New in VINTAGE - charity shop and car boot

Hello! I thought I would show you guys what I got from a car boot sale this morning and the blouse I recently bought from a charity shop. I love vintage but I steer way clear of vintage shops because they are so expensive! So much good stuff to be found at your local car boot/charity shop for bargain prices.

 floral blouse - £2.50 charity shop

map of the world holdall £1.50 car boot

Levi's £5 car boot sale

faux fur coat £4 car boot sale 

I know its still August but I'm in love with the faux fur jacket. Its absolutely enormous on me (size XL) but I can't wait to wear it this winter, so big and cuddly. 

The Levi's and the blouse need some serious alterations- hopefully will have some blog posts on them soon! 

My blog's had just under 7200 hits, can't quite believe it! If you have bloglovin it would be awesome if you follow me- sign up here. You can also follow me on twitter, instagram, tumblr (links below) or contact me by email marniejgooch@hotmail.co.uk.

Thankyou so much for reading! 

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DIY long vintage dress to dip hem tunic

Heya!
Thought I would share my latest dress transformation using a vintage St Michaels dress I found in a charity shop for £4. 

(Vans Authentics - Office, scrunchie- handmade)

I fell in love with the print and couldn't wait to make it shorter and more wearable. I thought I would do something different this time instead of just shortening it and cinching it in at the waist with a belt as I normally do with dresses like this. In my head I pictured a loose floaty smock/tunic style dress with a slightly longer hem at the back, that I could wear with lace cycling shorts and chunky heels. 

I started by getting rid of the elasticated waist which was stopping the dress from hanging loosely. This was hard at first as the elastic was sewn into the waist seam, so I had to make a new seam.

 I folded the dress over at the waist and sewed the whole way round just below the elastic. After this I could cut away the elastic and I was left with the flat, ungathered seam that I had created. I always overlock my seams and I sewed round this seam again just to strengthen it. 

This left me with waaayyyy more fabric than I had anticipated, and although I wanted it loose and floaty, it flared out like a tent, so I took it in at the sides. I did this by trying it on and feeling how much I wanted to lose each side. I then laid it out flat and pinned where i wanted to sew- I took out 2 inches from each side starting at the arm pit. This gave a much better fit whilst staying quite loose. 

Next I did the dip hem. I found the centre of the front of the dress and folded it down this central line and laid out. I then marked from the highest point at the front (try on and mark this first) and the lowest point at the back. Then i drew a sweeping line in between them to join them up. 

I then pinned the fabric up to this line and tried on. Once I was happy with the shape I overlocked and hemmed this edge. Overlocking makes the hem so much easier to turn on floaty thin fabrics like this.  I had a nightmare with this part because I stupidly started sewing next to a vase of flowers, managed to get the fabric caught round it and spilt the water all over the dress, my machine, the floor and myself. Far from ideal and I won't be making that mistake again!

Lastly I decided to do cut out sleeves. I laid the dress out flat and then measured 1.5 inches from the end of the sleeve and then cut a straight line right up to the shoulder seam. I then repeated on the other side and hemmed both. I just thought that added a bit more interest to the dress. 

And here is how I would wear it:

dress - vintage St Michaels 

leather bag - vintage

shoes - ebay 

lace cycling shorts - ebay

watch - Marc by Marc Jacobs

name necklace - ebay

lips- MUA lip liner in Red Drama and Rimmel Apocalips in Big Bang 

What do you guys think? It was nice to do something different with a vintage dress and I particularly like the fact I can wear my new lace cycling shorts! Also I'm in love with this new vintage bag. Its the softest leather and cost just over a fiver from a charity shop. 

I am feeling very inspired lately after I went to the De Montfort uni open day in Leicester on Saturday. We visited the degree show and it was incredible. The standard of work was so high and it made me so excited for the future rather than scared and full of self doubt which is the effect some open days have had on me before. I'm trying to decide between a course like textiles for fashion, fashion fabrics and accessories or contour fashion (swimwear, underwear, corsetry). The contour fashion exhibition impressed me the most but I'm unsure whether that would be a good degree choice for me. I'm rubbish at small intricate things that need lots of little components and take lots of time. Oh well I still have a year at college to decide what I want to do. I'm absolutely distraught I will be a mature student by the time I get back to uni though. Oh life. 

Thanks for reading and remember you can become a follower of my blog on bloglovin (link below) or through google. It would mean the world to me!

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P.s. This is my last post with ombre hair. I just can't make myself like it. Its a nightmare to make my hair look nice when its bleached. I'm going to go a light natural brown so there's still a bit of a lightening effect towards the ends. My hair is trashed I need a good 3 inches off the ends wahhh girl problems. 

London weekend in Instagrams

1. First Class on the way there, 2. View of the shard from the flat, 3. Silver at Portobello Market

4. Goldsmith's Vintage and Garden Bar and Grill at Portobello, 5. Sex on the Beach at the Cornershop in Shoreditch, 6. Journey home.

This weekend I visited my oldest, bestest friend in London. She lives just off Old Street so it was really central and we could walk most places. 

We went to the vintage markets on Brick Lane, Spitalfields and Portobello Market on Saturday and then out for drinks in Shoreditch on Saturday night. 

On Sunday we biked around Hyde Park on the Barclays bikes. Then we did a bit of shopping down Oxford Street. 

I wish I had taken more pictures but lots of the stall holders were really funny about people taking photos of their stock! Such a shame.

Such a lovely weekend! So nice to get out of the routine and out of Ipswich for a change. Going to London always makes me so happy. I can't wait to spend two weeks there in the summer for an internship!

Thanks for reading! It would mean the world to me if you became a follower of my blog on blogger or bloglovin! 

Have a great week,

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DIY 80s vintage dotty dress transformation

Hey!
Two posts in one day! I don't know what's happened to me haha! This is just to show you the vintage dress I changed and basically made into a mini length. I bought this in a charity shop and it was enormous as you can see from the pictures! I fell in love with the navy dotty print and the wide lepels. This just made me think of Princess Diana, and straw boater hats.   
Here's what it looked like before I took my scissors to it: 

Truly hideous and I do question why I put photos this unflattering on the internet haha! 


So I began by turning it up to a shorter, more wearable length. I threw out the original belt, but surprised myself by actually keeping the shoulder pads in; normally they are the first things to go but I didn't think they were too extreme this time. I then just took it in at the sides and lost about 4 inches off each side. I didn't bother with darts because I wanted it to still be slightly loose. Lastly I cut the sleeves shorter and rolled up and sewed on my machine.
I'm quite pleased with it, its not my favourite dress ever, just something about it I'm not happy with..? Maybe I'll come back to it at some point and do more to it. I definitely like it more than before though that's for sure!

And here's the finished result:

(Scrunchie - handmade, belt - market, shoes - Forum Gladiator from Office)

Thanks for reading :)

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DIY vintage long skirt to pinafore dress

Hey!
Here is a little dress I made using an old vintage skirt I got for a £1 in a charity shop. I was just going to turn it up and make it into a skater skirt but I thought I had loads of fabric left that I could make a pinafore dress from! 

Here is the before:

It had a nice fit actually, with pockets and an elasticated waist.

And here is the after pics:

 Pinafore dress DIY, watch Michael Kors (fake from ebay), Vans Authentics from Office, Grey T from H&M

How I did it:

1. Turn up the skirt. Try on, pin it to desired length, overlock the raw edges (or just use pinking shears to finish), hem on the machine. 
2. With remaining fabric cut out a square to use as the top part. I don't have exact measurements for this, I just used trial and error depending on how wide/high I wanted it to come on my front.
3. Sew your square right side to right side with more of the skirt fabric (only if you have enough), or another cotton. Leave a gap to turn right way out, and iron.
4. Add button holes using a function on a machine, or by hand if you're clever. Add them to the two top corners where your straps will be fastened.
5. Pin the square onto the waistband and topstitch across neatly to join the two. Make sure you try it on so you're happy with where it sits on the body and that its even.
6. With remaining skirt fabric make straps. Mine were 4cm wide and I cut out a piece of fabric 9cm wide and as long as I could. 
7. Sew strip into a tube and turn inside out. Press with a hot iron making sure the seam is straight down the back of the strap. 
8. Measure how big each strap needs to be and cut your long strap to size. I crossed mine over but you don't have to!
9. Hem the straps' raw edges. Pin on straps at the back, try on to make sure you're happy, then sew the straps down.
10. Add buttons to the other ends of the straps.
11. Cut off any dangly threads and you're done.

This was surprisingly easy to do and I'm really happy with how its turned out. But I think its definitely not warm enough to wear yet, and I'm definitely too pale!

If you have basic sewing knowledge you could make this from any old skirt. Just as long as its long enough to make the pinafore part and straps. 

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. In the future I will try and do a step by step of how I alter my clothes as that will probably be easier to understand!

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Cross stitch blog header using Stitchpoint

Hello lovelies,

Today I thought I would mention the online tool I used to create my new blog header. This website called Stitchpoint is amazing! You can create whatever sentances, words etc you want easily using their online generator, then print out and get sewing. You could even print off lots of different words or phrases, cut them out and arrange onto graph paper and create a large collage, which would make a lovely personalised cushion or framed picture like the one below (or buy the pattern here ).

Also how amazing are these Hug and Kiss cushions by designer Emily Peacock? I would love to be able to recreate one of these. I love the bright colours, the circus style of font and the pom pom trim! See her work here www.emilypeacock.com/

stitchstitchhooray

stitchedupbyleona

Love all of these samplers. I am big on my motivational quotes right now because to be honest I'm feeling pretty lost in the world and unsure of what the future holds. So I might turn my hands to creating a motivational cross stitch sampler. Nothing like some cross stitch to calm the soul. 

Thanks for reading!

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DIY Vintage Lilac Jumpsuit

Hello!
I have been meaning to do this post for so long, because I have finally finished altering my vintage handmade jumpsuit i got from a charity shop. This beauty cost me £3 from a charity shop and I discovered it was handmade and hand sewn and finished in some parts. Although it was huge and kinda ridiculous I couldn't leave it, and its shoulder pads, behind! 
So this is what it looked like before I changed it: (awful photo in many ways, sorry!)

And here's what it looked like after:

Breezie wanted to join in

 (LOL)

(watch - Marc by Marc Jacobs, heels - Office sale, ring - craft fayre)

Here's what I did:

1. Removed shoulder pads and moved shoulders inwards
2. Tightened waist elastic
3. Took legs in and rolled up
4. Changed buttons from light blue (?) to lilac 
5. Rolled up sleeves

I love this jumpsuit so much!! I think it would work on a night out with heels or in the day with white low converse. 

I think I love the scallop detail along the pockets and the neckline the most.

Let me know what you think, and I hope you like how the blog is shaping out so far. 

I bought a vintage size 16 dress today for my next project. Cant wait to do something with it :)

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DIY Cut out shoulder vintage shirt

Hello !
Thought I would post my latest DIY project! 
On my usual lunch break charity shop rummage I found this shirt; I thought the print was kind of horrible and amazing at the same time, and for £1 i wasn't going to leave it behind.

I thought how can I get rid of some of this horrible print? Cut away some of the fabric to make cut out sleeves. I found The Fitting's post on cut out shoulder shirt and thought I would try and do something similar. See her original post here.

I started by cutting out a sort of oval shape with a square end from newspaper and pinned onto the front of my shirt, then tried it on and made adjustments. I wanted mine to be quite big cut outs because I thought little ones would look silly on something so oversized.

Once I was happy I cut away the cut outs. 

I then folded under the raw edge to about 30-40mm, pinned in place and stitched it by hand. Usually I prefer machining but the fabric was slippy so I thought I would play it safe.

I rolled up the sleeves and it was done! I'm really happy with it- I wore it to work with a high waisted skater skirt and got lots of compliments from the kids (I work as a Teaching Assistant in a primary school).

Definitely will be using this technique again.

In  case anyone's interested my jeans are Topshop Leila (very old), hat is Divided at H&M, boots are Uncanny from Office Shoes, necklace is New Look.

Hope you enjoyed!

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