Showing posts with label fabrics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fabrics. Show all posts

Sunday, 26 August 2012

French dressing


My final post from our French holiday comes from the ancient Dordogne town of Monpazier, where we came across this gorgeous little kidswear boutique called Piquepoule, whose Dutch owner hand-makes beautiful Liberty print dresses for little girls in lovely vintagey styles (I'm hoping she might introduce some boys' rompers soon!). I also loved the paintbox bright tees and polos below. Inside is beautifully decorated, combining antique sewing paraphernalia, piles of fabric, old stone walls and crisp, bright colours, as well as an atelier and craft table for little visitors.








Friday, 19 November 2010

Vintage Vienna

I must apologise for my online absence of late - I was struck down with a winter lurgy and have since been off again overseas for work. Anyway, Vienna’s cosy cafes, cakes and hot chocolates soon perked me up - here are my favourite bits of the city:

Vintage-inspired packaging at the master confectioner’s Demel:




Modernist lighting Zeitloos and Pristine vintage treasures at Flo Vintage:


Cute and quirky haberdashery and crafting fabrics at Herzilein : 



 Art Nouveau and Secessionist design at The MAK museum:




Kitsch decorations at Vienna’s christmas markets:



And not forgetting - warm Apfelstrudel with custard (best eaten in one of the city’s grand old coffee houses such as Cafe Central):



Sunday, 8 August 2010

Our wedding day part 2: the reception

Here are the rest of our wedding pics from our photographer James Davidson. I think my favourite is the two of us in the little “meadow”, a small area of wildflowers at the bottom of the garden that James has somehow transformed into a rural idyll!


The sun did its best to shine for drinks outside the marquee in my parent’s garden, blooming with summer flowers. My pretty veil sadly had to come off by then but it revealed the gorgeous headpiece handmade by my friend Emma Embery, made from embroidered vintage lace, diamantes and tiny pearls (thanks for the pic Sarah!).


Guests were welcomed with Rose Syrup Prosecco (an idea stolen from Petersham Nurseries) with crystallised rose petals, cups of tea and traditional pink lemonade (I think I tried all three!). We had afternoon tea-themed canapés including mini sandwiches and scones, and the more energetic guests tested their skills in croquet on the lawn, where all the old-fashioned deckchairs I had collected were put to good use too.




Read on for all the vintagey details:

- With the help of a dedicated team of friends and family, we managed to collect over 150 vintage tea cups and saucers which looked beautiful all laid out en masse.

- I had painted bits of wood as signs (“croquet”, “wedding” and “smokers and smooches” for the outdoor smoking space), and used blackboard paint to make smaller chalkboard-style signs and the table plan (tip: use white marker pens rather than real chalk!).


- The marquee was beyond all my expectations and looked incredible – the huge floor-to-ceiling windows let the light stream in and revealed the garden outside and it just looked stunning.

- Long trestle tables were laid with embroidered floral table cloths collected over the past year, jam jars filled with flowers, plants in mini terracotta pots and tea lights in glass yoghurt pots, and each guest had an individual vintage floral side plate.

- Those cheap and cheerful Ikea cushions were spruced up by my mum who had sewn on off-cuts of embroidered fabrics, vintage napkins and lace.

- The Kraft card (so hard to find but so good!) was again put to good use for menus and table names, and we used handwritten luggage tags for place names.
- The talented Jessie Chorley created a personalised guest album made from an antique book, which was passed around the tables for guests to sign.

- We wanted the meal to have a summer feast feel, with a choice of sea bass or lamb and big bowls of salad and roasted new potatoes on the table. After-dinner cheeses were laid out, along with mum’s homemade chutneys in jars for guests to take home.

- The cake looked stunning – our florist James had stuffed each layer with Amnesia Roses to match the button holes and the colour of my sash.


- And even the MC’s vuvuzela couldn’t escape the vintage theme!

Thursday, 4 February 2010

When in Rome...

I'm just back from a work trip to Rome and thought I'd post up some of the inspirations I found there...

Sunday morning was spent at Borghetto Flamino flea market on Piazzale della Marina sifting through all the vintage china, lace and antique jewellery - I thought the brooch below could double up as a pretty wedding hair accessory:
 Rome’s "edgier" neighbourhood Monti proved a real find for vintage and antiques. I loved the old teapots (alternative vases for flowers?) and refillable glass wine bottles at Mia Market (225 via Pansiperna):
 
  
Fioramonti Tessuti on Piazza Pollarola didn't look like much from the outside but was filled with roll after roll of fabric - plenty of stripes and florals for decorating a marquee here: 

 
I also loved all the old-fashioned signage that still adorns so many shop fronts. May prove a good starting point for the invitations: