.com either one will work to get in touch with me. I am just getting two so I can sort out paypal on one and webmaster and seller help and tutorials on the other.

As for other updates, I will be posting Halloweeny blogposts this week. Several in fact. To make up for lost time. The hubby is away on exercise so there's no help with my toddler, and I've been having issues with Ebay and the bank (which cancelled and closed my account, oddly) so I have been too busy to make anything, furthermore, I'm STILL waiting to receive my sewing machines so my hands are tied. Ugh. It's driving me nuts. I did begin to hand sew a little old fashioned cotton nightie for my daughter, and took a few photos. That should be done by the end of the week so I'll be posting a tutorial on how to do that. I used an old white sheet for the fabric, and leftover lace from a $.99 sale. Brilliant. I also learned why it's better to fuse on satin ribbon than to hand sew it, and that I am not very good at doing buttonholes.

Oh, and while my daughter was at the creche last Tuesday, I met up with a local photographer just for fun, and ran around in the woods in some of the gowns I've made and we took some stunning photos, they're the ones you see on this post. I'm waiting for the CD which will have the rest of them, including ones in different outfits. I'm so excited! To see more of Az's work, check out his site at http://www.lemontree-photography.co.uk. He does mostly weddings, but can also be found at http://www.modelmayhem.com/. Really nice guy, very talented, and very creative, it was awesome, I haven't had that much fun at a shoot in years!

Updates on homebrew wine making and other updates

So, I had a tiny taste of my wine the other day and learned something about winemaking.
DO NOT SCRIMP ON MASH! Also known as the fruit and juices which you ferment. I need to go find some oak chips, and some grape juice concentrate now, as my wine, although it smells lovely, tastes like slighty fruity, very fizzy, minutely alcoholic, water. Yes, water. It has only been 3 or so weeks, but it should be darker (it's light pink) and it should taste stronger. So..off to troubleshoot.

I bought 2 sewing machines on ebay, and am waiting for them to arrive. I bought two because after I had bought the first one, I decided to peruse through the sellers feedback, which was 99.6% positive. Unfortunately I discovered that all the negative feedback was from people buying the EXACT SAME SEWING MACHINE as I just had. They had all gotten their money back, so hopefully, I will too, if it doesn't work. I also went online to try and find out how to fix and troubleshoot my own sewing machine, and am kindof regretting selling my old Husqvarna Viking, as I really liked that machine. I hope the guy who bought it takes good care of it, that was my baby! I sold it because I messed up the tension and had no idea what to do. It's a simple and easy fix, but I hadn't a clue. Now I do, and I wish I'd tried to fix it before selling. Oh well. I have two coming in to play with!

I sold a soap! YAY! So, it is just one, but hey, it's one! They picked my coconut one. It's lovely, with coconut milk powder and coconut oil, and pearly white mica powder to make is shimmer just a bit. It smells good enough to eat!

I've also spent the morning doing JW Waterhouse/Pre-Raphaelite style photographs (as in, based off those paintings) in my gowns. They are decadent, scrumptious, divine! But, I only have 2 polaroids to last me a week as the photographer edits them and sends me the disk. Grr. More waiting. It seems like I have to wait for everything this month...

Projects in the works (and waiting for a machine...) are
A light green medieval gown, made without a pattern. Scary. But it's looking like it'll turn out ok.
The ghawazee coats (also waiting for trims)
A dark brown flannel medieval gown (this one should be lovely and warm! And I will be using a pattern...)
Turkish vests
Fringe belts
Satin harem pants
My elven/pirate velvet coat.

And, best of all, I found my camera! So I can now take photos of the projects as I go along for photo diaries of them! Now I just need to round up two working AA batteries...

I'm also working on cleaning the entire house, which is taking me, well, a while. So, I've been busy. But, soon, I will have more tutorials up here! In the next couple days I'll have several potion tutorials, perfect for use in rituals and spells, or as decorations around the house for Halloween/Samhain, and in the next week or so a wand-making tutorial, some cute fall decoration ideas that you and the kids can do, and some recipes for teas/cookies etc. with a fall theme. I'm not going to fall in the Christmas pit that so many do. Christmas prep for me starts the end of November. I like fall too much to cut mine short!

Overlocker Update

Sewland overlockers are crap. Don't buy one. I'm now grumpily going to go to the post office tomorrow, and pay for shipping back, which is obnoxious, I'll lose about £8 that we really can't afford. I'm now looking for a sewing machine that does an overlock stitch.

On a good note, here's the bra I just finished! the coins have been mussed a bit, but they do cover the entire bra no gaps!

WHOOHOO!!! It's here!!

My overlocker that is, now I have to figure out how to use the darned thing....I have a Husqvarna overlocker that I'm still figuring out how to use, and it cuts the fabric as it sews. While this may be a great thing, I don't always use that function. Supposedly my new overlocker has a decorative flatstitch that won't chop the fabric so I may be able to add trims that way...but the manual is like, 5 pages long, so there is't a lot of detail. It is a reltively simple looking machine, it's the Sewland Ultra Compact Overlocker, and I got it for £33 including shipping, on ebay, so, not bad, let's just hope it's value for money....either way, later on tonight, after I've finished the laundry, dishes, and cleaned off my old sewing machine I've just sold for the buyer, I will begin to experiment....mwahahahahahaa. I could possibly getmy ghazee coats done, well, some anyways, I'm still waiting on trims and clasps...

So, before I completely screw everything up, does ANYONE know anything about overlockers??? Cause I don't. I sold my amazingly awesome Husqvarna Viking sewing macine because I messed up the tension and I don't know how to adjust it. Very simple supposedly, but I don't have a clue. Despite taking macine sewing lessons as a girl, I've done the majority of my sewing by hand.

New products listed on Ebay and Etsy, a temporary website and bellydance wear projects in production

So I own sensualdecadence.co.uk. But I have to wait until Nov 18th to transfer it to another registrar so that I can point my domain to yola.com (the site builder I'm using) because the only one supported by the registrar scheme I've got is Google sites, which I would not reccomend to anyone as it's a pain in the arse! So....I guess I'll just have to keep myself busy making pretty things until November...that's when I've tentatively scheduled my first photoshoot anyways, so hopefully... at the moment my temporary site is at http://sensualdecadence.yolasite.com

On a more positive note, I have new stuff added to ebay & etsy!
http://myworld.ebay.com/sensualdecadence-enchantedcreations/

Also, last night, I got a dark blue crushed stretch velvet sleeved ghawazee coat in a size 6-8 ready for embellishment and fastenings, a black stretch velvet sleeveless one in a size 10-12 and a burgundy crushed stretch velvet one in a size 12-14 ready as well. The dark blue one will be finished with light blue and gold braided trim and antique gold buttons, the black one will have possibly gold & red or red & fuschia trimmings and gold fastenings, and the burgundy one will be trimmed in roses, mauves and antique golds. I also have a green bra size 34B I'm working on, trimmed in cowrie shells, possibly copper/gold coins, gold braided trim, pearls and some green gemstone beads!

When I'm finished with those, I'll be working on a gold/ivory brocade Turkish vest, and I might be making it reversible, with red jaqquard on the inside. If this interests you, I can make it custom to your size and even add trims of your choice.

I also have a lightweight (read, danceable!) cobalt blue and scarlet red crushed velvet ready for making ghawazee coats if anyone has any custom requests, or would like more info, please ask!

Also, deep plum purple and light moss green satin is sitting on standby to be made into pantaloons....

Photos to come soon!

Oh, and I got my overlocker! I just need to get a sewing machine now....

New Clothing line about to be launched

I am sick and tired of constantly gawking at all these pretty clothes which  can't afford, but can make. So finally, after much deliberation and procrastination, I am finally getting off my lazy bum, and starting to make some designs. I have an entire sketchbook of my original designs, some traditional ones, and some inspired by others. In case you're curious, I'm going for medieval, elven, faerie, gypsy, steampunk & tribal fusion bellydance styles, which are the kinds of clothing I normally wear, and the kinds I find are the most fun!
I will be making one of a kind pieces mostly like upcycled sweater coats, bellydance bras and belts, patchwork coats and dresses and aything I have made with the fine fabrics I have now, but my basic designs I will be offering as custom orders, things like ghawazee coats, harem pants, wrap pants, pixie hoods, vests, waistcoats,  pixie skirts and tired skirts will be available on order. I already have some lovely models and a photographer ready to shoot, so I'm off to begin sewing. By hand. Because my beloved sewing machine is having issues. Again. Here are some of the things that inspired me, and some clothing similar to that which I'll be making..

As much as it pains me to acknowledge my extremely talented competition, I must. some of the designs above and others which have inspired me are:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/EnlightenedPlatypus?ref=seller_info

http://www.senjoclothing.com

Flip n Tribal Designs

http://www.etsy.com/shop/elvenforestcreations

http://www.etsy.com/shop/IntergalacticApparel?ref=seller_info

and many, many many more!

If you see one of your creations here, PLEASE tell me! I would love to give you credit!!!

On the subject of wands...

Does anyone want to get me this for my birthday? Or Christmas? Because now THIS is a wand I could use!!! I saw this about a month ago and have practically been drooling over it ever since. This is a seriously, awesomely, witchy gadget!

It's called the Kymera Magic Wand, and it is basically a programmable remote control, in the shape of a wand!

It comes with this awesome box, and a sweet little instruction manual in a most unusual shape..

I have yet to see if anyone has bought it, and figured out how to use it...

So totally cool!!!

http://www.thewandcompany.com/

Wands! A Tutorial (sortof) and Project diary

Does everyone remember when the first Harry Potter book came out? I have always had a very vivid imagination and can transport myself into a sort of movie in my head whilst reading books and in the very first Harry Potter book, the scenes that stand out to me most are when Harry and Hagrid are wandering down Diagon Alley, and especially the scene when he goes into Ollivander's. Boxes upon boxes of wands! All sorts! My brain was going crazy imagining the possibilities!

So, just for fun, I made my very own wand, of pine, as I grew up surrounded by pine forests. I carved and I whittled and then I smoothed it down and waxed it to protect it with a pine scented piece of candle and fixed a little crystal point on it with copper wire I ''borrowed'' from my dad's electrical box. And it was beautiful. But now, ten years on, I have no idea what happened to it! So a few months ago I was watching the first Harry Potter movie, and I got inspired again.
I took my daughter out for a walk and happened upon a lovely willow tree, a particular favourite of mine. There had been a storm recently so I searched the ground for a suitable stick, and found one, although it was rather dainty. Back into the house we went and as baby napped, I took a knife, and carved one long spiral up from the bottom of the stick to the top. Then I went in search of copper wire and discovered that I'd mispaced it. Not to be deterred, I found some small tins of gemstone chips and, grabbing the glue, ran back downstairs. I very carefully filled the spiral groove first with glue, then with the tiny gemstone chips. I had a lovely little amethyst point so I wound a thread tightly around it and fixed it firmly to the tip of the wand, and added, yes, more glue. Finally, I let it sit and dry. It was beautiful, but still missing something. So I looked harder for the copper, and, voila! Found it, up went a double coil between the gemstones and around the amethyst! I finally decided to sell it on ebay and someone bought it from me last week! So I think I shall make more....

When I was in Oregon this summer I was walking through some forested areas which had been cut back. I was surrounded by gorgeous maple trees, and decided to forage for wand materials. I was in luck as I found a beautiful and hefty maple branch, the perfect width, and legnth! When I got back, I marched straight into the garage and pulled out the sandpaper. I sanded, and sanded, and sanded, until my hand were hot from the friction and smooth from the tiny grains of sawdust in them. Finally, when I decided it was pretty enough and smooth and just right, I buffed it and decided to carve the word ''Believe'' into the handle, where I had left the bark. I'm not very good at carving, so it looked rather like rough runes, pretty, but not pretty enough.

I decided that having the word there could be beneficial to the overall finished product, so I left it and decided what to do with the wand itself. I had several colours of green paints and so I painstakingly painted curving vines that wound up and around the wand from the top of the handle, complete with little leaves. When it was dry I found some wood varnish, and carefully, layer upon layer varnished the entire wand. When that was dry, I thought it needed a bit more oomph. A very fine mist of copper paint and another layer of varnish did nicely! I didnt want to make this wand too girly, it had a very masculine vibe to it and I decided that simple was good. But it needed a few final touches. I had a lovely green agate stone which I thought would complement the wand nicely, as both maple and agate are supposedly beneficial to travellers. I decided that this was a traveller's wand. the agate was fixed to the top, and I wound some lovely soft dark leather around the base to finish it, and wrapped another piece around the iddle of the handle, over the carved word. The finished project is comfy to hold, and I am sad to see it go as someone has purchased it from me and I will be wrapping it in lovely gold tissue and sending it on its way with my blessing.

Practical Magic Blog Party- My Book of Shadows

Even before Practical Magic came out I have been obsessed with books, particularly spellbooks and old grimoires! I have tried to make one several times in the past, but something always happened, and finally, a few years back I found two amazing hardbound tooled leather books with blank parchment at T.J. Maxx in the US and, contrary to my common sense, I bought them, seeing as they were only $24 each! They are about 9 inches wide, 2 inches thick and about 12 or so inches tall, which makes them a nice large sze, without being too huge (although I do love huge books!). I chose one for a scrapbook of sort, and the other as my Book of Shadows. I wanted to make every page inside perfect, as this is my dream book, so the work on it is going slowly as I really dont want to mess up! Inside I am using calligraphy pens and inks with magickal oils added. From the start of the book I pressed flower petals and herbs inside the book so it smells really lovely! As it stands, it's still a work in progress.....I could of course, buy a replica book of shadows or a massive tome like the one from the movie at places like Lapulia or Brahm's Bookworks...but they cost close to $400!!! Eek! Unemployed mama on a budget here. Check out bookstores like Barnes & Noble and also anywhere that sells leather hardbound journals. You can always paste parchment paper or decoupage over the pages if you don't like what they look like inside...I've seen someone turn a gorgeously bound address book into a beautiful scrapbook like that! For my book of shadows I stuck to the traditional set of stuff, runes, chants, spells, correspondences etc. but for my magickal scrapbook I put in anything that had a profound effect on me, from beautiful fashion images, cutouts from metaphysical magazines, inspirational quotes and stories, news clippings of events I had witnessed and more! The est part of this is that there are no rules. It's your book, make it pretty! And no, it never has to be completely finished. All of my projects are in some stage of transition, being added to, transformed, or completely taken apart and rebuilt.

Closeup of my Book of Shadows. I carved out parts of the leather in the front and put semi precious gemstone chips in them!

The fron title page, still not finished...

Runes and magickal alphabets and the Wiccan Rede, which is a lovely poem, and I had once memorized in it's entirety!

The page on the left has spaces for more pictures, drawings and decorations...well, technically, so does the page on the right, when I find the right artwork!!

This was a gorgeous card which reminded me so much of Herne/Cernunnos/Gwyn the forest and hunter god archetype of the British isles that I had to have it. It's now on my ''Charge of the God'' page

So much space to fill!! Shall I? Or is it beautiful in it's simplicity?

My kitty is obsessed with my quill...

Just waiting for me to write!!! With some of the original rose petals that have been scenting my book for ages!

From here on downwards are photos of my magical scrapbook, which accompanies my book of shadows

Some fun articles from pagan magazines, girly mags etc.

The book on the left is my book of shadows, the right is my lovely scrapbook!

The London tube bombings happened on my 19th birthday while I was on holiday in Spain. Coming to London to stay there for the first time, & by myself two days afterwards was indescribeable. There was a mixture of fear, anger, greif, shock, and amazingly, comraderie as people began to pull together through a shared horror and help each other.

Well said. Brilliant quote, beautiful clothes!

I found this poem by my sister in a pile of old papers. It's sad, eloquent, and brutally honest to what she was feeling at the time. I find it incredibly moving.

I love the dove chocolate wrappers, inside they have these lovely little quotes, some of them are delightfully wicked! There are also love notes from my only missed boyfriend, a photo of an old friend of mine, a dirtbiker who was the first person ever to get me to drink beer!

My first ever ticker to the Tower of London where I met my husband. I only had to buy the ticket because I couldn't find him and wasn't well connected enough yet to get in free without him! There is also my Louvre ticket, and my first ever business attempt banner that I made when a friend and I went to the local farers market with all my soaps and lotions on a little red wagon and sold my goods, without a permit. We were kicked out after a few hours, but it was fun!!!

A poem a friend of mine wrote me in 8th grade? When I was still very shy, erdy and geeky. I kept it on my bathroommirror for nearly 2 years, just to remind myelf that some people did like me!!

A cool clipping of when Rosie O'Donnell married her girlfriend and my 5 foot long receipt from the Ghiardelli's Chocolate Heaven in San Fransisco. Which is the reason I should NEVER be allowed in a chocolate shop drunk, with a wad of cash. The total was narly $300.

My student card from my school in Paris, my daughter's first ultrasound photo, and a ticket to the Erotic Museum