I picked up two very old issues of ‘Le Petit Echo de la Mode’ (the small fashion echo) this weekend, one dating from May 1927 and the other from October 1933 (I payed them five euros each). This magazine first started in 1880, it’s not just a fashion magazine but a general women’s publication - [...]

Well, here’s the cloche hat I blocked last weekend! What do you think? I’m really quite pleased with it, maybe the fabric trimming looks a bit ‘heavy’, but the color goes well. I didn’t expect the hat to be so deep, but I really can’t complain, it is a cloche hat like it’s supposed to be!
Donc, [...]

So, I got my blocks finally! It was great opening the boxes and having that wood smell float out! Really no problems with them, they were so well packed (lots of paper, bubble wrap AND foam). I thought I’d try out my cloche multi-block first, it is made out of obeche wood which is a soft wood so [...]

I got the new  issue of ‘The Hat Magazine’ today, the first of 2010! I haven’t had time to go through it all yet, but I would like to point out that it has a really good chunk dedicated to Melbourne (a whole 32 pages!) and it’s hat makers. There’s  the main photo shoot (like [...]

As everybody probably already knows the great fashion designer Alexander McQueen has left us so I decided to post some pics of  headwear from various of his ready-to-wear shows. McQueen often collaborated with Philip Treacy, the irish hat maker.  Treacy works a lot for fashion designers and celebrities aswell as creating his own collections. It was [...]

I’m currently putting up items in my Etsy shop (Chalkie’s Bazaar) for a clearance sale! I really want to sell some of my older items before putting up news ones, I need space to work! I’ll be adding more throughout this week, so please do come have a look and fill up your basket!
J’ajoute des produits [...]

I was luckily given this chain stitch sewing machine a while back (my bosses gave it to me for free!) but I’ve never really gotten round to using  it. Today, I gave it a good clean down and oiled eveything that moves and hopefully will give it a serious try-out tomorrow. The machine is linked up [...]

I’ve just finished watching my chirstmas dvds of ‘The House of Eliott’, a great TV series made by the BBC between 1991 and 1994. Set in the twenties, the show follows two sisters who create their own haute-couture fashion house with all the professional, personal, and social problems on the side. I just love it! [...]