And so it grows...

The mess on my cutting table, that is.

Things have developed a bit more in the paper and calico jungle, and I now have the patterns finalised for the hat and small purse. The framed bag pattern is ready for toile (sample) no 4, and the instructions for the smaller purse are finished.

We're seeing some development, but no RESULTS as yet - nothing photogenic, anyway.... just more calico and paper, and files on a computer.

Instead of pictures of my craftiness, here's my assistant at work on the whiteboard. Out of the blue last Friday she FILLED the board with lines and lines of "writing", telling me all the things she was "writing the names for". The picture in the middle of the board is a "sleeping bear". I was so impressed with her trying to write - and such an over-indugent parent, probably - that I also took a VIDEO of her doing this! It's one of those bitter-sweet great-leaps-forward that mark another step towards independence..... It means my baby is growing up fast.

The best advice I was given when she was a newborn was "Kiss and squeeze while you can!".

On My Desk... or cutting table, actually...

Started out the day with big plans to work on the patterns for curved frame bags and purses... and make a hat pattern (for my hat-making workshops in September).

Chiara (the work experience wonder) was on the job with the purses. I was on hats.

Chiara finished her part on the purse so then I needed to work on hats AND purses. I was swimming in a sea of calico and bleachcraft paper for a good part of the afternoon.

I didn't get far with the purses but the hat is nearly sorted now. I have to do a tad more pattern-tweaking to make it PERFECT and then I can get back to the curved purses... or the machine embroidery ...or that pile of half-made bags..??

See what's on other people's desks or join in the fun here.... I'm sure most people's desks are tidier than my cutting table.

PS. Yes - it really DOES take about 5 toiles (calico samples) to get a pattern absolutely right. Sometimes MORE!! (Have I mentioned something about neurotic perfectionism before... or unfinished projects?).

Emotional Baggage

Great to see the launch of the AMAZING new Emotional Baggage website!! It's very whizzy and impressively designed, and has lots of wonderful bags and purses to fall in love with. Well worth a peek!!

I love Carla's combinations of gorgeous prints, denim and leather. I took a few pics at the Shirt and Skirt Market a week or so ago, but my shonky photography skills (and my happy-snap camera) haven't captured them very well. For the full colour-sensation go to the website!!

Carla and I have watched each others businesses grow since I first started teaching bag-making and she first started making bags. I'm SO HAPPY to see her doing so well!! You GO, girl!

More Escapees from the Archives

softies and dollies
Originally uploaded by nicolembags

Had a busy weekend of teaching (and Lara's birthday celebration!!)... so no time for much more than pulling something from the archives....

I made this doll and dog (and a weird CWA-style covered soap thing) when I was 12. I took the photo then, too.

Big Trouble in Little Carolla... and a spot of embroidery.

Last night my car decided to break down in a very inconvenient place. (For those of you who know Melbourne, think "middle lane of Punt Rd at the Bridge Rd intersection". For those of you who don't know Melbourne, just know that it's NOT A GOOD PLACE to wait forty minutes for a tow truck!!).

I could give you the long, sad tale, but the upshot of it is that I didn't get as much done last night or today as I'd have liked.... so I'm showing you photos of OLD work instead of new.

I was going to do LOADS of machine embroidery today, in preparation for my class on Saturday. As it was, I only got a little bit done (and no photos), so will be back at the sewing machine again tomorrow.

It's SO MUCH FUN!!! I haven't had time for much embroidery for a while now, and I'd almost forgotten how satisfying it can be. It's amazing how something really simple can add so much ZING to a purse! Expect to see a bit more of it from now on...
I made these flowers about four years ago, and I still dig them out for workshops to show techniques that can be used with free machine embroidery. I'm inspired to make more flowers as "jewellery" lately, so have kept these hanging around the studio to remind me to get onto it.

See what I'd finish if I could stop Blogging...?

This pattern is well on the way.... now, if only I could get off Blog super-highway and back to that instruction-writing backwater....

A Grand Day Out

We went to the Skirt and Shirt Market at Abbotsford Convent today....

"We had a LOVELY day!" my wee gal proclaimed as we made our way back to the carpark.

And so she had. She'd ditched the handmade felt flower I'd bought for her (in favour of a rock she found), stripped publicly and run around on the lawns in her knickers and gumboots, handled every precious handmade object she could get her mitts on, spilled curry all over my pants and smashed a glass, fallen head-first out of a tree (caught by me - making something go "twang" in my back) and generally had... well.. a lovely day!!! I got to hang out with two of my best girlfriends and our gorgeous kids, see some beautiful things that had been made by talented people, meet a few old friends, (watch my normally civilised child turn feral...), buy a few things... so I had a pretty lovely day, too.
We all fell in love with this knitwear by Fibre Red. One of us bought a stunning piece (unfortunately it wasn't me. I had to have blinkers on after my book and computer gadget splurge this week).

I just loved all the colours and textures, and the individual garments were beautifully made and very versatile. Very impressed!!

'Twas great to also see Carla and her gorgeous Emotional Baggage there. Apparently her website is about to be published up, so watch this space....

Some things take longer than they ought...

You'd think a tutorial for a little thing like this would be written up and ready in NO TIME, wouldn't you...?

Well... I've had computer dramas, camera problems, distractions and neurotic perfectionism working against me this week - and lots of teaching, which wiped out my brain-power for instructional writing after hours. (Somehow I could still read/write blogs...?).

I wasn't happy with the first two work flows and photo series I did, so re-made the purse a couple of times - tweaking and improving, photographing, Photoshopping....

Finally the files are ready to be sent off to Living Creatively.... a week later than planned. Living Creatively will no doubt do a fabulous overhaul of the layout and make it look beautiful. They make everything look beautiful!

Tomorrow my little gal and I are off to browse the Shirt and Skirt Market in Abbotsford, and will probably pop into the Collingwood Children's Farm while we're in the neighbourhood. Fingers and toes crossed, it won't rain. We could use a nice day off.

Hey, can anyone tell me how to make my pictures less blurry??

I've been lurking around the blogosphere for a year or so now, but have only recently got this little blog going for myself. It's all a bit new and "learning-curvy" for me.... I need help. The thing that's really annoying me at the moment is that I upload beautifully clear pictures (through Flickr) and most of them go blurry. For example the book shots.... why can't I read the titles once the pic is on the blog? May I ask for any pointers on what I might be doing wrong? Am I a complete ditz who should go back to blog-school...?

I don't have a picture to accompany this post - apart from a confused cow - so I'll put in one that makes me smile....

A couple of months ago my little assistant called me from my office to the studio. "I've drawn a BEAUTIFUL picture for Mummy..... It's a BEAR!". She was right - she'd drawn a bear on the whiteboard! I was so impressed I took a photo of it. Considering she was 2 years and four months old at the time, I think she shows enormous talent.... but then I'm her mother.

And "This is a PIG!" drawn sometime later that week.

Mind you, she hasn't done anything quite so figurative since...and yeah... of course THESE pictures didn't come out blurry. I've no idea why.

Amazon Logic

Does anyone else wake up in the morning and see "Your Order From Amazon" in your inbox, and wonder what your thinking was the previous night.... did you really need THREE new books...? I'm such a sucker for their sophistocated software!! The power of the suggestion "You might like this TOO" is way too much for me. I just have to click "Add to Cart".

When I feel like a bit of retail therapy - I mean "need to research something" - I venture to browse my wishlist to see if there may be a used or second-hand copy of something useful at a bargain price. It inevitably leads to an hour or so's browsing, a big dent in my credit card, the purchase of a few new books that I hadn't planned on buying and another six books in my Wishlist..
Leah was being squeezed out of the office by the expanding "resource library", so I made a trip to Ikea (oh dear... the homewares version of Amazon!) and got a bookshelf for the studio. The bottom shelf has kids books in it - middle shelf is sewing magazines (and a few kids books) and the top shelf is ... ummmm two thirds of my craft book collection. A third of them wouldn't fit and are still on the office shelf... and there are (oh this is getting embarrassing...) thirteen books on the way. Oops.

A reasonably productive day!

Firstly, a BIG THANK YOU to all who have welcomed me so warmly to blog-land!! I feel like I'm among old friends, since I've been lurking around and putting in my two-bob's worth all over the place for ages. Special thanks to Cathy and Lara for the lovely plugs on their blogs, and for the comments from people I've never "met" before. What a great introduction to a whole new world. I feel all overwhelmed with warmth and fuzziness.... and kind-of inspired to put in another bag shot from my studio (since the others went down so well).

Today (AMAZINGLY) my two and a half year old "assistant" was happily amusing herself most of the day, and my sister was there to help out (ie. take her for a LONG WALK!!). PERFECT opportunity to work on instruction-writing, I thought. I'm under strict instructions from SUPER SARAH and LOVELY LEAH to have the pattern for the curved frame purse done as soon as possible. Apparently they need it urgently.

It would have been QUITE a productive day (as opposed to "reasonably") had I not been let down by an important member of my product development team - the battery on my camera went flat, and of course I'd left the charger at home. (I know, I know... I should have bought a spare battery when I got the camera... blah blah....).

SO - I sewed and I WROTE - and now I'm going to have to sew and TAKE PHOTOS all over again tomorrow. At least the bulk of the writing was done, and that cute little purse is a lot closer to being finished than it was yesterday!! Since I don't have a picture of the one I made TODAY I'll have to put in another shot of the one you've seen before.I was also REALLY sorry that my camera was out of action this afternoon, when I discovered one of the activities that had so-engaged my little helper. While Leah and I were busy discussing the new purse, my little Rose-petal was busy colouring her face, hands and feet (including the soles and toenails) with a blue marker pen! She looked like something out of Braveheart!

Escapees from the Hall of Fame...

Since I've been spending so much time at the computer lately (!!), that pile of unfinished projects in the studio has remained unfinished. To fill in a bit of a blank spot I've dug out some of my "early work" to show you!!

Every time I go to visit my parents I'm sent off with a car full of all the stuff I'd (rather conveniently) stored in my old bedroom for 20 or 30 years.... Most of the dolls came back here a month or so ago. If they weren't still in mint condition and in their original packaging (I must have been a strange child!) they were dressed in elegant ensembles of my own design and craftsmanship! It's a real memory-jerker.

This doll was one I think I "aquired" from an older sister's stash. Judging by the skill level in the sewing, I'd say it was dressed when I was in mid-primary school. The three-tier skirt trimmed with daisy braid shows a certain level of "sophistication".... But I have examples of late primary school work that show I could draft complicated cuffs and collars by then. I must have been between 7 and 9 years old when I made this.

My colour combinations amuse me on this one. Obviously whatever fabric scraps were to hand were used. And the design wouldn't work on a "real person" scale (you'd have to take your LEGS off to get into it!!!).

Can a girl have TOO MANY bags...?

Is it POSSIBLE...?

Surely if they're balanced with just the RIGHT AMOUNT of hats it's OK... isn't it??

But then there's the small issue of EIGHT unfinished bags on the cutting table....

And a new purse design in development....
..and now I have some NEW purse frames and WAY TOO MANY ideas for more designs....

Hmmm.... Wishing for some little elves to come into the studio to sort out all my half-started projects so I can make more, MORE, MORE new bag and purse designs. Or perhaps a ten day week.

Bag Ladies who Brunch

We launched the new BEACH bag pattern on the 25th May, and had a little shindig to bring together bag-making gals from all over - to "gas bag" and network, to eat scrummy food and to catch up on all that is new at Nicole Mallalieu Design. We also took the opportunity to run an awareness and fundraising campaign for OvCa - the Australian Ovarian Cancer Network. We raised just under $200 in three hours, and I hope we raised a lot of awareness about Ovarian Cancer.

It's taken a while to blog this because I didn't have time to take photos on the day, and had to wait until I caught up with SUPER SARAH to get the images she captured.... HERE THEY ARE!

We were lucky enough to have Living Creatively there - lending their support and giving everyone fantastic goodie bags filled with Fiskars and Birch products, and we had gorgeous door prizes from Mix Tape Zine, Meet Me at Mikes, Kimono House, The Cat's Meow, Living Creatively and Spencer & Rutherford.

All in all, a good day!

At last...the long-awaited Blog!!

Here at last, we see the beginnings of the blog I've put off writing for far too long.

I KNOW it should have happened long ago, but considering how addicted I am to following OTHER people's blogs, fiddling around with my website and checking my emails every five minutes, I feared I'd spend too much computer time on a blog and not enough time writing pattern instructions. Well... blogs are a lot more fun than pattern instructions!

The truth is that it's the perfect format to keep you updated on what's going on, what I'm working on and the fabulous links and crafty happenings that I find while I'm not writing pattern instructions. I'm hoping that comments from you will keep me on my toes and keep me focused on getting those patterns finished and out to you as soon as humanly possible (for a full-time toddler-wrangling pattern designer). And I LOVE to hear feedback! It's all rather win-win, I think.

SO... I'm off to organise my Flickr account, and generally do some getting-ready-to-blog sorting. Talk soon!!

xxn