Past lives...

It's been a slow week as far as finished sewing projects go - just sampling a kazillion little hats and trying to get back to that bag pattern I'd hoped to have finished by now. I had to delve into the archives to be able to finish my Blogtoberfest post-per-day pledge. Otherwise I might have just put my feet up, poured another glass of wine and called it Friday night....

Let me take you back... way, way, way back...

Ten years ago.... I was in Ireland, doing things like this. Very classic leathergoods - some with a slight Celtic twist. Most of the leather was hand-dyed (and my hands were mostly dyed, too). I was also making tweed and Irish linen hats, and tweed bags.

Fifteen years ago... I was making lots of hats, and started to make quirky sculptural bags. When I chanced across a job-lot of snakeskin and mock-croc pvc I went on a bit of a dinosaur tangent......even "dinosaured" the footstools I was making. (I sold LOTS of these at the time... anyone reading this buy one..?).
Twenty years ago..... I was making chiffon cocktail dresses (..??!!).

I'm practising saying the f-word so I can pronounce my LOOMING birthday... I look at past work, think about the different "lives" I've led in different places... and STILL I can't believe so much time has passed. Yikes - life goes too fast.

Last minute bookings...

Ever thought you might need some help with the finer points of making a well-finished bag...? Want to know a bit more about bag fittings? Don't know your interfacings from your facings or your weft from your warp...?

Do we have a workshop FOR YOU??!!!

We had such a long waiting list we scheduled a last-minute Bag in a Day workshop... and most of the waiting list can't make it on that day! I hate it when that happens...

If anyone would like to join us on the 8th November (in Brunswick) for a fun day of bag-making, please book your place ASAP. $95 will get you a pattern and interfacing, lovely snacks and drinks and lots of personal attention as you learn the tricks of the bag-making trade (PLUS... 10% discount on any goodies purchased on the day).

Phone (03 9940 1533) or email Leah if you need any further information, or would like to make a booking.

We'll return to normal programming...

...as soon as my web hosts come to the rescue.

Lots of traffic on the website has blown my bandwidth allowance for the month. A big fat ZERO is on the screen if you try to see the website right now. Hopefully all will be well again soon. Do call again!

**Edited to add... ALL BETTER NOW!!! We're back on the air!!!
Thanks, lovely web hosties....

And we have a WINNER!!!!

Small, medium and large foldable pressing hams.... (hmmm... perhaps I should have done a comp for naming THESE???).Moleskin cloths can be folded and rolled into all sorts of shapes and sizes, and are THE BEST THING for pressing awkward nooks and crannies in bags, purses, and fiddly little crafty sewing projects. They also work in lieu of a sleeve board.

I've cut up and overlocked my entire stash of super-duper lovely heavy-weight cotton moleskin (why didn't anyone tell me how long that would take???) and will be selling it off for $20 per 3-piece kit.

Thanks to all who came up with fab names for my bag pattern!!

(Here it is with its cousin the Carry-All)

The King Arthur in this story is Bernardette, who came up with "Mod". So many people offered names that evoked swinging 60's London, that I felt the name had to reflect that feeling. I wanted something short and snappy (I like that in a bag name) and I think MOD says it all. Thank you Bernadette!!! If you could please send me your details I'll post a set of moleskin foldable pressing hams out to you!

Winner of the random number draw was Handmaiden. Congrats Sharon. We'll post the goodies out to you, too.

Thank you all! Now all I have to do is stop making new variations on the design and finish those instructions!!!!

On My Desk... Wednesday

Kids' hat patterns....... proofing, tweaking, checking and correcting. I was zooming in and out on the computer screen - between the micro-millimetre and the macro pattern-plot ...printing, checking, tweaking.... Just when I thought I HAD IT RIGHT, I realised the fonts on the labels and pattern markings were all mis-matched.

I gave up until another day.

Stay tuned.... cuteness on the way soon...

More desks over at Kirsty's.

Random Flickr Group fave

Tote
Originally uploaded by lillypilly1

Another late finish (teaching) tonight, and no brainspace left for planned blog post.

I pulled a bag out of the pool, so to speak, to give you a taste of the goodies in the Nicole Mallalieu Design Flickr group.

Haven't seen it? It's over here.... Feel free to join or add your creations (made with our patterns and/or bag bits) to it. If you don't have a Flickr account you can send us your pictures and we'll upload them from our "NMD Customers" account.

Now... can anyone tell me where I can find a tutorial on how to do one of those multiple Flickr photo thingames...(montage? ...collage... mosaic...?...Did I mention my brain has given up for the day?). I know I've seen a tutorial somewhere, but can't remember where. Once I learn how, I'll try to regularly showcase what's going on in the bag pool.

Portrait of a Mummy as an Exercise Ball...

Too tired to think. Too tired to do the post I'd planned. Cute kiddie-art instead. This is a "sculpture of Mummy".
There's even a belly-button under the "dress".....and elbows and fingers.
The contents of my office rubbish bin and a roll of sticky-tape gave me a good half-hour of computer time the other day.

This Is... What I'm surprised I like.

The girl who was (and would like to still be, but can't be bothered) strictly "organic, home-grown, home-made or locally-produced slow-food" obsessed for years actually has a bit of a thing for two-minute noodles!! Go figure.

The more little sachets of fake vegetable matter and MSG the better. The only concession to "real food" in this one is that I must have real vegetables and sesame oil with my fake noodles and artificial flavourings.

Thanks Angela for the This Is meme, and Earl and Cookie for this week's theme.

A most productive day!

We ate, drank and were merry...
And we sewed a lot. Unpicked a bit.

And at the end of the afternoon we had 6 bags made by 6 fabulous sewing gals. All in all it was a good day at the "Bag in a Day" workshop.

All that sewing action got my fingers itching, so I brought home a domestic overlocker and sewing machine and finished off a couple of little-girl dresses and a top I cut out last week. It was SO satisfying to see them done. I'm hoping to work on a big-girl's dress tomorrow.... a little something for myself. (Photos later. I'm exhausted now!).

I Photoshopped the studio mess out of the photo above, and now I'm trying to figure out how to Photoshop some tidiness into this house.... I was going to come home to mopping and vacuuming. Instead, I just ADDED to the mess with sewing threads and trimmings all over the place. It was SO MUCH FUN!

BTW - I'm completely overwhelmed by the response to my givaway competition. There have been so many good suggestions I think we'll have to have a little studio-conference and decide on a winner by mid-week.

A Little Giveaway....

I expected to have some patterns finished by the end of Blogtober, and was planning giveaways throughout.

There are no patterns ready to give away yet. The instructions are still being written, re-worked and revised. I keep coming up with new variations that require MORE INSTRUCTIONS!!!

However... I was looking for a cloth to cover a table the other day, and found my SECRET STASH of cotton moleskin fabric!!!

It's a finite resource, but I thought I might make up what I have into "foldable pressing hams" for the shop.... while stocks last, and all that. Get in quick.

AND I THOUGHT I'D GIVE AWAY A SET OF THEM..... BUT.... I need a bit of help, so we're going for a bit of an Excalibur approach here.... "Whomsoever cometh up with the best name for this bag shall rule the ironing board, armed with the mighty MOLESKIN!"

What started out with the working title "Curved Hobo" has morphed and changed with different variations of fabric, interfacings and strap design. It now needs a snappy name that says it all...

It's a practical, roomy bag with inside zip and compartment pockets and a zipped closure at the top. It looks a bit girly. It can be made into an unstructured Hobo shape, a structured bag or scrunched shoulder bag with a belt...


.. and even this basket shape - with purse feet and zippered closure. You can see this bag in action here...... or a soft and simple shopping bag. Can you see my problem here? Are you ready to rise to the challenge..?

I need a name - preferably one word. I'd like it to describe the bag (rather than just be a girl's name or something). The giveaway will run until we have that EXCALIBUR moment!!! The winner will win a moleskin pressing set, and then I'll do a random number generator thingy for another moleskin pressing set so that all participants are in with a chance. So that's actually TWO giveaways, isn't it?

And just out of interest, I'd also love to hear which variation is your favourite...?

Thank you, thank you, thank you.....

Well.. I've drunk wine, eaten chocolate, ranted and raved. I think all that computer-angst is out of my system now. The troublesome computer has been returned to the store. Better now. Thanks for all the empathy, sympathy and suggestions of chocolate and wine (yes - they really DO help!).

While I'm thanking people, I must send out a few more thanks to wonderful people...

Thanks to the fabulous gals from Mix Tape for yet another great little zine. Issue 6 is OUT NOW, and we're stocking it. This little gem gets better and better with every issue.

Along with stories and interviews and reviews about all sorts of fab people and things, is a little piece about ME! Thanks girls! I'm truly honoured.

Thanks also to the lovely folks at Whip-Up and One Pretty Thing for linking to my tutorials. What treasure-troves of information they are. Again, I feel very honoured to be included. Thanks folks!

Tonight I'm preparing a special post... a little giveaway.

Stay tuned...

On My Desk

Leah and I took turns at ringing Tech support and fiddling with drivers and downloads.... trying to get the laser printer to work on the new computer. Turns out there's something wrong with the original configuration of the settings and I'll be making another trip back to the shop with it - possibly for a full refund.

I've had a bad day... so just before anyone else says "YOU SHOULD HAVE BOUGHT A MAC", I have to make it clear that my patternmaking software doesn't run on Mac!!!! The Mac version SIMPLY DOESN'T EXIST.

So... on my desk today was a whole lot of frustration, wasted time, money and productivity....

You'll see more wonderfully creative desks if you follow the links from Kirsty's list.

Me...? I'm going to have a glass of wine and try to catch up on a day's work.

ARRRRGGGHHH! New computer.

Techno-glitches galore here.... no time for posting anything other than a message to say "Why can't you just buy a new computer, plug it in and off you go...?"

Ironing out the kinks in EVERY hardware driver and software package we have..... talk soon.

Transferring multi-size patterns to card

Following the interest in my post about using industrial patternmaking card, here's another tutorial to answer a question a few people have asked.... This is how to trace multi-sized commercial patterns to cardboard! 1. I really can't stand tissue paper patterns. I photocopy them (on my poor little overworked multi-function printer). I use the window as a lightbox to align the pattern pieces while I stick them together. You can skip this stage and simply use spray adhesive on the original tissue paper pattern to stick it to card (I used to do that in the days before multi-function printers!!).

***Edited to add - Check first that your photocopier doesn't alter the original size of the pattern (mine doesn't).

2. Using a glue-stick or spray adhesive, stick the paper pattern to some patterncard.

3. Cut out the card, following the outside line (no matter which size it is). This is your pattern template.

4. Trace around the cardboard template onto another piece of patterncard.

5. Use a tracing wheel to follow any necessary lines in the pattern that are not on the outside edge of the template. A good spiky patternmaker's wheel is the best thing for this, or you may be able to use carbon paper and a (slightly less-dangerous) dressmaker's wheel.

6. Lift up the template and trace over the line of dots that the tracing wheel has made on your new pattern piece. A patternmaking ruler is great for drawing smooth body-shaped curves (or long, straight lines).

7. Transfer all the pattern markings through to the new pattern piece. For grainlines or other straight line markings, draw a line straight over the template and onto the base cardboard. Lift the template and rule the line through on the pattern piece.

8. Mark any dot placement through to the new pattern with a small hole (use a pin or tailors awl). You can then punch these holes out on the new pattern, but the template won't be damaged.

9. Trim away the template so that the next size down is the outside edge.

10. Repeat the whole process for tracing off each new pattern size, until you reach the smallest size. You can use the original template as the smallest pattern piece.

11. Punch holes in the patterns so that you can hang them up.

12. You can use a proper pattern hook or just use a loop of string....
13. Ta-Dahhhhh! Lovely cardboard patterns that you can TRACE onto your fabric. No need for pins!!!

"No Ladybirds in the Studio"

We now have a sign to warn hopeful ladybirds away. My nearly-three-year-old assistant decided there was a need for such a sign, then designed and made it all by herself. She even wrote "NO" (sort of), just in case the ladybirds couldn't read signs.

Phew!... I was getting a bit worried about invading ladybirds. We'll be ok now!

I actually have a tutorial I was going to post tonight, but spent too long in Officeworks (and we won't mention how much you can buy when you go to Officeworks to buy a few glue-sticks...). I now don't have time to finish it tonight. Watch this space....

Shirts and Skirts in Abbotsford Convent

We had a lovely day out at the Shirt and Skirt Market. So many talented folks making beautiful things... and I ended up blowing my budget on fabric (ummmm..like I need more!). I was going to buy a brooch or pendant but couldn't choose. I'll have to go back next month with blinkers on so I don't see those fabric baskets again.

'Twas grand to meet Peta Pledger and see her gorgeous 50's-inspired dresses and accessories.

And Rachel's divine Lil' Misfit kids gear was just too cute.

I left a great big puddle of drool at Fibre Red's stall again. EVERYTHING this girl makes is simply gorgeous!!! I want, I want, I want, I... am going to her studio opening and sale 20th-22nd Nov.
We had a chat to Carla, and it was great to bump into Lara and family, too. We ate pizza, my wee girl kept her clothes on this time and we had a grand day out, altogether.

This Is... My Favourite Film

Raise the Red Lantern by Zhang Yimou. I love this film... Not only does it have fabulous frocks, Chinese history (I'm a bit facinated with that) and gorgeous cinematography, but all these elements combine really powerfully to create a huge emotional impact. Huge WOW factor. (You can see here why my career as film reviewer never took off... Frocks first, character-driven narrative barely hinted at...). I've only seen the film once - in the Duke of York cinema in Brighton (UK) ... so it must have been in the early nineties. It has remained with me since then.

I also love other films by Zhang Yimou - Red Sorghum and To Live are particular faves. In fact - the story of To Live has probably had a more profound impact on the way that I view life than anything else I've seen or read. A couple just trying to live their everyday lives through the extraordinary upheaval of 20th century China - from Imperial times to late-20th century.

But really - I like anything with good costumes....

Aussie films - Careful he Might Hear You, Gallipoli, Strictly Ballroom, My Brilliant Career, The Castle and The Dish.... all for different reasons.

Thanks to Three Buttons for the This Is meme, and to Hokey for the theme.

All in a Day's Work

Look what six clever gals did today.... (seven if you count me!). The purse frame class is so satisfying. Six little purses at the end of it!

I came home and vaccuumed and did laundry.... I knew I wouldn't get up again if I sat down first....

We're off to the Shirt and Skirt Market tomorrow. We had a lovely day there last time we went.

Relics from the past

When I lived in Co Clare in Ireland, I was fascinated by an ancient brooch that was simply PICKED UP off the floor of a souterrain (a kind of cellar) during an excavation of a nearby ring-fort. Imagine! As if it were dropped yesterday instead of a thousand years ago!

I was ALMOST as fascinated when I found this on the floor in my house yesterday....
I remember sitting in my mothers bed on my fifth birthday, with my mother showing me how to backstitch. I couldn't quite get it (not surprising, really... I was only five!), and ended up doing two sets of running stitch to fill in the line.

A LOT of time has passed since I was 5, and I've moved house more times than I can count. (This includes four international moves, which required SERIOUS purges of old belongings). I haven't seen this card since I was a child.... and there it was in my hallway!

Methinks it was a passenger in a box of dolls my mother sent home with me recently. Someone must have been foraging through the cupboard (looking for new toys?)..... and HISTORY escaped!

Who'd a thunk it...?

Oh... and another adjustable strap.

This time the Large Tote. Leah is kindly modeling here... in a headless kind of way. When I modeled it, the bag dangled around my KNEES.... with my height I was never meant for a modelling career. The strap has large snap hooks at either end, and the bag has medium-heavy o-rings. It can be made shorter by looping it through one ring and snapping both hooks to the other ring. The fabric is by Moda (surprise surprise) from the Blossom range. I love it. It has medium-heavy interfacing and light fusible wadding to give it some body. It has a Fast2Fuse base.On the inside there is more Moda fabric, a zip pocket and a swivel hook (from which to hang ones keys...).

I've just re-drafted the Large Tote pattern, with lots more annotations and a simplified layout to make it super-easy for absolute beginners. I tweaked a few minor things so had to sample it again to make sure it was all ok.

While sewing this today, I sneaked in a few seams here and there... and made a little dress in this fabric from the pattern that was loitering on my desk yesterday.

Told you I was itchin'...