We are delighted to announce the birth of our baby girl:
Head: 35cm
Length: 53cm
Weight: 4.175 kg or 9lb 3oz!
“Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for Him.”
~ Isaiah 30:18 ~
xox,
bonita
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‘Currently’ posts are a little snapshot of the events that are occurring in my day-to-day life. These episodes feature photos from my Instagram, do come and say “Hi!” if you are around. Also, if you would like to participate in this feature yourself, please feel free! I’d love to read your posts, so don’t forget to leave a link. ♡
READING:
False Colours by Georgette Heyer, a fun regency romance that has it’s share of quirky life comedy! I’m also on Goodreads if anyone is interested in catching up on my library and reviews.
WONDERING:
When will baby ever arrive…. As I write this “Currently” post it is Saturday, and I am 41 weeks over due on the dot, and yes, I am counting every minute of every day….
FEELING THANKFUL:
That I have friends and family that support me and are helping my family through these difficult last stages of pregnancy. ♡ (•‿‿ •)
EATING:
Eating? ….Bleh…. (- __ -) My nauseousness is back in full force and I don’t feel like eating anything these days. I force myself to take food anyway, because I know I’ll make things worse if I don’t, but honestly all I like putting in my tummy these days is Coke Zero.
Yup.
So not healthy, but there’s not much I can do about it. My stomach is in revolt!
WATCHING:
Still watching All Creatures Great and Small ~ a BBC tv show that aired from 1978 to 1990. It’s based on the series of books written by Alf Wight, who wrote under the pseudonym James Herriot. This show actually starts out fairly boring and a bit lame, but gets better and better each season! We’ve really enjoyed Season 2 and Season 3 so far.
WORKING ON:
A Stitch In Time Volume 1 ~ It Cannot Fail To Please. Because I’m housebound and pretty much stuck in bed or on the couch, this project feels like it’s flying off the needles! Not that I’m complaining ~ I might actually get my ‘two knitted garments’ goal crossed off this year. ヽ(*⌒∇⌒*)ﾉ
LOVING:
Tea. A cup of tea in the mornings is really saving my sanity! My Middy Plus hair cut. The new capsule we bought for baby ~ it’s much smaller than our old one, and even though I haven’t used it yet, I already love that it’s going to save me from the backache of wrestling with our old monster capsule. Knitting. Osteopath treatments ~ ahhh….. Bliss. Essential oils for moisturizing and cleansing my face. Burt’s Bees Lemon Cuticle Balm. Nightly neck massages from the Mister. My new~to~me 1950’s vintage caramel wool coat. Anything that keeps my mind off the “When is baby coming??” question.
ATTEMPTING:
To relax, and not stress. Easier said than done, but I think I’m doing fairly well in between the horror-mone swings!
WANTING:
Yeah… Do I really need to say it?
Okay…
I wanna meet my baby!!! Come on little one, Mama needs to cuddle you!
DOING:
The exact opposite of the last Currently post ~ nothing.
Ab.so.bally.lut.e.ly. nothing…
………… (.___.) Except waiting….
(‘Currently’ post inspired by Danielle of Sometimes Sweet and Kaelah of The Clueless Girl's Guide!)
xox,
bonita
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Hello lovelies! Today I have a tutorial on how to make your very own 1940’s styled felt flower corsage which you can wear as a brooch. Or you could even add it to a hat or a purse if you wanted to! (✿◠‿◠)
The story behind this DIY is that I was looking in vain for a tutorial on how to make a fabulous 1940’s felt brooch like the ones I’d seen floating around. When that proved to be impossible, I decide to take my inspiration from a lovely vintage felt flower corsage, and make up my own pattern. Let’s get started shall we?
Materials you will need:
Optional:
1940’s Felt Rose Template: Download here
How to make a 1940’s felt flower corsage:
Step One: Cut out the stems for the flowers, fold a stem in half and sew the sides together. You can use running stitch here, but I preferred to use blanket stitch to allow the stem to look more rounded. Repeat twice to create 3 stems.
Step Two: Cut out the length of stamen felt, and create the stamens by cutting into the side of the rectangle, around two thirds of the way deep. Then continue making cuts down the side to create a ‘fringe’. Repeat twice to create 3 stamens.
Step Three: Roll up the stamen strip and sew through the bottom end to secure it. Repeat twice to create 3 stamen rolls.
Step Four: Sew the stamens to the top of your stems. Repeat twice to create 3 stamens & stems.
Step Five: Cut out three sets of petals.
Step Six: Wrap a petal strip around a stamen & stem. When you are happy with how it looks, use a couple of pins poked in crosswise to hold the petals in place while you sew them down. Repeat twice to create 3 roses.
Step Seven: Cut out a rose hip circle, and snip little Vs all around the edge. Repeat twice to create 3 rose hip circles.
Step Eight: Fold the rose hip circle in half, and in half again so that you end up with a little triangle. Very carefully cut off a small amount of the triangle tip to make a small hole in the centre of the circle. Thread the circle on the stem up underneath the flower petals. Repeat twice.
Step Nine: Secure the rose hip circle to the flower with pins, then sew it down to the flower near the top of the zig-zag cuts. Repeat twice to create 3 complete felt roses.
Step Ten: Cut out the rose leaves and attach them to the back of the flowers, placing them according to taste.
Step Eleven: Group the roses in a bunch, and secure with a pin through the stems before sewing them together.
Step Twelve: Attach a bow. This can be ribbon, a small strand of felt tied in a bow, or a pieced felt bow like I did. The instructions for the pieced felt bow are listed down below, and there is a template for the felt pieces too. Make up the bow, and then come back to finish off the corsage.
Step Thirteen: Secure a pin to the back of your corsage, or a brooch finding. Sew a small piece of felt over the back of the pin or brooch finding. This will help to stabilize the flowers. You can skip this step if you want to.
Top Tip: If the flowers still aren’t as stable as you would like, add some small stitches and sew the flower heads together. The flower corsage will be floppy because of the soft stems, however, and that’s ok. It will be fine while you wear it!
Step Sixteen: Pin on your new 1940’s felt flower corsage brooch and enjoy! (＾ ε ＾) ♡
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Felt Bow Template: Download here
How to make a three piece felt bow:
Step One: Cut out three strips of felt in the sizes you want.
Step Two: Fold the main bow strip back on itself to created two loops, one on either end, and sew in place.
Step Three: Wrap the middle length of felt around the centre of the bow, covering up where the bow loops are joined. Sew down, and cut off any excess.
Step Four: Fold the tail strip of felt in half, on a angle, and secure. You can snip the ends of the felt to make them pointed.
Step Five: Sew the finished bow onto your corsage.
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I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and have fun making your own felt flower corsage. If you have any questions about anything at all, please don’t hesitate to ask and I’ll do my best to help out.
As always, I’d love to see your creations so please do let me know about them ~ you can share by leaving a comment or link to a blog post, tweet a picture @bjvear or share on Instagram by mentioning @missbjvear, or hashtag #DIY1940sfeltflowercorsage
xox,
bonita
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All templates and instructions copyright to BJVear Studio. Available for personal use only, no commercial rights allowed.
This week I really wanted to make up Brittany’s 1940’s Fashion Calender challenge for January: a fabulous Flower Brooch DIY. Try as I might, however, I couldn’t find the craft supplies I knew I had lying around. The fabric flowers I wanted eluded me in spite of three days of searching my shed and going through boxes of stuff several times over!
(╯ ^ ╰) *sniff*
So in true “Make Do and Mend” fashion, I decided to do what I could with what I had on hand ~ felt. Inspired by some lovely felt flower brooches on the internet I came up with this royal blue three piece corsage.
It took quite a while to make, but that’s because I was busy creating a tutorial at the same time, so look for that coming up on the blog soon! In the mean time, I am really pleased with how it all came out.
When I was making it up, I was a bit worried that the dimensions of the brooch would be to big to wear on a dress ~ sort of more of a coat sized brooch if you know what I mean?
After I pinned it to my dress though, I decided I really liked the larger size! It means that the flowers show up nicely. So many of my brooches are gorgeous, but get a bit lost on my clothes ~ particularly if I’m wearing a print fabric.
I think it’s nice to have a larger pin that really gets to be a statement piece rather than just an accessory. (◕‿◕ ✿)
What do you think? Do you prefer larger or smaller brooches? Or are you in favour of ditching the brooch altogether? Personally, I adore brooches ~ they’ve become my most favourite vintage accessory! (❤ヮ❤)
xox,
bonita
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Royal Bluebells Felt Flower Corsage | Me Made, Jan 2015
Swept Away Vintage Dress | Thrifted
Harvest Brown Gauntlet Gloves | Etsy
Rose & Thorn Tooled Leather Purse | Frock Up Vintage Fair, 2012
All Around Brown Heels | Rivers, Current
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