Blossoms Boutique - Using Glitter

I would like to introduce you all to Blossoms boutique who have been using our glitter fabric along with felt to make these fabulous hairbands and decorations!
Jenna of Blossoms boutique uses mermaids, bunnies and unicorns to feature as her motifs with a gorgeous use of colour and hand stitched detailing. All made in Yorkshire, UK.

Take a look at the Blossoms online shop here on Etsy, there are plenty of gifts for girls and ladies alike.

Thank you so much for sharing your super cute accessories Jenna! x

DIY - How to Hem a Full Circle Skirt , Quickly

Today's DIY is a quick tip on how to finish the hem of your full circle skirt. There are many ways to do this.

The long way is to let your skirt hand for a week or so in case it stretches anywhere, use crinoline/horsehair braid, had gather it and then hand stitch it.

The very quick way is with an overlocker / serger  and simple top stitching.

If you want it to look a little nicer or don't have an overlocker and if you don't have a spare day to hem your full circle skirt this will take 15 minutes and looks lovely.

The key to hemming a full circle skirt is that if the stitch line is going to be visible, it needs to be close to the hem. Approx 1cm or under.

You will need:

Bias binding
Thread (wind your bobbin full)

1. Bind the entire hem of your skirt. Here's the bias binding DIY just in case. 

 2. Turn under and stitch down with a parallel line so you have two on the underside and one neat stitch on the outer.

That's it!

DIY - How to Draft and Cut a Full Circle Skirt

This is a DIY of how to draw out and cut a perfect full circle skirt without a pattern. 

First lay out your fabric folded length-ways selvedge to selvedge.

Measure the width of your fabric. My fabric was 27 inches wide. 

Measure your width length Eg. 27inches from the end of your fabric with the tape measure. Place a drawing pin through the tape and fabric at the measurement to mark the centre of your circle. 

Swivel the tape measure and mark with chalk at the end to map out our circle. Keep the tape straight at all times.

Continue marking until you reach the selvedge at a 90 degree angle. You would have drawn out a quarter circle. 

Cut the quarter circle and then fold over and cut the other half so you have cut a half circle. 

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Next you will need to cut the waist line of the skirt. Fold your skirt into a quarter circle and anchor your tape at the corner point. This is where a little maths or lots of measuring takes place. 

For a 28" waist measurement with seam allowance a 4" radius is used

For a 30" waist use a 4.5" radius 

For a 32" waist use a 5" radius

For a 34" waist use a 5.5" radius

The calculation is Circumference (your waist measurement plus 1" for seam allowence) divided by Pi (3.14) and then divided by 2

Circumference / Pi / 2 = Radius. 

The measurement to mark on the tape measure

It's really important that your circle is equally measured at the waist as this will dictates the hang of your skirt. 

Finally cut your centre back or side seam. Any fold will work check the pattern of your fabric. 

There is your full circle skirt ready to add to a waistband or bodice. 

Coming up next will be how to quickly hem your skirt. 

Vintage Haberdashery

Vintage bow collection

Beaded metallic trim

Vintage lace and trim lot.

We now have a gorgeous stock of vintage haberdashery available to add to your sewing projects.

This collection of laces and motifs have been collected over many years and it is now the time to share them and the inspiration they give.

You'll find 1920's lace, Edwardian cotton needlework, 1950s trims, sequins and bows.
Take a closer look here. 

New Super Fine Glitter Fabric

The new fine glitter fabric has arrived in a few selected colours to start with. I haven't tried using it yet but is has more flex than the coarse glitter fabric which opens up a few more options. What to make first?

The red has a gorgeous depth to the colour and the kingfisher blue/green is just spectacular. As always they are amazing under the lights!

All available in the shop in squares and new mini multi pack squares too.

Girls Dress Patterns by Anna Vickery

Hello hello, 

Anna here and I’m very excited to be introducing my new range of Sewing Patterns For Children’s Clothing! These are available in printed form from Millie Moon shops and as a download in the Crafty Alex shop. 

They’ve been a long time coming…..I’ve been working with Millie Moon for over a year now and I’ve often been asked when people see my little dresses in the shops ‘Do you have a pattern for that?’ or during workshops ‘Can I buy a pattern?’ and the answer is now YES!!

My mission was to create an easy to follow, multi sized range that was simple to sew at home and that you can buy all the lovely materials you need to make at Millie Moon. 

There’s 3 styles to fit ages 1-5 to start with - a very cute Party Dress with a full skirt, a versatile sleeveless Pinafore Dress and an A-line T Shirt Dress with built in sleeves.

They’ve been a challenge to put together, I had to use my, somewhat rusty and self taught, CAD experience and call upon some of my lovely friends for their help - huge thanks to Chris at Wing’s Art and Design Studio and Aran at Latitude Photography for their skills, and everyone at Millie Moon for their enthusiasm and patience.

I hope you enjoy making the patterns as much as I’ve enjoyed putting them together - all feedback would be much appreciated, I’d love to see photos of your finished dresses and hear your suggestions for the next additions to the range.

Please note…….All my patterns are clearly marked Not For Commercial Use, this means they are for home use only by Mummys, Aunties, Nannys etc making for their friends and family NOT for business or any other monetary gains/sale. 

 I’m also aiming to cover making all the little dresses as workshops at Millie Moon, starting with the Pinafore Dress on 9th February in Keynsham and 27^th April in Frome - these workshops include all materials too, bargain. x

Follow Anna on twitter via @makemeadress_av for more sewing tips and tricks. 

Click on each picture to purchase the downloadable patterns. 

DIY - Festive Glitter Star Garlands

Today's DIY is something to get you in the festive mood making lots of glittering stars to style you're holiday setting.

You will need: 

Glitter fabric (available in the shop here or you can make your own with card, glitter and glue) 

3 metres of fine sparkly ribbon

Swarovski rhinestones and tiffany clasps available from creative bead craft. You can also use a bead or sequin here. 

Sharp scissors

Make a star template and draw out as many as you want to pack on your garland. We used 10 on each three metre garland and our stars measured 6 cms across.
Cut our with sharp strong scissors.

Next take your ribbon and mark 10 points to attach your stars, equally spaced. We left 40cms each end to tie.

Using the tiffany clasp attach the star to the ribbon from the back. Place the crystal in the clasp and fold over the prongs with fine nose pliers.
Alternatively you can sew the stars to the ribbon with a bead or sequin.

Repeat all the ways along and there you have your garland. Simple and gorgeously sparkly!

And if you don't have the time to make these sparkling garlands yourself, we can make them for you. Buy them online in silver or gold from our shop.