My kind of camping.

I'm just back from a theraputic dose of Sewjourn. I jumped on board Sooz's Craft Camp train. I met some new people, spent time with some great people I know, ate amazing food and enjoyed the serenity of the place.

Most theraputic of all, I got to live and breathe what I love - with others who simply got it..... and I didn't have to clean up my fabric scraps for two days.

Sewjourn is feeling more and more like home.

It was great to see that Storky is still standing (at least at the front end) and that the winter woollies are still serving him well.

All good things must end, unfortunately.....and finally, three days worth of sewing scraps had to be cleared from the floor.

Three cheers for Ms Myrtle&Eunice for moving mountains with a mole-hill-size broom.

And heartfelt thanks to my wonderful co-campers who helped restore my creative soul these last few days.

Things I am doing (and not doing)

I'm spending a lot of time fondling Sarah Arnett fabrics (belonging to my sewing buddy). I've been Facebook chatting with Ms Arnett and I think there might be some hope of seeing more of her gorgeous printed silks in georgette, stretch satin, liquid jerseys (gorgeous drape), gossamer voiles and shimmering crepe de chines as yardage.
If you haven't checked out Sarah's work, I'd recommend that you do so NOW. She's amazing.

I've also been making jam and picking lots of apples from our tree. Celebrating my mothers gifts and homecrafting wisdom. Treasuring a tiny (and probably useless, since I've never seen SPC's "Baker's Choice" apricots") find.

On 8th March, I'll be speaking at the International Womens Day Lunch in Melton . The theme this year is "Turning your passion into profit" and there will be three of us telling our stories. It'll be a fun day, with lots of opportunity to meet and mingle with like-minded women.

I'll be attending the Australasian Quilt Convention (April 14-17th) in Melbourne, too. Come and say hello!!!

This weekend I won't be going to the Julian Roberts workshop, as originally planned. Instead, I decided to take up the offer to jump on a Sewjourn bandwagon. I'm off for a crafty weekend instead.

Likewise, I'm not going to Sew It Together after all, but I'll be in Sydney later in the year. Plans have to change sometimes.

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There are many things in the pipeline at the moment: some big and exciting and some are fledgling ideas. I'll tell you about them later. Right now, what I am doing is going to bed!

The Curse of the Rainbow Yarn

It all started when I thought I'd be too-clever-by-half and avoid postage costs on some yarn from the USA...

Then when the wee girl fell in love with this yarn, I ordered some more ....and it arrived in a completely different colour range (no blue, which was the really nice part of it). I soldiered on with great gusto.... headlong into The Great Crochet Fiasco. (I won't dwell on that).

I bit the bullet and pulled out the knitting needles, deciding that the Acacia was the way to go with this yarn. I mean, I made the Olearia cardigan - surely I can make a simple top using the same stitches....?

Ahem.... apparently not. In the last three weeks, I've done (and undone) the first twelve rows seven times. SEVEN TIMES!!!

It appears that I've developed a talent for short rows where no short rows should be, a penchant for purl where there ought to be knit and knit where there ought to be purl, and a tendancy to lose my place with the whole increase-row and non-increase row thing.

I'm beginning to consider crocheting the whole shebang into facecloths.

Or.....perhaps adopting a more zen approach to knitting might be in order (at least for the first 13 rows). Maybe I need to slow down and focus on the moment, stitch by stitch...

Case in point - my morning routine, pictured below......

Pictured: Knitting... with wake-up coffee, computer (emailing the office, answering emails, checking in on blogs, doing banking...) and blue yoga mat (that's more about inspiration than perspiration, these days) rolled out on the floor beside me.


Not Pictured: Making a packed lunch and getting a kid ready for school. ABC Kids blaring. Grumpy-in-the-morning bloke wandering about with coffee. Kitten wanting attention, food and a clean litter-tray. General disorganisation.

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I think I've got the whole "doing relaxing things" a little bit wrong, somehow... There's a time and a place, right....? Or should I just go on, blaming the yarn..?

Flickr Friday Returns!

How cool is THIS...?!

Sac pour Netbook
Originally uploaded by Appomovi

This visual feast is made using my Laptop Bag pattern and some super-gorgeous fabrics, by this talented gal.

I haven't posted anything from my Flickr group lately, but I always check in to see what people are making.

I finally got around to putting the badge on the sidebar over there on the right, so we can all see the latest designs made by very talented people (using my patterns).

Don't be shy about showing off how clever you are.... just feel free to add your NMD bag photos to the group.

A tutorial (at last!): Corded rouleaux straps

Rouleaux is a bias-cut tube, used to make things like shoestring/spaghetti straps or button loops on lingerie or evening wear. If you fill the tube with cord (that's piping cord), you get a strong, rounded strap that can turn a hand-held purse into an easy-to-carry wristlet.

There are instuctions for making this type of strap in my Teardrop Purse, Evening Bag and Clutch patterns. The new purse pattern will also include instructions.... but I know that some people need a few more visuals on this one, so I've decided to demonstrate it in colour and with the odd moving picture show.....

1. You need to cut a bias strip that is wide enough to wrap around the piping cord and leave 13mm (half inch) seam allowances on either side. You will need a piece of piping cord that is twice the length of the bias strip.

Note: For this particular 6mm piping cord, I've cut a 4cm (I think that's an inch and a half) wide bias strip.

2. Starting at the halfway point on the cord, fold the bias strip around the piping cord, with the right side of fabric facing inward. 3. Stitch the end of the folded bias strip securely to the cord at the halfway point. (Reverse and sew forwards a few times - you don't want this to come undone).

4. Using a zipper-foot (and a small stitch) on your sewing machine, stitch along the side of the cord to join the two raw edges of the bias strip.

NOTE: Don't sew so close that you risk catching the cord in the stitches. 5. Ok.... this is where we need moving pictures. Watch this!

(... ahem.. if you feel like it).

6. Snip off the uncovered cord and the stitched end of the bias strip.

7. Pull the last 1-1.5cm (half inch) of cord out of each end and trim the cord off.

8. Hold onto the cord and give the rouleaux a gentle stretch over the cord. (It's at this point that you'll notice if your stitch length is too long or your tension too tight!)

9. Squash (or unravel) the ends of the cord within the rouleaux tube to flatten them.

10. Sew the cord into the seam of a purse at the point where the cord is squashed. Don't trim the empty ends (they're needed to stop the strap from fraying).

Hey, look! You've made a corded rouleaux strap!

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PS. I dug out a huge roll of upholstery piping cord from my pouffe-making days. I'll be selling it off at 50c + GST per metre until it runs out. It's PERFECT for corded straps!

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PPS. The fabric in this photo was designed by the uber-talented Sarah Arnett from the UK. The purse is made from scraps from her 2009 clothing range. EDITED TO ADD: I've been in contact with Sarah, and we may be seeing some yardage here soon!!! Woot!!!

Upstaged by an octopus and bewitched by a teapot....

We were invited to a lovely girls' 5th birthday party today. Inspired by Ms Curlypops' handmade present, I decided to make a hat as a gift. While I worked on the hat, the wee one designed a toy octopus for the birthday girl. In between hat seams, I helped the designer to transform the fabric-crayon-on-calico kit-form cephalopod into something more cushion-like. She chose scrap fabrics to back the body and each of the eight legs. She even coloured in a long strip of calico to make a shoulder strap.
I sewed, she stuffed.... and I was so blown away by the result, I forgot to photograph the hat I made.

The wrapping paper for the birthday present was equally handmade-with-love. It included a drawing of the birthday girl with a party blower and... knuckles.

(The wee girl is playing around with perspective drawing, methinks....)

The card contained the obligatory cat drawing.

So how do you impress a girl who thinks she can make anything? You make "The most beautiful cake in the world". The wee girl was mesmerised!

The teapot cake was a triumph, Cathie! I think everyone was SERIOUSLY IMPRESSED!!! (It was also delicious).

Believe me, by comparison, the hat really wasn't worth a photo.

Because every girl needs a polystyrene 70's disco TV....

... and some fake grass...
...a Bollywood parasol, several polystyrene cats...

Oh, and you might as well throw in some Moroccan-looking tea-lights....

...some candlesticks...

... a bit of Christmas razzle-dazzle....

...a few flower garlands...

and a crowd of little black artists mannequins.

We went to the Theme from JAK garage sale today. The wee girl loaded up two boxes of treasures....(Yes, that first photo is what we took home).

..and then she did a spot of painting.

I'm not sure if there's much left (I bumped into some other crafty chicks who were loading up there this morning!!), but the garage sale is on again tomorrow. 50 Hope St Brunswick.

My Creative Space

I'm surrounded by piles of stuff again. Lots of works-in-progress and class preparations. I have piles of interfacings for tonight's A Sharper Edge workshop.

Piles of knit fabrics and toiles (in various stages of un-finished) in preparation for my Draped Tops class.

Piles of pattern plots to check through and test...

And a lovely pile of skirt length fabrics from Z&S Fabrics. These ones are all from the house of Henry Glass.Excuse me while I get back to it... I've a few things to do.

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You can check out other creative spaces around the blogosphere if you head on over to Kirst's.

The best garage sale in town

I'll tell you this if you promise to get there AFTER I visit......

Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th Feb 10am – 3pm
50 Hope Street Brunswick

You may remember that I went to one of the JAKsters' super-duper-all-sorts-of-fabulousness garage sales last year. I came home with a year's supply of party and craft materials, all sorts of tableware and little artists mannequins ....and a desire to buy fake grass, but (unfortunately) no use for it.

Now, if it wasn't for the fact that Jane and Kerryn are great girls with ENORMOUS TALENT (take a look at their website!), I'd be keeping schtum about this and grabbing all the goodies for myself.... but I can't help wanting to help them have a fantastically well-supported sale.

If you want to find out the sorts of things they'll be selling, check out their Facebook page.

Design Challenge of the Day....

Left to my own devices, I like to set little design challenges for myself. I get an idea in my head and work obsessively at it until I solve the puzzle. Occasionally I have a case of the I'm-so-bloody-clevers.

Exhibit A - the new purse pattern (yet to be fully revealed). I'm in love. (I love the I'm-so-bloody-clevers).

With the wee girl setting the challenges, I'm just glad when I come out the other side with something that approximates her vision of what is possible.

Case in point... Today, while visiting my parents (talking to my sister and knitting the Acacia in that rainbow cotton yarn...), the girl presented me with a cactus spike and told me that it was "a needle". Next came various forms of garden foliage - "the fabric" - and some sort of soft-but-strong shrubby bits, named "the thread". I was expected to make.....

... a cat. (Yes, really.)

Exhibit B - People of Blogland, meet Agapanthus the cat.

Between you, me and the gatepost, I reckon that poor old Aggie looks more like a bat.... but she passed muster with the design police (wee girl) so I can wipe my brow and sigh a big PHEW-got-away-with-that-one sigh.

My sister and I laughed that the wee girl will probably continue to play on my never-say-it-can't-be-made attitude... just for sport....

We pictured her telling her university friends, "Just watch... get her talking, hand her a pile of stuff and tell her to make it into [insert impossible outcome].... It's a hoot!"

Satisfied with the challenge being met, she then kept herself busy with drawings of Cranberry the cat, to show Granny and Grandad what he's like.

Cranberry chases butterflies....
Cranberry climbs the apple tree....
He sleeps on the armchair. (I love how she's drawn the piping around the armrests).
And he chases the goldfish.
In the car on the way home, the wee girl announced, "Mummy, you have to follow your dreams because if you don't, they won't come true. I'm going to follow my dream, and my dream is to fly." (I somehow think she will).

My little fledgling is about to fly off to her first day of school tomorrow. I'm torn between teary remembrances of my little baby, fears about her exposure to the big bad world and excitement in knowing how much she'll love learning and playing there....

But I can't help thinking of the teachers..... I don't think they know what they're in for....