This is why I collect 'treasure'

I, like many crafters, collect things. Buttons, scraps, beads etc etc. So when my little sister said she was going to buy some sort of belt for the Summer Ball I asked what sort of thing she was thinking and we collaborated to create a belt buckle design for her.

First I sewed a layer of net to both sides of a felt shape using just running stitch and whip stitch. 

Then I sewed on bugle and seed beads (individually was easiest!) And satin stitched the ends with metallic thread.

Then came various buttons to fill in the remaining space

On the back I surrounded corsetry steel with more net and then used that net to sew it to the back. I added two buckles so that it can be put onto a belt.

Et voila! A belt that is inspired by and matches my sisters handbag. Money spent: £0.00.

...She'll probably kill me for putting this in but this is the only picture at the ball that shows the belt! This is past the midnight marker so not so flattering!

It started with 2 old hats...

... bought from a charity shop. Ugly and unloved I unpicked the brims and crowns then sewed some polka dot fabric to the brim and reassembled with the second hats crown I reused one of the hats trim, added some other bits and bobs I had collected and voila... my first hat:

By now the creative juices are flowing and I made another hat and some fascinators including:

and:

and why stop there with the headwear? I made several tiaras including this one:

Can you see what is happening here? I ended up with a glut! Hence 'Kestrel Design Ltd' is born... more details to come ;)

Steiner Dolls

I started making two Steiner or Waldorf style dolls. Strictly speaking they aren't as they don't use the finest and purest ingredients of plain wool and cotton. In fact, so far they use child's elbow Tubigrip, old desert uniform t-shirt, shredded polyester quilters wadding and car-boot-sale wool!

This second head now sports a full ponytail of hair but the method I used means she has too much bald spots when you part her hair. I have a few ideas on how to improve and one day I'd like to do a tutorial on how I would do both male and female hair :)

Modifying DBs Hat

DB had a spare uniform hat that he had ripped apart to try to make it more floppy (this makes it look more old fashioned and 'cooler'). But of course putting it back together again requires sewing skills...

So I've ripped out the structural element and sewn it back together again, but then added a nice dark blue satin lining with his surname embroidered in too (obviously smudged out for good reasons).

I also tacked down the edges to give it a head start in getting the best 'droopy' look.