Please vote for me!

The competition that I have entered my crazy green fibonacci hat in has now opened the voting for one of the prizes. If you have a mo please goto the website below and take a look and vote for me!

http://www.talenthouse.com/creativeinvites/show/submission/detail/ZT93BM

Thank you!

Fibonacci Fascination!

I'm entering a millinery competition being run by Vogue and Stephen Jones and this has been the perfect excuse to go a bit bonkers with my ongoing fascination with using Fibonacci numbers and the golden section in hat making. The result is a rather outrageous green and cream hat made from 16 intersecting fibonacci spirals (8 clockwise and 8 anti-clockwise).  I created a single spiral on paper from the first seven terms of the Fibonacci series - 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8,13. There is a lot of info on Fibonacci here, I find it very interesting but to be honest some of the complex maths goes totally over my head, but the intro and illustrations of creating a spiral are very clear if you fancy a bit more Fibonacci knowledge!

Having decided how big I wanted the hat to be, I copied the spiral even times from the first to create the clockwise pattern, I then made a reflection of this to create the anti clockwise pattern.  This created a very pretty flower like lattice that I made from tulle covered wire in two shades of leaf green. I then attached this to a circular, cream silk covered buckram crown that perches on the side of the head. I had quite a job weaving the wires in and out or each other and got poked quite a bit in the process... However, I got there in the end and I am really pleased with the end result. When voting for the competition opens I will start pluggnig my entry like mad!

The hat laid out on the paper design secured with clothes pegs!

The finished hat on my dolly head.

 

I hereby assert my right to be identified as the designer and creator of Fibonacci hats, fascinators and other headwear. Also, I am the originator of the use of Fibonacci and the golden section when creating hats. These hats are works of artistic craftmanship and are therefore protected by copyright. I will persecute anyone copying my designs or using my ideas to the fullness of the law (and I mean persecute!)

A gorgeous dress for a gorgeous friend :-)

One of my favorite things about making wedding dresses is that occasionally I get to make one for a close friend. This time, I got to make a dress for one of my absolute best friends Anne Carter, now Jones! As Anne and her new husband Phil met whilst ballroom dancing, it was clear that dancing would always be an important part of the wedding. As Anne could not possibly jive (her favorite dance) or quickstep in her full length plus train bridal dress, she wanted a second shorter dance dress for the first dance and the evening reception. She very kindly asked me to make it. I was so happy she asked me and was just so pleased to see how beautiful and elegant she looked dancing in it with her new husband.  Actually, the whole wedding was totally wonderful, it was so great to see two such lovely people getting married and so happy together. I loved my dress and hairdo (as bridesmaid), the breakfast was just delicious, the photos on the beach were so much fun and playing croquet with friends I'd not seen in ages was fantastic, if not strictly adhering to the rules! I could carry on with this list for several pages, but I think it's pretty clear I had an amazing day! 

These photos are sadly not of Anne in the dress, but I'm hoping to put some of her official photos up once she has got back from her honeymoon and actually got them! It is a lovely knee length, prom style dress, with a fitted bodice covered in ruched chiffon and a flared two layer skirt of chiffon over satin. There was also a burgundy satin flower at the waist with the lace, but I had not finished that in time for these pictures....

The contrast burgandy lacing matched the colour scheme of the wedding-and looks really cool!



This is such a pretty lace motif, that I found on the web after trawling loads of shops!

Hats and Hormones

My bridal hat collection is coming along well. In fact I have far too many ideas of things I want to try and designs I want to make, than time or energy to fit them all in at the moment. I'm currently taking part in a medial study at Papworth, which is very interesting but rather time (and blood!) consuming. They are investigating if a pwcf's appetite can be increased by supplementing our production of ghrelin -the hormone that controls appetite. Annoyingly pwcf do not produce as much ghrelin as they should, so although we need to eat loads to maintain our weight we hardly ever feel hungry. Forcing yourself to maintain a high calorie diet when you just don't feel like eating is not a lot of fun, so anything that will make me actually feel hungry for a change is good in my book! I already tried to do the five week programme in April, but i got ill half way through so had to stop to have iv drugs. This time I had a total nightmare with my port.  It stopped working half way through a blood test and then had to be re accessed twice more to finally manage to get it working again and hep locked properly-sigh. Am now very sore from having three needles shoved in the one place and did not get to start the second part of the trial.

Oh well... back to the hats. This one is a rather fun button hat covered in pleated silk crepe to resemble a shell. It is finished with a huge silk and tulle flower. I love the flower it's just so big and bold whilst still being quite elegant.

These photos are sadly not very good as, (A) the photos are by me and I am not that good at it! (B) when photographing something that is basically the same colour all over it is really difficult to get the detail to be clear and (C) the light really was not good enough for photos, but I wanted to get some pictures of it up before I go on a little holiday so won't be able to post... When we're back I will get Mr EB to take some much better ones!

Why Hats?

I was at Papworth for my annual review recently and I saw the new social worker. He is a very nice chap and we got chatting about what I do outside of CF! I was sitting making some more ribbon roses for anther hat I have in mind, so it was a pretty obvious topic but I've often been asked how I got into hat making and it got me thinking. It certainly was not planned in detail from a young age. I've always loved making things ever since I was a small child. At primary school I was always volunteering to make things for plays or projects- often to the teachers dread! I don't think as a youngster my actual skills anywhere near matched the crazy ideas that were in my head but I was incredibly keen... I loved the way you could change things like fabric and paper into totally new objects and shapes, how they became something new.

I've also always loved sewing and making things from fabric and sequins and anything shiny- definite magpie complex that is still with me. My mum often made me clothes and her mum made practically all her clothes for years. In fact, I wore some of the evening gowns that Nanna made for my Mum at May Balls when I was at Cambridge, luckily for me we were the same size when each of us was aged twenty. I also get my hoarding gene from both these ladies, my Nan especially would keep tiny off cuts of fabric for donkeys years just in case she ever needed them! When she had to move into a residential home Mum and I found bags and bags of offcuts from clothes she made for my mum when Mum was a young woman.



Yes, that's me on the right!

My love of sewing and glitz made costumes an obvious choice during my uni days. I had tried being on stage and actually was in the chorus as a fairy for a production of Iolanthe at Cambridge Arts Theatre- which was fantastic fun, but incredibly knackering. I did not have the lungs to manage that much singing, but I loved the theatre and still wanted to be involved. I volunteered to do the costumes for a production of the Mikado at the Minack theatre in Cornwall and have never looked back. I did quite a few hats during the various productions I was involved with, including a two foot tall twisted top hat for the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland.



A suitably Mad Hatter!

However, I didn't really know what I was doing, I just made it up as I went along from various crafty techniques I had learnt at school, and from Mum and Nan. The Mad Hatter hat for example, was made using willow wands, wire, sticky tape and hope! When I went to RADA I got to do some proper buckram and wire hat making for my ladies project, a reproduction of a masque costume worn by Lady Henrietta Howard. It was brilliant learning to finally make hats properly and not just bodge it as I had been doing and I still loved transforming flat fabric into a three dimensional shape.  

Me, in my Ladieswear Project.

I carried on with costumes including the odd hat, but as my health deteriorated, I had to stop making Costumes and working shows, I simply do not have the strength or stamina anymore. Bridal and evening wear was the direction I choose to move towards, as I have always made my own evening gowns, but the hats came along when I got fed up of the hats I could afford to buy for various weddings.The ones I could afford were just not dramatic or glitzy enough! So I started by making historical shapes in miniature using the wire and buckram method, I had learnt at RADA and it was just like being back at school again. I am just so happy when I am working with gorgeous fabrics and feathers and sparkly things and making a total mess with glues and stiffeners. I'm indulging my inner child! 

The first hat I made to wear to a wedding.

 As I got more daring and experimental with the wire and buckram creations I bought more and more books about hats, and downloaded everything I could find to feed my hatting addiction It soon became clear that I needed to give blocking a go. I'd always been a bit put off from this technique of hat making, because hat blocks are expensive things and I did not want to shell out £100 or more to find I was not going to get any use out of the block. Thankfully, I found the marvellous block makers Guy Morse Brown, who do an introductory block, pins and book set for a very reasonable price so I decided to try it out. On receiving the block my inner hatter was ecstatic to find that not only was blocking something that I could learn (with a bit of practice and swearing) but that hat blocks really are gorgeous tactile objects in themselves. So when my friends asked what I wanted for my 30th birthday I asked for another hat block and bless them, they bought me five mini fascinators blocks that are just fabulous. Now I must admit to being rather obsessed with hats, I can't help it! Not only is making them incredible fun and interesting, but the finished product is so beautiful (I hope!) and gives such pleasure to the people I make for -I just wish I had discovered this wonderful art earlier and that my Nanna could have seen some of the things I've made, I like to think she would have been proud of me.



Port Love!

It may have been a bit traumatic getting my port into me, but my God it is a marvellous thing! I've been having ivs for a week now in an attempt to regain some lung function and get me a good summertime, and it is soooo much easier than faffing with a long line. There was no digging about in my arms trying to find a vein that works and would take a line and I don't have to spend two weeks with one of my elbows basically immobile, as that was the only place that lines would work. It took two minutes to pop in a needle and hook me up!! Brilliant!!! It hurts a little when the needle is inserted but nowhere near as much as having a long line inserted. Also it stops hurting practically immediately- bonus! I am also taking ciprofloxicillin which I could not take through a long line as it makes my smaller veins stop working, so hopefully this will really help with the bugs as they have not been hit by this antibiotic for ages. It is also wonderful being able to bend my arm whilst taking the drugs. I can even play the piano whilst hooked up! Sadly the drugs have not dramatically improved my playing...! All in all I am a total port convert, so if anyone out there is thinking of having one I say- do it!

An Unusual Gold Bride

Now that Helen has got married I can finally blog about her very unusual bridal gown.  I have been working on Helen's dress since before Christmas and it has been such fun to work on something so different from the traditional ivory dresses that I am usually commissioned to make. For a start, its a gorgeous rich gold. We found the fabric during a shopping trip to Borovick Fabrics on Berwick street in Soho. It is also transformable! The basic dress is a 1950's prom style gown with a full circle skirt and a sweetheart neckline.  It is supported by an amazing pouffy petticoat (this was part of the reason for my experiments-in-petticoats earlier in the year).

The petticoat is six layers of net at the bottom tier, the top three of which are ivory and the under three are scarlet to match Helen's shoes and handbag. Helen also wanted a large sash with a big bow at the back. This has to be the biggest bow I have ever made, it's huge and so girly-I love it!

This all seemed fairly standard in design terms, until she mentioned that she wanted a detachable train to wear as she walked up the aisle... Now this is a rather unusual addition to a 1950's design but she also said she loved the costumes in the BBC's Garrow's Law which is set in the 18th century, particularly the polonaise style of skirts worn by Lady Sarah Hill (the female love interest!). She didn't actually say polonaise there was much waving of hands and mutual cries of aren't they gorgeous dresses from us both- its great when you really understand what the bride really likes! Now, I totally loved Garrow's Law, especially the costumes and the 18th century is one of my favorite periods of fashion history, but it doesn't really go with the 1950's prom dress... or does it? Well, we think we came up with a pretty good compromise between periods with this detachable train that could be worn as a flat church length train or pulled up into a pollonaise like over skirt.

Here you can see the train laid flat at full length.  The sash is still in place and conceals the waistband of the overskirt.

 

 

With the train bustled up in a polonaise it just brushes the floor and means that Helen could dance in it as well. The way the fabric bunches up and folds is just lush! I love making dresses that can change throughout the day, and am really looking forward to seeing Helen's wedding photos when this rather fantastic dress will look even better than on my stand.

Sparkly Sparkly Bridal Hat!

Anyone who spends any time with me, knows I am a total magpie when it comes to anything remotely sparkly! I don't know why, maybe I am part cat as I love my 'shiny things'! So, as I am currently developing a line of bridal headdresses (in my rather limited spare time-sigh!) it seemed appropriate that the first design drips sparkly beads and pearls.  It is a very simple, hand blocked teardrop-shaped hat covered with silk satin then covered with beads. The beading is heaviest on the point over the eye, then gradually fades out towards the back of the hat. I have used this technique on bridal dresses. I am planning on making a detachable birdcage veil to go with this, once that is done I shall add some more photographs.

Uber Sparkly!

CF Week

From the 8th to the 14th of May is Cystic Fibrosis Week run by the CF Trust. As part of the week they have set a target of getting 10,000 more friends/followers on Facebook and Twitter in the hope of raising awareness about CF and reaching new people. They also want people with CF to post/blog/tweet about their life with CF, so this is my blog post.  Here are some basic facts about CF (people who have read my blog before will probably know them already but it doesn't hurt to read them again!)-

• Cystic Fibrosis is one of the UK's most common, life-threatening inherited diseases.
• Cystic Fibrosis causes the internal organs to become clogged with this sticky mucus attracting infection and making it difficult to breathe and digest food.
• People with Cystic Fibrosis have to undergo a tough daily treatment regime including taking dozens of pills, inhaled and intravenous drugs and physiotherapy.
• During Cystic Fibrosis Week, five babies will be born with CF and sadly, two lives will be claimed by Cystic Fibrosis.
• Only half of those living with Cystic Fibrosis are likely to live past their late 30s.
• There is no cure for Cystic Fibrosis.
•  Money raised during Cystic Fibrosis Week will help the Cystic Fibrosis Trust continue to fund medical research to fight the symptoms of, and treat the cause of Cystic Fibrosis. It will help the Cystic Fibrosis Trust improve the care of people with CF, and will help provide direct support for people with Cystic Fibrosis and their families.

On a more personal level, I thought I would post a copy of my repeat prescription, which runs to four pages these days.  From this rather long list can see just how many drugs I actually take or use every day, and this is on a good day...

Pills-
Creon 25000
These are enzymes to digest the fat in my food. As my pancreas is screwed I don't get them naturally. I take 6 pills with an average meal and 2 with snacks, so it totals about 24 a day.
Azithromycin 250mg
One pill a day, antibiotic and gunk reducer!
Citalopram 20mg
Antidepressant-pretty self explanatory, but without it I am an emotional wreck.
Itraconazole 100mg
Two pills twice a day. Antibiotic fungicide to combat Aspergillis (nasty fungus) growing in my lungs
Flucloxacillin 500mg
One pill twice a day. Antibiotic to damp down the bugs in my lungs.
Carbocisteine 375mg
Two pills twice a day. Not sure of the technical name for this but it thins the gunk in my lungs making it easier to cough up.
Omeprazole 40mg
one pill twice a day. Strong antacid for digestive problems caused partly by CF and partly by all the other drugs...

Inhalors and Nebulisors
Qvar 100micrograms
Two-four puffs twice a day depending how chest is. Steroid to combat inflammation of my lungs
Tiotropium 18micrograms
One puff a day.  Bronchiodialator acts on the small airways of my lungs to keep them open.
Serevent 25 Micrograms
Two puffs twice a day.  Brochiodialator (like ventolin but stronger)
Ventolin 100micrograms
As needed when I get wheezy.
Colistimethate Sodium 2 million units
Nebulisor solution twice a day. Inhaled antibiotic has to diluted by me with 2ml of sterile saline per vial. Used for a month in turn with-
Tobramycin Nebuliser Solution 300mg
Nebulised twice a day for a month-tastes awful but works.
Mucoclear Solution 6% hypertonic saline
Nebulised salt solution to thin lung mucus, once a day. This is just soooooo salty-but it does work so I do it...
Salbutamol Nebulisor solution 2.5mg
Nebulised ventolin used once a day to open up lung airways to allow the hypertonnic saline to penetrate lungs as much as possible.

Diabetes treatments
Novarapid Penfill cartridges
I take insulin with food, the amount I take is dependant on the carbohydrate content of what I am eating. This means I have to this out before I inject myself... this is annoying!
Aviva Test Strips
Strips for my blood sugar monitor
Multiclix lancets
Needle for the stabbing device so I can use said monitor.
Microfine needles 4mm
Needles for injecting insulin-they really are tiny so it doesn't hurt-unless you do it wrong and hit muscle...


So that's my everyday medical regime. If I want to go away for a weekend all this stuff and paraphernalia has to come with me... including the nebulisor and all its components-it all takes up a lot of suitcase space! Not to mention the fact that if I am ill then I will have to take intravenous drugs and that adds a whole new dimension to the regime, as most of the antibiotics come in powder form so have to be reconstituted by me. The number of needles, bottles of saline, water and syringes that fill my house during IVs is huge! And that is not including the antibiotics themselves and the hepsal flush (dilute heparin solution) that you have to do after each dose to keep the line open. I really am a walking pharmacy!

This regime is my life-every damn day, and I know that the regime will not get better, that my lungs will not get significantly better and that I will always have to take these drugs. The individual doses or pills may change from time to time but this is the way I have to live if I want to go on living for a reasonable length of time.  Please think about supporting CF Week -you can join on Facebook here. Or there is more info about it here.
(I think that this info is all correct and that I've got the reasons I take the various drugs right-if you know that I've spelt a drug name wrong or got the explanation of what it is wrong, don't make a smart arse comment please. I take them and that's what matters.)

Bad Blogger!

I have not been updating my blog as often as I should have been... It was a New Years Resolution that I would update it at least a couple of times every month and also blog more of my hats, and yet I've managed no posts for the six weeks-oh dear.  I never have been very good with New Years Resolutions!

I've had this half hat finished for several weeks now, but have only just got round to photographing it. first there was all the schmozole of Papworth and the port and the two weeks of IVs, then I went on holiday (hurray- I really needed it!) and then I spent the rest of the time catching up on work and getting a bride finished.  So finally I have got some nice pics of it in the lovely sunshine-

It was inspired by several hats that are pictured in a catalogue of vintage patterns that I got from Amazon a couple of years ago. I blocked the buckram base over a standard dome crown block, then having mulled it, I covered it with pink satin and a layer of black veiling. The edge is black satin bias binding. The decoration is rather more 1920s than 1950s, but I like it! Its a black ostrich feather pom pom that I made from an old feather I used in a show years ago, and to hide the base of the feathers I covered it with more black satin and lots of jet swarovski crystals.

Close up of feather pom pom

Freedom!

At last I've been released from Papworth! The port went in successfully and after a week in hospital to do some amminophiline and extra fluids to try and clear my chest out as much as possible, they agreed I could finish the second week at home. I am totally knackered as I am on fosfomycin and tazocin, and unfortunately fosfomycin is four times a day or every six hours, and tazocin is three or every eight hours... Now even stretching the numbers a bit so i can do both drugs on some doses, I end up doing a minimum four doses a day which takes up loads of time! It also means I get a maximum amount of six hours sleep in one go. I usually get a minimum of nine, so I do feel rather like I've been sat on by an elephant! However on the olus side I am feeling so much better compared to the usual drugs i take. So hooray for the port as I could not take the fosfomycin in a long line as it buggers my small veins up. I am still fairly bruised and sore, but hopefully this will all have been worth it and I will actually feel better for a decent length of time. Fingers crossed!

Port Update

Well yesterday can only be described as a disaster. For some reason the consultant could not get the stupid guide wire into my jugular vein far enough to use as a guide for the port line. Even after several attempts the wire would only go in about 10cm before it would not go any further. This is no where near far enough which means I've been left with a neck that looks like I've been savaged and still no access.... I am seriously sore and seriously pissed off. I was not looking forward to this procedure at all and now it's all gone wrong and I am left in discomfort but with nothing to show for it.   Being poked and prodded like that is seriously uncomfortable even with local anaesthetic and knowing that I'll probably have to try again next week is just not appealing, in fact I am more than a little scared that I'll have to try again. The surgeon had never had this happen to him before and neither had my CF consultant or the specialist nurse, so clearly I am just weird and my body is trying to piss me off again.

I had a contrast CT after the disastrous attempt at insertion, and on Monday will hopefully find out the reason why the guide wire would not thread and whether they can try a different vessel or do something different that will work.  In the mean time, I am still hanging on waiting to get access so I can have some decent drugs and actually feel better, cos I am still feeling pretty rubbish lungwise and need some IVs. My Cf consultant did suggest trying to get a line in me, but quite frankly anyone who wanted to try anything with a needle anywhere near me yesterday was going to get beaten up! Not at all impressed by the whole thing really and don't know if I can bear to try again...

Decisions

I've finally been forced to decide whether or not I need a port (permanent iv access) and in the end the decision was rather obvious. I've not been having a good time with my lungs since about September. I've needed IV drugs about every six to eight weeks, and getting access to my veins has not been easy. Last line took three attempts to get it in...not my idea of fun! So having finally agreed with the docs that actually I do need one I've bitten the bullet and said yes. Hopefully this Friday will be port day, assuming they can find me a bed. The proceedure will be followed by a couple of weeks of antibiotics, and also a new anti gunk drug (whose name is unpronounceable) that is designed to open up my airways and get all the muck out- let's hope it works! This drug is only used as an inpatient treatment as you have to have it as an infusion which runs continuously 24 hours a day. So sadly I will have to be incarcerated in Papworth for a few days at least.... How boring! However, the advantages of getting a port will hopefully out weigh the boredom and the discomfort of the operation- no more being a human pin cushion, no more not being able to use one arm for the length of an iv course and being able to use more drugs that my little veins could not handle. Hopefully this will all result in an improvement to my lungs and a much less grumpy Ros during IV time!

Edit
Port op postponed until friday the eleventh...sigh.

Facebook

I've finally got around to getting myself some publicity and have got a Facebook page for my wedding dress and hat designs. If you'd like to take a look it's here.  Now all I need to do is get a Twitter account (and not get addicted to it!) and world domination here I come!

Experiments in Petticoats

No, I've not turned into some deranged mad scientist, conducting bonkers experiments to bring women's undergarments to ungodly life! (Although that might be something to try later...) I've actually been trying out various ways of making petticoats and various materials to create different skirt shapes. I'm currently working on a 1950's style dress and wanted to see the various ways in which its circle skirt could be supported. This first picture is one of my basic circle skirts without any support. However you can make it much more obviously voluminous  and change its silhouette by adding various types of petticoats.

The first petticoat I tried is a fairly classic ballet style net petticoat. A long strip of net is gathered along the top edge onto a waistband and wrapped around the waist, in this case creating two layers. This is the kind of long multi-layered tulle skirt that is often seen in ballet productions. I used fairly stiff dress net and gathered it very heavily around the waist with my ruffler foot, which produces a bell or dome like shape that then falls fairly straight to the hem. 

 

The second type I tried was a very pretty three tiered design made in shot red and black organza.  This is a very 1950's style, with the bottom tier being about twice the length gathered onto the middle tier, and the middle tier being twice as big as the top tier, and the top layer being twice the waist measurement. I used a ruffler foot on this petticoat as well, as it is a lot less work than hand gathering. This technique produces a very light but full petticoat that produces a more triangular shape, with less fullness at the waist and increasing out to the hem.

 

The last petticoat is a bit of a can-can extravaganza! Made from light-weight taffeta and gathered by hand this, like the organza petticoat, works with each tier being twice the length of the tier above. I edged it with some black lace that I have had lying around for years to get that totally crackers can-can effect! Whilst using a lot of fabric this petticoat is not very full, producing a more gentle triangular shape. The material is probably a bit light for a petticoat and even gathered up does not "stick out" in the same way as the organza or net. It is however ,a lot more comfortable to wear against the skin as both the organza and net can be a bit scratchy and in a slightly heavier taffeta would produce more volume.

My last bit of experimentation was with ways of finishing the edge of the fabric.  net doesn't need an edge finish as it does not fray but both taffeta and organza fray like mad so have to have the edge treated. Hand hemming takes forever and machine hemming or overlocking takes a vast amount of thread. So I finally got out my soldering and tried a technique I've been wanting to try for ages but have just not got around to-using a soldering iron to seal the edge of man made fibres with heat. I have to say it works brilliantly! Not only is the edge sealed from fraying but you can cut the strips of fabric for the petticoat tiers out with the soldering iron thus saving time and money on thread-bonus! One downside is that heating up the fibres tends to give off some rather foul smoke, so you have to wear a respirator... Not only does make you look a total prat, but it also makes you sound like Darth Vadar on helium!

It does however produce a nice smooth finished edge that does not fray. You can just about see this on the picture, but unfortunately I do not have enough hands to take a photo hold the solder iron, ruler and fabric all at once, so you'll just have to take my word for the fact that it does work! Who knows maybe I'll give up my sewing machines altogether and just solder everything together now....