Me in Manchester

Here's a few photographs of me that I've just been sent.  I'm in the new part of the city, outside Louis Vuitton (I can but dream ...) and The Shambles.  The Shambles was taken from its old situation in the city, lifted up and re-located here in the paved area.  I had lunch in Nicholson's here - I do recommend it - excellent food in a lovely historic building.

In historic Nicholson's 



Outside Louis Vuitton = maybe one day I'll have a handbag like that ...



Must be my favourite way of posing!  Here I am complete with shopping - I bought a Matthew Williamson butterfly collection cushion from Debenhams.  Matthew Williamson is a Manchester lad, all the best creative people come from here :-)))! 

Photo from the Debenhams website - I bought this one, like a modern version of an old style Toile de Jouy.  Like the city of Manchester, it mixes old and new ...

Junk - Manchester

I've been away for a little break and although I really needed a rest, I did manage to get out to the Northern Quarter.  I don't think I've noticed this shop before - you can go for dressmaking classes and learn how to re-fashion.  There will be more photos to come in the next few days ...

More cake ?

I've been having fun concocting all kinds of culinary delights, non of them edible unfortunately, but they are for a charity raffle, where they will be displayed on a vintage style cake stand as a prize.  I used the 20 To Make, Knitted Cakes and Fast Food books from Search Press.  I so enjoyed finding the right yarns ... particularly for the carrot cake topping!

A Hint of Africa

The idea for this dress started after I visited MOSI – Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester, where you can find out about the  manufacture of African Wax Prints.  I also managed to find some wax fabric in Manchester itself in Abakhan Fabrics, located in the Northern Quarter.

The colours of wax fabric are vivid and bold and I used just a small quantity of it as an accent to my dress - I wanted it to be something I could wear in a British summer.  I also wanted a dress that had some kind of African design element to it and so I chose this pattern with a neckline that reminded me of African beaded collars.  The fabric carries through to the tab details on the waistline. 

For the main body of the dress, I managed to find fabric in a similar colourway in the haberdashery department of John Lewis.  It also has printed motifs on a smaller scale to those in the wax fabric and the two together are harmonious.

The dress went together quite easily and I achieved a flat collar with some stiff interfacing.  I love the shape of the dress on me and is a lot more flattering in real life than in the photo.

I have lots of the wax fabric left and I think I’ll make a bag to match the outfit … 

Herman

A local village was holding a 'best knitted character' competition and I thought I'd have a go ... but I fell in love with my entry and couldn't part with him ... here he is, pattern from the January 2012 edition of Let's Knit magazine...

A Grand Day Out

Yesterday, I took time out and went with family to the East Lincolnshire coast on a coach trip.  Amazingly, the weather was fabulous for the day.  So, I tried to re-create the famous Vintage Poster which promoted travelling by rail to the area.  There were a few tries before I could get it more or less right ... but I had a lot of fun!  I am wearing a Goldhawk Road fabric skirt ...

Running for it ...

Nearly there ...

Ooops - slightly out of frame ...

That's the one!

City and Guilds Module 4

There was a lot of work other than sampling in this module - lots of experiments at some simple design work.  I've since completed Module 5 ... photos to come!