Helen Hobden

Pastel Goth outfit ideas

Posted on by Helen Hobden

Over on my blog, When I Grow Up, I’ve written a post with a few pastel goth outfit ideas. I thought that now would be a good time because many of us have reached into our wardrobes for our black items to make a witch’s costume for Halloween, and now need some inspiration for how to wear them again! I’ve found some gorgeous tops from independent designers, so do go and check them out! Plus, if this is your kind of style, I have several pastel goth dresses for sale in my Etsy shop in the Fairytale and Cosplay clothing section. 🙂

Pastel goth kawaii dress

Pure silk purple fairy outfit

Posted on by Helen Hobden

I loved experimenting with a variety of natural dyes in the summer, and one that was very successful was logwood chips – they produced this gorgeous shade of purple on the pure silk I used to make this fairy outfit. There is more of a toned down version on the cotton that lines the pixie skirt.

I decided to split the outfit into two listings in case you would rather wear the top or the skirt in a more casual fairytale manner, rather than a complete adult fairy costume. The silk cami top, for example, would look great at a Christmas party worn with smart black trousers; or with jeans at a summer music festival. The purple silk skirt would look lovely with a simple grey t-shirt or a chunky knit jumper worn with leggings underneath and boots.

Or, of course wear the top and skirt together for a pretty and unique fairy outfit that would look amazing at a special fairytale event, or even an ordinary muggle party! Here is the Threads of a Fairytale Etsy listing for the pure silk cami top; and here is the listing for the pixie hem skirt.

Fairytale frock coat

Posted on by Helen Hobden

Hi! I’m just starting to realise quite how many items of clothing I’ve made this year, and how behind I am on listing all of them in the Threads of a Fairytale Etsy shop! So apologies for the frequent updates at the moment letting you know about the latest additions. Today we have a unisex fairytale frock coat made with beautiful green and purple two-tone brocade satin. If you haven’t got a fairy ball to attend soon, this would actually make a perfect unique jacket to liven up a simple black outfit at a Christmas occasion with bohemian flare. It would be a great conversation starter!

bohemian coat

Making a bohemian wedding dress

Posted on by Helen Hobden

Following on from yesterday’s announcement about the new bohemian wedding dress for sale, I decided to collect the photos I’d taken during the process of making the dress, and make a blog post telling you about it all; including about our impromptu photo-shoot! If you’re new here, you might not know that I make a video of all the dresses I make, and post them to my YouTube channel; however, just to make it easier, I’ve included it in the blog post. My blog is called When I Grow Up, and along with some behind-the-scenes stuff about Threads of a Fairytale, there’s also a lot of style inspiration, travel posts, and general personal blog posts as well. It’s been going for over fifteen years, so there’s bound to be a mix! Anyway, here’s the link to the blog post all about making the bohemian fairytale wedding dress.

Making a bohemian fairy wedding dress

Bohemian fairy ball gown or wedding dress

Posted on by Helen Hobden

Hello! Hope you’re having a good start to the week! I’m now back from a month-long trip to America, and am able to resume custom-made dresses, so now is the time to get in touch if you’d like something special for Christmas 🙂

I’ve just posted in the Threads of a Fairytale Etsy shop a purple and green bohemian fairy ballgown. It would also make a beautiful alternative wedding dress. If you’d like to take a look at the photos and details, here’s the listing for the boho fairy dress. The colours would look lovely for a fairytale Christmas party!

bohemian purple wedding dress

Greatest Showman inspired circus costumes!

Posted on by Helen Hobden

If you’re looking for any last minute Halloween costume inspiration, or have a fancy dress party coming up at Christmas, then take a look at my blog where I have put together a few of my favourite circus costumes. I might niche down even more soon and gather my favourite clowns, aerialist or ringmaster costumes, but for now, this selection were all inspired by the characters in one of my favourite films, The Greatest Showman. (Don’t you just love the soundtrack?!). Anyway, if you would like to support a small hand-made business, please do take a look at the Indian Summer Collection on my Etsy shop where you will find several circus themed outfits to choose from. 🙂

circus costume inspo

Disney-inspired scary Halloween costumes

Posted on by Helen Hobden

Over on my blog, When I Grow Up, I’ve written a little post with some inspiration and ideas for Halloween costumes this year. The theme of this post is subverting Disney and making these costumes a little more suitable for this scary time of year! We have a savage Pocahontas outfit; a blood-stained Alice in Wonderland pinafore; a zombie Snow White (by Threads of a Fairytale) and a vampire Belle dress. Do go and have a look for some scary fairytale Halloween costume inspiration!

Business as usual, but delays on custom orders!

Posted on by Helen Hobden

Hi everyone! Just letting you know that I’ll be away for the next 4 weeks so my daughters are taking over the postage and packaging of everything, so there probably won’t be the usual handwritten note included I’m afraid.
Also, I won’t be able to begin custom and made to order items until 4th November. Thank you for your patience 🙂

I have been busy this last week making sure I have all the details, measurements and photos exported ready for lots of new listings coming to the shop this month!

Returned from the New Forest Fairy Festival – just!

Posted on by Helen Hobden

Threads of a Fairytale took to the road, but I have to say it wasn’t the best year in the world for the New Forest Fairy Festival 2019, unfortunately! The high winds meant that the festival was cancelled on the Saturday, which was such a shame. I spent all morning making sure my stall was safe for visitors, and then the decision was made at lunch time not to open at all. I am exhausted from standing there for the rest of the afternoon and evening, holding onto the roof of my gazebo, trying to stop it from breaking. Sadly many other traders had to give up completely.

However, Sunday was a lovely calm and sunny day, so it was great to see everything go ahead as normal. I just felt so sorry for those handmade traders who couldn’t open at all. Preparing for a festival like this one takes so much time and effort and to only have the income from one day instead of two is a bit of a killer.

And I feel just as sorry for those who travelled far to come to the New Forest Festival, and who couldn’t come in on Sunday instead – that must’ve been such a disappointment.

So anyway, the stress and exhaustion is starting to wear away, and after a week, I think I’m now ready to empty the camper van of all the stall paraphernalia! Some of it goes in the basement; some in the garage, and some in the spare bedroom. Then there’s things like the S hooks I borrowed from the kitchen; and the mirror from the guest room!

I’ve just written a post on my blog, When I Grow Up, with more all about it, including a few photos I found time to take whilst there. I hope you enjoy the read!