Fashion Fix: How to update a white shirt with mermaid style scallop shell beading

compilation courtesy of The Guardian

Sarah Burton at McQueen, Armani, Versace, Givenchy and Paco Rabanne have all paid homage to the briny sea nymph and now Lady Gaga has taken to leaving the house with little more than a scallop shell to cover her modesty, i think we can safely say the mermaid look is here for now. I've never forgotten the beautiful scallop shell design that covered Marion Cottillard's Jean Paul Gaultier gown the night she won best actress oscar. The scallop shape is undeniably associated with the female form, but if you're not planning on sticking them onto your bikini and reclining on a rock, here's a slightly more subtle way to 'do' the mermaid.

I gathered my pearlescent beads and scallop shell pieces from a lucky combination of broken necklaces. However, specifically shaped beads are very easy to come by at your local beading, crafting shop.

You will need:

• Assorted broken jewellery
• Needle and white thread

How to do it:

1. Arrange your beads around the collar and cuffs of your shirt
2. Hand-stitch in place.

This is the kind of project that might appeal to a Bride looking for a crisp, contemporary alternative. It is also an opportunity to reuse 'something old' into 'something new'!

Fashion Fix: How to make a Neon Toile Tote Bag

When I come back down to earth and can't use Handbags from Heaven's amazing designer handbag hire service, I need a bang on trend bag idea to tide me over.

This project is for all the fabric that you gather over the years but never know what to do with it all. What better way to showcase your favourite prints than with a simple tote. 

Buying fabric is an expensive business these days, yet this project uses less than a metre of fabric and it is so simple that you don't run the risk of ruining a favourite fabric by going wrong.

I was looking for an alternative tote project, and loved the idea of juxtaposing classical parisian toile with a punchy neon stencil effect.

You will need:

• 1 metre of mid to heavy weight cotton fabric
• sewing machine with complimentary thread
• dressmaking pins
• dressmaking scissors
• neon spray paint
• stencil
• iron
• stencil
• paper and masking tape to mask when spraying

How to do it:

1. Cut two 45cm  tall by 35cm wide panels from the fabric. Make sure the pattern is going the correct direction on both panels. Decide how long you would like your straps, would you like to be able to sling it over your shoulder? if so cut longer strips 6 cm wide.
2. fold the long edges of the strip into the middle and then fold once again hiding all the raw edges. Press and top stitch down either side of the strip. 
3. Repeat for the other strip
4. lay out your bag pieces wrong side up. fold down the top edge of your bag 1cm and press. then fold down 2cm to cover the raw edge. Machine a top stitch in place.
5. Pin the handle pieces to the top  edge of the wrong side of each panel 10 cm from the sides. 
6. machine in place.
7. place the two bag pieces right sides together and pin around the three sides.
8. machine a running stitch, take the pins out.
9. trim the corners,  turn right side out and press.
10. place your stencil in the desired area and mask off the rest of the bag. 
11. In a well ventilated area (and if under 18 with the help of an adult) spray your stencil.
12. Peel away with care almost immediately and leave to dry.

Use bright contrasting threads for your top stitching

Fashion Fix: How to embellish a collar: dark beauty beads and gems

Photos Luxo and Fashion Spot

Embellished collars have been adorning our necks for a few years now. They are a brilliant quick and simple Fashion Fix to update a shirt, or detached entirely they become a statement necklace.

I fancied piling on the gems with this collar and turn it into a bold piece of jewelry, perfect to update your Little Black Dress.

General How to:

Cut or unpick the collar off a shirt. If you are recycling an old shirt and need to make the collar smaller to fit your neck, sew a seam down the centre back and trim away any excess. You may want to decorate this seam with some trim to hide any raw edges.  

Sequined

Using All Purpose Glue and the head of a pin, randomly glue sequins, beads, small buttons and gems onto the collar points working your way along till you are happy with the shape. Replace the button with a pretty gem.

Like this? Why dont you try...

Studded

Buy screw in studs from a haberdashery or online. Use a fabric punch to make holes in the collar points and screw the studs in place. Add a bright grosgrain ribbon to add a pop of colour against the industrial look of the studs. Cut the ribbon in half and sew each piece onto the collar band so that they’re hidden from the collar. 

Fashion Fix: Stylist's special. Barnacle Heels for the Sea Nymph

 

This week I styled a Sea Nymph. 

The Nymph needed a pair of shoes. Naturally.

Starting off as a humble pair of white stilletoes, I gathered together bits of broken jewelry that could pass for barnacles and coral reef and araldited them into place.

Once I was happy with the look of the barnacles, a light spritz of white spray paint transforms the shoes  into a ghostly barnacle encrusted piece, that wouldn't look out of place in a Lady Gaga video.

                   

Since making these beauties, I used them to style the sea nymph on Clevedon Beach in the wind and rain. Shot by Carly Wong and Hair and Makeup by Sophie Cox, I can't wait to see what happens to the images, but I will get them up here as soon as I am able. 

Why not have a go yourself. All you need is a pair of unloved shoes in need of a revamp and piles of unwanted jewellery. I'm sure none of us will struggle to source such things.

Fix up look chic!

I'd love to see some of your crustacean creations!

It dawned on me recently that this might be an incredible wedding idea. Shoes seem to have come into their own as the little bit of quirkiness for an otherwise traditional all-ivory-and-tulle bride. A good opportunity to up cycle some old bits and pieces of jewellery to go from 'something old' into 'something new'!

Set Design: The Egg; once the lights come on...

Behing the hustle and bustle of production week on stage, is a secret world in half light that precious few of us get to experience. 

Once the set was built, lighting designer Anna Barrett created the hot, dusty Spanish villa that houses our characters. This is the side of the set you never get to see, but it had a magic all of its own with the beautiful bare brick wall of The Egg bouncing off the amber glow. 

 

Set Design: The Egg, The fit up for The House of Bernarda Alba

I drew this set sketch back in February of this year. The set installation last week was a bit epic so I thought it deserved it's own documentation. Gemma Brooks masterminded the scaffolding structure that was then to be clad in beautiful knotty wood to create our rustic spanish villa.

Scaffolding is erected and the balcony floor is laid...

...flats and doors installed...

...venetian blinds installed...

...Carpet goes down...

...props and furniture set...

...set dressing and lighting...

Once our set was up and ready to go, the cast arrived and began to rehearse in the space. Paul Blakemore took some stunning production shots which are a few posts down on the blog.

Reading Room: Creating the Vintage Look by Ellie Laycock

This is a slightly biased Reading Room post, as it is also a little showcase for my latest illustration commission. Ellie Laycock has produced some stunning home wear projects for this book:

Creating the Vintage Look 

Published by CICO Books

Here are a few samples of the illustration style I adopted to furnish this book.

Crochet glass wear project

A new use for old metal jelly moulds

Vintage pillow case project

Russian doll light pull

Vintage tin clock

The book is released on September 30th and can be bought here. We had the launch party a few nights ago at The Old Cinema on Chiswick High Road

A little more about the author, taken from www.rylandpeters.com

'Ellie Laycock trained as an artist and works as a London-based professional photographer for clients such as Giorgio Armani, Sony Ericsson and Casa Vogue Brasil. A love of innovative design, stylish interiors, and rummaging for vintage treasures led to the founding of her new company, Hunted and Stuffed (www.huntedandstuffed.com), which specializes in luxury homeware made from specializes in luxury homeware made from upcycled vintage materials. Her unique cushions were selected to appear in the first major upcycling exhibition in the UK at The Old Cinema, west London, and are stocked in independent boutiques and online stores. She recently won the Platinum Brand Amplifier award for female entrepreneurs and the Startup Britain ‘PitchUp!’ Competition.' (CICO books)