As the year draws to a close I thought it might be nice to look back some pictures from every month , to tell the story of the year. Some are of things I've made to measure for customers . I've got some great memories of making them , we had some laughs and good chats over the fittings and I love the collection appointments when I can surprise you with the finished article . Sometimes I get quite emotional as off you go with your dresses for your special occasions.😚  Ive also added interesting events I've participated in , and some garments that for one reason or another have just pleased me . theres too many so I have split it into two blog posts.

I'll start at the beginning 

January 

At the beginning of the year I received this  picture from Lisa , dancing at her wedding , in the gorgeous res slipper satin and guipure lace dress I made her. As you can see she looked amazing. I loved making this dress for her , shes so gorgeous and has an individual style . the dress was halter neck , and had a low back embellished with lace motifs which were placed , and sewn by hand. a real couture finish which gave the dress a very  elegant look.

February 

For February , another  red couture gown. This one for Marie , who wore it to the Academy awards . This dress had a lovely long  removable train over a columnar skirt. The train also had pockets , which added a quirky edge. The one shoulder look is  a particular favourite for Marie , who is a regular customer.

 I finished the dress with a diamante buckle, which added a bit of glamour and sparkle.

February also belongs to the gorgeous Ellie , who , although had received her jacket previously , sent me the pictures at that time of year , as she lives in Australia and had to wait for the weather to cool down before she wore a wool tartan jacket . Ellie chose her 1970's inspired jacket from a sample in store , and had it made in her own family Tartan , which is a service I do a lot of. She was only in Edinburgh for a short while , so originally I made a mock up , or toille , of the garment , fitted that on her and then made the garment after she had left . as you can see it was a perfect fit. it also has a belt , not shown , to give it another look.

March

Quite a lot happened in March , as that was the month of the R Sustainable fashion show ,in  which I was delighted to take part . The stipulation was that everything had to be ... well... sustainable ! . This was a challenge which I rose to gladly , as I have always employed sustainability into my work. particularly in the way of recycling old clothing and fabrics. I use a lot of 'found' fabrics , e.g , remnants from charity shops , and pieces I find in my travels. I always let the fabric talk to me and it tells me what it wants to become. ( not literally , just incase you were getting worried lol )

I got a lot of great pictures from this event , and found it hard to chose , but settled on the group picture , and this one of these two absolute babes xx

March is also , this fab picture of Ali from Heilan Quine tours , at a charity ball she attended. looking , ust gorgeous in her custom made corset and skirt set, embellished with white lace florals cut out and sewn in place by hand as a couture finish. 

There is also a picture of gorgeous Wendy , in a similar outfit , ready for an International Womens Day do .

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One last thing for march which I am proud of , was this article in the Edinburgh Evening news

here it is , its a great big full page full colour spread about the sustainable fashion show , and has no less than 4 of my pictures on it ! delighted wasn't the word . coverage like that is rarer than hens teeth lol.

 April

 April saw the start of a new adventure for me , which was hosting a pop up in the iconic Avalanche records store in Waverly Mall, which I still do . you can buy fab t shirts there as well as all sorts of vinyl , jewellery and art works by Gerry Gapinsky. I have one rail , with a collection of recycled , upcycled and second hand garments ..... all in the realm of sustainability which is becoming a theme in my work.

May

May was a relatively quiet month for me , so  I concentrated on making stock for the upcoming busy summer season.  I've selected this skirt to show you , as , made of linen its slightly different from the wool I usually work with , and I thought it had a good effect , as well as being a plus size item , which is sadly often neglected in designer collections. All 3 sold very quickly so I think it was a good idea to continue to include plus size in the rail stock. obviously , I offer made to measure for any size . 

 I'm leaving it there for now , and will do June to December in my next post 

 I hope you have enjoyed looking back over the months with me. 

xxxx