Great British Sewing Bee Live – Vogue Patterns Fashion Show, video now on YouTube | Champagne Twist

Hello,

I’ve just uploaded a new video, the Great British Sewing Bee Live – Vogue Patterns Fashion Show.

If you would like to see it, please click the link below –

There are more #GBSBLive videos on the way, so please stayed tuned, and subscribe to champagnetwist.com for further information. Thanks for reading and watching.

 

The Great British Sewing Bee Live Event – videos // Champagne Twist

Hello,

If you are subscribed to my YouTube channel, you may have noticed a few new videos. Well, please stay tuned, as I upload more footage from the Great British Sewing Bee Live event, held at London’s ExCeL.

As a taster, here are 2 recently published videos.

There are more videos on the way, which will be published over the next couple of days, if my over worked computer can keep up!

Plus, I have a very special announcement to make over the next few days, so please subscribe, so that you don’t miss out on all the latest form Champagne Twist.

Thanks for reading and to all my new subscribers, a very warm welcome, hope you like it here in this little corner of the interweb 🙂

What I brought at the Great British Sewing Bee Live event, ExCel London // Champagne Twist

Hello,

This is a short post about the items I purchased at the Great British Sewing Bee Live event at London’s ExCeL.

Simply Fabrics / The Textile Centre – Stand G14

Fabric from Simply Fabrics / Textile Centre

My first purchase was this amazing sequenced number – just over 1m for £10. I think I was influenced by the sparkly dresses showcased at the Vogue patterns fashion show, but hey, you can never have too many sequins, right?

I also purchased 2 lining fabrics, one to go with the sequins. Both for an amazing £2 per m.

 

Guthrie and Ghani – Stand F10

https://guthrie-ghani.co.uk/

Next came the this rather frivolous purchase, a vintage piece from the bargain bucket for £6. It’s about half a meter, so a little on the pricy side, but I’m thinking of making a head scarf or maybe a neck tie much like my Ghislaine Chelsea scarf a made a while back. If you have a better idea, please let me know 🙂

 

John James Needles – Stand E20

www.jjneedles.com

Now for the essentials, which I think were a real bargain – all this for just £2. A metal thimble, to help protect my little digits while I hand sew, and a selection needles for various sewing tasks. Each bundle costs 50p! Even my bank manager couldn’t argue with that.

 

House of Tweed – Stand H27

http://house-of-tweed.co.uk

My last purchase wasn’t much sewing related, but will prove to be a rather useful and stylish tool – a tweed hand bag and matching purse combo. The bag fits an A4 folder, has a number of roomy pockets, both external and internal. The purse has plenty of space for credit cards, notes and separate zipped compartment for coins. Total cost £30.  The bag is sold online for £39 and the purse for £25.  At the GBSB Live event, the purse was given free with purchase of the bag.  They had a fairly wide selection, so if you’re in the market for a new bag or purse, you could do a lot worse than visit this stall.

Great British Sewing Bee Live – New YouTube video | Champagne Twist

Picture source: http://thegreatbritishsewingbeelive.com

Hello,

I’ve just published a new video on my YouTube channel, featuring footage of my trip to the inaugural Great British Sewing Bee Live event, at ExCel London.

Please take a look and comment either on my YouTube channel or here at ChampagneTwist.com.

A review of the event is coming soon and a ‘What I brought at the show’ video will be posted shortly.

Enjoy!

 

Why you need to visit Espace Gabrielle Chanel // Champagne Twist

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Gabrielle Chanel – Espace Gabrielle Chanel – Lamé ribbon – champagnetwist.com

If you’re a fashionista, a perfume enthusiast or just love anything to do with Chanel, by now you would have heard about Espace Gabrielle Chanel on Old Bond Street, in London’s rather smart Mayfair.

Espace Gabrielle Chanel – 27, Bond Street, Mayfair, London, England, UK

If you’re studying Marketing, Business, Branding, Photography, Design, Styling, Fashion or any realted fields, you should make the time and effort to attend before it closes on 24th of September.  I will publish all the tips I’ve learnt in a separate post later this week.

Chanel logo at the Space Gabrielle Chanel pop up, 27 Old Bond Street, Mayfair, London, England

Espace Gabrielle Chanel, is a remarkable feat of marketing, and you are sure to pick up tips, not just olfactory tips – and yes I admit I had to google that word! – how a brand works. I have been fortunate enough to attend the space a few times, and eery time I’ve attended, I have learnt something new.  Read my review of my first trip to the Espace here.

I have been able to practice my limited light photography, improved my video skills, learnt about the basics of olfactory and even about Gabrielle Chanel herself. While the jury is still out about the new perfume, the marketing has been nothing short of spectacular and if you’re wise, and happen to be in London, you should check out the Old Bond Street venue and enjoy a couple of hours of free education and entertainment. Oh, by the way, did I mention that it’s all free? Opportunities like these, the chance to learn some of the tricks of the trade from a high end, global luxury brand only comes around a very few times, and rarely ever free – so make the most of it while you can.

Gabrielle Chanel – Sensorial Discovery – Espace Gabrielle Chanel, Bond Street, Mayfair, London – champagnetwist.com

Try to book a place on the Sensorial Discovery experience, (again it’s free) here, to learn more about the craft of perfume making and the background of the founder of the house of Chanel.

But in case you can’t make it, here’s a couple of video montages I made to give you an idea of the experience.

 

 

Wednesday Thinking: Are collectable craft magazines worth the paper they are printed on?

Wednesday Thinking The Mid-week Editorial

It’s September a new weekly craft collectable magazine has been launched. This time it’s called “Knit & Stitch Creative”, a series which promises the buyer to teach them to knit over  the course of 66 weeks.

The first issue costs 99p and I recommend if you are a beginner knitter, to buy a copy. In fact buy 2.  For the money you get a magazine with a fair number of tutorials, a pair of size 4mm knitting needles, a very useful yarn needle and 2 small balls of wool.  Let’s face it, you’re going to be hard pushed to get a better deal.

The next issue, due out in the middle of September, will cost £2.50 and promises a another pair of knitting needles, this time size 5mm and another 2 small balls of yarn.

The 3rd and all subsequent issues will cost £4.99.  Here’s the rub, if you buy all the issues the grand total will be nearly over £325. Granted the costs includes a set of knitting needles, wool, binders to store the issues, and yarn with eery issue, but having to wait over a year to complete the series, I wonder if this is worth it.

 

Picture source – http://creacrafts.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwub7NBRDJARIsAP7wlT8IYNWHsCjv-r9jcCAB4HHZnHGP7Iw8R8NEgZ5GLN_sDJbgzihInCcaAjKqEALw_wcB

There are a number of cheap and free knitting classes available in London, wool can be as affordable as you wish, and needles can also be sourced for low prices. The added advantage of going to a class, you can meet new people and make friends, you can ask the tutor questions directly, and you will learn to knit in a matter of hours.

If the idea of attending a class doesn’t appeal, a beginners knitting book costs anything from £20-30. Of course, there are a huge number of free tutorials on YouTube. With a budget of £325, you can buy a lot of yarn, several knitting needles, and learn how to knit at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home.

I have written a review of the first issue, which will be published on this website in the next couple of days, so please watch out for that.  It would be great to read your thoughts about these collectable magazines. Do you think they are worth the money? Or do yo think they exploit people who wish to learn a new craft? Please share in the comments box below.

Thanks for reading,

 

The 7 Essential Items for Your Sewing Box … coming soon | Champagne Twist

Cheat’s Berry Meringue Nests – recipe | Champagne Twist

For a quick and simple dessert or afternoon tea treat, here’s a recipe for those moments when you need something decadent, but lack time.

Cheat’s Berry Meringue Nests – recipe

by Champagne Twist

Ingredients:

• Ready made meringues
• Mixed berries, I used
  • Strawberries
  • Raspberries
  • Blueberries
  • Blackberries
• Yogurt such as Thick Greek, Greek style, lemon, plain or vanilla
• Sprig of mint, for decoration (optional)
• Icing sugar, for decoration (optional)

Method:

1. Using one meringue person, fill the city of each meringue nest wth 1 tablespoon of your chosen yogurt.
2. Top off each nest with a mix of berries. You can, for instance, cut 1 large. strawberry into quarters and add 1 piece to each nest.  Add a couple each of the remaining fruit to each nest to finish.
3. Decorate the nests with a sprig of mint and dust with icing sugar if using.

 

With only requiring a few pieces of fruit and a little yogurt, you can create impressive looking and tasting meringue nests, within a relatedly small budget. You can try any combination of fruit and sauces. How about caramel sauce, chocolate sauce and chopped banana.

I hope you like this recipe, if you do, please leave a comment below. If you have any ideas on how to use meringues, again please leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading, see you soon!

 

Homemade Butter – Recipe | Champagne Twist

Homemade butter, like most homemade food, is simply better than any you can purchase in a store. For a start, it has a fresher, cleaner flavour, and you can control what goes in your butter.

It is so fun and easy to make, you only require a few tools and as an added bonus, there is minimum waste because the by product is buttermilk, so why not have a go?

Butter and Buttermilk – recipe by ChampagneTwist.com

Tools required:

• Kitchen grade muslin cloth
• Large sieve
• Large bowl
• Medium bowl
• Wooden spoon
• Electric hand or stand mixer (you can use a hand whisk if you prefer)

Ingredients:

•  l litre double cream

Method:

1. Pour the cream into a large bowl of a food mixer and whisk on medium speed for about 4 minutes until thickened.
2. Increase the mixer speed to high and continue to whist until the cream separates into curds (solids) and whey (liquid). This will take about 5 more minutes.
3. Place a sieve, lined with muslin over a large bowl.
4. Pour the contents of the food mixer bowl into the lined sieve.
5. After about 1 minute, gather up the corners of the muslin over the curds and twist so that you can squeeze out as much of the whey as possible.
6. Set the whey aside – this is now otherwise known as buttermilk.
7. In medium bowl half filled with chilled water, add the solids and stir fairly vigorously with a wooden spoon. This action ‘washes’ the curds in order to help remove as much of the remaining whey/buttermilk as possible.
8. Place the curds back into the muslin, gathering up the corners and then squeeze as much whey out as possible. You now have butter.

Shape and wrap the butter in greaseproof paper and store and use as you would shop purchased butter. I ended up with over a pound of butter and 2 cups of buttermilk, which can be used in all sorts of recipes, including scones, bread and soups.

You can flavour your butter with salt, herbs, pepper, spices, even alcohol to make say brandy butter. Making your own butter can open up a wide range of culinary avenues. All you need to do is experiment and have fun.

SEWING FOR BEGINNERS – Episode 2 now live on YouTube | CHAMPAGNE TWIST

Check out the latest video in the the new Sewing for Beginners YouTube series.

Check out the first video here –

More sewing videos are on their way, so please subscribe to my youtube channel and my blog (see button above) for more!

Thanks for watching!