oshun

Fairytale velvet cloaks perfect for weddings, handfasting or cosplay

Posted on by Helen Hobden

My husband and I finished all the photoshoots for the luxury velvet cloaks I’ve recently finished making as we have just had a lovely working weekend away in Cornwall. These cloaks are made with such beautiful soft cotton velvet, I just kept wanting to stroke them! If you are planning a wedding or handfasting and are looking for that extra layer to keep you warm then these fairytale cloaks are perfect for the occasion. Also, if you enjoy a bit of fancy dress (and who doesn’t?), they are also ideal for a number of costumes such as historical medieval LARP or re-enactment; Pagan festivals; Renaissance Faires; The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings cosplay or Game of Thrones outfits. I’ve sewn a variety of colours so I probably have the right one to go with your dress or costume.

The new Poldark series is back on telly very soon, and what better way to celebrate than wrapping up in your own Demelza-style cloak! In fact, we actually took some of the photos at one of the ruined tin mines which was used as a filming location for Poldark.

wedding velvet cloak

I still have a few to list, but please take a look at the OshunOccasions shop on Etsy to see all their details. So far the cloaks I have listed chocolate brown; midnight blue; pale dusky blue and this soft green cloak, but still to come are peachy pink and black.

Also, if you would like to see how I made the cloaks by using reclaimed vintage cotton velvet, please take a look at my latest YouTube video: (At the end I show how my handmade cloaks are different from the ones you might find in some shops – the size is adjustable; the material is heavy and warm and the seams are properly hidden.) Enjoy!

Velvet cloaks – sneak preview

Posted on by Helen Hobden

I hope you all had a beautiful sunny weekend! Yesterday I made the most of the good weather forecast and scheduled a photo-shoot for the new products I’ve made for Oshun recently. I’ve had a stack of the most beautiful lush vintage cotton velvets calling me to use them from the corner of my work room. So I’ve finally decided to turn them into velvet cloaks perfect for weddings, handfastings, LARP, re-enactments, cosplay or just wrapping up in to keep warm! So far I’ve made three (they take a lot longer to make than you might think due to the thickness of the fabrics I’m dealing with!), but I’ll be continuing to sew more over the next couple of weeks. We’re hoping to go to the cliffs of Cornwall to shoot the next bundle, but that’s reliant on the campervan and the weather co-ordinating with each other, so we’ll see!

The first three were modelled at Exmoor National Park and although I’ve only had a brief look at the fashion photos, I’m very pleased and can’t wait to edit them and show them to you. Here’s a sneak peak of me having a sneak peak!

Navy blue velvet cloak
Navy blue velvet cloak

World Book Day costume

Posted on by Helen Hobden

Hi! World Book Day is coming up on the 2nd March, so I thought I’d give a 20% discount on my book dress as it would be the perfect costume / outfit to wear on the day! I’ve also added a couple of new photos to the listing so you can see a close-up now of some of the details of the dress – the paper roses, the patterns of the paper punch I used, and even one of the butterflies I cut out of paper and added to the skirt part of the dress.

World Book Day dress

I loved making this dress and it would be brilliant to see it go to a new home. Sadly it didn’t fit a lady who came here to try it on, but she had the idea to wear it to cosplay as The Library from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. What a cool idea!

If you enjoy reading, I think it would be a unique alternative wedding dress; or perhaps a fairytale ball gown at a literary event. Anyway, now’s the time to get it while it’s on sale with £50 0ff! Find it at Oshun Occasions.

Making a black & red special occasion dress. (Perfect for Valentine’s Day next week!)

Posted on by Helen Hobden

Hello! I hope you’re all keeping warm! If you’d like to see the process of how I made the black and red dress mentioned in my last post, then please take a look at this sewing video. It shows the process of how to make the dress using the black materials and the roses embroidery; how I recycled vintage fabrics to make a new eco-friendly and sustainable item of clothing. It would be a stunning black wedding dress or if you if you’d like to add a touch of romantic gothic to a special occasion!

I’ll be adding a listing to the shop soon which will talk you through the process of how to order a custom handmade dress like this one.

The New Forest Fairy Festival

Posted on by Helen Hobden

It’s a wonderful little festival in the witchy town of Burley in the heart of the New Forest, Hampshire. If you’re facing the main stage, my stall is going to be the second to the right of the stage. Do come and say hello if you’re going to be there this weekend. I’m nearly packed! It’s the only festival I’m doing this year, so I hope it’s going to be a sunny one!

If you’d like to know a bit more about some of the other exhibitors, I’ve been interviewing them for my blog, here.

Cup Carriers & Bottle Bags at Glastonbury Festival

Posted on by Helen Hobden

I’m really excited to announce that my bottle bags and cup carriers are going to be for sale at the WaterAid stands in The Park and next to the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival. Yesterday I delivered 275 of them altogether! So that it why you haven’t seen many new items of clothing in my shops recently! They’re perfect for carrying around your bottle of water (or wine); and the cup carriers are designed to fit the new steel pint cups that are trialling this year. You can clip it to your belt loop or bag between trips to the bar!

bottlebagsGlasto-2 bottlebagsGlasto-1 cupcarriers-2 caupcarriers-1