A few new bits and bobs

Tea & Vintage

I went to visit Catherine in her Studio on Wednesday and was delighted by the treasure trove of vintage clothing and accessories that she has to offer. There’s a beautiful summer dress and a nice vintage print skirt that I am going to go back for. She says on her flyer that her prices are reasonable and it’s true, both the dress and the skirt are under £20 each (the dress alone would easily have been over £60 at the pretentious Hammersmith vintage fair).

Over a cup of tea I showed her my accessories designs ( flower brooches, fabric bead necklaces, petal necklaces and picture buttons)

and we had a good chat about the prospect of collaborating with each other and with other local designers. She also gave me a bagful of vintage scarves and other fabrics to play with,

it was really good to talk to her as she has given me some ideas to develop my designs and also gave me a positive feeling about trying to develop my own business and also a vintage/craft/fashion collaborative in Southampton. She was also kind enough to let me leave some of my postcards there for her customers to pick up.

Catherine is holding a sale at her studios in September and she has invited me along to sell my accessories. I’m excited about this as there is a much more direct and hands-on approach when you can talk to potential customers face to face rather than over the internet. She is also planning to hold a Christmas vintage/crafts fair somewhere in Southampton and hopefully I will be invited back for that.

I also bought a badge-it badge making machine off Ebay so the picture buttons are soon to become picture badges. yip yip

xxCandy

Iron Fist

Awesome, My Iron Fist starter pack arrived today, I have two new t-shirts with typically cool Iron Fist prints on them, they fit well and are made of nice, high quality jersey so I think these are gonna be worn, and borrowed, a lot.
Also got a pile of stickers which are very soon to be adorning everything I own.

Still hankering after those Iron Fist shoes, one day they will be mine.....

Cheers Iron Fist

xx
Candy

Stationery and Vintage

Having seen how amazing Anna looked in her maxi dress I have printed the pattern and made some myself. I think I might remake the black and white one with a patterned top section to wear to a wedding reception in a couple of weeks. I altered the pattern slightly to include a back on the green and yellow one which I wore to London on Thursday for a trip to the bodyworlds exhibition and the Blur gig in Hyde Park. The blue one is made out of some amazing African Bird Print fabric and was for Sarah for her holiday. These are now available in our etsy shop

For the last couple of weeks I have been working on improving our stationery. I redrew the logo and then used this to make our business cards, I also designed some postcards to distribute at cafe's and bars, I'm still working on the design of the 'e' letter for the middle of these but they are nearly ready. My lovely hairdresser Guilaume, has also said that I can drop some of the postcards off at his salon. I have also updated our clothes label so everything matches which makes it all look a lot more professional. I'm really happy with how these have turned out.

Last night I went to see my friend Siobhan's work at the cut to the chase exhibition at the bargate monument gallery. I love Siobhan's work cos it reminds me of reading all the ridiculous stories in my favourite magazine - pick me up!

I took along some of my flower brooches to give to Ali for his two daughters, while I had them laid out on the floor for him to pick the ones he thought they would like, a lovely lady called Catherine approached me. Catherine has a studio in Queens Terrace from which she sells vintage clothing under the name Hepwrights. She said she often gets vintage frocks with awesome prints that have unfortunatley been loved a bit too much and have big rips or stain that make them unsellable, we are going to meet soon to discuss the possibility of me reclaiming this fabric for use in my flower brooches or indeed to reinvent the item into a wearble piece again. I quickly printed up a card to present the flowers on (as seen above). and hopefully Catherine will have them for sale in her shop/studio soon. Oh how I love fortuitious meetings and vintage stuff.

xxCandy

LDN

On Sunday I dressed up in my new dress that I made on Saturday and B and I drove up to London to meet Anna and have a wander around. Anna looked resplendent in her great maxi dress but I'll let her tell you about that. First off we met with Joss and went to the Hammersmith vintage fair, it was a fiver to get in but if you fill in a form when you arrive they will send you free tickets to the next one and then if you go to that and fill in the form they will send you tickets to the next one and so on, the woman at the door was saying that she knew someone who had been coming for years and years off the back of one ticket! It's held every 5 to 6 weeks at Hammersmith Town hall.
It was a treasure trove of colourful printed dresses, appliques, vintage patterns and costume and bakelite jewellery. It was all rather lovely especially some of the printed neck scarves (£35) and a stunning cherry brooch (£85) . I didn't think the prices were quite justified but not wanting to go away empty handed I did snap up these rather fetching earrings for a fiver...After some lunch and an ice-cream we jumped on the tube where I released a book and saw it immediatley picked up by a pretty lady. We headed to the Art Car Boot Fair(ACBF) in Brick Lane to meet Anna's boyfriend Jr. Brick Lane was crazy busy and the ACBF had a very arty, carnivally, anything goes vibe. Jr was selling some printed canvas bags with jelly moulds and jelly inside which complemented his show Backwash which was held at Gallery Primo Alonso. There was some live music which was mostly being ignored and tons of weird and wonderful stalls to visit (including a cloakroom for you to leave your emotional baggage) and loads of objet d'art for sale. Again, some of the prices were not justified, there was no way I was going to pay £60 for a store bought t-shirt that some "artist" had drawn a barnet on, I could do that myself for a fiver. I did however come across some awesome buttons that had been made by artist Hayley Bates. There were 4 little button noses or two big ones for £4 so I got a couple of sets of the little ones.... no idea what for yet but I couldn't resist them. Then it was back on the bus to Streatham and back in the car for the journey home.

Thanks AJ, Jr, Joss and B for a lovely day out.

xxCandy

We love Short Shorts

I finished and mailed Jaclyns dress at the end of last week. Jacyln opted for the black butterfly fabric for the drapes in the back which looked really nice. I have made this dress for 4 different clients now (hmmm...one trick pony??)

Making my Leather B.AdoubleG was great fun. I made a sample first which was part of a birthday gift for my mate Sally. I then made up the real deal, I rounded the bottom of the bag and added a 4 inch strip through the middle to make the whole thing a bit wider and more accessible. And who would have guessed it, I substituted the Amy Butler print that I was going to use as the lining for the skulls and flowers fabric that I have clearly become obsessed with (I’m half expecting my family and friends to stage an intervention). The little brass feet I used are very cute and I have added an internal pocket with a zip to hold all that extra bag junk, this bag was featured in the Best of Section on Burdastyle.com last month. Anna’s promised to show me a magical part of London where I can get some leather skins fairly cheaply so I might come up with a few more bag designs. This Bagg is now available in our Etsy shop.

I’ve made my grey linen trousers. They are modelled on the Thai Fishermen’s style Pants that I wear for yoga so they are loose, wide and baggy. I’ve made them more suitable for everyday wear by making them a bit longer, adding a jet pocket and having poppers as the fastenings instead of ties. They are super comfortable and easy to make.

I’ve also made some cute little shorts

(yes, the trim is in flowers and skulls fabric)

and I finally got round to making a shirt for my brother(yes the collar stand and under collar are in flowers and skulls fabric).

I found the same flowers and skulls fabric in a darker colour which is just as awesome as the original cream one. I am now ready to crack on with my shirt alterations (yes, I’m going to be making it out of two different colours of flowers and skulls fabric), I am inspired to do the collar in a Vivienne Westwood/ Rick Owens style.

In other news I got some Polaroid film for my old camera. Although they are a little bit redundant in this “digital” age there’s definitely something very charming about a Polaroid picture. I want to do a shoot on Polaroid film with my Yohji Jacket, Fabric Necklace, Linen Yoga trousers, Short Shorts, Flowers and Skulls Shirt and Leather B.A.DoubleG perhaps in some yoga poses……

My dress for Matt and Carly’s wedding (17th July) is nearly ready. I’ll show you all when it’s done. I think my brother wants a white shirt for this wedding as well.

I also released my first book into the wild last week. If you like treasure hunts, reading and FREE books then check out www.bookcrossing.com

xxCandy

Butterflies in an Iron Fist

I have got my third customer!! Jacyln from Minnesota. She wants my open back butterfly dress which is cool. I have found the same butterfly fabric in a black colourway so I have offered her the choice am awaiting her response so that I can buy the fabrics and get cracking with the dress this weekend.
Joy of Joys, I have been accepted as a “Street Team” member for Iron Fist. I first found the Fist whilst searching for shoes on Ebay... (as I am known to do every now and then). I went straight to their website at www.IronFist.tv and discovered that not only do they do great heels but that they are are a wicked-cool men and womens clothing brand. If you have not seen their designs then hot foot it over to their website to check out their stuff which is ‘Made with love for a heartless world’! I'm mad for their crazy prints, especially love their spring summer 2009 genocide heels.....

......and their heels with robots destroying the city on them (also available as a polka dotty t-shirt). Acccording to Jen from Iron Fist my "street team" start-up kit will be sent this week. I look forward to promoting such a cool company, I hope to mingle some of their garments and shoes in with my everythingforever photoshoots and I look forward to seeing what treasures I shall receive.

A lot of my listings on Etsy expired this week so I am having a cabinet reshuffle and am going to update the shop, I’m not going to relist a lot of the stuff that hasn’t had much interest and I am going to add some fresh new items on there so ch-ch-ch-check it out. www.everythingforever.etsy.com

Peace Out
xxCandy

Actions and Re-Actions

My 1st customer, Katie from Seattle, has given feedback for her dress, she says: “EverythingForEver made this dress for me in exactly my size. Candy is amazing! I want to wear it everywhere. Thank You!”

Anna took all the measurements for me for my 2nd customer, Christine. I posted a rough toile to her which Anna then fitted for adjustments. I went up to London on Saturday and fitted Christine's 2^nd toile. It went well and only a few tweaks were needed to perfect the pattern. I got the dress finished over the weekend (with moral support from AJ) for Christine to wear to the May Ball on Thursday and her response was also very positive “Thanks so much for the dress, I truly love it.” It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

From then on it was all about making stuff for me……

I first made this jacket a few years ago in black wool and wore it everywhere. It is a Yohji Yamamoto pattern and is available to download for FREE from Show Studio. (http://www.showstudio.com/projects/ddl_yamamoto/gallery.html)

It’s a bit of a challenge to construct as it’s made of 2 large unusual pattern pieces with very minimal instructions. (The first time I made it I made a mini maquette first and took a long time looking at the photos to figure out the construction). I made it again recently in a grey linen (bought from London at the weekend).

The difference with this one is that I wanted to line it, I found this beauty at Fabricland

and decided to use it for the lining. It is more floral and girly than I would usually go for but I love the edgy subtle addition of the skulls in the print. I have lined the jacket in such a way as to make it reversible.

I have enough flowers and skulls fabric leftover to make a shirt. I’m going to use the Liz pattern from Burdastyle as the starting point cos I like the style of the armholes (http://www.burdastyle.com/patterns/show/1137). I like working with drapes and layers so I’m going to incorporate this into the re-design of the collar. I also have enough of the grey linen left to make some trousers to go with it.

I got my leather hides, leather needles, magnetic snaps and brass feet through last week (all from Ebay) and found a cool Amy Butler Print cotton to line it with, the leather in particular is spectacular.

It’s everything I need to knock together this clever little bag (http://needled.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/tk.pdf) with a little pattern alteration to accommodate the little brass feet. I haven’t worked with leather for a while so I’m expecting to have to be slooooooow and patient.

Photoshoot is on the cards…..

Xx

Candy

The Bank Holiday weekend was awesome, 4 days of sewing and watching Project Catwalk ( the UK version is even better than the US version but alas, there is no Heidi Klum.) When I finished watching series 3 I was left wanting more so I backtracked to series 2 and was pleasantly surprised to discover that a guy that I used to go to Uni with was one of the contestants! Brave Boy....It's not a show I'd want to go on, each episode is like "OK we want you to make an amazing outfit in 10 hours with nothing but this sack and you will be filmed throughout the whole ordeal and then slagged off mercilessly by Julien McDonald" No Ta!

The African fabric projects all turned out pretty well and I also made the high waisted black skirt to go with the green shirt(as pictured). I'm pretty happy with the necklace too although I've got alterations I am going to implement for the next one. I'm currently working on an African fabric dress that has the dimensions and allure of a bed sheet at the moment but will look great when I've finished.


















I've received my 2nd order, it's for another draped back dress but this one is with a fitted pencil skirt and a rounded neckline. My customer is in London so I've made up the pattern and put together a quick toile and have sent it to AJ to fit to the customer before I make the real thing, she wants it for a ball on the 7th May. It's going to be in Black Silk Dupion with a Parasol print cotton in the drape.

xxCandy

Its penut butter and jelly time!

I love days off, long breakfasts, filling myself up on strong coffee and making my merry way to the studio.

Right now i also love streatham(trust me its taken a bit of time) 

      and so does she!

I have just been given a HUGE bag of leather its full of lovely goodies looks like its handbag time! I bought some lovely handles from a weird little shop near london fields ages ago. Full of good intentions they have sat in my studio unloved so with my new gift its time to set this show on the road! cant wait to show you the results hoping they look SICK! 

Candy showed you hers so i thought i would show you mine......well now i have sorted it out a bit. Showing your studio to anyone is like showing them your

 room, you only want to do it when its good and ready! well i am halfway there bought some more bits over the weekend i will show when its all done!

 

And last but not least, introducing, the peanut butter jelly dress 

hope you like it!

Have a sweet easter

love ya 

Anna x

Hopes and Plans

Woop Woop, My first Etsy order for the dress is finished and looks good. I mailed it last Saturday in time for my customer to wear for her wedding dinner rehearsal at the end of April. I’m more nervous now than when I was actually making it, she should receive it tomorrow or early next week and I really hope it fits her well and that she loves it. If she sends any pictures of her wearing it I will be sure to post them here.


I made a mustard yellow corduroy bean bag cover last weekend (mmmmm!) I'm planning a Bank Holiday weekend of working with my African print fabrics that I bought last summer (and shockingly have done nothing with yet). Shirts, Skirts, Dresses and Necklaces are all gonna get the funky African print treatment...

I was given a DVD with a few episodes of Project Runway on last week and I immediatley became hooked. I thought I’d just watch one episode at a time but ended up watching all 4 that were on the disc and immediatley made B dowload the last two episodes so that I could watch them too. Heidi Klum cracks me up…

XxCandy

Burda Feat.Candy

I have been selected as a featured member on my favourite open source sewing forum Burdastyle.com... ch-ch-ch-check me out at: http://www.burdastyle.com/blog?filter=85

We now seem to be spinning a tangled web on the internet with our Blog linking to our Facebook group which links to our Etsy shop which links to our Blog which links to Burdastyle which links to Etsy etc etc...
Watch this space (and all the others) for more exciting updates coming soon....

Candy

Just Say the Word, Stu-stu-studio

My spare room has transformed from just “a room with a sewing machine in it” to my Studio. I got the B-boy to put up a notice board and a shelf for me (the sturdiest straightest shelf I have ever witnessed!) and I have cleared out and organised my fabric stash. I also did my good deed for the week by freecycling a whole bunch of fabric scraps (check out www.freecycle.org it’s a brilliant web group for passing on and getting unwanted goods in your local area and preventing large amounts of usable items ending up as landfill, check it out, other people get rid of all sorts of cool stuff).
I got my dress form through from ebay (recommended seller: donangelicom) and also my 275m roll of pattern cutting paper (from www.morplan.co.uk).
There’s still room for improvement in the studio as I am currently doing all my pattern drafting on a big bit of wood on the floor (which makes for pretty creaky knees) so I would still like to set up a proper work surface and there are still some other things on my wish list (especially a full length mirror and some non-flowery curtains). Last month a humungous IKEA opened here in Southampton so I guess this would be a good excuse to go and have a look and check out their fabrics and eat some meatballs.
Xx
Candy