Buy or DIY - Poncho cape wrap

The other day I spied some rather nice looking poncho wraps on the Accessorize website...

 I’m a big fan of ponchos, capes & shawls for autumn but rather than paying £35 for one on the High Street, I like making my own...

I always like to have a good old rummage through the remnants box at the fabric shop & last year I found a lovely piece of woven fabric that I thought would make a really funky reversible cape wrap.
I copied the dimensions from a vintage 80s cape wrap that my mother-in-law had given me.
This DIY is so ridiculously simple anyone can do it...
*Find some fabric that you like!
*Cut your fabric into a square; my square measured 60” by 60”.
*Zigzag around the raw edges or leave edges raw if you want a fray-trim.
*Fold the square in half & cut a slit measuring 30” along the fold.
*Zigzag or reinforce in some other way around the end of the slit to prevent the fabric from ripping any further when worn.
*If you’d like a neater appearance you could even add a plain or a decorative border trim all the way around the edges.
Like I said an easy peasy lemon sqeezy DIY and just think how many pennies you'll be saving by making one yourself.

You could even recycle an old lightweight blanket or throw to do this.
  It's a really funky not to mention versatile garment and it is just perfect for autumn.

So what's the verdict BUY or DIY?

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

The Autumn U-turn

Hope you've all had a mighty fine weekend?!

This morning I was up with the lark to get the early bird bargains at the boot sale.
On my travels I actually managed to get lost & had to call my hubby to guide me in the right direction.
I hit the boot sale an hour after it had opened but despite my tardiness, I was not disappointed with my hoard.
Three of my favourite sellers were there, so I came away with a bounty of vintage frocks, yay!
Travelling home was like sitting next to the devil & his twin in a sauna whilst wearing a rubber bodysuit, the bus was absolutely heaving and naturally everyone who had come from the boot sale was laden with bags, wheeled trolleys, paintings & even furniture, ¡Ay, caramba!
Never mind, I'm back home now...

all bathed & smelling of roses with a well deserved cold beverage at hand.

Here are some pictures that were taken the other day when hubby and I went for a stroll along the urban nature trail.
Earlier that morning I had been pouring over the super cool sisters of the black moon website & their awesome eBay auctions.
I think it is more than evident that I felt rather inspired by their bohemian lusciousness!

What I am wearing:

Vintage 80s paisley patterned skirt

Pink Soda floral print blouse

Vintage 80s tribal patterned waistcoat

Western studded leather belt

Vintage leather boots

DIYed tassle necklace

That's all for now peeps!

All the best to you :)

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

Two peas in a berber waistcoat?

Since my last offering was full of frocks, I thought I do a completely frock free posting today.

A little while ago did a post featuring my beloved mum & some of her clothing that is now taking pride of place in my own wardrobe.

On my last visit to my folks I sorted through a box of old photos and I was thrilled to find a couple of mum wearing some of the garments that I still have.

After finding these photo's I felt a strong urge to try and recreate my mum's look myself, so today I gave it my first bash.

My mum bought this woven waistcoat from a berber market in Morocco back in the late 70s and I remember her wearing it quite a lot teamed with her impossibly tight jeans and clog boots.

At the time we were living in a small white-bread Swedish village and no doubt my mum was considered a bit of a bohemian for wearing stuff like this.
Here's my mum in the late 70s or very early 80s...

...and here I am thirty or so years later ;)

So what's the verdict, two peas in a pod?

I did want to curl my hair like my mum used to do hers but I managed to completely destroy my curling tongs the other week. They snapped in half after I clumsily dropped them on the floor.

Never mind, I've still got my bendy curlers, so all is not lost.

The weather here in London has been amazing today, so I decided to kick start my biannual domestic cleaning extravaganza by washing & line dying all our rag rugs...curtains next!

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

A-Z of Frocks

Over the past week I've been enjoying reading the A-Z posts featured on several peoples blogs. 

I did for a brief moment entertain the thought of doing one myself but decided against it after remembering how flipping long it took me to do a similar post in the past. 

I always seem to get stuck & can't think of anything remotely witty to write. 

So I thought instead of doing an A-Z about myself, I'd do an A-Z about some of my fabulous frocks, much easier!

If you haven't already, you can pop over to Helga's, La Dama's, Vix's & Desiree's blogs to check out their proper A-Z posts but before you leave here's my frocking one ;)

A is for Autumnal colours

B is for Batwings

C is for Chinese print

D is for Dominatrix

E is for Eighties

F is for Floral print

G is for Gold

H is for Heritage prints

I is for India

J is for Jive

K is for Kanga

L is for Ladylike

M is for Maxi

N is for Nautical

O is for Oceania blue

P is for Psychedelic print

Q is for Quirky print

R is for Ruffles of lace

S is for Swinging sixties

T is for Theatrical

U is for Urban Warrior

V is for Velvet devore

W is for Wool

X is for Xena

Y is for Yardgrass green

Z is for Zebra print

That's all for this time peeps!

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx

Run, Jennie, Run!

Hello again ;)

I've not been making much noise in the blogosphere over the past week cause I went over to visit my folks in Sweden.

Every September around the time of my BURFday my sister, my niece and I do a fun run. 

For the past three years we "ran" the Adidas 5K womens challenge in Hyde Park but this year we decided that it was time for a change.

So instead of 5K in the big smoke we signed up for a 10K run in Stockholm.

I did a bit more training this year than I have done previous years but I still totally surprised myself when I managed to complete the run in just under the hour, what a buzz I got! 

Needless to say I was cream crackared when I got to the finish line but I did run like a ferret on Whizz the last K...something kicked in and inside my head the Bill Conti Rocky movie soundtrack tune started blaring out...

TRYING HARD NOW!

I spent a few days in Orebro with my folks before the race and eat like uber-pampered horse, my mum is getting amazingly good at vegan cooking now. I think that at first she thought it would be impossible to cook without dairy but she has always been a masterful cook and she is very creative in the kitchen so she's actually putting my own culinary efforts in the shade now.

Whilst in my old hometown I also visited my old favourite second hand haunts, Myrorna and Bra & Begagnat.

I didn't buy much, just a couple of craft books and some folksy looking wallhangings.

As per usual I took a heap of photos and I'll finish this post off with a medley of pics from my little trip...

The weather was great, it was like an Indian summer. I had brought a hat, scarf & gloves just in case.

A chair that I fell in love with at Bra & Begagnat in Orebro. 295:- Swedish Kronor is roughly £29.

I didn't fall in love with this little fellow quite so much but he's very quirky that's for sure.

Some friendly locals test sitting the armchairs and having a chinwag.

Some very odd art, not sure what to make of it?!

At myrorna in Orebro you could get kitschtastic stein mugs for 15:- Swedish kronor which is roughly a quid each.

The proudest daughter alive...me & my brilliant dad!

Fun Run & it certainly was ;)

We stayed with our brother who lives outside Stockholm and he treated us to a Chinese meal after the race.

On the Sunday we went walkabouts in Stockholm. Last time I visited the capital was almost twenty years ago but it hasn't really changed that much from what I saw anyway. It's mushroom season at the mo and judging by the sheer quantity of freshly picked chantarelles on this particular stall it's been a very good year for mushies.

Being the second hand magnet that I am, I managed to sniff out a bric-a-brac & vintage clothing market in the center of town. There were some quite nice vintage frocks up for grabs at rather reasonable prices too, ranging from approximately £7 to £25.

The bric-a-brac was priced for the tourists, so definitely not in the same realm as the pocket friendly car boot sale prices I'm used too.

Then we went to the old town or as it is known to the natives me included  'Gamla Stan'.

This is the prettiest part of Stockholm in my opinion with its impossibly narrow, cobbled streets and attractive old houses.

I'm smiling here but my feet are actually starting to kill me at this point. Cobbled streets & heels (no matter how low) are not a good idea...EVER!

On the facade of a house in the old town.

I love the colours, when the sun shines the houses look even more spectacular.

Swedish people love bikes and these old ones are like gold dust.

I'm not a supporter of any monarchy... Swedish, British or otherwise...a bunch of gits that get made into statues for pigeons to shit on...whoop-de-doo!

MISSING...Have you seen Snuff?!

Part of a shop window display in Stockholm.

That wraps up my medley of pics.

It's my BURFday today, so I'm chillaxing but tomorrow it's back to work!

I've got a fair few listings to go up on eBay, funky jumpers & blazers galore :)

Until next time, frock on folks!

Lot's of love,

Jennie

xXx