Louise Dawson Design on Instagram- July

Although it went by way too fast (where is this year disappearing to?!) July was a lovely month, mostly spent making the most of the outdoors, out walking and working in the garden. Here are a few of my Instagram photos from July! 

It's been very much a foodie month, trying out new recipes (Beef Wellington, yum!), cooking for friends, making apricot upside down cake using apricots from our tree and out for a cake treat with my sister (I can't resist a slice of cake!)

 I've been out walking locally a lot this month, making the most of the sunshine by the river

Picking plums and greengages in the garden, catching up with Mollie Makes, working in the garden and noticing the first signs that Autumn is round the corner with the Conkers in the trees

Learning Fair Isle knitting, getting stuck into a great book (The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith, aka JK Rowling, nearly finished it now and it's brilliant) and making jewellery box labels in the garden

So that was July! Happy August everyone!

Vintage Friday

Are you watching This Old Thing on channel 4? Presented by Dawn O'Porter (I have huge style envy over her amazing vintage wardrobe!), it's all about celebrating Vintage clothes and having a unique wardrobe, as well as offering lots of great inspiration for customising and altering your clothes too- right up my street!

 Today, This Old Thing is teaming up with Oxfam (a great to place to hunt for vintage pieces) to promote Vintage Friday, which is a chance to support the brilliant work of the Charity by texting Vintage to 70066 and donating £3. It's also a chance to show off your favourite vintage clothes, so I'd like to share with you my very colourful coat! To be honest I don't know if it's old enough to be true vintage, but it is vintage style and by far my best ever charity shop find!

I bought this beautiful coat about 6 years ago for £30 from a charity shop in Hertfordshire. I was walking past, saw it in the window and new I had to have it! It's by NancyMac and I love it. 

Do you have any favourite Vintage/charity shop finds? I'd love to see, link to them in the comments below!

Happy Friday everyone!

Custom orders available from Louise Dawson Design!

If you're looking for the perfect piece of jewellery to accessorise with your new dress or to give to as a gift for a friend in their favourite colour, if you can't see what you're looking for in my Etsy shop I'm more than happy to make a custom order to your specifications. Drop me an email at the address found in the "About" section, or click "Request Custom Order" in my Etsy Shop to discuss your requirements!

Learning Fair Isle with a beautiful British wool!

Earlier in the year I began experimenting with learning Fair Isle Knitting and this weekend, with my mind on a Winter jewellery collection, I have taken up my needles again to make some more Fair Isle samples! I'm not sure where this collection is going to take me yet, so I'm just trying to master the basics and then I hope to mix it up a little!

I have discovered a beautiful new yarn by Wendy that I have used to create these pieces.  Ramsdale is a pure wool, Double Knit yarn, born, bred and made in Yorkshire and it's lovely to work with - I'm very excited to be using a British product and I'm looking forward to experimenting with it more later in the week. I'm gradually buying all of the colours in the range so it's going to get colourful! I also think it'll make great felt so I'm planning on felting some pieces later in the week and also incorporating some cables into the Fair Isle. I'll post some updates later in the week!

I think I'm getting the hang of stranding the yarn on the back between colours-  it's getting neater!

New handmade brooches available in my Etsy shop!

Here is another installment of my latest collection that I've just added to my Etsy shop! My handmade brooches are Aztec/Carnival inspired and are created from scraps of lace and fabric (including beautiful Liberty prints) that I have dyed vivid pink and neon yellow using eco friendly inks. I machine stitched the fabric pieces together and then hand embellished with gems, beads, sequins and a touch of hand embroidery. I've had a lot of fun making these and they are equally fun to wear- I like to wear mine with my summer dresses and they make a real statement! I'm gradually adding to this collection and I'll keep you posted as I add more pieces. Check them out in my Etsy shop!

Louise Dawson Design Etsy Shop- new listings!

I've just listed a selection of new rings in my Louise Dawson Design Etsy shop! 

Something super bright for Summer, these handmade statement rings are inspired by all things Aztec and Carnival and are handmade from recycled scraps of fabric I have dyed vivid pink and neon yellow using eco friendly inks. I then machine stitched the pieces together and adorned with hand embroidery, beads and sequins. They are very quirky and fun and I hope they can bring some sunshine whatever the weather! 

Don't forget, all of my jewellery arrives in a beautifully hand branded gift box too, making them the ideal gift.

Happy weekend everyone!

A beautiful English summers afternoon in the garden

A beautiful sunny afternoon spent stitching in the garden. An English summer at its best!