Blog Archives

Oshun

Oshun – the story of my clothing brand, and the yellow dress inspired by Beyonce’s in Lemonade

I still have the notebook in which I brain-stormed possible names for my clothing business sixteen years ago! I was particularly interested in goddesses at that time and wrote several down, but the name Oshun resonated. When I found out more about her, she seemed perfect to name my brand after. She is a water goddess of love; a deity of the Yoruba people of West Africa and is associated with femininity, sensuality and the power of women. She has come into the news lately because there are rumours that Beyonce wore a dress in Lemonade which specifically represented her….

Farm Festival review, Bruton, Somerset

October 2, 2014

Oh my goodness – apologies for not posting in absolutely ages! One of the first things I was busy with was Farm Festival which took place 1st – 2nd August. This review is from a trader’s point of view. We arrived about lunch time the day before the festival opened, and set to work putting together our stall. I don’t know how it took so long to do this, but it managed to take several hours! Although we were ready by nightfall, we quickly realised that the festival wasn’t anywhere near ready….

Threads of a Fairytale

Just a quick post to let you know about my new website. Threads of a fairytale is my clothing label for fairytale, steampunk and bohemian handmade creations. Please take a look and let me know what you think! (Edited. Threads of a Fairytale was formally called Oshun.)

Snowdrop Inspiration

I was absolutely delighted to find a snow-drop flowering in my garden the other day. Snowdrops definitely rank in my top 5 favourite flowers. There was a garden I used to walk past on my way home from primary school, and it always had a blanket of snow-drops beneath a group of fir trees. They enchanted me. Once, I picked one and I felt guilty about it ever since! Here’s some snow-drop inspired handmade clothing and jewellery….

Downton Abbey fashion

December 29, 2013

When looking for inspiration for my clothes, I usually look to history – anything from the last century and further back. However the 1920s and 30s are recently starting to take my notice…..

Threads of a fairytale at The New Forest Fairy Festival

September 5, 2013

I’ve just got one box to unpack and a couple of bits and pieces still knocking around the back of the land rover, but other than that, I’ve pretty much recovered from having a stall at the New Forest Fairy Festival….

My latest crafty project is making bottle bags.

Clothing to dye for.

(A version of this article was originally published at Try Handmade.) Tie dye is classic hippy style, but I don’t actually always like it. I think it works best when you’ve got subtle shades of the same colour happening, rather than as many different bright colours you can throw onto a t-shirt at once…

January 26, 2013

This is an article originally published on Try Handmade. Incidentally, I can’t wait until the new Pirates film in two years…

Fairytale Fashion

I’ve been wanting to watch Red Riding Hood for ages and I finally have this weekend. I loved it! It was everything I hoped it would be; the snowy village scenes, the mysterious atmosphere; Grandma’s fantastic cabin in the woods, but especially the costumes. (Credit to Cindy Evans for costume design.)

Upcycling Indian Clothes

Just a quick post to urge you to take a look at Tara’s blog, Crowd Capture. She’s kindly written a lovely article about how I use traditional Indian clothing and turn them into new dresses and outfits. She’s also a big fan of revamping clothes, so have a read-through and maybe you’ll be inspired to have a go!

Escaped Princess Dress I’ve just bought a massive box full of slightly damaged Indian silk shawls, salwar and kameez ready for me to cut up and upcycle into beautiful clothing, so this is an ongoing collection. So far I have nine items ready for sale at Oshun. Here are some of them.