How are my embroidered fascinators made?

 I have always loved embroidery, fabrics and textures and have dabbled in both things crafty! For my fascinators, I am using a range of techniques and putting them together to make beautiful head pieces, which can be made in your own fabric to colour match your outfit.
Below, I am showing you the process of making the fascinator.....going backwards!

Nearly finished... the flowers are hand stitched firmly in place... ready for embellishment to cover the wired flower stems.

Back of the fascinator... wire stems are hand stitched in place.... 

Detail of the embroidered petal with matching crystals....

Fascinator base is covered with silk piped fabric.....

Silk fabric is edged in matching silk piping cord...

Silk piped fabric and millinery net fascinator  base....

Individually embroidered petals.... this design of petals are created by decorative embroidery stitches, and then the edge is wired with self coloured jewelery wire....

Flower petals are embroidered, in this case, with black silk organza on water soluble fabric...

To see ready to buy fascinators... please see my Folksy Shop.
For details of making a fascinator to match your own outfit... please email me on heidi@extraspecialtouch.co.uk

Wedding Fayre @ Albert Hall November 2010

A great day exhibiting with Lisa from Ambience Venue Styling we had a wonderful table display of making chair sash, embroidered personalised napkins, heart favours and stationery!

Check out our website for more infomation on napkins and stationery and click here to download instructions to make your own wedding heart favours.

Vintage style bespoke embroidered fascinators!

I have always loved vintage style clothing ( I studied Costume at Art College when I was younger) and free machine embroidery (I have done a City and Guilds), and for my wedding a couple of years ago, I designed and made my own tiara / fascinator (its a bit of both!) and fascinators for my Mum and Bridesmaids.

Over the last few weeks I have been working on some fascinators to sell through our website http://www.extraspecialtouch.co.uk/ so I thought I'd tell you about the embroidery process on my blog.

The flowers that decorate the fascinators are made with a mixture of computer designed embroidery (designed by me) and free machine embroidery on water soluble fabric, this gives the beautiful lacy effect around the edge.

Each petal is then wired and hand beaded and then grouped together to make the flower.

The based on the fascinators are made to traditional methods using Millinery Net and covered with fabric to match or compliment the flowers. The base is also hand beaded, before the flower and feathers are attached.

Each fascinator takes an incredible amount of time to hand embellish and this makes them completely unique and no two will be the same.
As I make the fascinators and flowers from scratch, I can make them in your own fabric. (please give me as much time as possible to source trims etc, at the very minimum four weeks).

If you are having your wedding dress made, I can make your flowers and cover your fascinator in your own fabric. Or Mum's of the Bride and Groom, the flowers can be made out of your outfits' fabric... so it will match completely!

The flowers can also be used as buttonholes for the men in your wedding party.

Prices start from £120 for fascinators and from £30 for buttonholes.

For more information, and to see fascinators available for purchase, check out my Folksy Shop



sorry, I couldn't get this photo to import the correct way round??

Large single flower in white velvet with beads and crystal trimmings.




We have a winner!

Susan Gallacher

has won our Facebook giveaway and the French Lace garter will be on it's way to you very soon!!!!

To see our full range of vintage lace garters, please see our website,

http://www.extraspecialtouch.co.uk/

Free Vintage Lace Garter Giveaway!

To celebrate the introduction of our Vintage Lace Wedding Garters.... we are having a free garter giveaway!

Become a Liker of our Facebook page and when we have got 500 likers I will choose a name from random!

Have you just got engaged, or is your wedding day nearly here? Or is a friend getting married? Or are you a hen helping with the special day plans??

I'm sure the recipient will be so proud to show off her garter on the big day!

Just following the link to our Facebook page and I will send the winning liker the garter ASAP!

www.facebook.com/extraspecialtouch

Lots more vintage lace garters added to my Folksy Shop!

I have been working on lots of vintage lace garters and posted them for sale in my Folksy Shop

I have collected bits of lace for years and this is a great way to use them up and make something really beautiful. I have made the garters in various sizes to fit all shapes of legs, but we can make garters to your own design and size, just email me to discuss,

heidi@extraspecialtouch.co.uk

 This extra deep garter has a lovely blue bow, and a "hand made with love" gold charm....

 This lace is gorgeous and gives a lovely extra frilly effect.....

 A blue bow on your wedding garter is a traditional way to wear "something" blue for your wedding! The garter above has been made with 100% French cotton lace .

 A diamante buckle gives a glamorous feel to this delicate cotton lace garter....

 White roses and pearls....

 Or how about a personalised wedding garter? We can embroider in any colour to match your wedding theme and also any wording.... a few lines from a poem or the bride and grooms name and wedding date?

 "Lucy Loves Leo 22nd Dec 2010" has been embroidered on this example....

All my garters can be found in my Folksy Shop and most are priced at £10 each.

Woodborough Hall Wedding Fayre - October 2010

On Sunday we had a lovely time at Woodborough Hall wedding fayre.

http://www.woodboroughhall.co.uk/

We have now added instrustuctions to our website for details on how to make heart lavender bags... a wonderful personal gift to give your guests as a favour

http://www.extraspecialtouch.co.uk/

The weather was just beautiful and all the bride and grooms to be had a wonderful time sipping drinks in the garden!

Wedding Fayres 2010

We have exhibited at some lovely Wedding Fayres over the last few months, so I thought I would post some photographs....

These were taken at Wollaton Hall last Sunday. We had a wonderful day meeting lots of new brides and other wedding suppliers.

Our new shabby chic display cabinet looked beautiful with our personalised hankies, vintage laces garters and lavender bags.

Our next Fayre is at Woodborough Hall on the10th October.

My new studio is nearly finished!

I have had our garage converted into my studio... and this last week all the building work has been finished and I can start moving all my sewing stuff back in! I'm so excited!

I have been collecting images and ideas for the decor in my new room, and one was the white glass display cabinet in the above photo...

So I bought an old display cabinet from Ebay for £20 and I've used crackle paint it and it looks fantastic! This will be my storage area for all my threads, fabrics and trimmings...

I've got a long way to go to get the room finished inside... but this is a life long dream to have a room like this... and I am in my element designing and planning it all!

Personalised napkins are a great wedding gift...

When I was planning my own wedding in 2008, I embroidered monogrammed napkins for all our guests for our wedding breakfast...

And a few months after the wedding, I thought of setting up my own business to create personalised napkins to make other couples weddings unique.

We use our napkins regularly now at home, and they finish off table decorations for special occasions.

The flowers have be cut from our garden, and I love the casual display in a vintage mug.

Today we have family coming for Sunday dinner, and I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to show you how monogrammed napkins can be used after your wedding day.

My new studio...

This last few weeks I have been having my garage converted into my Studio / workshop and I am sooooo excited!!!

The garage looks out onto our courtyard and we have lots of hanging baskets and pots full of colourful flowers (all thanks to hubby!)

I am so excited about designing the sideside, I have been collected loads of images from Google and created my own moodboard.... I really want it to be vintage looking, but tidy and fresh. I have found lots of items which I could use on Ebay.... so lets see what I can "win" over the coming weeks.

But, for now.... we are living in a mess! All my office and sewing stuff has been in the garage since we moved to this house in the spring of this year... and so it is now stored all over the house! But I'm sure it will all be worth it!

You can see more photo 's and follow my new studion progress on my Facebook page

http://www.facebook.com/extraspecialtouch

Ellie & Matthew's Napkins

We have been working on some wedding napkins for Ellie and Matthew, and they look so beautiful I had to upload some photographs!

Wedding Fayre @ Cotgrave Golf Club

Wedding Fayres are a great way of meeting excited brides planning their special day... we are happy to discuss bespoke embroidered gifts to make their day extra special and personal.

http://www.extraspecialtouch.co.uk/

This is the first time we have displayed our vintage lace garters, and Lucy Moore won our free prize draw, and will have a lace garter on it's way to her soon! 

The view from our table over the golf course was breath taking, and this would be the view your guests saw during your wedding reception at Cotgrave.

Cotgrave Place Golf Club hosted their first Wedding Fayre today and it was a huge success!

Vintage Lace Garters

I have been collecting vintage lace from various shops and market, where ever I see something beautiful!

I eventually had chance to play this week in the evenings and finalised my design and I'm sure you'll agree, the vintage lace makes the garters look fabulous!

Due to the nature of using vintage lace, each garter is a one off... and I think this makes it extra special to wear on your wedding day! Prices start at £18 - £25 for the wider lace garters.

I will add them to the website soon, but if there is anything you like, please contact me to purchase. I have added more photographs to my Flickr account.