Tuesday's Tees - Team Up

So last week I decided that Tuesdays would play host to my recent t-shirt finds/musings...

Behold, this week's tees!

On the left we have 'Dinosaur Q & A' from Tee and Cake (available at Topshop) - they seem to like dinosaurs (never a bad thing) as they've used them in a number of past t-shirt and sweatshirt designs. I did in fact blog about one as well as buy it when I first set up beard today gone tomorrow and so I greatly appreciate this new dino design!

Topshop has hooked up with some young designers and launched a range of new limited edition tees as part of their NEWGEN collection. For every t-shirt sold, 7 quid of the profit goes to the Centrepoint charity. So, you get an awesome tee AND know that you've helped towards a charity, v.good deal I say. The middle one is Holly Fulton's 'Lips' graphic tee and on the right is Jonathan Saunders' design - my favs from the bunch.

Collaborating elsewhere: Threadless & Gap. There's a handful of tees for girls and guys, I particularly like the two above - 'So into You' and 'Rock Lobster'. And, if you fancy yourself as a bit of a designer or perhaps have a brilliant idea for a t-shirt there's also a competition going on at Threadless to create the next iconic tee!

Musical Bingo!

There's been a lot of chatter about Drink Shop & Do, particularly of late (Betty magazine, friends even my editor at work) and I've been meaning to go for some time, so finally, last night, I went and just as everyone said I would - I love it!

For anyone who has not visited the former sex shop just around the corner from Kings Cross station - you must! And here's why: there's a lovely selection of tea and delicious cocktails if you fancy something with a kick, a plethora of tasty cakes (I highly recommend the lemon and almond drizzle), treats and sweets, a mini shop at the entrance selling pretty items from earrings to wrapping paper AND they host a variety of themed evenings and events throughout the week so there's something for everyone. To top it off your drinking, shopping and doing experience is housed in a space nothing short of awesome - packed with retro furniture and vintage odds and ends.

(My sister) Katie and I opted for Musical Bingo which is pretty much what it sounds like, instead of having numbers on your bingo card there are songs which you cross off as and when the DJ plays them. There are four themed rounds each with four opportunities to win a prize. Your host for the evening is Jess Indeedy who is quite simply fabulous. Katie and I sat right at the back and so had furthest to run if we did in fact win - little did we know we'd have to run up twice! First in the motown round (I won some dark chocolate tunnock's teacakes - yum) and then we got a full house in the soundtrack round earning us two bingotinis (gin based and dandy cocktails) on the house! Four cocktails later and it was time to go home but not before the DJ gave me some sweets for having a cool t-shirt - it was the dinosaur one, a clear winner.

It takes place at 8pm on the last thursday of the month and costs 7 quid for a ticket - I'd get them in advance because it was jam-packed when we went, there's a link on the Drink Shop & Do website. So, if you like music, bingo and cocktails (I think that takes in most of us) you'll be very happy here indeed!

Tuesday's Tees - Ace of Spades

Tuesday. There's not much going on with Tuesdays - it's not the beginning, middle or end of the week, neither is it the one day standing between you and Friday. It's a fairly 'meh' day. So... Hello Tuesday's Tees! The designated day where I take a look around for new, old, funny and of course awesome tees to share with you! 

For this first instalment of Tuesday's Tees (and in-keeping with the whole London and New York Fashion Weeks 2012) I have been majorly coveting Kate Spade's super simple slogan t-shirts. You won't find many (or in fact any) slogan tees in my own t-shirt collection as I'm not usually a fan but there's something about these statements that appeal to me muchly - particularly the one below!

The little black collar is a perfect addition, and the cute bow belt and skirt combine to make a bloody good outfit. It's great to see the humble white tee showing off it's versatile nature. In Kate Spade's A/W12 collection it's used for both your fancy AND more casual looks.

And, because it's pancake day (probably the most exciting Tuesday of all Tuesdays), here, via the Sharing Machine, is a pancake tee design for good measure.

February's Cushions

It's only mid-Feb and this month's project has been completed! 

My sewing machine had sat idle since Christmas so I was super keen to get back to it. The only three cushions I've ever made were all gifts and given away as Christmas presents so these two are for us and our previously cushion-less sofas! They've turned out rather well I reckon. Both covers were made to fit 35 x 35 cm cushion pads. The one on the left is made from lots of little scraps left over from making the quilt, christmas presents etc. And here's how I put it together....

 1. Cut a triangle with 7 x 7cm short sides plus 5mm seam allowance. Then cut strips of fabric in different lengths to make up the other half of the square. (I chose three strips but it could easily be 2 fatter ones, or 4 skinny ones but that would make it more fiddly as you need to allow for a 5mm seam allowance on the strips too!)

2. With right sides facing, stitch the longest strip to the long edge of the triangle. Again with right sides facing stitch the next strip to the free edge of the first strip. Finally sew the last strip to the free edge of the second strip with right sides facing.

3. Turn it the right way and you get something like this with uneven edges.

4. To smarten up those edges, mark out (on the back) the 7 x 7cm square (plus 5mm seam allowance on each side) and cut off the excess fabric.

5. The finished square should look a bit neater now.

6. Repeat steps to make numerous squares and then sew together. This completes the front of the cushion cover.

7. To make the back cut out two rectangles, the long edges need to be 35 cm in length, plus 5mm seam allowances all the way around. One rectangle needs to have bigger short edges so that the rectangles overlap each other to make an opening. 

8. Hem one long edge on each of the rectangles. With right sides facing (hemmed edge NOT on the outer edge) pin the rectangles to the front and stitch all the way around the outer edges of the cushion. Turn inside out using the opening and insert the cushion pad. Voila! Hope that makes sense!

The typewriter cushion was much more straight forward but looking at the finished item I should've made the boarders a couple of cm wider...oh well, something learnt for next time. Lastly, as the sewing machine was back out in force I also got to do a bit of work on the quilt. All the patchwork blocks have been completed so I'm now in the process of joining them all together. Not long now until the top is finished and the business of wadding and quilting can begin!
 

goodies

As it was a very good birthday this year (see past post) I thought I'd share some of the goodies I was given!

From top left:

Betty Magazine - of the wonderful blog Betty. This is their first print version and like the blog it's rather lovely - photography, pretty outfits, cake recipes, creative writing.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Tee (with added shredder) - awesome prezzie from my sister, designed by David & Goliath.
Travel Scrabble - so very addictive and I'm chuffed to own it in travel form.
Golden Half Camera - mini toy 35mm film camera from Mitch. It takes two pictures per frame (hence the name) so you get twice as many photos. Pretty excited to see how my first film roll comes out :)
Oh Henry - tres bon chocolate bar.
Cable Knit cardi - made by my talented nan.
Cutting mat - incredibly useful piece of sewing equipment courtesy of the parents.

Aaaand as some of the goodies were in money and voucher form here's a little (end of) winter wish list.

From top left:
New glasses - £110 Superdry tortoiseshell frames - pretty :)
Biscuiteers Book of Iced Biscuits - less than a tenner on amazon, need I say more. http://www.biscuiteers.com
Book Binding course - £44/47 for the evening at The Make Lounge based in Islington where there are a number of crafty courses on offer (quite fancy the screen printing one too...)
Karen O canvas tote bag - $15.99 from Etsy - very cool.
RetroTrim Phone - £26.99 from home-phones.co.uk. Available in a range of bright colours, with push buttons rather than the old school dial.
Perfume - a new one is needed.

Let the spending commence!

Dispose of it?!

Of what? The camera of course!

About three years ago (possibly four) I went through a phase of buying disposable cameras mostly for when travelling abroad (not sure why) - Benicassim festival in Spain, Albania and Greece. Boots were selling the cameras very cheaply (I think it was buy one get one free) so a few were bought and all but one was used...until recently!

When Mitch and I moved to Brixton (therefore gaining space) my parents thought it would be a great idea for me to go through the stuff I'd left in my old room at their house, presumably with the hope I'd chuck it or take it to Brixton. Sadly I hoard things so there was plenty to sort through. Amongst my A level work, old diaries and my collection of mini lizards from Syon Park Butterfly House (don't ask) I found the unused disposable camera. I decided I'd use it photographically document the move from Surbiton to Brixton. It worked to an extent but I used it very sporadically until our flat-warming (see previous post) where we got drunk and finished the roll!

Results: pretty crap really and not particularly flattering. However it was quite a novelty to hand them in and wait for them to be developed. I relived that feeling from when I was younger (13-15yrs old when many terrible pictures were taken before the days of affordable digital cameras) of getting the pack of pictures back and being pleasantly surprised that actually one or two had came out alright.

twenty-five

There was nothing blue about my Monday this week because it was in fact my birthday! (Monday birthdays are particularly awesome as they tend, in my case anyway, to elongate your celebrations by encompassing the previous Saturday & Sunday, or, depending on how you look at it, the monday birthday gives you a three day weekend!) The long birthday weekend evolved as follows...

Saturday: House warming/birthday gathering at the flat. The celebratory event also meant people could gaze upon our lovely shelves as well as nosey about the place. Mitch made a rum based punch which went down rather well and I made some cupcakes. Despite the v.wintery conditions and snowfall through the night (and a distinct lack of victoria line) my lovely friends made it to Brixton and we all got a bit pissed! :)

Sunday: After a lie-in and a quick clear up I journeyed to my parents' house. On route to the station I made a slight detour through snow-covered Brockwell park (v.jealous of all the kids with their sledges, for those who don't know the park it's very hilly). Back in Whitton my brilliant mum made a roast dinner with coffee and walnut cake to follow! And as if that wasn't enough I was also showered with birthday gifts from mum, dad, sis and my nan :)

Monday: As I am now officially mid-twenties I, like a supposable adult, went to work in the morning but the afternoon was my own. Met Mitch at Baker Street for a poke around The Sherlock Holmes Museum. It's quite a bizarre experience. The house is laid out as if the fictitious detective had actually lived there (with Dr Watson and Mrs Hudson) in the late 19th Century. There's lots of artifacts and props (deerstalker hats, magnifying glasses and the like) as well as costumed individuals and extremely enthusiastic tourists. At the very top of the house it gets a little too Madame Tussauds for my liking (the collection of life-size models representing various characters and villains in Arthur Conan Doyle's stories is a little creepy). However, also at the top of the house is a book for visitors to flick through, a book full of letters to Sherlock Holmes. Most of the letters are written by school kids but from all over the world and some are awesome. My fav one was from a very ernest child wanting to warn Sherlock that Moriarty was alive, spotted on the child's route to school every morning on the number 154 bus. Inland Revenue were also in the book, wanting to know who was occupying 221 Baker Street if Mr. Holmes had indeed moved on (haha)!

A couple of hot chocolates and a game of travel scrabble (:D), followed by a burger and a moose beer, rounded off with a quick visit to Gosh comics on Berwick Street (and a purchase or two) rounded off my perfect 25th birthday!

That's a rather beardy Sherlock Holmes...