Cheeky Leopard at the House of Commons

One of my Cheeky Leopard bags paid a visit to the House of Commons last night, accompanied by Tania Mathias, a local Conservative councillor. She wore a beautiful deep blue dress which made a perfect match with the Cheeky Leopard clutch that she chose! She brought the dress to my studio last week and we spent some time choosing the perfect match.

The clutch is made from a cotton kimono fabric (yukata) pieced together with a blue and white obi fabric. The obi is the 'belt' that goes around the kimono. The clutch has a pop of colour on the inside with a vibrant magenta pink satin lining.

Fabric Friday

There's nothing like a new year to encourage a bit of fabric sorting and that's what I've been doing today. It's been lovely to rediscover some gems I had hidden away as well as, rather painfully, getting rid of items that are no longer needed. Hopefully they will find a new home and be made into something fabulous!

Today I'm focusing on the kimono fabrics which are so pretty and soft to play with. I tend to home in on the brighter colours and have quite a melange of prints and styles.

Most of my fabrics are kept in boxes, so it's really nice to pour them all out onto the floor of my studio and have a good rummage through them. It's amazing what you can find!

The two silk kimono pieces above are so pretty and use typical Japanese images. The fabric on the left combines blossom with bush clover and is placed on a soft cream ground. I'm pretty sure it would have originally been used as an undergarment. The fabric on the right is a stunning red and cream stork design and would have made quite a statement as a kimono!

These two kimonos are made of cotton and I've been loathe to cut them up. I'm not sure what to make them into yet, but think the stork design would look beautiful on an iPad case and would be something quite different.

This kimono is quite small so I think it may have been a child's kimono.

It's hard to think that these two kimono pieces are vintage when you look at the neon yellow and hot pink used in them! They have such a modern feel to them.

I love the hot pink flowers on the soft grey ground.

Happy Monday!

It's a beautiful day today and I have a lovely new addition to my store. Last week I mentioned a blue and white combo that I was working on. Over the weekend I made it up into a stunning clutch. And yes, I decided to add a hot pink lining!

You can find it in my store here.

A bit of blue and white

I love a bit of blue and white. This is the latest pattern for one of my large clutch bags and it incorporates a blue and white obi fabric (the belt that goes around the kimono) with a blue and white cotton kimono fabric (yukata). Now I just need to decide on a fab lining to use. Hot pink perhaps?!

Fave fabric Friday

This Friday's fabric is quite a contrast to the vibrant purple of the last fave fabric. It's made of cotton and is a Japanese kimono in muted shades of blue, yellow and red on a grey ground. It has quite a contemporary feel to it, but I'm pretty sure it's an antique. And I love the slightly blurred ikat technique used on the traditional blossom motif.

This would make a beautiful summer handbag, now I just have to make it. Watch this space!

Fave fabric Friday

This Friday's favourite fabric is a vintage kimono that I have had for a while and I'm not completely sure who it's made for! It is pretty small and short, so I'm guessing it was made for a child. It is cotton and the best aspect of it for me, is the random choice of fabrics used. This idea of random piecing was usually applied to an under garment. It didn't show, so the choice of fabrics was not particularly important, and whatever was to hand would be used. In this case, it is a stunning combination of a purple floral, mixed with an olive green bird print. Both prints are so different to each other, but to add to the mix, there is a different fabric for the collar. Even the inside hem has yet another fabric, which has been hand-tacked.