Car Booty

One of the best things about summer is the car boot sales. I've been to more than I can count in my years and have discovered many a bargain. The one closest to me holds between one and two hundred stalls on a good sunny morning. Until then it's a more humble affair but while I whet my appetite I thought I'd show off some of my favourite finds from past boot sales.

♥Above: Limoges apple pot 20p ♥ White rabbit 50p ♥ Musical jewellery box 50p ♥

I have a thing for oriental jewellery boxes. This is one of many!

Ceramic hands lamp - 50p. I've had this for over ten years. It obviously still works and I still love it!

Vintage lace dress £3

There's plenty more where those came from. I'll share some whenever I find the time to snap more photos. This Sunday I'm going to another car boot sale so who knows what I'll find! It's also Chinese New Year so expect some photos from the London celebrations unless I get snowed in...

Zombie High, Win or Die

Something wicked this way comes... Halloween is upon us once more! Halloween is one of my favourite creative holidays so I thought I'd share some pictures of the costume I created last year. I'm actually afraid of zombies so I figured I face my fear by becoming the source - a zombie! Zombie what? Why, a zombie cheerleader of course!


I used cheap basic items from Primark to adjust as it was easier than starting from scratch. The skirt needed some work but it was quite easy to shorten and elasticate. I had the most fun creating the top. After designing the cheerleaderesque logo I purchased some red felt and simply cut out the designs then used fabric glue to stick them straight onto the cotton.


The small lettering was pretty tricky to cut out but I was really pleased with the result. On the back I actually made two costumes, one for me and one for my best mate. Since we were from the same 'squad' we picked our lucky numbers and put those on the back.


To complete the outfit I splattered some red pom poms with burgundy nail varnish to represent blood splatter.

Make-up was obviously also an important part of the costume. White face paint, heavy on the dark eye make-up and some fake wounds later, we were rocking the undead look. I even bought some blackjacks to chew on to turn my mouth black! Putting my hair in bunches and backcombing them took minutes but looked great.

The final touch was a difficult one - to cover myself and the shiny new costumes in fake blood - but once we got into the zone it was a whole lot of twisted fun.

I loved the reaction we got walking around the London Underground - especially turning round corners and making people jump out of their skin. The costumes went down so well they're asking for a reprise.

But not this year!

This year I am lucky enough to be going to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show on Halloween night. I'm in the process of putting together a Trixie/usherette costume. I can't wait!

Link to the Past

I was lucky enough to get a commission to put together a costume from one of my favourite game series, Zelda. It was Link's outfit I was challenged with making and I had a whale of a time making it all up.

I started with by gathering up the materials I needed for the basic outfit. This included green suedette which was great to work with (no fraying, fabric glue was fine on the seams, minimising sewing!), and white stretch cotton. The faux chain mail was difficult to find, but I eventually found some silver netting in my favourite haunt: Fabric Land.

The hat was the easiest thing to make so naturally I made that first! Only one line of sewing was needed, then I glued the hem and added the side detail. Next up was the green tunic. Since this was laced up at the side rather than one complete piece, this didn't take too long. I made the criss-cross detail at the front with strips of the suedette.

The white under shirt was the most difficult piece to sew, as I had to work from measurements and no model, since it was a mail order piece. I redid the collar a couple of times, as this was quite tricky.

After this was finished I added the faux chain mail, sewing this into the tunic. I ended up with two pieces - the tunic, complete with chain mail, and the white undershirt. The customer kindly agreed to find some white trousers himself, as I don't think I'm at the level to make trousers from scratch quite yet!



Next up was the accessories - a Hylian shield, Master Sword and the belt brace. I used three belts for the brace. They proved very difficult to attach to each other - I used epoxy and velcro in the end.

For the sword I bought a plastic one and took off the guard. My dad cut some wood into the general shape and I attached and painted it, along with the handle. It's a rough representation but it does the trick! My dad ran away with shield idea and created his own method of making them from a cardboard base. He's sworn me to secrecy.



I used acrylic paints to paint the basic design and touch up, and silver spray paint around the edge. We attached a metal door handle to the back, and a leather jug handle (we just happened to have a bundle lying around!) as the arm brace. I was very pleased with the end result. I'll be making one of these babies for myself next!



I had a fun with this project and learned a lot too. I'm really happy with the way it all came together. I'm still waiting for the customer's verdict and I've asked him to send a couple of photos of it in action - provided it fits!

To Me, Tutu

I created this for a party I was going to, with a twisted Alice in Wonderland theme. The method is so simple, and didn't cost much at all. I got a belt (elastic works too), multiple strips of black and red dress netting and some suedette which I had lying around. Each strip measured double the length that I wanted the tutu to be and couple of inches wide.

Each strip was doubled over and loop tied around the belt. I looped the other strips, of which there were around 100 in total. And that finished the basic tutu! I glued some hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds as the finishing touches.

You can find detailed instructions with a quick search of youtube or google.