Self Assembly Required

DIY dressmaking + crafts with Emily

Monthly Roundup #5

Another fun filled month has passed us by!

Here’s what I’ve been up to in June!

In the news…

– I went to a blogging conference! Blogtacular + the colour walk fringe event the day before was a great place to meet like minded individuals. It was the first time I’d attended a conference that wasn’t teeth related! Blogtacular is a yearly event run by Kat Molesworth. She also has a podcast associated with it too. It’s all about creative businesses/ blogging/ social media etc.

It was an interesting event though I felt it was very much aimed towards the lifestyle or travel bloggers and small business owners. I’m honestly not sure if it’s something I’ll do again but it was a fun day out and I got to meet up with some of my sewing friends (and meet new ones) there!

I also managed to get the best photo of me mid jump that has ever been taken!!!

(From left to right: Kate (@timetosew), Sarah (@likesewamazing), Jen (@gingerthreadgrl), Freya (@craftysewandso). )

– After I met Kate (@timetosew and Suzy magazine cover girl) at Blogtacular, we made plans to go to the Orla Kiely exhibit at the Fashion Textile Museum the following week! If you’re in London with a spare afternoon I’d definitely recommend going! It’s full of all things Orla Kiely with rooms full of patterns and print, walls of bags and the most fabulous large scale replicas of some of her designs (they were a few metres tall!).

– I went on a sewing day at The Village Haberdashery organised by Ana from Cocowawa Crafts where we each sewed by a version of the Honeycomb Dress. Sewing with friends is so much fun! I’ve nearly finished my one so a review will be coming along soon!

The New Craft House tropical themed summer party has also come and gone. I was one of the judges for Best Handmade Outfit on the night and we were lucky enough to have our outfits sponsored by The Fabric Store in New Zealand. I made a two piece outfit out of a gorgeous silk mix leopard print jacquard.

Judging was so difficult! We scored over 50 applicant who twirled and dazzled is with their tropical themed outfits!

The winner was Grace who self drafted and then hand painted this monstera leaf inspired dress. She won a brand new Pfaff overlocker which she took home that evening.

What I’ve been watching/ reading/ listening to…

The ultimate guilty pleasure Love Island has returned to our screens! This is the first time I’ve watched it and I am hooked. It’s truly terrible TV and is a horrible representation of people/ women/ relationships but I also can’t stop watching… 🤣

The finale of Ru Paul’s Drag Race finally aired! I won’t mention the winner in case some of you haven’t seen it yet but it was good!

What I’ve been learning…

I took a fashion drawing class at the Fashion Textile Museum where we learnt to draw croquis in a variety of styles. We also had the opportunity to use a few different mediums to colour in or stylise our drawings. I did a couple in gouache to add some colour to mine!

The teacher, Dennis Nothdruft (who’s also one of the museum’s curators), was hilarious. Whether this was on purpose or not is still unclear but I was laughing through most of the class. He’s an extremely talented designer/ artist and makes fashion illustration look like a breeze! I also bought the book that Dennis and one of the other museum curators have written called “How to Draw like a Fashion Designer” which covers even more details on illustration.

I’m sure with a bit of practice, I’ll be drawing like a pro soon! 😂

About Me

Related Posts

3 Comments

  1. Your post should have been titled, “Don’t you wish you lived in London?” 🙂 I would have loved to see that Orla Kielly exhibit – those enormous garments in that fabulous print must be a sight!! I was curious about why you would be attending conferences about teeth? Something about you I didn’t know :))

    1. Lol. You didn’t know I’m a dentist? 🤣. Unsurprisingly it’s not a well advertised fact!!!

  2. Another fun and inspiring post! Just to let you know, I have nominated you for a Mystery Blogger Award. It’s more of a game, really, and if you can’t be fussed to participate, just ignore it. No harm, no foul. Here is the inventor’s premise: “Mystery Blogger Award is an award for amazing bloggers with ingenious posts. Their blog not only captivates; it inspires and motivates. They are one of the best out there, and they deserve every recognition they get. This award is also for bloggers who find fun and inspiration in blogging, and they do it with so much love and passion.” Created by: Okoto Enigma

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d