A Mini Adventure to Paris

Last weekend, I took a mini break to Paris with a few of my friends. It was something we'd been talking about since January when the Eurostar was on sale, but by the time we actually organised it, it was £150 so annoyingly we had to fly instead. Although I was lucky enough to have enough British Airways airmiles to be able to fly for almost free and in style so I didn't mind flying too much.

We had a rare day of really hot March sunshine, and so spent the Friday with bare arms and feet which was lovely, and I'd forgotten how much I love Paris!

It was amazing to discover that you can get in free to almost everything if you're European and under 26 so we made the most of this and went to St Chapelle, which was stunning with the sun coming through the windows, and to see the Degas exhibition at the Musee D'Orsay, and to the Pompidou centre - very cultured.

We also found a fantastic food market really near our hotel, which was full of locals and had some delicious offerings (I smuggled lots back in my suitcase) and a huge vintage market north of the city. Here I could have spent hours wandering around through all the little lanes, with shops crammed full of all sorts of exciting curiosities.

I of course bought some buttons - there were millions to choose from and I very conservatively bought 5 (I had to limit myself or I'd never have stopped with the buttons), and also an apple core necklace (which my house mate thought was real, and disgusting!)

I spoke a lot of French while I was there and really didn't want to come back - but as it's so close to London, I'm sure I'll be back very soon!

Prop Making

One of the most fun parts of my job is being asked to make props for various photo shoots. This is really exciting as it could be absolutely anything - and made from almost anything.

My first creation was a kite to match an anorak and wellies which would be worn by a child running along flying the kite. As it was very last minute, and we didn't have any spare fabric, I had to but up an anorak to make the kite. Combined with some kebab skewers which I found in our 'man' drawer in our flat, and some pretty ribbons, I think I made a pretty good kite!

(Shot in Camber Sands on a surprisingly sunny September day)

I had a few small commissions in between, but then my next big challenge was to make a Bedouin tent, out of some of the SS12 dress and skirt fabrics...which was about 6ft tall....and could be packed into a suitcase to be transported to South Africa! 

Luckily, I found a gazebo which although it didn't quite fit into a suitcase, it was well within oversize baggage allowances and so easily transportable onto the plane (along with the other 47 suitcases we took!!). I took off the existing boring green cover, and transformed it into a floral Bedouin tent. 

I was pretty pleased with my result, although my sewing machine nearly over heated after all the miles of straight stitching in one day. This tent took about 7 hours to make, and used about 40metres of fabric. But looked amazing.

We did put it up one day to be in the background of some shots, but sadly it won't actually appear in the background of any of the photos. Very sad. Still, maybe next year?

So, my most recent challenge was to knit a cover for a small stool. Didn't sound too hard, except that I can only actually knit squares or decrease. I'd never exactly mastered increasing. Not one to say no to a challenge though, I watched a few you tube videos on how to increase, and had a bit of a play and although I think I may have invented a new style of knitting - I managed it!

These were my instructions...

My halfway through the attempt....

And the finished result. Once again, I am very very proud and will look forward to this appearing in the catalogue or on the website very soon. Well, in about 6 months really when the AW12 collection is actually launched.