Rediscovering a vegan-friendly lifestyle store: Jan de Vries blogger event

Sometimes it seems as if some stores are new to the scene, when in fact they have been around for a long time. My bus route takes me past the big Holland and Barrett store on the East End of Princes Street and I pass by their smaller store on Shandwick Place all the time, but little did I know that Jan de Vries was just around the corner on Queensferry Street.

New Pipe Dream Patterns sewing project: My Sew Called Sweater

It’s April and with having a week off, I’d quite like to spend this time getting back into my sewing groove! I had started some children’s sewing projects last year (see here, here and here) after the sewing and crafting plenty for our 2015 wedding (you can see the full details of my projects here). Afterwards I believe I burned myself out and with my excitement to try to sew all sorts of things babies and expecting parents would need last year.

One of the first things that piqued my interest in sewing again was when I discovered Pipe Dream Patterns, a fledgling indie pattern company working towards creating comfortable wardrobe staples with fun style lines to help you explore your own creativity with colours and textiles.

Re-creating high fashion: dressmaking project with fabric from Tissura

We get inspiration from all around us for creative projects and sometimes seeing something you like but wanting to change it to suit your own style is the most straight forward way. Years ago when I was avidly catching all the premier designer fashion shows, I was also watching out for the celebrities to see what they wore. Sometimes what’s on the front row is just as good as what is being paraded down the runway!

There was one such Asian celebrity who wore what I thought was an interesting gown. It was made with textured rose pink coloured fabric, was short-sleeved and was the length of a coat, but was in fact a dress with a short zip of around 6 inches which meant the celebrity had to wear shorts underneath. Somehow the length and style of the dress really fascinated me. In Scotland, you wouldn’t catch me wearing the dress with short shorts underneath, but it was one that definitely stayed in my mind!

Dressmaking project on the go: fit and flare lace gown

It’s been a while since I had sewn anything for myself. After sewing 9 projects for our DIY wedding (you can see all the projects we did ourselves for our 2015 wedding here) and after that, it seemed my friends were all due to have their babies at the same time last year. I was so excited about my friends expecting babies that I was consumed with making handmade toys and clothes for them that sewing for myself was put to one side.

Since becoming vegan, I don’t feel the need to sew quite so much anymore. I’m only the one person and since the OH and I don’t go to formal events that require us to be dressed up much. Added to the fact that I’m trying to clear out all the excess clothing I don’t seem to wear much, I try not to sew too much that I’m not going to get a chance to wear.

Seeing a pattern that calls to you, with a shape that you know will suit you and gives you ideas on what to make, really gets those creative juices flowing. Recently seeing one on Instagram did just that.

Mexican market dining: review of Wahaca, Edinburgh

Looking to the markets of Mexico for inspiration, wahaca was born from our love of fresh, honest, Mexican market food.

– Thomasina Miers, Co-founder Wahaca

It wasn’t that long ago, maybe a matter of months, that I read a notice about the exciting introduction of vegan options at Wahaca. I’ve passed by the bright fluorescent neon pink light of their logo at St Andrew’s Square in Edinburgh, but never knew what they had to offer.

Chain Mexican street food restaurant Wahaca offers a seasonal menu using fresh local as much as possible to recreate flavours from Mexico. With a South American vibe in decor, it’s hard not to feel happy and groovy when dining here.

The Creative Craft Show and Scottish Quilting Show, SEC Glasgow

Fancy getting creative in 2018? Then a trip to The Creative Craft Show and The Scottish Quilting Show is a must.

The co-hosted shows are back at Glasgow’s SEC on March 8 – 11 bringing together over 100 exhibitors showcasing artisan, handcrafted gifts, supplies and inspiration and demonstrations for crafters and quilters.

Happy sushi days: review of Happy Maki, Brighton

I’m sure every vegan will be able to relate to the fact that when you decide to go on a trip, finding out where you can find vegan options can be a bit of a minefield when you’re not familiar with the country. Searching Google and asking in local groups for advice are typical ways for us to find what we need to know, but wouldn’t it be helpful if all this information was in one place, like Vegan Edinburgh for those who are visiting Edinburgh?

I’ve decided that I’m going to share where I’ve been and also share reviews of places I’ve visited in my travels (I’ll also have posts on Hong Kong and London still to come) and share them with you. Hopefully this will give you a bit of a starting point on finding places that might be of interest! I’d previously written about The Recruiting Sergeant in Grantham (see here) and today I want to share with you my one of new favourite haunts in Brighton: Happy Maki.

The Tartan Carrot fundraiser event for Lotus Animal Sanctuary

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I’ve had a pretty busy week eating lots and exploring new (and visiting old) vegan eateries and enjoying every morsel, so expect lots more restaurant reviews appearing on here soon! In the meantime, you may remember I wrote about the intentions to build an animal sanctuary for all animals, including those who are rescued from slaughter (see my previous post here). It seems like so long ago the amazing people at The Tartan Carrot set this date for the big fundraiser to build Lotus Animal sanctuary in central Scotland – and here it is just over 2 weeks away!

Restaurant review: Vegan Night at Bread Street Brasserie

As of today, I’ve been vegan for 6 months and 13 days, and it’s been one interesting and eye-opening journey. There are so many more companies catching on to the vegan wave and starting to offer more cruelty free and vegan options in all aspects of our lives, the most important one being food, but the hidden ones like makeup, skincare and household products are also things we need to think about. I’ll come onto those soon enough, but first I want to share my experience of dining at Bread Street Brasserie at one of their Vegan Nights.

Welcome to my new blog!

A quick message to say thanks for stopping by my blog! If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know that for the last 3 and a half years, I was blogging under the name Life of a DIY Shopaholic.

For the last few years, I was (and still am) interested in crafts and sewing and that will never change. I will still continue to feature tutorials and post about craft and sewing projects I’m working on. Since becoming vegan though over 6 months ago, I’ve realised the lifestyle opened up a whole new world for me.

I know how daunting it can be for non-vegans (and new vegans) to navigate around what it means to be vegan, what to buy and what to avoid. Sewing/crafting and veganism are now both really big parts of my life that I feel are important to share, hence why I felt the need to re-brand my blog to become Oh Sew Vegan.

Obviously being vegan, this means that I will be featuring more eco-friendly sewing and craft projects that do not involve use of any animal-derived materials (such as silk, leather or suede).

If you are still interested in reading about my other shenanigans, thoughts on mindfulness and fitness, I will be blogging under A Blogger’s Musings although Oh Sew Vegan will, of course, be my primary focus.

I hope you will continue to support me on my journey through sewing and veganism and thank all of you for your continued support!