Things...

...are busy, busy, busy. But I still always find the time for a nice cuppa. I do like this Kikki.K mug :)

Why so busy? Well, it's all go with my designing and market preparations. The market is on Sunday 28th July at the Masonic Temple, in Sandy Bay Road from 10-3 I think. I had better check those hours!

After weeks of tooing and froing with my printer via email I finally have a shipment to collect tomorrow. I am always nervous to see my new designs as you never know what they will look like. I am blowing up a postcard size image (literally) into something that's around 1x2 metres in size. Anyway, cross fingers they look good!

I have all of next week off work (yippee) to sew as I still have a heap to do for the wearable art event. Model fittings are in 2 weeks' time and I have very little ready. Very little. Gulp. I will just have to try my best and see what I can get done.

I think that's it. I'm so tired and scatterbrained at the moment!

Hmm, must be time for a cuppa! Sounds good to me.

Thanks so much for dropping by and thank you ever so muchly for your lovely comments.

xx

Sewing chaos

You would be forgiven for thinking that a robber had broken into the house and ransacked my studio.

Nope, it's just me sewing.

All hell seems to have broken loose in there and I really wish I had a door that I could shut so I wouldn't have to see this chaos every time I walk up the hallway.

So what am I up to? Some time ago I agreed to create a collection of garments for the local Art on Legs wearable art event. I thought I had a tonne of time to spare, not taking into consideration that it takes time to fit models and rehearse choreography. So, my 3 months to create my pieces is now 6 weeks and as you know, I work part time in the gallery as well.

I currently have two dresses (I think) and a pair of pants under way, but who knows what I will end up with as I change my mind constantly. I have ordered fabric from overseas as our local store didn't have what I wanted along with pearls to adorn one of the dresses. I have also put in an order for some new scarf fabrics and plan on using some of those in the show as well. I might even use some of my fabric to make a top of some sort. Decisions, decisions!

When my work is further along I will post more pics. Nothing like a deadline to get me moving!!

xx

Pretty gifts from a blog friend

I was very lucky a few weeks ago to meet up with the lovely Pam from Petals and Vintage, who was in Hobart as part of her huge trip from Queensland, right down to the bottom of Tasmania and then home again.

 



We met up with Jane from Life on Planet Baby for a morning cuppa down on the waterfront in Hobart. It is so funny meeting someone you "know" but have never met. We all had a lovely time (and time just flew).



 

But just look at these beautiful goodies Pam gifted to me! A gorgeous lavender-filled mini cushion made from a vintage tablecloth, along with a couple of her pretty magnets. I love them all! Isn't she clever?

It was lovely to meet you Pam. Hopefully I can get up your way some day.

 

Well, it's drizzly here in Hobart this morning. The garden is thankful but to me, as much as we need the rain, it feels like the end of summer. Not happy about that!

I hope you are all having a nice week.

xx



Market this weekend!

 

I have been a very busy bee getting ready for the market this weekend.

You can see me and all the other artists/designers in the look book here. It's exciting - I've never looked so professional! And see, there's one of my scarves in the promotional image above. Woohoo!

I started to panic when my fabric order had not arrived and I couldn't get a tracking update online like I usually do. For all I knew it was not going to arrive in time and I'd have no scarves to sell. What a disaster!
Luckily for me the delivery man arrived at my door yesterday afternoon. Phew - he saved the day! I told him he was a lifesaver and he said, "no, I'm just a driver". I think he thought I was a bit nuts!

 

I'd love it if you were able to drop by to say hello...

Masonic Temple, Sandy Bay Road.

Sunday 24th Feb 10am to 3pm.

xx

My Parisian pouches

Thank you for all of your  supportive comments about my Parisian Scarves the other day.

It makes me feel I am on the right track. Only 2 days to go until it's market day for me so I thought I'd share more goodies with you.

Here are my Postcard Pouches.

Handmade by me from digitally printed organic cotton sateen I had printed by Spoonflower.

It's a lovely fabric. The designs have come from my postcard collection and the pouches show the front and the reverse of the postcards, with a zipper and simple calico lining.

"Red Stamp"

"Eiffel Scene"

"Bois de Boulogne"

"L'arc de Triomphe"

What do you think? I'm pretty happy with them.

I have my jewellery to show you as well, but that might happen after the market. I still have a few things to do and am still avoiding the pricing.

Below is the details of the market. It's a good one and hopefully a few of you can drop by to say hello.

Well, thank goodness for Friday. It was been so warm! Today is another warm day but might end in a bit of a storm, so that will bring us some relief.

Also, a friendly reminder that if you wish to join in on the Christmas Good Mail Club, sign up ends on Sunday night. Info here.

xx

Designed by me... Parisian Scarves!

Silk chiffon scarf approx 1x2 metres.

I am really thrilled to be sharing my new creations with you. I have been working on these for what seems like a year and finally it has happened!

I present my Parisian Scarves! Using digitally printed images from my antique Parisian postcard collection, I have created a range of scarves. The fabrics I have chosen are silk chiffon (it's a nice, weighty one), a simple cotton voile and a very soft 85%wool/%15 silk blend stole. There's also a modal fabric stole that I am currently waiting on.
 

So why has it taken so long and what and I going to do with them?

Well, I have been trying to source a printer for such a long time. Spoonflower in the US is great, but the fabrics do not print through to the reverse, making them unsuitable for scarves. There's a printer in Australia but when I investigated with them, they did not print on scarf fabrics, plus their higher costs would have made it very difficult for me to make a dollar from selling them (though I would have loved to have sourced locally). I found another in the UK whose fabrics looked good, but the costs were just beyond my means. Then, earlier in the year I spoke with a scarf designer at the Finder's Keepers Market in Melbourne and she suggested India as a place to look. So, tonnes of emails to different companies later, I found one (a family business) with reasonable pricing, good communication who could offer a range of fabrics that I desired. Yay!! I took the plunge, sent off my massive image files and waited for my parcel to be couriered to me just a week later!

Cotton voile approx 1x2 metres

Cotton voile approx 1x1 metres - more of a necktie style

And I'm really happy. I had a couple of samples of the wool/silk stole printed, though as these are ready-made they are much more costly, I think they're worth it. The other fabric I had printed in lengths that I have cut into a couple of different sizes and hemmed the edges myself.

Sorry about the creases! This is my (almost) square Eiffel scene in cotton voile.

I am going to present these at a local design market this coming Sunday, but have to admit, I'm rather shy to put these new goodies out there. What if no-one likes them? How do I price them so they are affordable, but make me a little money (so I can get more designs printed)? When I look at stores in the city, like Country Road that sells their scarves for around $60 or more, I think that a similar price for my scarves must be reasonable as they're much more exclusive! I'd like to get them up on Etsy as well, but I'll wait until after the market.

As usual, I'd love your thoughts and feedback here :)

xx

My art practice - what have I been up to?

It seems like so long since I have posted about my art/craft practice. Maybe that's because it has been a while since I have created something. I have been feeling a little bit enthusiastic lately so thought I'd share a few bits with you.

After three attempts I finally finished my Paris zippered pouch! I just couldn't get the lining and zipper in neatly enough for my somewhat exacting standards. I was trying to create a little lip so the zipper wasn't very visible, but it was just impossible given I was also trying to sew in lining at the same time. So frustrating. So I did a bit of Googling, bought a metal zip and had another go. Success! I'm happy with it and think I might make a few more.

I have also been busily creating a bundle of jewellery - necklaces, pendants, bracelets and the brooches above (also showing the reverse side of the pouch ). I am loving the vintage brooch fitting on the right so much that at the moment I know I am unable to part with it. I'd like to get some fabricated from this design, but that's a whole other story.

The final thing that I have been working on for SUCH A LONG TIME is getting my fabric designs printed so I will be able to make them into lovely scarves. These will feature vintage images similar to above. It has not been an inexpensive exercise, but one I really wanted to do. Hopefully my samples will arrive soon, some lengths of chiffon and cotton and a sample wool/silk stole. Exciting.

I'm contemplating a redo of my Etsy store to stock these bits and pieces and perhaps doing a market, but I'm yet to decide.

I'd love to know your thoughts and get a little feedback on my designs (good or bad) :)

If you look closely you can see that ABC reporter Airlie Ward is wearing one of my necklaces! She has had it for a while now so it's nice to see that she still enjoys wearing it. This image was taken from the tv on 21 September. She has good taste, no?

xx

ps I'm joining in on Jane's Post of the Month Club 

 

Bits and bobs...vintage sewing

It's the start of a new week and I hope it's a good one for all of us. That also means that today is Bits and bobs day and this photo's theme is all about vintage sewing.

To be more specific, all these little bits came from an old, brown tupperware container that belonged to my dear Great Auntie Ila. She gave it to me a year or so before she passed away.

Ila was from the era of mend and make do, so she kept little buttons and bits that could have been used later on. Clothing was fixed, not replaced. Anyway, I love these bits and bobs.

We have an old thimble, threads, buttons, measuring tape, nappy pin, fasteners, a needle threader, fine thread for fixing stockings and some unusual needles (not sure of their use?).

xx

* pop over and visit Penny from Paisley Summer who has posted a beautiful floral Bits and bobs!
x

Bits and bobs... sparkle

It's Bits and bobs day and today I have gone with the theme "sparkle".

It's such a grey, rainy Monday that I thought some sparkle would be nice.

I love sparkly things and here we have some swarovski crystals, large clear sequins, vintage mini pastry cases, two lots of vintage buttons (love those heart ones), my special Chanel necklace and the most stunning length of handbeaded trim that I have had for years and haven't had a project special enough to use it.

And speaking of special, here's another photo of my baby niece Hannah who was born last Friday. This photo was taken yesterday. Look at all that hair!

I'd love to see a few of you join in with Bits and bobs but I fear I am too disorganised with my planning. Hopefully some of you can, no rush, just leave me a comment here and I'll add you in.

Thanks for dropping by.

* Please drop by Penny at Paisley Summer who has posted a great gardening Bits and bobs!

xx

Studio chaos + UFOs

I just took these photos so they are a little dark and grainy.

Do you have an abundance of UFOs like I do? Everywhere you look - things that are waiting to be finished. Those UFOs (unfinished objects) are such a pain in my side.

Granted, I have been a tad busy at work recently and before that I was unwell, but I just want to get some of these things finished!

I have been procrastinating with these sheer curtains for a long while. I think it's because they are a tedious job. Metres of sewing with a pesky fabric that just wants to fray and slip on itself.

I WILL get them done this weekend, or at least by next Tuesday.

A pile of fabrics (and more pesky curtain) on my ironing board.

That Parisian Postcard purse that I am still working out!

And an abundance of pendants that I am working on for the gallery as well as a project for myself.

Adding to this I am waiting on samples from a printing company in India. At least I think I'm waiting on samples - the communication was a bit of a challenge :) Then today I read that the Indian postage system can be a disaster, so might have to do some more research on printers *sigh*

Gosh, it will be good to tick some of these things off my list.

Do you have the same problem as me??

xx

Parisian needlecase

Despite my frustrated efforts to make a prototype Parisian Postcard pouch I eventually gave up (for the time being). Why is it so difficult to get a neutral 15cm long zipper in Hobart? Uggh!

So, I decided to make my mangled bits of fabric into a needlecase.

I stitched it all together, added a nice woolen felt inner and a very old button with a nice old brass shank.

Here is the interior, the image being the reverse side of the postcard.

You can see the original old 1905 postcard in the image.

I rather like it. I haven't given up on my pouch idea, but am thinking a might make a few of these guys for the Etsy store. Still a bit undecided. Opinions welcomed :)

xx

ps thank you SO SO much for your lovely comments about Molly following her operation.

I have passed on all the hugs and pats to her. She is doing well, but has a tendency to want to lick her wounds and scratch all that shaved skin. I can't blame her . The other night she managed to pull out a couple of stitches so off to the vet we went. A bandage, plastic cone thingamy and a sedative later, she came home feeling very sorry for herself. That night was horrendous! No sleep for anyone, the sedative made her very restless. Not fun! Last night was much better and we are off to the vet this morning to have the wound dressed again.
Have a lovely day friends :)
Xx

I'll do a follow up post soon x

Doiley teatowel hot off the press

Hot off the press and perhaps in need of a good press with the iron, it's my new doiley teatowel design!

I designed the fabric in Photoshop and sent it off to Spoonflower who printed it for me on a lovely 55%linen/45% cotton fabric. I then finished the edges and attached a handy hanger thingamy on the back.

Blowing in the breeze on our ancient Hills Hoist clothes line...

Looksee, it's labelled Molly's Maison. Ignore those lineny creases :)

And styled with a yummy banana and raspberry muffin topped with lemony cream cheese frosting and a raspberry on top baked this morning by moi!

What do you think?

I'm rather taken with it, though that's no surprise given my slight addiction to teatowels.

I'd love your opinions :)

xx

ps there's one available in my little Etsy store :)

New cushion creations!

Time for the big cushion reveal!

These were made using fabric designed by Julie Paterson of Cloth fabric.

It's hand screen printed just out of Sydney on a lovely linen\cotton blend fabric which sews so well.

The prints I used are Wattle, Stoney, Rough Rose and Boardwalk.Quite Australiana.

Notice the fancy piping around the edges. That wasn't fun, but looks the part.

You can buy the fabric by the metre from the Cloth people or if you'd like smaller increments you can go to Duckcloth. Great service.

Above is my other cushion. This one is made using a lovely piece of Designers Guild fabric called Ramblas.

I crazily made a box-style cushion (what was I thinking - that's two lots of piping on one cushion!!) with stripey piping and side panels. I'm so pleased with the results.

And yes, those are threads that I haven't cut off yet. I was too excited to do that!

Looksee, on the reverse there's a different colour. I've buddied it up with a cushion from Ada and Darcy.

Above: a before of my good ol' Ikea Ektorp couch with my old cushions...

and below, my new cushions!

(whoops, maybe should have ironed covers???)

While I was sewing I also made a new cover for our little old Laura Ashley poofy/ottoperson/footrest.

I like the blue and cream stripes but wasn't so keen on the stains from Lyn's work boots and Molly's paws.

The new one is a slipcover in Cloth fabric Stoney in turquoise.

Above is another recent project I thought I may as well share whilst I'm banging on about my sewing adventures.

I made these cute pink and blue floral\spotty pillowcases for a friend who had been kind to me recently. I'd quite fancy some for my own bed :)

Well there you go my friends. One of my plans is to get a new set of covers for my couch this year. I'm so stuck on colours. I love white or cream but Molly dirties them too quickly. And no, I cannot keep her off the couch. Maybe a grey, or pale blue or green? Any thoughts? Something with a brown paw print pattern perhaps?

Well, I'm back to work today (booooo) but thankfully have dinner with two other bloggers, Jane and Kerry to look forward to. Very exciting!
Xx