Panel skirt

I had an Inset Day today so I had some free time to create something new. I found this skirt on the Topshop website and I love it! However, it's £70, so I decided to make my own version.

I found some old black trousers (as you can see below) and used these as the base of the skirt.

I unpicked the seams so that I could sew the legs together to create a skirt. I also adjusted it to make sure it was the right size.

Then in order to create the panel I created a pattern (using newspaper) and used this to cut out some fabric and to cut it out of the trousers.

I then sewed the fabric onto the trouser fabric and joined the pieces together (as below).

Finally I had to hem the edges and create the panelled effect. The final skirt is below. As always there are many improvements I could have made (I'm a real perfectionist and there's always something I don't like about what I make!) such as the stitching and the panels but I'd say it was a pretty good job for 1/2 a day's work! (and it was free!)

Small clothes

My Dad recently found some of my old baby clothes in the roof. I wanted to share some of them (the photos don't show them in the best light and you can't really tell how small they are - you'll just have to trust me!) because they are so incredibly cute and very stylish! I have to say I was a very fashionable baby! I appear to have had a thing for wooly cardigans and red and tartan dresses in particular. According to my mum, one of the best ways to shut me up was to buy me a new dress (which would probably still work now). What's crazy is I actually wish some of these clothes were big enough to fit me now because I'd definitely wear them - especially the knits and the tartan!

                                                  

My skirt shirt

I haven't done many posts over the past week - it's been quite busy and I haven't had the chance. However, we've just had a big clear out in our house and I've got 2 huge bags of old clothes to use so expect many posts on DIY-ing clothes over the next month or so! My Dad also found some amazing tea cloth fabric (trust me it's really nice!) that I can't wait to use!

Anyway, this is a just a short post. The other day I made this (see below). I used an old linen shirt. Originally my plan was to create a sort of  crop shirt (such as on the picture on my wall), however I managed to make it the wrong size. Luckily I found some lining from the inside of a skirt that I never wear. It was already gathered so I just sewed it to the edge of the shirt. I quite like this, although I currently don't have any clothes to go with it which is annoying.

The wall...

I have a wall in my bedroom where I stick all of my favourite images that I find in magazines (Mainly from Look, Elle, Vogue and Style). I tend to keep my magazines (in date order of course!) because they always come in handy and I often look back through them and find amazing photos and clothes in them. So far on my wall I've only got through some of my magazines so there is plenty more to put on it (I may need to find someowhere else to store them - maybe a book?) but I thought I'd share some of my best photos.

This is my workspace and wall - very messy as you can see. I pride myself on  being a very organised person but keeping things tidy is definitely not my strong point!

Bora Aksu is one of my favourite designers. He's not very well known but his clothes are amazing! Also in this photo is a dress from the Topshop Unique collection which I love.

This is my exhibition pass for London Fashion Week. I was lucky enough to be able to actually go to London Fashion Week and look around the whole of the exhibition section. I was also backstage at the Mark Fast show so I got to see all of the outfits close up (the models were very very tall!). Also, the photo at the bottom is a Zac Posen dress. It's so amazing I can't even put it into words!

I love the main photo in this especially the crop shirt. Also the jacket at the top is brilliant (I love the print).

 I've been scrounging off Style magazines for a while now (they come with the Sunday Times) because I don't have a subscription to any magazines. It's actually really good and it's got designer clothes as well as high street so there is a lot to look at (although I am hoping for Elle/Vogue for Christmas). Below Style you can see a postcard from the Romina Karamenea SS 11 show. This was the first ever proper catwalk show I went to (It was an off-schedule show at London Fashion Week). My mum's friend's friend managed to get me a ticket and we got sit on the front row! It was crazy and we even got free goody bags!

 I love these fashion illustrations. I really wish I could draw and paint as well as this. I definitely want to experiment more with my designs and make them more creative.

 This is an Erdem design. I actually saw this dress in real life at the Ballgown exhibition at the V&A. All of the dresses were incredible!

At the top is a dress by Felicity Brown. I love her designs because they are really well-made and are so textural.

My favourite designer has to be Alexander McQueen (hence the logo). It's likely I'll do a few posts on him in the future. I also really like Jil Sander (as you can see above). I love this paisley pattern and the mixture of colours.

The Princess of China...

I’ve never been a huge fan of Rihanna and her music but I absolutely love her style. Every single outfit she wears is cool, fashionable and trendy. What’s so great is she can play it down in a casual outfit but can also look amazing in a sophisticated ball gown.  Unlike many other celebrities out there, Rihanna always wears the right thing whether it’s a dress or a pair of tracksuit bottoms and I’ve never seen her wear something awful.  These are just a few of my favourite outfits. I was feeling artistic so I drew some illustrations to go with these photos.  (You can click on the photos to view them larger)

 This is an Ellie Saab dress. I love the contrast between the opaque and sheer fabrics.

 Rihanna wore this on the Jonathan Ross show. I really like this style and her hair goes really well with the outfit. You can't see it in this photo but she is wearing a full skirt which I really like.

This is a dress by Marchesa. I really like Marchesa's designs because they are so textural and have so much shape to them, therefore it is no wonder I like this dress. I would love to be able to create dresses as amazing and detailed as this one. I love the cut out shapes.

I wouldn't normally put denim with denim but Rihanna manages to pull it off all of the time.

This a Stella McCartney dress worn to the Autumn/Winter 2012 special presentation. This is such an elegant dress and I love the colour of it.

Who could possibly not like these shoes? I love any type of clothing that's slightly unusual and different and these definitley tick the box!

This is by Jean Paul Gaultier. I love the textural vs sheer parts.

I love this! I really want some denim shorts so that I can stud them. Again denim on denim!

This dress is by Stephane Rolland. I really like his evening dresses because they are really well made, such as the one above. I love the different shapes that this dress creates.