Pimp My Ride

So I waited with baited breath this half term, were we going to have a good week with fab weather so the girls could spend the week outside in the garden, maybe a few days camping or the beach, or was it to be a total washout, of course it was the latter! But I am still trying to be optimistic and look forward to the summer ahead!

We have bought all the gear, the new bell tent, the 'new' retro pots and pans plus of course the abundance of bedding, but I am now preparing to take the girls to a 3 day music festival. In the past we have frequented Glastonbury year after year and left our mark. However we are going to have to do things a little differently as we have girls in tow. We have picked the Farm Festival as it's cheap, local and kids are well catered for with their own camping space and plenty of activities to keep them busy, including: magic shows, crazy golf, a young disco, bouncy castle and craft tents.

I would say that generally they are both good at walking, that is until daddy gets involved; both the girls know that when daddy is around if they press the right buttons he will give in and carry them everywhere especially Ruby who often sits on daddy's shoulders pulling at his ears to direct him left or right.

This got me thinking, what if we could take something with us for the girls to sit in when they had had enough of walking, but would also double up as a solution to enable the grown ups to stay out until the wee hours. One year we took a wheelbarrow to Camp Bestival but this seemed to raise a few eyebrows, maybe because my husband had taken it straight off the building site so the dust and wet cement were truly authentic!

Of course the first point of reference was the internet for inspiration and after a quick search I found a perfect and cheap solution, a heavy duty garden cart.

I bought one online and waited with great anticipation.

The festival isn't for a few weeks so I have time to come up with a design and 'pimp' my cart. I do feel some pressure however as 2 other friends have also bought the same cart and so we have taken it upon ourselves to turn it into a 'friendly' competition to see who can come up with the best design. I assumed I could win this hands down, as being married to a man who knows his way around a power tool I'd have the upper hand. Little did I realise at the time he had diminished all responsibility and had no intention of helping!

Again I turned to the internet to find some inspiration and was amazed at what I stumbled upon.

People really do take this seriously! The pressure is now on but I'm up for the challange and looking forward to getting started. So watch this space and hopefully in a few weeks I will be able to share some pictures of our new toy!

Farm Festival - Gilcombe Farm Bruton Somerset - Adult weekend tickets for Friday 27th & Saturday 28th July are priced at a recession busting £40, including free camping and parking, with kids under 12 going free. With profits donated to charities Pratical Action, Somerset & Dorset Air Ambulance and The British Stammering Association.

Just thought I would add an update from our weekend away at Farm Fest. We were truly blessed with the weather, the sun shone on us all weekend and the kids had a fab but very tiring weekend!

The cart proved to be a huge success!

Just about room for 2!

Us mums!

First Attempt At Dress Making

I've spent years making things here and there but until now have never dared to try my hand at clothes making. I still don't feel inspired to have a go at making clothes for myself; but I guess my inspiration has come from the girls - making clothes for the children seems like a fun idea.

I remember (not with fond memories)  at school having to make a pattern , cutting it out in calico first, sewing it by hand before ever being let near a sewing machine. Briefly touching on clothes making 20 years ago I guess has stayed with me and given me the basic principles (very basic) of dress making.

I decided to break myself in gently and make a simple dress for my youngest Ruby. I took another dress she had and planned on drawing round the front and back separately to give me two patterns. The only problem was that searching around the house I couldn't find a piece of card large enough. So I had to make half a pattern this was done by literally drawing around half of the front and half of the back.

With this stage complete I realized my lack of planning ahead had bought me to yet another stumbling block. I didn't have any scraps of fabric large enough to make a dress so I rummaged through my linen cupboard and came across a duvet cover that I rarely used and thought might work well plus it was blue, Ruby's favourite.

I folded the fabric in half, placed my pattern along the folded edge. I then drew around it adding an extra 1.5 inches and cut it out. To make the back of the pattern I did the same.

Once I had my two pieces of fabric I turned in the edges around the neck and sleeves, sewed them as well as down the two sides.

Using the other side of the duvet cover I made a pocket and contrasting hem.

This dress couldn't have been simpler and if you look too closely you can easily tell it is 'homemade' but I'm proud of it.

The dress was huge on Ruby but my eldest, Niamh seemed to like it !

The Wedding Season

I love weddings - the vows, the clothes, the celebration, the atmosphere - all of it: especially the anticipation of the brides dress. Nowadays, finding something to wear as a guest is almost as stressful as finding your own wedding dress. There are so many etiquette rules and so many vague dress codes that sometimes it seems as a guest you can never figure out what to wear.

We are off to our first wedding of the season in three weeks. A local church followed by the reception in a field in a collection of tipi's. The invitation appears very traditional although blue writing replaces the traditional black, maybe giving us a sneak preview to the colour theme. The church ceremony starts at 3pm, leading on to an evening party which finishes at 2am.

With that in mind I have dusted off my favourite dress, a dusty pink halter neck by Alice Temperley. Due to the nature of the wedding and potentially sinking in the field I have opted for my nude patent shoes with a low heal.

Finding a bag to complete my outfit has proved fruitless .... unless my husband would agree to the £475 Mulberry clutch I have my eye on. So instead for a grand total of £0 I have made my own.

This really was a very simple bag to make and due to the cardboard I added it is extremely sturdy. I simply cut 2 pieces of fabric in a rectangle shape. One floral and one plain white for the inside of the clutch. I then pinned the 2 good sides together and sewed around leaving a short side open.

After cutting a piece of cardboard I inserted it into my fabric (once I had turned it onto the right side and ironed it) and then sewed the ends by first tucking them in.

I then folded it into 3 to form my shape and sewed up both sides to form the main body of the bag and added a button (a plain one I covered in the same fabric).

I added some ribbons and a broach

The bottom line when it comes to your wedding guest outfit is, if you find an outfit that is both stylish, comfortable and appropriate you'll look and feel fantastic.

Good luck to James and Jody - can't wait to see the dress!

The Urge To Be Creative

Being a busy mum of two gorgeous girls I find it hard to get time to myself. For me getting creative is my escapism.

I am well known for spotting lovely things and suggesting that I think I could make it myself - either better or cheaper. I love nothing more than making homemade jams from fruit I have picked from the garden, as well as using scrap fabrics sourced from car boot sales and flea markets and turning them into something inspirational. So I have decided to actually do it, for me this blog is a way of recording all my ideas and sharing them with you.

With summer fast approaching we have recently bought a brand new 5 metre bell tent.

I have great expectations of lazy summer evenings spent with family and friends chilling in deck chairs, drinking Pimms in front of an open fire whilst cooking up a feast in some remote spot.

Since purchasing our tent I have been scouring antique markets and boot fares hunting down retro cooking equipment, floral bunting and unique ideas.

I then came across an idea on Great Little Trading Company - such an easy concept.

We often have friends children to stay, and having to store spare mattresses or camp beds can take up valuable space. This concept does away with that, only needing to store a piece of fabric small enough to fit in a shoe box. 

So with ideas buzzing around my head I started looking for fabric I could individually sew into pillow cases - I then turned to a well known website and looked at duvet covers, as I figured half of the work was done for me... the length was perfect for a child or in fact adult and the width was perfect being over 2 pillows wide, therefore with plenty of material to finish off the edges.

In-keeping with my bell tent I placed a bid on a vintage floral double duvet cover with matching pillowcases and after a nervous wait and a few more bids I managed to pick it up for £7 including postage.

I started by chopping the duvet in half longways. The two halves were then slightly different as one half already had poppers down one side which made my job even easier. I literally ran the sewing machine down the parallel long side whilst the fabric was inside out, popped a pillow in and marked where I needed to sew. I was able to fit 4 pillows in the duvet cover; I also decided to sew on the pillow case to the bottom this would then allow the person using it to flip it over so it would then become a pillow.

There was a little spare fabric so I made a matching bag 

The other half of the duvet cover took a little longer. I took inspiration from the pillowcases which had an internal flap to hold the pillow in place - so I did exactly the same. First I ran the sewing machine down one long side whilst the fabric was inside out. Then with the fabric the right way round I turned in the flap using a pillow as a guide and an iron. I then did the same as I had previously - using a pillow as my guide, I sewed across the fabric allowing room for 4 pillows.

From start to finish I was done in around an hour and I'm sure as a second attempt I could cut the time down to 45 minutes or so. I can't wait to take them camping.

Overall a bargain at a grand cost of £3.50 each!

If who think this is too difficult or are unable to use a sewing machine, a really simple alternative would be to grab a selection of existing pillowcases and either hand stitch them or pin them and ask a friend for help.