DIY Valentines

My boyfriend and I decided this Valentines, we'd have a crack at making presents for each other. I have to admit, I was pretty dubious about this to start with but surprisingly  it turned out to be really fun trying to guess what he could possibly be making, while panicking at my lack of arty skills.
I trawled the internet looking for ideas, but all the craft sites seemed to be suggesting overly girlish presents which I'm fairly sure no man would want to possess, let along treasure! In the end, I resorted back to my all time favourite blogger who made these delightfully fluffy owls! They're simple to make, not too girly (I don't think?) and oh so cute, so if you get the chance have a go and make one! I've already had requests from friends for more!

The production process was simple enough- it essentially involved making a stencil, cutting out your fabric and sewing on cute, goggly owl features! I used some pretty cotton I found on ebay and felt for the details.

As you can see, I cut a stencil out of paper and then cut two of the stencil shapes out of the fabric- one for the front and one for the back of the owl.

These were the colours I used.

I sewed on the features before joining the front and back of the owl together.

Sew the front and back together inside out. This way, all the stitching is invisible when you turn him back round the right way. 

Everybody meet Hoots! I filled him with rice, but you could simply fill him with soft toy stuffing if you fancy a squishier owl. 

Hoots went down very well with my boyfriend although I had quite a hard time giving him up-he's just too cute with those big round eyes! I especially love the fact that if you decided to fill your owl with rice, you can heat him up in the microwave and snuggle with him on nippy nights. I'd definitely suggest having a go at making one of your own!

Polka Dots and Petticoats

Over the last summer, I came across one of the prettiest dresses I've seen in a while. It was a frothy pink polka dot creation with a plunging back and bows at the waist. The only problem was it was far too expensive for my diminishing student budget. Luckily, I happened to show a picture of it to my boyfriend's mother Susan (one of the loveliest ladies in existence) who then told me how she's a pretty dab hand at dress making! So, inspiration struck and we took up recreating this dress as a summer project. The only hold up was that I'm pretty useless unartistic and my experience in dress making begins (and ends) with making cloth sacks for Barbie to model. Pushing my lack of experience to one side, I went out and bought a dress pattern off the net, some pretty silk (from a shop somewhere in SoHo, London) and became closely acquainted with a sewing machine.

A few cotton reels, pricked fingers and stamped feet (I lack patience when it comes to fiddly jobs) later, we'd managed to create a dress straight out of Alice in Wonderland and more than perfect for summer picnics. This really went to show that anyone with a bit of persistence (and a large dollop of guidance) can create something beautiful for the fraction of the price of something shop bought! (If you're lacking  guidance from a physical person, it's always worth having a look for tutorials on youtube!)

The icing on the cake? Months later, my boyfriend's family managed to hunt down the original dress somewhere in the sales and gave it to me for my birthday! They really are amazing people.

Here's the dress we made- it had a full circle skirt and we created a pretty mint green petticoat to make it 'poof'.

I really do love those plunging backs- so flattering on everyone!

Here's the original inspiration for my creation:

It was from Jack Wills (I think the 2012 Spring/Summer collection, but it may have been earlier). As you can see, it really is a fairy tale dress!

I'd really recommend having a go at making your own dress at some point as it really was a rewarding experience. For anyone interested, I used a 'Vintage Vogue' dress pattern which I found online for around 15 pounds. So what are you waiting for?