Beginning to Sew – Making The Popover Dress

Posted on June 4, 2023 by missamymay

I don’t know how to sew. I would have loved to have been offered Textiles as a subject in school, like my younger sister was, but alas, instead my tech selection was Food Technology. During my childhood on the farm our family consisted of 3 adults and 5 children, so my mum was kept plenty busy running such a full household–as a result she taught me the absolute basics of mending when it was necessary, but I never had an interest in learning the skill in earnest. I could never even produce a straight backstitch, so I found the whole thing frustrating and generally avoided it when I could. Fast forward to my 20s, I realised knowing how to sew properly would’ve been a very useful skill to have, sewing machine and all. That notion has haunted me for the entire 10 years I’ve been dressing in vintage style clothing, and finally this year I decided to do something about it. Not by undertaking any sensible measures like signing up for a sewing class, of course. No, I grabbed Gertie Sews Jiffy Dresses and decided the Popover dress was as good a place to start as any.

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DIY: How to Make A Bangle Rack

Posted on July 21, 2019 by missamymay

I’ve been on a bit of a bangle buying binge this year, which has resulted in my former bangle stands becoming obsolete. So, I moved all my bangles to the 3 small drawers at the top of my dresser…and then found they outgrew that within a couple months too. Suddenly, I needed a lot of storage, and preferably cheaply.

Every bangle stand I found online cost £20-50, and with the number of bangles I have I’d need at least 3. Plus I needed my stand(s) to be wall-mounted or vertically free standing, which really narrowed down my options. Finally I decided to get creative and make the rack I was envisioning, and I’m pleased to tell you it was easy and cheap.

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DIY: How to Make a Weasley Sweater

Posted on October 10, 2018 by missamymay

I figure it must be near-impossible for anyone reading my blog not to know by now that I am, yes, a Harry Potter nerd. I mean, if my 4-part vintage style Hogwarts houses series of a couple months back didn’t give it away then I’m just not sure what else would. But in case you need any more hints or Hungarian Horntail-sized clues that I am all about that Potter life, this post should do it; folks, I made myself a Weasley sweater.

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DIY Project: Alika Peplum Blouse [Tatyana]

Posted on August 30, 2016 by missamymay

I don’t wear a lot of trousers or pencil skirts. I’ll be honest, as body positive as I am, I still find it hard not to feel self-conscious of my stomach in tight fitting clothing. It saddens me sometimes that I force myself to overlook dresses, skirts or trousers I want because I know I won’t have the confidence to rock them as consistently as I would need to in order to justify the purchase.

However, it’s just not practical to live all of one’s life in a swing dress. Sometimes pants are required. Sometimes a pencil skirt is just much more appropriate and attractive. And for those occasions I found the perfect solution: the Alika top by Tatyana.

Ivory Alika Blouse by Tatyana

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How to Sew a Circle Skirt [Guest Blogger Louise of TheLittleThingsInLife]

Posted on October 28, 2015 by missamymay

I’m a pathetic sewer who has always meant to learn what to do properly, so I’m thrilled today to bring you a guest blog from Louise of thelittlethingsinlife.me.uk who’s going to walk you through the steps to making your own circle skirts.

Circle skirts always seem to add a touch of class. They are undoubtedly one of the most effective pieces of clothing and they are pretty easy to make as well. Moving on to the pattern, it will require a little bit of maths but nothing too scary!

Circumference = the entire distance around a circle (in this case, your waist length, plus 2 inches)

Radius = the distance from the centre of the circle to the outside of the circle
pi = 3.14 (approximately)

Here are the steps Continue reading →

DIY Project: Cinderella Shoes

Posted on January 18, 2015 by missamymay

cinder2

A while back I saw two pairs of clear sandals being sold on Pinup Girl Clothing, then became aware soon afterwards that Miss L Fire sell Cinderella style shoes in 4 different shades–for £94.99. Dita Von Teese visited Italy and Instagrammed pictures of her perfect newly acquired Dolce & Gabbana Cinderella heels, and a little search online turned up news I had missed that Louboutin made an elaborate pair of Cinderella heels too. The Dolce & Gabbana pair were, of course, exactly what I would want in a dream life where I had the kind of money to drop thousands on what I wear on my feet, which I obviously don’t. I didn’t really like the Miss L Fire heels enough to be willing to part for the near £100 for those either, as they weren’t close enough to the styles I was picturing in my head and swooning over. The Pinup Girl Clothing offered pairs (clear and slightly bedazzled) were closest to what I wanted, as well as my budget, but the clear pair was out of stock at the time and the slightly bedazzled Belle pair still were not quite right. So the usual thought occurred to me: is it possible for me to actually create the precise thing I am picturing? And the answer was yes. Continue reading →

DIY Project: Dita Von Teese Inspired Cardigan

Posted on September 8, 2014 by missamymay

ditacardi2

The collaboration between Wheels & Dollbaby and Dita Von Teese has to be the most beautiful piece to grace the category of knitwear of all time. Featuring a peter pan collar, embroided flowers, velvet buttons, pretty pleated contrast satin ribbon trim and a sexy yet classy keyhole, it is beauty unto itself. Which makes it kind of a shame that at £120 it is well out of the budget of your average girl looking to buy a cardigan. I’ve coveted the original blush and black colourway for a long time, and have a lipstick red look-alike blouse that I ordered off eBay forever ago and have since grown to feel dissatisfied with not merely because the craftsmanship is so shoddy that I lose a button everytime I leave the house but also because I’ve grown to feel very uncomfortable with just how blatant a rip-off the design is of the original. But I still can’t afford to justify spending £120 on one cardigan. That’s crazy money for a sweater. It would pain me to figure out how many hours I’d have to work to spend it on that alone.

And yet.

And yet I lust, Dita. I lust. Continue reading →

A Beginner’s Guide To: Bedazzling

Posted on July 19, 2014 by missamymay

Whether you want to bedazzle a pair of shoes, a phone case or a headband, you’re going to need the same materials and the same methodology. Hopefully by the end of this post you’ll know what you need to know in order to get gluing and glittering all over town. Let’s get to it.

What you’ll need:
– Glue, specifically made for bedazzling. I use GemTac, but you can also use E6000 (which must be used in a well ventilated area and preferably while wearing a mask, as there’s links to cancer with this glue. Part of why I prefer GemTac.)
– A gem picker/jewel setter. Typically a wax end picker, as pictured below at the bottom of the equipment image, but I prefer to use a pencil picker, as pictured at the top.
– Your shoes or accessory of choice, clean and dry.
– Flat backed crystals, obviously.

bedazzlingequip Continue reading →