Meet The Designer - Silver Sixpence takes to the stage at The White Closet

Last Wednesday was my “Meet the Designer” event at exclusive bridal boutique The White Closet. From reading my blog and my newsletters you all will have probably gathered I’m quite a chatterbox! Therefore you’ll be surprised to know that in the run up to the event the thought of standing up and sharing my story to all you lovely brides sent my knees knocking! Let’s just say I’m a much better sewer than I am speaker, in public anyway!

I just wanted to say a huge thank you to The White Closet, my PR lady Rachael Adams, Vanilla in All Seasons catering, Jonny Draper Photographer, Zoe Chiotis (musician) and Didsbury Life. I also wanted to say an even bigger thank you all of the vintage loving brides that made it to the event! Hopefully you all went away with some amazing inspiration and treated yourself to that special something for your big day.

If you were lucky enough to squeeze into The White Closet last Wednesday you will have seen the latest editions to my Silver Sixpence collection. In the lead up to the event I was sewing til I had thread coming out of my ears and was dreaming of lace, feathers and pearls almost every night, but Oh how it was worth it! The brand new Celine full face birdcage veil was received really well by brides to be as was the Florrie boho headband and Persephone forehead birdcage veil. I absolutely love working with local brides and helping to create really special, bespoke pieces for them. It was nice to know that many of my brides had also purchased their dress from The White Closet. It makes me feel very proud to know my designs will be used to accessorize such amazing, luxury bridal wear. All of the latest editions to my collection will be appearing on my Etsy shop very soon so do keep checking back. http://www.etsy.com/shop/nicolawellard

I’m hoping to host another “Meet the Designer” event at The White Closet in the Autumn season to launch my Silver Sixpence in her Shoe third collection. Please keep visiting my website for further details. http://www.silver-sixpence-in-her-shoe.co.uk

Silver Sixpence “Made By You” Home Kits: The 10 Step How to Guide in creating your vintage inspired headpiece at home

Inside your pretty 1920s "Clara" or 1950's "Betty" pot:

• Sinamay round base
• Crocodile clip
• Selection of vintage fabrics
• Russian Veiling
• Jewels
• Buttons
• Feathers
• Needle & Thread
• Little note from me

In addition you will need:

• Scissors
• Fabric glue (optional)
• An stitch un-picker, just in case!

My “Made By You” home kits cater for all levels of sewers. From those of you who learnt your tips and tricks from your Nanas, to those of you who experience utter frustration when trying to thread a needle, we’ve all been there! Each pretty pot is individually made using an array of vintage fabrics in different colour ways and textures. Each home-kit also contains a selection of hand-picked gems that you can use to glam up your head piece.

Step 1

Pop open your pot.

Step 2

Arrange your pretty pieces and think about what you are looking to create.

*Secret Tip*

The key to making your headpiece look really professional is to layer your fabrics on top of one another. To hide any stitching, make sure you sew as tightly as possible, knot off your threads and trim any loose ends.

Step 3

Position your croc clip on the back of the sinamay base and sew securely as demonstrated below from back to front of the base. This is so all stitching will be hidden on the inside. Knot securely.

Step 4

Decorating your design! Here are a few suggestions to inspire you.

You can bow or gather your Russian veiling as shown! This is a really simple but really effective idea to add height to your headpiece

Step 5

To make a cute bow from your pre-cut fabrics, fold inwards, pinch in the middle and secure by sewing. Easy peasy!

Step 6

If your kit contains a spikey goose feather, try curling it into circular shape as demonstrated in the picture below. Wrap with a piece of thread at the base and knot tightly to secure.

Step 7

Another interesting way to play with feathers is to layer them on top of each other to create texture.

Step 8

Take your pre-made bow and play about with positioning it on your base. I find they always look best when arranged at an angle or at least off-centre

Step 9

Button/Jewels/Gems – all the really gorgeous bits for you magpies out there!

The next few images show a variation on how to use your embellishments. Use them to make the headpiece really personal to you!

*Secret Tip*

If your kit contains any old vintage earrings with the backs removed, you will need to sew through the holes on the back of these as shown.

Step 10

Finishing touches

When decorating your headpiece with tiny beads or sequins be really careful when using fabric glue. A good tip is to try using an ear bud to apply the glue.

Finally...

Apply your favourite lipstick, style your hair and start wearing your “Made By You” headpiece! Don’t forget to post me a pic on my facebook page, can’t wait to see what you’ve all created!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/silver-sixpence-in-her-shoe/243610077016

Please be aware your "Made By You" kit is unique, no 2 are the same so your pot may not contain all of the above materials. I assure you whatever it contains will be beautiful!

This lovely photography is by the wonderful Katy Lunsford.

See more of Katy's work here - http://www.katylunsford.com/

A Month in the Life of Silver Sixpence! January-February 2012

I literally cannot believe we are in February! 2012 seems to be going even faster than 2011 if that's even possible! And considering we are only in the 7th week of the New Year, my goodness I have been a busy bee!

Here's a sneak peak of my 2012 so far...

January Buying Trip to NYC.

What better way to say a big fat HELLO to 2012 than to embark on a fabulous buying trip to the big apple! Like most people, I hate January - gloomy grey weather, "new craze" weight loss regimes, angry shoppers fighting over sales and the pressure of making or rather breaking new year resolutions. So this year, I decided to take my seasonal buying trip a little early and make my Christmas last that little bit longer ;-)

Here are a couple of snap shots taken at a flea market in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

I literally thought I had died and gone to heaven when I saw the seriously amazing collection of vintage jewels on offer!

This particular flea was by no means cheap but the quality of the fabrics and jewels were pretty close to perfection! Rare finds do not appear easily, but they were worth every single cense as know I will be making bespoke brides very happy!

When I’m not spending my time buying weird and wonderful fabrics, I’m being inspired by the fantastic visual merchandising NYC has to offer! I absolutely adore and appreciate the amount of time and effort that goes into maximising a product’s potential. Here are a couple of pics of my personal faves.

Although this trip was mostly work, a little play never hurt anyone! Thought I’d share this NYC hot spot with you. Introducing “Serenditpity” a really WOW restaurant located in Midtown, New York. How amazing is the Alice in Wonderland themed décor?

Can you spot Andy Warhol casually hanging from the ceiling? Very Andy indeed! Haha!

And of course a girl’s gotta eat! Check out this monstrosity! A GIANT frozen hot chocolate! Fortunately I was defeated, eyes bigger than my belly and all!

So after a non-stop walking 4 days in wonderful NYC, I have come away bursting with inspiration and can’t wait to put all my ideas into practice! Watch this space!

White Memoirs Vintage Wedding Fair

So post buying trip I exhibited at Manchester’s brand new Vintage Bridal Fair, White Memoirs on Sunday 5th February at the stunning Stockport Town Hall. It was really nice to showcase my collection and host my “Made by You” workshop to a bridal community so close to home.

I was thrilled that my first sale of the day was a beautiful lucky horse shoe adorned with one of my NYC jewels! Must be a very lucky horse shoe indeed!

I definitely will be running my “Made by You” workshops at future wedding fairs as it creates a lovely social opportunity for brides and their friends and families to create something special together for the Bride’s special day.

My Etsy Shop is now open!

Thought I’d save the best bit til last! Drum roll please…. I’m absolutely thrilled to announce the opening of my BRAND NEW ETSY STORE! Now you can purchase my bespoke bridal collection of headwear, birdcage veils, hair clips/slides, garters, shoeclips and luckyhorse shoes online! Within the first few weeks of opening I have had orders going as far as the USA! Who’s ever of thought little old me would be going global! *Blush* Please check out my new 2012 bridal collection here:

Finally, I did make one new resolution that I intend on sticking to! You can now get all the latest news, updates, competitions, giveaways and good old gossip from me by singing up to my newsletter “Silver Sixpence Shares All”. If you would like to find out more please drop me an email at silversixpence.uk@gmail.com

More from me in March!

Love

Nicola x