Wearing My DIY Wedding Head Band

Hello!  I recently shared a photo of a wedding head band (hair band?) I made.  I thought I would take a photo of me wearing it to get a better idea of how it would look.
 I don't know for sure that I'm going to wear it.  There seem to be myriad ways in which it could be worn.  Under the veil; over the veil; on it's own like a hair band or around the forehead.  I don't have the veil in these photos but you can see what it looks like as a hair accessory on it's own.

Here it is as a normal hair band.  I wanted something with a slight vintage feel and I think this chain which I bought from Accessorize has a slight Art Deco look to it.  I added the cream ribbon to it to make it more bridal.

Here it is around my forehead.  I got the idea to wear it like this from looking at bridal accessory websites where a hair band like this was tied around the veil with the veil covering the face.  It looks amazingly ethereal but I'm not sure how practical it would be in reality!
The sun was shining when I was taking these photos so I wanted to take some that captured the bands pretty sparkle in the sunlight.

I love a bit of sparkle.  Are you thinking of making your own wedding accessories?

Till next time :)
Twirlybirdie xxxx

Veil DIY, some craft details

It's time for a veil DIY update!  As I expected now that I have a dress I need to re-do my veil as it isn't exactly the right shade.  I have already bought my ever so subtly differently coloured tulle fabric and I have also collected a few different bits and pieces which I may or may not sew on to it.
I found these pretty lace appliqués in the John Lewis haberdashery section.  There were also some stunning lace fabrics in there I wanted for my veil but they were way too expensive for my budget!

These two are just so delicate and pretty.  The scattered beads sparkle in the sunlight.

I might sew these on either side of the cap.  The other piece I bought was this one.

This piece of lace is gorgeous but a bit more substantial.  This could either go across the top of the cap instead of the more delicate pieces if I want to make more of a statement.  Otherwise I was considering attaching it to the train of the veil.

These appliqués were only between £8-£10 which I thought was a pretty good price.  I'm really undecided at the moment as to how simple or extravagant I want to go with my veil right now, there are so many pretty options!

Wedding belt DIY

Hello!

It is gloriously sunny here at Twirlybirdie headquarters this morning.  It makes a nice change from the heavy cloud we had been having quite a few days of before.  As I am planning on getting married next summer I have been trawling through pictures of pretty dresses and general wedding paraphernalia on-line for ideas.  I really liked some of the pretty wedding belts that I've seen.  They seem to be exactly what's needed to jazz up what would otherwise be a pretty yet plain dress.
I decided that seeing as the belts could be hundreds of pounds I would have a go at making one myself, much like I have been doing for my veil.
This is just an experiment seeing as I have no idea what shade of white or style my dress is actually to be, but I thought if it was successful maybe I could bring it wedding dress shopping with me this summer!
I bought a few bits and pieces from our local fabric shop: white ribbon, beads, and rhinestones.  From a local bead shop I bought some craft glue and a silver pendant I thought would look quite cool.
I decided to make it tie back because you never know how your belly is going to feel on the day!  At first I hadn't bought enough ribbon for it to be able to tie nicely at the back (1m) so I went back and bought 2 metres instead which was plenty.
I decided the pendant needed blinging up so I glued some rhinestones on to it.  Once this had dried I glued it on to the belt.

Gluing on my rhinestones.  It was tricky but made easier with these bead tweezers.  I placed a small dot of glue on the pendant and then placed the stone on top of that.

I then lay the pendant face side down on the ribbon so I could see where the glue needed to be placed on the back of the pendant.  Then I carefully added the glue to the back where it would be touching the ribbon and placed it facing up on the ribbon.

The next day it was sunnier so I took these pictures to make sure the stones would sparkle nicely ;)

I tried it on over my Zara dress.  I'm pleased with it so far.  Now I just have to decide what, if anything I'm going to add to it.  I kind of like it's simplicity even though it's not what I originally had in mind.  I've bought some extra beads to add some more bling but I may try and make a second belt that's more blingy as well.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post!  I had fun making this belt and now I'm tempted to glue rhinestones on to everything!

Shopping for crafty things

Hello there,

how has your week been?  Mine has been busy as I predicted.  There have been a lot of rehearsals and I have been really tired.  I'm excited that it's nearly the weekend though.  I have a show to do and after that a work party to go to which is nice.
Last weekend I did a lot of walking around town and couldn't resist popping in to the fabric store to pick up a few bits and pieces.  As well as making a veil for my wedding I decided I would have a go at making my own sparkly belt.  I saw some on-line and they are so pretty but can be quite expensive so I wanted to have an experiment and see if I could make something I liked.
I bought some white ribbon and found some pretty appliqués in the fabric store which were less than 2 euros each.  I also bought some sequins and a metal brooch to experiment with.  I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do with them yet but I have enough ribbon to make two belts with so I can try different things out.  I also found a delicate sparkly chain which I thought could go on the front of my veil or on the belt and some small lace flowers which I might cover the combs on the veil with.

The little lace flowers were only 6 cents each!  I'm looking forward to doing some experimenting soon, hopefully this weekend.

Twirlybirdie :)

Valentine's Day

This is a late Valentine's Day post but I've been a busy girl at work!

For Valentine's Day this year my boyfriend and I both made each other Valentine's Day cards

 I love simple handmade cards.  Can you tell who's is from whom?

I hope you had a lovely Valentine's Day last week whether you were with someone or single and treated yourself!

I signed my card with some Art Deco lipstick!


xxxxxxxx

New cushion cover

Hello!  For ages I've been wanting to make a cover for an uncovered cushion I bought ages ago.  I fight with my boyfriend over the two cushions on our couch so I decided it was time to get out the sewing machine and make my cushion cute and usable.

I had some blue fabric left over from a dress I made a couple of years ago which was just enough to make the cushion cover with.  I decided I wanted to decorate it with something cute.  I found some left over ribbons in my sewing box so I decided to make some bows in different colours to attach to the front of it.

My cushion was 16 x 16 inches so I made my front piece 17" x 17" to allow for 1/2" seam allowance around all the edges.  I decided to make an envelope design so I made the back piece 24" x 17" so that there would be an overlap when I cut the back piece in half.

Front piece

Back piece cut in half

After cutting the back piece in half so that each back piece now measured 12 x 17 inches, I folded over the cut edge of each back piece twice by 1/2 an inch to make a neat seam. I ironed, pinned and machine stitched the edge closed.

Pinned edge

Stitched edge

Then I made some bows and sewed them by hand to the front  piece of fabric through the centre of the bows.

Bows

Bows stitched to front piece of fabric

Then I put the back and the front pieces right sides together so the two back pieces were overlapping.  Then I stitched it together around the outside edges.

I turned the cover inside out and put the cushion inside it through the opening.

I think it's fun and pretty.  Now I want to make more cushion covers for the cushions that are already on our sofa using maybe buttons or more bows for decoration!

Hope you're having a great day :)

Sunday things

I started my day looking at more digital camera's online.  I found the best deal seemed to be on an Olympus SH-14 that I can get in the sales here at the moment.  I went to look for it at the shop I'd seen it being sold at  online but it turns out I'll have to go to their out of town shop to buy it.  I might make a trip there tomorrow!

I took some photos with my Kodak camera on the way home.  I love the ones of the trees.  I have a thing for trees.

Back at home I cleaned out our kettle using white wine vinegar which works amazingly well.  You just put in a splash of the vinegar with enough water to reach the minimum fill level, boil and voila!  Sparkling clean!  Afterwards I usually pour out the water and boil a couple more loads of water and then pour them out to get rid of the vinegar taste and smell.

I decided to paint a pretty hand held mirror I've had for years which has been looking a bit rough lately.  I painted it pastel pink as I happen to have some lying around.  It certainly looks smarter!

Covered Notebook

I really wanted to a pretty notebook to write all my thoughts and ideas in.  I love the ones you can buy in the shops but didn't want to spend the money so decided to cover one I already owned in some pretty paper I had lying around the house.

I just glued it to the inside of the cover and I am really pleased with the results.  It's pink, my favourite colour and glittery.  Yay!

It goes well with this really cute pink lamp I bought a few years ago.