Happiness is a vintage bike

Ok, I know this is about fashion, but that being said, fashion doesn't stop at just clothing and in this case bicycles!!!!!! Or more to the point VINTAGE Bicycles!!!!!

So I spent three weeks trawling through the Internet, preloved, gum tree and ebay to finally find "caprice".

Ooooo she's pretty!!!!!

I managed to bag myself a little craker, she is an original 1979 Raliegh Caprice!!!!!! She is an adorable metallic lilac complete with white brake cables, grips and extra wide sprung vintage seat in white leather and white tyres, and I AM IN LOVE!!!!!!

I forgot how much fun riding a bike actually is, you instantly feel seven. The only thing that's missing from her is a lovely little wicker basket - which is on its way in the post now.

I have only had her a few weeks and already have done the entire length of the coastline (down south that is)  and I actually can't get enough!!! It's good for the body it's good the mind and therefor its good for soul........for the love of god......get yourself a bike!!!!!!!!

Denim hot pants revamp, Hilfiger stylee part 1

Hi
So this week I have been making shorts, I fell in love with this pair of Tommy Hilfiger denim hot pants, but my bank balance simply would not comply......how rude!!!!

So I decided to get crafty!!!!

Riffling through my "clothes to do things to pile" I came across a really ugly flag top I had purchased earlier in the year, only to get it home and think "uuuurrghh its disgusting", and it was not expensive enough to warrant returning, so into the pile it went, result!!, so start to think I know I can make my own and put it on the blog as a how to, brilliant.

So, to make your very own rip-off Tommy Hilfiger Stars and Stripes hot pants you will need:
1) an old pair of jeans you don't mind killing
2) scissors
3) some sort of flag or really you can use any kind of fabric you want
4) needle
5) strong cotton thread.  

 Here's a pic of needed stuff......just because

So, first of you need to crop your jeans to a reasonable hot pant size, sometimes it helps to use an existing pair as a marker....no one wants too much cheek!!!!

Once your happy with your cut line, cut away!!!,

Denim hot pant revamp Hilfiger stylee part 3

So now you should have both of your sides, or whatever you wanted covered, cut out and ready to pin.
 Make sure you make a tiny fold as you pin so your overlaying fabric wont rip off or Frey in the wash and through wearing
Once you have finished pinning both sides you should have something that resembles this:

Now for fun part... Stitch it all in place!!!!

You can be as detailed or a rough as the style your going for  here, for mine I wanted a slightly worn vintage look so I didn't bother machining I just hand stitched it, also this way it's easier to switch thread if the colour on the pattern changes....( if your that picky)

 I'm not so I used the same thread all round.

Once all the stitching is complete, your pretty much all done unless you want to add any appliqué or fancy bits, I added a bow to back pocket using scraps from the ugly flag top ......

.......and that's it ..enjoy :-) Xx

Denim hot pants revamp, Hilfiger stylee part 2

So once you have finished cutting both sides you should have something that looks like this

Now you need to rough the edges up, this being said its by far easier, and looks better if you use a pair of REAL denim jeans rather than these elastic cotton mixes as they don't Frey so well, it takes more work to make them look authentic. I find the easiest way to do this part is with a cheese grater but you can do a good enough job with just a pair of scissors, open them half way, as though we're about to make a ribbon curl, and in the same way you would pull the ribbon, pull the denim along the sharp edge .....BE CAREFUL 

This part can be tedious, but just keep going with it and don't be afraid, it's not really something you overdo!!

 Next get your material that your going to use and cut out the shape you want, for mine, I'm just going cover from under the pockets on the front

That was suppose to say " please" not places lol ( damn predictive text)

FAQ

Hi peeps iv just put an FAQ page on here so if any of you have any questions or requests places feel free to ask away xx

About me.

Have a read of my about me page it's just finished, I'm trying to get some sketch pics up here but I'm new to this site and am having some "technical" difficulties .... I.e I'm being a bit thick!!!!