LiD Designs

Ingenious Vintage Hattiness

2012-03-03T09:22:00.004-05:00

Whilst perusing Twitter today I found this awesomely practical 1950s "Puff" rain hat, from one of my favorite vintage Etsy sellers, who specializes in 1940s/1950s fashion Fab Gabs .

How IN-geeeenious?!?

Feel a drop of rain? Just had a fresh shampoo and set? Realize you left your umbrella at home this morning?

No problem!!

Just take your (deflated) "Puff - the sun or rain hat" out of your purse, inflate by blowing through the tab on the outer edge of the brim, and place on your head in seconds! :)

Once it stops raining you simple remove the stopper, deflate, fold back up, pop it back in your purse for the next unannounced downpour.

Simple, and far more stylish than those clear old lady tie around helmets you get today. And the inflated rings also help channel the rain away and off the back of the hat.

Anyway, she only has a few left in stock from NOS so get one now still in the original packaging!

-Photography by Lulu of Camerabandit

-Model: Solanah

Where Are They Now

2012-03-02T08:54:00.004-05:00

January and February locations are now in.The map is filling up! US and Canada has busied up as well as the UK and Australia is starting to pull alongside.

Rolls and Rolls of Ribbon

2012-02-25T13:54:00.002-05:00

A big box a ribbons arrived yesterday, grosgrains to match all the sinamays I have in stock at the moment, to edge, tag and detail.

Pretty Pretty Flowers

2012-02-24T18:41:00.002-05:00

That went out today.......

Haaauuulllll!!!

2012-02-23T21:21:00.002-05:00

Todays haul, mainly topping up little habby items like pins and fray check and stem tape. But I also picked up a few new tall flower buckets for holding tall things on my desk like hammers and rulers. I picked up some pearls, buttons, wire and some great vintage grosgrain ribbons and FINALLY managed to match a really hard to find turquoise to bind this one particular turquoise sinamay that I have. (waiting for a big stash of rolls of sinamay to arrive in the mail)

I've been away so loooong.....

2012-02-22T07:20:00.003-05:00

It's been super busy round here! That time of year where spring and early summer and 2014 brides kick into high gear, and I start dream I'm making wedding dress button 24/7 for months on end.

But I have bought a few great vintage millinery pieces (pics to come) and I have a few interesting projects in the pipeline.

I'm really going to keep up with my "Where are They Now" map this year, as its interesting to see where products are going to.

Above is a map of just January 2012's orders, and quite honestly its very typical of my average entire years map. Africa, South America and Eastern Europe/Russia are places I never sell to (although I think I once sold to Brazil) But we'll see how this year pans out month by month :)

Customer Fabulousness!

2011-10-01T10:18:00.001-04:00

September was super busy, gearing up for fall and winter weddings so the blog was on hiatus for a month. But heading into fall also means that knitwear season is also starting so everyone has been after wooden buttons and during the past month I have been receiving some great pictures of customers work using the buttons on their work.
Gina, from Delaware, who knits these fabulous lightweight lacework swing sweaters used the Turquoise Flower Bead Wooden Buttons to fasten it.

She also later knitted the same sweater but in red as a gift and used the Queen of Heart Silk Buttons in her own custom sizing.

And after providing me with her honest opinion of the wooden buttons, she now has a tagline in the wooden button listings so other buyers can see what she thought of how they were to use:
"They are SO lightweight! This is a real joy when using them on a hand-knitted item! They don't weigh down the garment or stretch out the knitting." - Gina, Delaware USA.

Anne, from Massachusetts, used the Spinning Butterflies Wooden Buttons and Hawaiian Flower Dome Buttons on her very first knitting project, and it turned out fabulously!

And Victoria, from California, placed her own specially sized request for some Prince of Wales Check Buttons to use on a new skirt pattern she was trying out. The original sizing of the buttons were WAY too big so we worked on getting the pattern placement of the fabric right on the small size that she needed.

She wrote all about how she made the skirt and where she got her supplies on her blog here. Check it out!

Thanks for the pictures everyone! It’s always great to see what people do with the buttons after they have bought them. So fee free to send over pics of your work!

Back to School

2011-08-24T09:40:00.001-04:00

It’s that time of year again, and what better way to personalise your school sweater than with your name spelled out in wooden letter buttons?
I was commissioned this week to make 2 sets of buttons spelling out little boys names to go on their new sweaters.

These are going to Norway.

Halloween a Little Early

2011-08-23T21:59:00.001-04:00

It’s still a little early for Halloween, but here’s a custom order I just completed for a Halloween day wedding. They are to go in the bridesmaids and maid of honors headpieces which is why they have added glitter sparkle and one has red eyes and three have black eyes.

Bridal Commission Piece

2011-08-14T19:08:00.002-04:00

Working from this original design I was commissioned to make one in a colour to match the brides dress and use her own colours and flowers in a 1940s/50s style.

After matching the silk to her vintage dress, I blocked and wired a base, then pleated the top layer, stitched it down, covered the back in plain silk and edged it in bias tape made from the same silk.

As she has very short hair she decided she wanted some kind of small clip to hold it on as a big barrette would slip out and a headband or elastic would show on her head.

To make sure it stayed in place I put 2 strong small clips, but going in opposite directions. The idea is to clip the back one in place first then swing the front one downwards slightly to catch more hair and stop it moving on the head as the hair wouldn’t be pulled back in an updo creating natural tension.

Then we worked on placing the pieces from her own bouquet she had sent to be added, green calla lilies, wired rhinestones and peacock swords, and finished it off wrapped in loops of teal ribbon.

Finally topping it off with a big poof of Ivory English veiling, and a secret rhinestoned initial letter A brooch hidden in the back as a secret love note to her new husband.

Haauuullll!!!

2011-08-11T12:12:00.001-04:00

I had to run into town for a few bits yesterday and finally managed to get the 1” round labels for my Brother labelmaker. I had had them on order from a store in town who took SEVEN weeks to finally tell me they were on indefinite back order with the manufacturer, even after they told me several times they would be receiving them to send out to me within 5-7 days. Funny that the manufacturer has them for sale on their own website the whole time. From now on we’ll only buy from that store if the item is physically on the shelf ready to buy as this isn’t the first time they have kept us hanging on an exorbitant amount of time with a pre-order item.

But now I have the nice neat little labels needed for my small bridal button looping packaging as well as Thank You stickers and web address stickers for tissue wrapped items and neat business return address labels – Yay!

Now this ‘stuff’ has be niggling at me to buy for a month or so now, and I needed to go to the florist supply store to pick up a tall pillar candle anyway so I finally gave in and bought some. It’s weird! But great! It kind of looks like silly string made into mesh, the receipt lists it as Sisal, but its definitely a man made foamy concoction. It does have some stiffness to it, but I’m going to gently steam it at some point, I do want to keep some of the stiffness in parts to create a cage type feel to the finished hat.

Haaauuullll!!!!!

2011-08-03T22:42:00.001-04:00

Finally got into the city yesterday to pick up some much needed supplies. Replenishing the basic bridal looping stock as well as adding a brand new colour, Gold, PERFECT for eveningwear and alternative bridal colours.

I needed some wide White lace for another future project, and this one pretty closely matches my Black and Pink ones so it will be perfect.

Then I hit up the millinery store and scored some beautiful Tiffany Blue Starbright straw, which is for a very special top secret project! And some more basic black millinery wire. I found another unusual braid I might have to go back for to use in the top secret project.

Customer Fabulousness!

2011-07-31T19:11:00.001-04:00

Photo Credit: L. Scabrat 2011

So I have been super busy all week with some big intense custom orders, literally working til 10pm each night, not even time to consider a blog post, but I was taking pictures to post this week.
So it was a nice break to receive an email from one of my clients at the button shop earlier on this week with pictures of the dress she had designed and made herself and finished with a ‘necklace’ of buttons.
She had seen some buttons in my store, but she wanted them to be bigger and asked my opinion on what fabric to use after she explained she was using satin with a chiffon overlay, so I suggested the black silk charmuese, a satin effect but with a warm gauzy glow rather than a harsh sheen like poly satin, with would replicate the gauziness of the chiffon.
And here’s then end result, it looks rather fabulous! I hope she has a great time wearing it to her sons wedding.

Sketchbook

2011-07-24T22:20:00.001-04:00

Just doodling with a glass of (red) wine, practicing sketching on the drawing tablet.

Sketchbook

2011-07-22T22:17:00.001-04:00

“The” Orange mini base which has been sitting there for months waiting the thing that’s going to finish it, well its going to be finished with stripped bright turquoise coque feathers. Complimentary colours and all that.

Brides Across America

2011-07-21T22:45:00.001-04:00

Recently I was asked to re-create some missing buttons from a dress donated to a military bride by Brides Across America.

This is one of the original buttonsAnd here are my copies work in progress, worked over an Ivory Silk Charmuese Bridal Button, then beaded with dozens of tiny clear cupped sequins, silver lined clear seed beads and centred with a bigger seed bead.
Brides Across America donates free wedding dresses to brides either serving in the military or marrying a serving soldier, as a way of saying thank you for their services. www.bridesacrossamerica.com

Mail Haauuuullll!!!!

2011-07-20T21:25:00.001-04:00

Some goodies came in the mail today! Miyuki Drop Fringe Seed beads, in from L-R: Red Light Topaz, Matte White Pearl and Lavender.
They are tiny, only about 3mmx4mm, but they are perfect for what I need.
I’m going to wire them and use them as handmade glass flower stamen.

Positions…Please!

2011-07-19T22:16:00.001-04:00

Developed from Wooden Flower Bead Insert Buttons, with flowers in different positions. Current project.

Haauuullll!!! New Colours

2011-07-16T13:07:00.001-04:00

Picked up a few new colours to add to the bridal collection, Dusky Rose and Dark Red, ready for bridal buttons and roses.

A few of my little friends!

2011-07-11T21:46:00.002-04:00

These have been keeping me a little busy lately. Love the way the light has played on the surface of the satin through the blind slats and leaves of a tree outside the window. They are actually a mid silver grey and not so light as the pictures.

New Daphne Guinness Book

2011-07-07T21:57:00.003-04:00

Today I pre-ordered my copy of the brand new Daphne Guinness book by Valerie Steele.
It isn’t available til the beginning of November 2011, duno if I can wait that long!

Considering Valerie Steele is the director and Chief Curator of the Museum at FIT I’m hoping its going to be filled with a bazillion pictures, narrating her life, rather than words narrating a few pictures.

I knew of her, always photographed front row at fashion week, muse to many a designer, wearer of Alexander McQueen Armadillo shoes (not even in her size but worn last minute with toilet paper stuffed in the toes, go on I dare you to even get up on those in your size!)
But the first time I learned about her in depth was the March 2008 issue of British Vogue (how I miss my monthly fix of British Vogue) in a cover story entitled The Incredible World Of Daphne Guinness, where she talked about her life post divorce from the Greek shipping billionaire Stavros Niarchos, her position in the Guinness family, and how she was planning a massive auction of her couture collection for charity later that year, but how she was finding it hard to decide what to part with and what to keep.

Known for her striking platinum blonde and black striped hair, creating a headpiece effect in itself, when she wears a hat, she really wears a hat!
And now she’s the proud owner of the entire collection of the late Isabella Blow’s wardrobe including 50 Philip Treacy hats, many of which were designed just for Blow, to wear as well now too.

Daphne Guinness by Valerie Steele, Yale University Press $45, available now on pre-order from Yale Press and Amazon

Eeeeee I REALLY cant wait til November!

Smartie Blocks

2011-07-03T22:46:00.001-04:00

Last month I started a brief post on just a few of my new blocks. Today I’m going to talk about my two smartie blocks.
Both from Guy Morse-Brown in England, the smaller one was a birthday present to myself last year and the larger one was a birthday present from my family this year.
The 4” one I have created my own ‘puller’ to remove it simple from underneath a stiff blocked piece as the edges curve inwards. The ribbon I used is thin enough not to create a raised mark on the outside of the piece. Its knotted tightly over and over underneath to provide something to hook your fingers inside and sharply pull it out.
I’ve made some of my most popular pieces as well as competition winning pieces from it.
Old Gold Birdie Mini.

The Vintage Bride

Union Jack Mini

Dainty Miss Leopard Mini Freshly Picked Calla Lilies

Very Vintage Chocolate Lattice
Stars and Stripes Mini

Very Vintage Red Petals

Origami Waterlily Mini

And the competition winning Fame and Glory Ascot mini.

How To Make Flowers with Dennison Crepe Paper

2011-07-01T21:24:00.003-04:00

A new vintage book arrived today in the mail, How to make Flowers with Dennison Crepe Paper

First published in 1956 by the Dennison Paper Company, it gives step by step instructions on how to make over 30 flowers and leaves from their two tone/double sided thick crepe paper.
And it was in extremely good condition, obviously has just been kept on a shelf somewhere, as the pages haven’t even been pressed open flat as they would have been if someone had used it to work from.

I’m going to use the pattern pieces and translate the instructions to stiffened fabric that will mimic the texture of the crepe paper they were originally designed for, as well as paper which I will seal to extend life.

Keep an eye out for a future post once I have made some up from the book.

(By the way, some joker is trying to flog a copy of this 35 page booklet for over $113 on Amazon, good luck with that buddy! Sorry its not that rare.)Look out for your own copy for around $5 on Etsy, Ebay and even Amazon.

Finally finished….in time for the luau

2011-06-29T22:59:00.002-04:00

My 1950s Tiki Luau inspired raffia mini topper is also finally finished, photographed and ready to go. Is now available in the shop

Finally Finished

2011-06-28T21:51:00.001-04:00

The big leopard print disc, and it is now photographed and ready to go! And now its available in the shop.

iPad to Drawing Tablet.

2011-06-27T20:34:00.002-04:00

So Mr LiD was having a stressful time at work over the last few weeks with a difficult customer, and last Monday he decided he was in serious need of some gadget retail therapy

(kinda like the high from a good shoe/bag/hat purchase) and ran out and got the iPad 2. Bringing it home he was showing me all the new apps including one he was very excited to show me, the Wacom Bamboo Paper app, “You can draw on it! And you can get a stylus to draw on it like a pencil, remember the full size Wacom Cintiq screen we were going to get you? Well now you can do it on here! You gota get one!”

Now the Bamboo app is pretty basic but there are others including the SketchBook Pro which is much more indepth, more like using Photoshop or Illustrator.

As he’s showing me more and more little things over the evening I did slam down my laptop and nearly throw it in the trash, pfuft who needs that big old hulk nowadays, and we made plans to go out on Saturday and get me one of those. Although I had recently been thinking about getting a smaller netbook to travel with, but the added bonus of the portable digital sketchpad sealed the deal.

Of course, I had to get the pink Smart Cover, I’ve also got a black Built NY Envelope sleeve (I love Built NY bags) for traveling, as the second pocket in the envelope style is essential for carrying the stylus pen.

The Bamboo app.

My first illustration err doodle in SketchBook Pro, THAT skill will need to be worked on!
Another great thing is that I often want to send a quick preliminary sketch to a client, to make sure we are on the same page, or to show them my plans. And that would before have involved drawing on paper, scanning into the computer, resizing, attaching to an email blah blah blah, and now I can just do a quick sketch and email it directly straight from the iPad.

It IS my new bff, and I have already been found guilty of having my iPad and my laptop open on different screens and working on them simultaneously – it’s the beginning of the end!

When Fray Check Strikes!

2011-06-25T22:13:00.002-04:00

So your neatening an edge or securing a knotted thread with that little seamstresses gem Fray Check, when all of a sudden disaster strikes a drip of that liquid plastic accidentally lands on the main body of work!!

Well this happened to me, except I didn’t notice until a long time after the fact.
So I was hurriedly trying to find a solution which would work quickly and leave no trace (be warned to try it on a inconspicuous area first), and Fray Checks own parent company Prym or Dritz as its known in the US had the answer, rubbing alcohol.

Your supposed to soak the area for at least 30mins as it has to soak through the plastic, but for a tiny dot I found that a soaked cotton q-tip rubbed on the spot with a cotton bud behind then sponged away with another cotton bud on top, repeated until the mark was gone, about 4 times in my case, worked perfectly and kept work and drying to a minimum, in a similar way to a Dryel pen in cleaning a regular spot stain.

So pretty…..

2011-06-24T20:52:00.002-04:00

These pretties are going to be adorning the back of someone’s wedding dress very soon.

Today I Have Been Working on….

2011-06-23T21:36:00.002-04:00

A load of cute girly buttons. No hats today, far too many express orders in the button shop to get finished :)

Haaauuuulllll!

2011-06-22T22:28:00.001-04:00

Todays haul includes some fabrics for custom orders, a big bunch of bright turquoise 10-12” Coque feathers and a Wacom Bamboo stylus, for something new I am getting this weekend.

These feathers really are much more turquoise that he picture shows, perfect for finishing off the orange small smartie which has ‘just been sitting there’ waiting to be finished project.

The bright Cobalt blue silk charmeuse has already been made up into these bridal buttons, they are just waiting for a specific personalisation before they can go off.

The zebra print cotton is a possible new line as well as a custom request to go with a collection of leopard print buttons.

More on the Wacom stylus at the weekend…………….

What I’ve been working on today…

2011-06-21T22:49:00.002-04:00

One of the things I have been working on is finishing off deco-ing my 4th July hat. The stars are now finished and the brim is wired, all it needs now is fixing the hairband.

Just a few of my new blocks…

2011-06-20T22:09:00.002-04:00

Minis to be precise. They are all brand new, no vintages in this group. Handmade by craftsmen in the UK and the US, 2 smarties from Guy Morse-Brown, and 2 discs, a bellhop, and a mini derby topper from Jerry Nabors.

Two smarties, one 4” and one 6”. I’ve had the 4 incher for about a year and have used it to death, well it has A LOT of life left in it, but as soon as it was empty it was being blocked on again. The ribbon straps are to help easily remove it from inside the stiff blocked felt. It’s heavily knotted underneath and gives you something to grab onto & pull!

Two discs, one 8” and one 6.5”. These are SO smooth to tie off on, even with unconventional blocking fabrics it is very easy to ease any wrinkles out of with minimum effort.

My little bellhop pillbox (I haven’t used it yet, shhhh) and my mini derby topper which is brand new (but I have quickly managed to use it)

All are very simple, but very effective.

What’s on the board, Miss Ford?

2011-06-19T17:33:00.002-04:00

So today, on the jobs board we have a number of outstanding projects, the big leopard print saucer is very nearly done, I’m just working out the exact placement of the black spine (its only resting there right now)

The raffia topper is also very nearly done bar the decoration. I am currently so obsessed with that 1950’s Tiki/Luau/summer holiday straw with the raffia embroidery over the top, perfect to wear with capri pants a tie shirt and little cardigan jacket.

The orange mini is an ongoing project, you know the sort……
In the foreground are a couple of button orders getting ready to go out on Monday and the startings of another raffia this time in coral.

The big Stars & Strips smartie is actually a personal project for our 4th July party. The blue one is going to be a new sailor inspired hat, as I haven’t had a nautical hat in the shop for faaaaaar too long, its still on the block. The white spotty one is waiting for decoration inspiration to grab me!

And that’s whats on this weeks board, Miss Ford!

Ostrich Feathers

2011-06-18T16:16:00.001-04:00

So in yesterdays Haaauuuulllll! post you saw the Nandu Ostrich feathers that I got. One each in Yellow, Red, Pink and two in Black.
Well yesterday afternoon I started stripping them down to retrieve the spines to use to decorate some of my hats.

I started with the yellow one and began peeling the fronds back from near the base of the quill. Simply pinching a few fronds at a time firmly between my thumb and forefinger and pulling downwards towards the base of the feather.

Right up to the tip working on parts of each side at a time.

You can see how the spine is beginning to naturally curl on its own as the fronds have been stripped away.

Taking my big barrel curling tongs and whacking the temperature right up to max I gripped the tip under the gripper lever and gently and slowly eased the spine around the tongs allowing the heat to penetrate the body of the quill to soften it to stop any nasty kinks appearing.

I then trimmed it to fit the hat from the base end and placed it into the felt flower decoration on the hat and stitched it down from underneath.

Haaauuuulllll!

2011-06-17T16:41:00.001-04:00

Today’s haul features a load of luxury bridal button looping to restock the button shop, ostrich nandu feathers and unusual oval shaped paillettes in pink & silver, and a blue & grey plaited nylon placemat……perfect for unstitching and upcycling as millinery braid into a hat (plus the plaited lengths will give at twice the amount as a basic placemat) I always hunt these out if I can find them at a bargain price, always look beyond somethings practical use and see how you can use it.

Coming soon……what I did with the feathers.

1000 (& 1) Sales!

2011-06-17T07:33:00.001-04:00

Overnight we reached the milestone which has been hanging over us for sometime now, seemingly unobtainable with the current climate, but late last night the Button Shop reached the Big 1000 sales number. Well technically it was a multi item order & came out at 1001, but we finally made it, in 2 years and 2 months.

Royal Ascot Ladies Day

2011-06-16T09:09:00.001-04:00

Today is Ladies Day at Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse in Berkshire England. This year is the 300th year of the prestigious event, attended annually by members of the royal family. Ladies Day is when the fight is on for who can wear the biggest, best, most outlandish hat to win best dressed of the day. The event of the day is The Gold Cup at 3.50pm.

Our Milliners of Etsy team set the last team contest as Design a Black & White Hat for Ascot. It was judged by the milliner Mark T Burke, the closing date was June 1st and the winner was announced a week later. You can see all the entries here as well as Mark’s comments on each one.

And my entry Fame & Glory was the winner!!

I named it after the favourite to win todays Gold Cup race.

I mixed and matched materials rather than making it all out of sinamay. The base is a simple small black wool felt smartie with a white sinamay saucer perched on the front edged with grosgrain and finished with a swirly twisty knotty length of black and white striped grosgrain ribbon.

I had only just got the 6” saucer block (along with an 8” one) the week before so I was super excited to get working with it at the first opportunity, and so pleased when it helped me win!

……now I just have to hope that the horse it is named after wins this afternoon…….

*Update* Fame and Glory won the Gold Cup!