Review Round-Up Voting time!!

Thanks to the ever-fabulous Kirsty, I didn't have to work out anything to do with Blogger or widgetry. Kirst did it all for me!!!

So.... we have a linky list (below) of all the entries in the Review Round-Up. I'd love it if you could give me a hand to choose a winner by voting for your favourite on the widget on my side bar (it takes a single click!).

Over the next two weeks, I'll try to feature the bags, purses and hats that were made and reviewed by the wonderful people who entered the competition.

This is Kirrily's 150mm purse frame purse.

This is Lore's Sling Bag.



And this is Fiona's Mod Bag.

Criteria for voting for your favourite review:

a. Quality of the finished project

b. Quality of documentation (Was the review informative and helpful?)

c. Style and attractiveness of the finished object (ie. Would YOU like to wear/have/buy it?)

The big, linky list....

1: 150mm Purse Frame by Kirrily

2: 150mm Purse Frame by Fiona

3: 300mm Snap Purse by Bel

4: 75mm Coin Purse Kit by Fiona

5: Adult Hat by Fiona

6: Adult Hat by Fiona from Winking Frog

7: Baguette Bag by Kathy P

8: Baguette Bag by Fiona

9: Chunky Purse Frame Kit by Fiona

10: City Bag by Fiona

11: Clutch Bag by Fiona

12: Clutch Bag by Kathy P

13: Day Bag by Fiona

14: Day Bag by Bel

15: Evening Bag by Kathy P

16: Large Tote by Bel

17: Make-up Purse by Kathy P

18: Make-up Purse by Bel

19: Mod Bag by Fiona

20: Party Purse by Fiona

21: Purse Frame Kit by The Accidental Crafter

22: Purse Frame Kit by Bel

23: Sling Bag by Lore

24: Squared Flat Bag by Fiona

Many thanks to voters, and good luck to competitors!!!

Like a Walk in the Park

Yesterday, I gathered a few super-duper crafty Mums and kids.
We rugged up against the chilly Melbourne winter and headed for the park....

Kids were asked to discard the winter-woollies, wear summer clothes and think "warm" for the duration of a photo shoot.

There was much star-jumping and wriggling (thanks to Coach Tania)...

...followed by copious amounts of marshmallowy sugar and artificial colouring (previously known as "the props").

The shoot for the book is all but done (...and I fail "Responsible Parenting 1"). Thanks team!

The Review Round-Up Competition is all but done, too. You have until the end of today to submit your entry if you want to be in with a chance to win a $100 voucher, a $50 or some free patterns.

Over the weekend, I'm going to work out how to use some Blogger widgetry to install a voting gizmo on the sidebar of this blog. What I'd like to ask you to do** is to visit at least a few of the reviews listed at the bottom of this post and vote on your favourite.

**I know it's a "big ask" - as they say on the Footy Show - but think yourselves lucky that I'm not asking you to freeze yourself (or your children) for the sake of a photo.

Ready or not....

Thanks to all who sent lovely emails or comments to wish my hell-week away.

The hellishness was mostly due to me having a cold, Leah being incapacitated with a bad back (read: me and my cold - and my admin-ineptitude - in the office), the photo shoot for the book being brought forward a few weeks and the small matter of me not having sewn up most of the final "hero pieces"..... least of all organised models or props.

I was in a spin. A flap. A kerfuffle.


Thankfully, models arrived and were fabulous, the HarperCollins design team and photographer are a dream to work with, and all seems to be going swimmingly. (Extra-thankfully, I have a sewing day tomorrow to "catch up" before the final day's shoot).

BIG big thanks to SuperPops for "disappearing" my twirling fairy on Monday afternoon so we could get on with the shoot.

The week that was.... the week from hell. (Oh, and a spot of Flickr Friday)

Actually, the week has left me quite exhausted. I'm not sure if I can face re-capping the whole ordeal....

Here are some pretty pictures from the Review Round-Up Flickr page instead.

This 75mm Purse Frame Purse is from the Accidental Crafter. See the review HERE.

And these are from Purses by KP. Lovely Baguettes... reviewed here.

And something that made me laugh this week.... if you haven't seen Gypsy's post about my berets, have a peek over here....

***

PS. If you have the time to do a review of one of my patterns, you have ONE WEEK left before voting begins for the Review Round-up competition!!!! See here for details.

Learning

I'm bit of a late-bloomer, me.... Somehow, as an Aussie kid, I missed out on learning to do a basic Aussie crawl. I had no confidence in my ability in the water, and with good reason.

At 26 years of age, I booked myself into weekly swimming lessons and practised every day until I was a competent, confident, daily lap swimmer. People commented on my perfect swimming stroke.

Throughout 5 years of living in Ireland, I dreamed of Fitzroy Pool under a clear blue sky.

These days I swim when I can, and it feels like... home. I struggle to remember what it was like to NOT be able to swim.

Photo of Fitzroy Pool by Laura Naomi

Similarly, I learned to drive late (and despite having a natural inability to coordinate the whole driving thing...). I practised.

I was even a late-comer to computers.

And so.....

Lately, I've been playing around with the BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator) gizmo on the fancy-schmantzy sewing machine - trying to teach myself to freehand quilt with nice even stippling.

I have no probem with artsy-fartsy free-motion machine embroidery, but I've never learned to do that controlled squiggly stuff. It's a strange experience to feel out of my depth in front of a sewing machine. It's usually my comfort zone.

There has been much making-of-pot-holders and table-mats at my house lately ....to the point where comments were made about the possibility of a badly-quilted cover for every appliance in the kitchen.

So I made a bathmat (out of a home-deco panel from Spotlight and a towel backing .... which will probably shrink horribly out of shape at the first whiff of water). It felt more useful than practising larger-scale stippling on calico.

If you squint and turn off the lights, you won't see too many jagged or crossed-over lines in my stippling, and I can begin to see improvements on the early potholders. I hope to - one day - look back at this bathmat and scoff at its amateurish mistakes.

***
The BSR kept up its end of the deal - the stitches are nice and even!

What to do with those little leftover bits of bias binding

After all the hats and Tulip Dresses I made in the Summer (and some secret-book-business sewing), I seem to have a lot of spare bias binding bits.... and they're cropping up on lots of little winter pinnies.

The green corduroy dress is from this book and the purple one is a New Look summer pattern (forgotten the number but it's something like this) in a bit of cotton coat-weight fabric.

The orange corduroy Tulip Dress got the yo-yo treatment with it's bias tape detailing. (I also made a small beret to match). I'm yet to photograph these garments ON THE CHILD....

...because she's being as cooperative in front of the camera as she usually is.

But I can assure you, she looks very cute.

Still finding reasons to be in love...

I discovered the overlock stitch on my beloved new Bernina has more uses than as a slow, non-trimming option for sewing stretch fabrics. (I'm used to an industrial overlocker, and I don't think you can beat that stitch on knit fabrics).

No need for more OFMK* mismatched overlocking thread on wovens!!! On pesky little seams, this stitch looks for all the world like I actually took the time to finish things properly ...and doesn't require re-threading any machines. I'm in love.


And can someone please tell me how I survived all these years without an automatic buttonhole stitch?



Of course, these stitches are not exclusive to whizzy new Berninas - they're just new to me. The overlock stitch on my old Singer was never as fast or as neat (and I've never had a computerised machine before so I'm a bit gadget-struck). I'm also prone to gushing about things I like.... especially this machine.

And so, the obsession continues...

I've been trying to teach myself to read and follow patterns... Well, follow in as much as the pattern was for a cardigan and I made a scarf.
Meanwhile, the wee girl is becoming increasingly gadget-struck (is it genetic?). Did someone mention you could get a Clover gadget for pom-pom-making? I bought all four sizes.

Between the two of us and our gadget-love, is it any wonder that the pom-pom making began before the dinner dishes were cleared? The gadgets were given the big thumbs-up.

A cheap and nasty (large-enough-for-small-and-impatient-hands) French-Knitting gadget from Spotlight has also been providing some entertainment. The "inspirational" photos on the packaging (photos of creatures made from pom-poms and pipecleaners?!!!) inspired the wee one to make her own soft-sculpture frog.

Super-Frog, no less.

She worked out how to do the subtle head shaping all by herself (wrapping yarn around a ball of hobby-fill - wrapping tighter in the middle) and instructed me to do the tricky bits (legs and embroidered face). The cape has a backwards "S" on it.

****

Before last week, the last thing I remember knitting was for my then newborn nephew... who is now 28 and about to become a father himself. I think that in the last week, I've pretty-much caught up on 28 years worth of yarny crafts (or at least yarny stash-building!) and indoctinated the next generation with the obsession.

WE HAVE A WINNER ...and another new pattern.

So, the new bag pattern is finally tested, tweaked and printed. Hooray! (Apologies for no mention of it yesterday - in the excitement of the beret pattern being finished, I quite forgot about it!).

Mr Random has picked a winner for the giveaway....

Congratulations Ooty! You win a copy of the pattern!

Now.... I have to explain something about my personality (as explained to me by a long-time friend). I always ask for advice ...and then do what I want to do.

I've called the pattern the PANEL bag!! It's been called that for so long now, no other name seems to work for me!

(May I also add that I call my daughter not by the name on her birth certificate, but by the name we gave her when she was a bump!).

...And the cover design? I wanted to use the brown micro-suede one but I took on board that many of you loved the blue floral. We're doing BOTH!

You can order it here.... (For the materials list, scroll down the website page and click on "RELATED PRODUCTS").

Oui! Le Beret est arrivé!

It was a sneaky one, I know. What with all the hoo-har about the new bag, I thought I'd fly this one under the radar a bit. Now it's finished and printed, thanks to some super-duper-troupers who slaved over the weekend to do some short-notice pattern-testing for me.

The beret comes in three sizes (fitting head sizes 54cm - 60cm) and includes instructions to alter the pattern for larger sizes. It has three crown styles for each size - shallow (below), medium (above) and deep (I can't beat Kirsty's photo!!!).

And it's.....

This new "Quick" line of patterns will be quick projects for basic sewing skills. I'll be retro-fitting the symbol to few patterns that fit into the category.

The beret pattern is now available HERE!

...

Edited to add: The new BAG pattern is going to print as we speak. It should be ready tomorrow. If you'd like to order both (new pattern is $21.95), just pop a note to that effect on the bottom of your beret order.

Back in the saddle

It felt good to be back in the classroom today (for the Purse Frame workshop). It's been such a long time, I'd almost forgotten how much I enjoy it.
I love how, if you sit six women in a circle with sewing machines, some sort of magic happens. Stories and ideas are shared, common ground found....

Tim Tams are eaten and purses are made.

We all go home feeling a little warmer and fuzzier (and with one more purse) than when we arrived.

I'll try to squeeze a few more of these pop-up workshops in, whenever I see an open date for one. Do watch this space - blog readers always get the news first!

Review Round-up Update

This is also a bit of Flickr Friday..... but taken from the Review Round-up group.

I love this version of the Party Purse, made by Fiona. You can see the special story behind this purse on her blog HERE, and read her review of the pattern HERE. Fiona has written a few other reviews of my patterns on Pattern Review HERE.

"The other" Fiona has reviewed the hat pattern here.

And Bel has just started a blog (WELCOME TO BLOGLAND, Ms Bel!), and kicked it off with several reviews.... you can read them and see the pictures HERE.


If you'd like to write a review and be in the running for a $100 voucher (or a $50 or 2 free patterns), you can read all about our Review Round-Up competition here. You'll also see lots of links to reviews (that you may like to vote for at the end of the month!).

My Creative Space

Has stacks in it again...
The latest stack is berets in various stages of construction and embellishment. More news on this little diversion soon.

And stacks of yarn, hooks, needles (from multiple trips to Spotlight this week), books (from Lara's collection).... and scarves (hot off the hook).

The new bag pattern is still in pattern-testing stage. When the feedback comes back, I'll finish the final tweakings and polishings and it'll be ready to go (so you still have a little bit of time to enter the pattern giveaway if you haven't yet). I'll be back with news about that - and another thing - soon.

In the meantime, I have a few crochet motifs to learn....

*****

Thanks Super-spacer Kirst for hosting. Head on over to hers to see what everyone else is up to.

Winter Woollies

Like I have loads of time on my hands.... I've suddenly developed an I-want-to-play-with-yarn obsession. Blogland has a lot to answer for, methinks.

On Saturday afternoon, the wee girl and I stopped in at Spotlight and stocked up on all we needed for a bit of knitting, crochet, french-knitting and pom-pom-making.

I'll save the kiddie-craft for another post (it truly deserves it). For now we're going to talk about the two crochet hats I made by... ummmm... 2am Sunday morning.



You could say I was hooked. Just making stuff up as I went along, marvelling at how quickly things came together. Enjoying a new medium for an old theme.

By Tuesday morning (2.20am....) there was another hat and a little scarf (and a lovely sit and chat with some real crochet experts).

By 11pm Tuesday there was a knitty scarf. (Big needles, slubby yarn, small neck-warmer-ish wooliness.... and so much instant gratification that I doubt I'll take it off all week).
I lost interest in knitting and crochet when I was about 14, so my skills are basic. I can't read a pattern and have no idea about the terminology of woolly-craft-language, but I think I'd like to learn more.

No doubt, you'll see more of the fuzzy stringy stuff around here.

How to sew leather... a few tips

Many moons ago - in what seems like another life - I followed my heart to Ireland and made leather bags, purses and wallets for about 5 years. I don't think I ever enjoyed the leather-working process, but the results were always very satisfying.

My relationship with leather hasn't changed since then. I'm a textiles gal at heart, but sometimes I think something will look good made in leather... so I make it.

It's a quirky, tricksy material to wrangle - and completely unforgiving if you make a mistake. I'm not a fan. However, I'm often asked for tips to make the job easier, so here goes...

1. Before you mark out your pattern placement, examine the hide and look out for scars, holes and imperfections.

You have to remember that these hides were once on animals - walking around in fields (or barbed-wire-fenced paddocks, if you're in Australia) and scars are are random feature. You don't want to cut out a pattern piece, only to have a hole or other imperfection spoil it (and have no hide left to re-cut).

2. You can't pin leather, so (unless you have a clicking press and press-knives), cardboard patterns and pattern-weights are the way to go. Trace around the patterns with with a special silver pen (or ... ummm.... a plain ballpoint pen or rotary cutter, if you're as completely reckless as I am).

NOTE: Garment weight leather can usually be cut easily with a sharp rotary cutter or scissors. Some people use a stanley knife and steel ruler (but I've nearly lost fingers doing that, so I can't recommend it).

3. Garment-weight leather can usually be sewn on a domestic sewing machine - as long as there is not too much bulk in the seams. It's best if you use a walking foot, wheel/roller foot or teflon presser foot on your machine. (The teflon feet below are actually from my industrial machine - I don't own a domestic version).

4. You can purchase special "leather" sewing machine needles, which will penetrate the leather more efficiently than normal machine needles and form a nice even stitch. Well worth it.

5. Use pure nylon (if you can get it) or polyester upholstery weight thread. Any cotton content in the thread can deteriorate with age. Synthetics are strong and durable (and the raw ends can be melted into the seam end to seal them).


6. Interfacing can be fused to leather if you need to add a bit of structure - use a rajah cloth to protect your iron and the leather. Cut the interfacing shorter than the seam allowances to reduce bulk.


7. Pressing seams open can be a bit tricky - garment leather generally doesn't hold a sharp crease well. Use double-sided tape to hold seams flat. (Although, try not to overdo the tape on areas that will later be stitched - it can gunk up your needle).

I prefer to flat stitch seams open from the right side of fabric.

..and then trim away the excess seam allowance to reduce as much bulk as possible.

8. Once the going gets tough - lots of converging seams, uneven bulk beneath the presser foot and layers of springy leather under the needle - you may find that your machine skips stitches. Try changing to a new (sharper) needle and use a teflon presser foot rather than a walking foot (I had to change machines in order to use the teflon foot).

9. If you have one of these little plastic gadgets (they come in different shapes and sizes and have different brand names), you will see just how useful it can be at moments like this. By sliding the plastic gadget under the presser foot, you can even out the pressure on the feed dogs of the machine, which will pull the leather through.

10. I'd like to make a 10th tip, just to be neat and decimal about things.... but I'll leave this one open as a question.... Do YOU have any leatherworking tips or questions to add to these?

...So anyway, what was all this leather-sewing business about...?

I was cold.

I think I look just about ready to join the French Resistance... although I believe I'm a tad late.