Those precious moments, between finishing work and the setting of the sun, when the City of Lights turns rose gold...
Showing posts with label Style. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Style. Show all posts
Golden Hour
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Easter Sunday was going to be a very special day for me (as to why I shall be explaining in a later post) and to commemorate I wanted to craft myself a special straw 'Easter Bonnet' floral hat to wear all day. The only thing was that the forecasted temperature for last weekend wasn't going above 8°C. No exactly straw hat wearing weather.
So, using the wool fabric from a cardigan I thrifted that no longer fits due to my lack of laundry skills, some flowers picked up from a high street accessories store and a bit of tulle that had been knocking about for a while I put together an Easter bonnet (the French term for 'beanie') to sport all day and bring some bright to a still grey wintery Easter Sunday, and documented a DIY to share.
DIY Easter bonnet beanie
You'll need
+ Wool fabric - I used a wool cardigan but a jumper will work as well. Or if you have a cut of fabric, even better. Of course you can use an existing beanie you'd like spruced up also.
+ Needle and thread
+ A beanie to use as a template
+ Tulle or netting
+ Flowers - my original plan was to use beautiful huge silk flowers on wire and weave them on, but as the store I go to for these flowers was closed Saturday I went and bought these super colourful hair clips which ended up working well as no sewing was involved.
+ Scissors
Prepare the fabric + sew your beanie
Snip the buttons off your cardigan and trim off the button holes. Overlap the two edges just a little and lay the beanie on top. Make sure everything is straight and flat. Cut around the beanie leaving a one centimetre seam allowance. Leave the beanie to the side and using the needle and thread first stitch the two smaller halves together and then the back and front. If you want the beanie to have a turned up edge as with mine start your stitching about an inch from the bottom edge, then flip the rightway round and stitch from the edge to the start of the first round of stitching on the other side.
Decorate your bonnet
Take the tulle and gather at one end until you're happy with the amount of fabric ruched - mine came to about 20 centimetres. Measure out the width of the beanie (stretch it out a little) and cut off the tulle to this length. Thread your needle and tie the end. Put the two short ends together and looping the thread around itself at one end loosely stitch the two ends together. Push the tulle down the thread to ruch together until the width of the edge is the width of the upturned lip at the bottom of the beanie. Secure the loose end of the thread to the edge of the tulle then turn the tulle inside out and put the ruched edge against the back seam of the beanie and stitch on. Using the same loose stitching method ruch the sides and stitch to the beanie. Arrange your flowers as you like and either stitch on over the tulle if they are fabric or just clip on if they are hair clips.
Voila! A Spring fresh Easter Bonnet to wear when the air still chills.
xx
So, using the wool fabric from a cardigan I thrifted that no longer fits due to my lack of laundry skills, some flowers picked up from a high street accessories store and a bit of tulle that had been knocking about for a while I put together an Easter bonnet (the French term for 'beanie') to sport all day and bring some bright to a still grey wintery Easter Sunday, and documented a DIY to share.
DIY Easter bonnet beanie
You'll need
+ Needle and thread
+ A beanie to use as a template
+ Tulle or netting
+ Flowers - my original plan was to use beautiful huge silk flowers on wire and weave them on, but as the store I go to for these flowers was closed Saturday I went and bought these super colourful hair clips which ended up working well as no sewing was involved.
+ Scissors
Prepare the fabric + sew your beanie
Decorate your bonnet
Voila! A Spring fresh Easter Bonnet to wear when the air still chills.
Friday, March 1, 2013
As I've previously mentioned, Monday next week Mr M and I go away on a trip for his birthday. I've had to let him in on as to where as I needed his help with the logistics, and so now I can say it here, too. We're going to Cap Ferret on the south west coast of France and I couldn't be more excited!
The Cap Ferret peninsula takes up the length of the Atlantic Ocean side of the Arcachon Bay, just to the south west of Bordeaux. It's the oyster farming capital of the country and until les Parisiens found out about its beauty and serenity and forged it into a trendy sea-side resort it was only inhabited by fishermen. Even now, fishing is the town's largest activity and every restaurant and cafe that adorn the Cap serve up fresh sea produce that was plucked from the waters of the bay that morning.
No trip to the seaside is complete without a sailor-stripe tee, so I put together this super easy DIY striped shirt to pack, to add to my collection as I have way too many as it is.
Super Simple Sailor Stripe Shirt
You'll need
+ A plain, crew-neck tee shirt that contains no stretch (or is bias-cut) and fits snug without stretching - you don't want to run the risk of pulling the stripes apart.
+ Tapered sponge
+ Blue textile paint
+ Scissors
+ Masking tape, about 3cms wide
+ 1 garbage bag
+ a disposable surface, such as newspaper
1. Lay the tee flat on the work surface.
2. Cut the base off the garbage bag so it flattens out and push up inside the tee making sure it reaches both sides and lies flat.
3. With the masking tape cover the bottom of the tee, taping over the stitches on the hem and secure to the work surface. Ensure the sides lie flat.
4. Tear off two small pieces of masking tape of about ten centimetres in length and place on either side of the tee, above the long strip of masking tape closely touching.
5. Above those place a strip of masking tape the width of the tee. Repeat up the shirt until you reach the arm pits and cover them with masking tape. Ensure that the edges of the masking tape has stuck to the tee properly or you'll make a curvy blob like I did!
6. Starting at the top space, apply the paint to the tee between the masking tape using a dabbing motion. Once you've reached the other side go back and cover any white spots that may have been missed and make sure the paint goes right up to the masking tape edge.
7. Once completing a stripe, carefully remove the tape at the top before going onto the next stripe. Continue until you have painted the whole tee. Then remove the masking tape covering the hem.
8. Leave to dry for the amount recommended and heat seal as per the paint application instructions. For the paint I used I had to leave to dry over night and then iron heat set for five minutes to ensure its washability.
Now you're set for a jaunt to the sea side. Just don't forget the fishing rods!
xx
The Cap Ferret peninsula takes up the length of the Atlantic Ocean side of the Arcachon Bay, just to the south west of Bordeaux. It's the oyster farming capital of the country and until les Parisiens found out about its beauty and serenity and forged it into a trendy sea-side resort it was only inhabited by fishermen. Even now, fishing is the town's largest activity and every restaurant and cafe that adorn the Cap serve up fresh sea produce that was plucked from the waters of the bay that morning.
No trip to the seaside is complete without a sailor-stripe tee, so I put together this super easy DIY striped shirt to pack, to add to my collection as I have way too many as it is.
Super Simple Sailor Stripe Shirt
You'll need
+ Tapered sponge
+ Blue textile paint
+ Scissors
+ Masking tape, about 3cms wide
+ 1 garbage bag
+ a disposable surface, such as newspaper
1. Lay the tee flat on the work surface.
2. Cut the base off the garbage bag so it flattens out and push up inside the tee making sure it reaches both sides and lies flat.
3. With the masking tape cover the bottom of the tee, taping over the stitches on the hem and secure to the work surface. Ensure the sides lie flat.
4. Tear off two small pieces of masking tape of about ten centimetres in length and place on either side of the tee, above the long strip of masking tape closely touching.
5. Above those place a strip of masking tape the width of the tee. Repeat up the shirt until you reach the arm pits and cover them with masking tape. Ensure that the edges of the masking tape has stuck to the tee properly or you'll make a curvy blob like I did!
7. Once completing a stripe, carefully remove the tape at the top before going onto the next stripe. Continue until you have painted the whole tee. Then remove the masking tape covering the hem.
Now you're set for a jaunt to the sea side. Just don't forget the fishing rods!
xx
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Sometime late last year, as the last of the suns rays warmed the city before retiring to hibernate for the winter, I took Daisy for our usual weekend stroll from Opéra to the Carousel du Louvre, which takes us through Place Vendome.
As we walked into the open place there was some commotion towards the left and I saw camera dollies and umbrella lights set up in the usual style for a small film shoot. I stuck around to take some pictures and as they commenced filming it dawned on me that the shoot was for Chanel and more than likely its jewellery collection.
Since then I've been waiting to come across the completed version, and months later, I finally have! And it's adorable! (I've embedded the film below; if it has been removed please notify me and you can watch it here).
The film was made for the relaunch of Chanel's 80-year-old 'Première' watch line, the most elegant and understated in its collection, and the first ever to launch under the Chanel label.
The level of detail in this Chanel film is mind-blowing and I can understand now how it took so long to be released; this would have been a huge project to edit.
I love how the faces of the models are for the most part hidden, as opposed to staring wistfully with a blank gaze into the lens as seen so often in fashion commercials (for a hilarious and brilliant parody of this ridiculous trend watch Matthew Frost's 'Fashion Film' featuring Lizzy Caplan).
The interaction between the models and the music is a sweet, unexpected touch and I just love how relatable this is; girls can watch this and think "Oh, yeah, I do that, and I have headphones just like that, oh, so I need this watch" - Mr M take note, hunh? The birthday is in three months...
I especially love the short grab of the girl trying to push the heavy Parisian apartment building door open with her back while clutching groceries and saying "Bonjour" to probably the building's grumpy old Gardienne - add a retractable dog leash to this picture, minus the beautiful watch, and that could be me on a daily basis.
Enjoy...
For a brilliant interactive experience before watching it in full-screen you can head to the watch's dedicated site and start scrolling down.
xx
As we walked into the open place there was some commotion towards the left and I saw camera dollies and umbrella lights set up in the usual style for a small film shoot. I stuck around to take some pictures and as they commenced filming it dawned on me that the shoot was for Chanel and more than likely its jewellery collection.
The film was made for the relaunch of Chanel's 80-year-old 'Première' watch line, the most elegant and understated in its collection, and the first ever to launch under the Chanel label.
The level of detail in this Chanel film is mind-blowing and I can understand now how it took so long to be released; this would have been a huge project to edit.
I love how the faces of the models are for the most part hidden, as opposed to staring wistfully with a blank gaze into the lens as seen so often in fashion commercials (for a hilarious and brilliant parody of this ridiculous trend watch Matthew Frost's 'Fashion Film' featuring Lizzy Caplan).
The interaction between the models and the music is a sweet, unexpected touch and I just love how relatable this is; girls can watch this and think "Oh, yeah, I do that, and I have headphones just like that, oh, so I need this watch" - Mr M take note, hunh? The birthday is in three months...
I especially love the short grab of the girl trying to push the heavy Parisian apartment building door open with her back while clutching groceries and saying "Bonjour" to probably the building's grumpy old Gardienne - add a retractable dog leash to this picture, minus the beautiful watch, and that could be me on a daily basis.
Enjoy...
For a brilliant interactive experience before watching it in full-screen you can head to the watch's dedicated site and start scrolling down.
xx
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
For the whole month of December those mad, creative Swedes from Happy Socks have set up shop at the POP UP SHOP in the Haut Marais just in time to get your nearest and dearest a pair, or two, of the most colourful socks hitting the pavement.
Who could be glum with these bad boys decorating your feet.
Just yesterday my Mr M asked for a pair of thick woolly socks for Christmas. The only question remains is... red, yellow, green or blue?!
Happy Socks pop-up shop
11, rue Debelleyme, 3e
Mon - Sat: 10h-20h + Sun: 12h-19h
Until December 31
All images: happysocks.com