A Crafty birthday present

This year my mum gave me a fantastic birthday present which was to make me an outfit for my holiday. We bought the Margo pattern from Sew La Di Da vintage when we were at the Knitting and Stitching Show earlier this year and I fell in love with it the minute I saw it on the stand.

I originally contacted the company to see if they would be able to sell me the fabric that they had used to make it on the cover, but my mum found an equally lovely fabric to make it up in. It is a lovely light and breezy blue cotton covered in lots of different sailing boats, very apt with the America's Cup coming up this year.

Last weekend I went over for a fitting and mum had made up a toile in a striped cotton to test the fit and the style before cutting out in the final fabric. I really liked the stripe (despite it being an old duvet cover!) and I think I may be putting in another order for the short version of the pattern in a pretty stripe!

Unfortunately the photos didn't come out very clearly, but hopefully you can get the gist of the progress, and I will be sure to take some more detailed photos as it goes along!

The striped cotton toile of the bodice to test the fit. We took it in at the bust darts and added a little length to the torso

The Margo pattern with the final boat print fabric

Cutting out in the final fabric

The bodice in the boat print cotton

The trousers have long wide legs with deep pockets.

Beckworth Emporium - Flora photos

Yesterday my friend and I went out to Afternoon Tea at the Beckworth Emporium, a lovely shopping and eating experience just outside Sywell and Mears Ashby in Northamptonshire. 

As it was such a fantastic day it was lovely to wander around the garden centre and see all of the flowers in full bloom. There was a great selection of Dahlias in delicious bright sorbet colours, and heavenly Hydrangea in slightly more muted and vintage tones. They looked amazing in their displays and I couldn't help snapping away.

The garden centre also had some gorgeous accessories such as these lovely pots. I particularly loved the colour range of the Royal Horticultural Society collection, but I also loved the combination of the lovely lilac on the inside of the shells next to the rugged grey of the slate of these large planters.

Metal sculptures - East Cliff Slope, Bournemouth

Last weekend we went for a long weekend to Bournemouth and although the weather wasn't a patch on the glorious sunny days we are experiencing at the moment, we still had a great time.

A view from the slope towards the pier

We were walking up the East Cliff Slope back to our hotel and I spotted these colourful metal sculptures against the railing. I loved the beach and seaside theme and the weathered patina was the perfect decoration to a windy seaside visit.