Keep it unreal.

listening to- after time by Mr Scruff (perfect for when the sun sets hazy in the sky, with a glass of pimms)

"What is this life if full of care

We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs

And stare as long as sheep, or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,

Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,

Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,

And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can

Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this, if full of care,

We have no time to stand and stare."

Sir William Henry Davies

Well no offence to Mr. Davies, poetic justic wins in this case as this is all I seem to be able to do lately.

So today's make- a 50s style summer smock dress with a drawstring plunge neckline, in a gentle floral green cotton poplin. Perfectly in place with some battered old kitchen utensils, a victoria sponge cake and some 'Cath Kidston- esque' garden bunting.

Forigve its creases, it hasn't beeen ironed yet, but the biased cut should help the drape a bit.
I made a straight cut skirt from the remaining fabric with some applique butterflies, a drawstring pocket, and cream biased binding hem and waistband.

The Vegetable Dress

 Listening to- Nightlight by Bonobo ft. Bajka

Ok... the love for vegetables has actually just tipped the scale a little too far.... Yesterday I progressed into making a dress depticitve of actual vegetables...

The top was made from single crochet, no pattern used, with yarn from the trusty Grainger Market habadashery and the skirt is made up entirely of a variety of fabrics from remnant bins at Uni, fabric stores and charity shops. The thing about making your own clothes that I love is that if someone were to purchase them, they would be fair trade. Because the work itself is done only by me.

The dress features a quilted carrot and onion (made from borrowed merino wool tops and my grandmas old curtains) backed onto an embroidered cabbage (from old skirts and jumpers) with layers of soil and a hand dyed (with henna) gingham patch pocket.

Unfortunatley, as I have no access to the industrial machines over the summer, and as it is expressive to a taste only as hideous as mine, I'm afraid it would be unsaleable if I were to produce more than 1.

Embroidering the cabbage with spaghetti stitch and attaching the top piece to the skirt, with the obligatory morning cup of gunpowder tea

The Final Dress, and details of the vegetables :D

The First Blog

Listening to: Norah Jones- Sunrise

Ok, well maybe not the first blog ever..... but my first blog. Apparently it's the "in" thing to do, with the likes of Tavi Gevinson and Colin McDowell on the loose, not to mention most of my friends.

A little about myself; my name is Kat, I'm 20's years old (so far) and I adore all things textiles. Such a foodie where all food is concerned, even though I'm a vegetarian. (I consider myself to be a human version of Remi.) I love vegetables.

I'm all about the kindness; I don't know where courtesy has gone these days, but I'm assuming I absorbed most of it saying as I'm such a colossal push over. I've become recently peturbed by the human race and am intent to create my own little world of calico, buttons and hand embroidery. (The plan is to build a big permaculture tree house in a hot country and go completely off grid in terms of electricity and water. After all, there's no point in even having a blog if i'm going to dissapear completely.)

I have peculiar taste in music from dub and reggae to new age acoustic, a bit of drum and bass fused with latin here and there and the ever popular non- music that just doesn't make sense at all.

So this blog, as if you hadn't guessed, will probably be filled with textiles, food and the environmental issues that concern me so.