Nothing to do with craft...

...and a lot to do with branding.

My NOT QUITE THREE YEAR OLD WROTE THIS!!! And it was no accident. She was playing on her (read: my ancient old Windows 98) computer, doing "important work", and asked "How do you spell IKEA?".

I said "I-K..." and she said, ""They're already there". I spelled "E"and "A" and she typed them in.

She was SOOOOO pleased with herself. Leah was creased in fits of laughter (she knows my IKEA habit). I didn't know whether to be proud (of my poppit's early literacy), sad (that she's so affected my rampant consumerism/the consumerist world) or inspired (by IKEA's effective branding).

So I just laughed, too.

...Oh, and took a photo.

Oh GJ's, you've done it AGAIN....

I went to GJ's Discount Fabrics yesterday to buy some more of this Michael Miller spot fabric to finish the bib. Oh Lordy... it's just HEAVEN upstairs!! EVERYWHERE I LOOKED I saw fabric I NEEDED!!!
The new Amy Butler furnishing weight fabrics are to-die for (or buy and make bags from...). And this range below (designers name escapes me...!!) from FreeSpirit is also a fabulous furnishing quality. PERFECT FOR BAG-MAKING. And I spied this (below) and had to have some.. there was 1.5 metres left on the roll, and at only $15 per metre, well.. what started out as "a little dress for my wee gal" idea has turned into a dress, matching hat and a bit extra to play with....
I didn't dare look in the back room.... although I was distracted by the New Look pattern stand on the way out. Bought a little pattern for the wee dress in the cute fabric. A little birdie tells me that the patterns will be going on sale next Wednesday ($5 each)..... shhhh.

I thought I was the only one who didn't know about this....

Good to hear (in your comments) that I'm not the only one who missed the news when basting spray appeared on the market.
Here it is - all the way from the world of Patchwork and Quilting.... BASTING SPRAY. It's like spray adhesive to hold bits of fabric together while you cut/sew it into place. AMAZING. I usually use it to hold down "feature fabric" overlays on bags before I stitch them into place.

Yesterday I used it to make cutting towelling backing for Fabulous Fifties Bibs a lot easier.... and it was SOOOO easy... ...until I ran out of the red spotty fabric for the neck binding on the second bib (but that's another story).Here's the back of the finished one.
One thing that bothers me.... and perhaps someone from the quilting world can tell me this...? Basting spray is supposed to wash out easily, but does it have any toxic nasties in it that should be washed out before the bib is put on a baby for the first time (for the 10 minutes that it'll be worn before it's slopped all over)??

This is... SHOW OFF time!

I'm ALWAYS showing off... my work, my child's artwork, my sewing gadgets.... This week I thought I'd do a bit of showing off for Leah.

Some of you may already know Leah as the sales and admin whizz in the office at my studio. But did you know she's an experienced and addicted sewing gal? She really knows her sewing stuff - and she's also a brilliant admin and sales whizz.

Leah also tests and proof-reads pattern instructions for me, and this is the hat she made from my hat pattern. It's supposed to be a "fishing hat" but I think it's definitely a bit too stylish for fishing.

Thanks to Sharon for guest-hosting This Is while Angela was away. Welcome back Angela. Thanks Katie for this week's theme.

Thanks Leah for being an all-round whizz at Nicole Mallalieu Design!

Everlasting patterns... fashion industry-style!

I couldn't find my Clutch pattern the other day. I mean the ORIGINAL Clutch pattern, which was drafted on card. I decided it'd be quicker to make a new card pattern from a paper print than re-organise my pattern "storage system" (I use the term VERY loosely).

I don't actually like working with paper patterns and pins.... way too slow. It's a bit like sewing on a domestic machine when you're used to an industrial. Cardboard patterns are quicker and more accurate AND THEY LAST LONGER,TOO!!! I still have the original blocks and patterns I made in the final year of my Fashion degree (1989... yikes!), and loads of other patterns since ...hence my inability to find a teeny-tiny little clutch pattern in amongst them!

It made me think - if I didn't know about basting spray until this year (I kid you not, folks!) then maybe there are some home-sewing types who don't know about industrial pattern card....? Some things are easy to miss if you're moving in a different part of the (sewing) world from them.


How to Turn Paper Patterns Into Cardboard Patterns.... which are JUST GREAT!

1. Using spray adhesive or a glue stick (a glue that won't dampen the paper and make it crinkle), stick your pattern print to some pattern card. You can paste down individual pattern pieces that have already been cut out (and used) or you can paste down the new, uncut pattern print.
2. Cut out your pattern pieces and transfer all the pattern markings (notches and dots etc) with HOLES and snips in the cardboard. Any old hole punches, scissors and awls can be used for this. If you have a screw-punch (forgot to take a photo of mine) they're great for marking dart points and other pattern dots.

***Edited to add screw-punch link.****


"Ah HA!" you say, "What's that nifty looking gadget she has there...?" They're pattern notchers... hideously expensive but VERY NIFTY INDEED. They cut lovely slit notches in patterns. That's ALL they do ...and they do it BEAUTIFULLY! (See "top notch" on the pic below). Unless you plan to make a lot of patterns I wouldn't think pattern notchers a very sound investment. You may be able to find a substitute among papercrafts gadgets (?) or you can use scissors - like I did on the bottom notch on the pic above.

3. Hold the pattern pieces down on your fabric - or use weights to hold down larger pattern pieces - and trace around them with tailors chalk. I prefer the accuracy of using a chalk pencil or quilters pencil - a nice fine line is always good.
...and that notch thing? You can draw a line into the notch to show you where to put a 2.5mm snip in the edge of your seam allowance. (That's more accurate than those triangle notches on a lot of big-brand patterns). That's all you need for matching up important points when you're at the sewing machine.4. Unless your fabric is slippery you don't tend to need pins at all. Just CUT out your fabric - and this is even quicker with a rotary cutter.... ooooh... MORE gadget-love (I shouldn't have started this....!!!)

5. You can then cut/punch a hole through each piece and thread them over a wire hook (or loop of string) and hang them up - as in the picture at the top of this post. Correction - it's actually best to hang them up in an ORDERLY system.

(...and I must go back to that pattern in the last picture and punch a hole through that snap placement mark! Oops!).

PS. If you want to make trace-around pattern pieces that you can SEE THROUGH (so you can see the print placement on the fabric), you can use template plastic. It doesn't roll like kitchen paper or crinkle and fly away like tissue paper.

A few words about seam allowances...

Well, as anyone who has been to one of my bag-making classes knows, I really have a LOT of words to say on the subject.

I bang on endlessly about the importance of snipping and clipping seam allowances and "giving that wadding a little haircut...", and I use the term "reduce the bulk in the seam allowances" more than anyone else I know.

I leave interfacing and wadding on seam allowances when I want to create a structured edge on a topstitched bag flap - or to make a flat-stitched side-seam stand upright - but yesterday I didn't want to topstitch the Clutch flap. I was going for a clean-line look. I treated the seam allowances as I would on a seam that I wanted to press open and flat, and not topstitch.

HOW TO REDUCE BULKY SEAM ALLOWANCES

1. Pull the wadding and interfacing away from the seam allowance. 2. Trim off the interfacing as close to the stitching line as possible. ("You could use your duckbills for that", as my wee girl would advise. Nothing like a two-year-old who knows her sewing tools, huh?).

BTW - I love my duckbill scissors. They hold back and protect the seam allowances as you snip with the pointy upper blade. 3. Trim the interfacing AND wadding off the other side and clip the corners of the seam allowances.
4. Press the seams open (oops- forgot to take a photo)

5. Turn the flap through to the right side (I can show you a good "pointy corner" trick, but you'll have to come to a class for that because it's an ACTION demonstration!!).

6. Give it a good steamy press!

Of course you can always cut your seam allowances off your interfacing before you fuse it, but I find that I can be more accurate with the trimming if I leave it on until it's sewn. I also do a lot of block-fusing of fabric and interfacing before I cut out small bags and purses - that's more accurate, too.

Copyright Nicole Mallalieu 2008

Edited to add: Duckbill scissors are now available here!

Oh Clover, how I love thee...

I'm very intrigued by Sharon's new gadget.I don't know what the gadget is called but now I want one. Of course it's Clover.

Yesterday while I was sewing I took a few photos of what I was doing. Over the next few weeks I thought I'd show a few more tricks of the trade (and a few handy gadgets), so started gathering images. In the process I realised I have an unnatural love for all things CLOVER... and no, I don't have shares in the company. It's just that they do everything so .....PERFECTLY!!

Gadget #1 - Clover White Marking Pen.

Yesterday I used my Clover White Marking Pen to mark a stitching line (to hold Vilene S520 over the back of a magnetic catch). It's fabulous when you need to mark dark fabric, and especially great when you want a line that's finer and more accurate than a chalk pencil... even BETTER when you want to make a mark on the RIGHT SIDE OF FABRIC!!!


HOW TO TOPSTITCH ACCURATELY #2

1. Mark your stitching line with the pen and ruler. It takes a little while for the white line to appear.... don't panic.

2. It APPEARS.... as if by magic!

3. Follow the white line with your sewing machine needle.

4. Iron over the stitches and white line and .... as if by magic....

5. The white lines DISAPPEAR!!!

Ooohhh... gadget love. Clover love.

On My Desk.... Wednesday

Ah.... Wednesday. My assistant went to the Melbourne Show with her Daddy and I SEWED... uninterrupted. What pure joy!

I worked on the new Carry-All bag and made a fresh new Clutch sample to replace the tired old ones. I also worked on a few new tips and tutorial posts (watch this space!!). But I still didn't finish the moleskin hat...

The fabric on the bags is from the MOD range by Timeless Treasures. It brings back memories of my older sisters' dresses (and platform shoes) when I was a kid in the 70's.

I was so engrossed in sewing that I didn't even notice the mess I'd left after yesterday's CUTTING FRENZY until about 4pm today.... when I was inspired to share that with you, too. This is a small portion of the chaos - that general area of the studio looked like a cyclone had struck.

More desks over at Kirsty's...

This is...what I want to be when I grow up

When I was 11 years old I wanted to be a SEWING teacher. By the time I hit high school I'd found out there was such a thing as a FASHION DESIGNER.... Oh yes, please! I'll be one of THOSE! (looks like I stretched my yellow school skivvy!)

I must have been about 16 or 17 here. Behind me is the clothes mountain I'd made for myself - I think the clothes are actually draped over a chair. (Stop giggling up the back there!!... It was the 80's, ok?... I was young, ok...?).

Very predictable career map, I suppose, for an abnormally sewing-obsessed child. And I predictably became a fashion designer, and now I'm teaching people to sew. Who'd have thought it? (Well, just about everyone!).

NOW what do I want to be when I grow up? FEARLESS. I think that when I stop WORRYING about what might or might not happen, or what people think, or if I'm a good enough mother, teacher, friend.... blah blah... I'll be a very happy grown-up.

I guess I want to be like I was when I was 11... fearlessly believing that I can be what I want to be, not seeing any obstacles and not caring what people think of me.

Thanks Cindy for this week's theme, and Sharon for hosting This Is in Angela's absence.

Hats off to us ALL...

picture by marthad

Adam alone in Paradise did grieve
And thought Eden a desert without Eve
Until God pitying his lonesome state
Crowns all his wishes with a lovely mate
Then why should men think mean, or slight her
That could not live in Paradise without her.

From a 17th Century Embroidery Sampler.
(Guess which book I'm reading at the moment...?)

Aren't women great...? Gals all over the place are doing very nice things.

Melanie is giving blogging folks a discount in her shop. She's a lovely gal.

I met Hannah today (she came to a purse frame class) and she's a lovley gal, too! Make sure you visit her, especially on her Tutorial Tuesdays. Lots of lovely tutorial links.

Jodie... well she's just too clever.... and she shares her ideas generously.

Speaking of tutorials - I really want to try these ideas....
Tutti-Fruitti pins
Hoppo-Bumpo / Maya*Made Stenciling. (In fact Maya has a few tutorial treasures...).
Bell girl inkjet printing
...Lately I have this real yearning to start crocheting, thanks to Lara and her perpetually moving hook....

Life is definitely too short to fit enough crafting in. Thanks to all the lovely generous gals out there.... you're an inspiration!

Hats off to them...

Went to a lovely opening last night. Fabulous hats by Mandy Murphy and Sandra Buchanan.

I didn't take any pictures (well.. it's just not the DONE THING, is it?) but I can tell you, there were some GORGEOUS hats there, and it was lovely to reconnect with my old life a bit. Familiar faces, common language and all that...

If you're in Melbourne and into hats/textiles/sculpture/fashion, it's well worth popping in to take a peek at the show. If you have an upcoming show-stopping-hat type event, then THIS IS THE PLACE to get kitted out.

I REALLY WISH I could find some links or pictures to give you a glimpse of more of these gal's work, but Mr Google isn't turning up very much for me. Believe me - they're VERY talented lassies!!

A submarine

This is for the benefit of all the friends I've spoken to (read: raved like one of those really annoying parents who insists that their child is a genius...). I'm SO IMPRESSED by this painting I've been saying "You should see it..." to everybody (and I mean everybody..) but it's stuck to the wall in my home office, where nobody goes except me.

Not bad for a not-quite-three year old, I think... but then I'm one of those really annoying parents. I really have to restrain myself from posting a drawing or two every day!!!

On My Desk

Yay!!! All done. You've NO IDEA how happy I am to see this project completed! The new patterns are up on the website .

Oh - and that book is still floating around, being flicked through and remarked upon. It really is very good! I highly recommend it.

And now (thanks to Melanie for tip on the random number generator).... the winner of the giveaway pattern is....

Congratulations Kylie. You've won the first pattern off the press! Send us your postal details and we'll send it on its way to you.

Thanks everyone for playing, and for all your kind words.

Thanks ALSO Kirsty for hosting On My Desk.

PS. And I still haven't finished the moleskin hat....

Are we NEARLY THERE yet...?

This is the hat I was going to show you last Monday, but it wasn't finished. It's a cotton moleskin version of the bucket hat (using my new hat pattern), with a straight-grain binding to curve up the brim.

It may not be any closer to being finished, but it's VERY well-travelled now. I've been carting it around with me all week in the vain hope that I'd finish hand-sewing the lining in. I started the lining last Wednesday and it's still half-done. At the rate I'm progressing, it'll be next winter before it's finished...which adds a whole new dimension to the term "trans-seasonal".

It's been a week of fine-tuning the instructions (pre-and-post-testing) and fiddling around with images and artwork. I reckon this baby will be ready to go up onto the website tomorrow night. That leaves about 24 hours for you to get your name into the giveaway if you'd like a chance to win a pattern.

(BTW - Lara did a fantastic job of the hat she made when she was testing the pattern for me. Check it out!)

I've ALSO been making more toiles for the patternmaking course. I tired of the blandness of calico and decided a bit of colour was the way to go with it. Whistle while you work, and all that...

(See girls? I did MY homework... did you????)

Dolly Handbag Pattern

I'm not the only crafty type around the studio. Leah's a very experienced sewing gal as well. Leah's Mum is a mighty crafty type who makes ALL SORTS of fab things. She made this doll... ..and is kind enough to share her secret method for making the GORGEOUS little knitted handbag that Dolly is holding! Isn't it the cutest little thing??? (...if you'll excuse my rough attempt at Photoshopping out the background!!).
Dolly Handbag Pattern
by Bronwen Webb

Chenille knitting yarn
3.0mm knitting needles

Bag pieces, make 2:
Cast on 22 sts
Garter stitch (every row knit) for 13 rows -

1st row wrong side
14th row Knit one, knit 2 together until one stitch left then knit one (12 sts)
Knit 2 rows
Cast off

Handle:- Cast on 30 stitches
Cast off all stitches

To sew the bag together, use a matching sewing thread.
Place bag pieces right sides together and back stitch around 3 sides leaving the cast off edge open to form the bag opening. Turn right side out and stitch the handle at sides of opening across the side seams. Stitch a small bead to front of bag as shown.

***

Copyright Bronwen Webb 2008. (Published with permission).

(Now I REALLY wish I had even the foggiest notion of how to knit....)

This Is.... what I do with a spare 10 minutes

More aptly, this is what I DON'T do when I don't have a spare 10 minutes!! (I'm a day late with this one).

If I see a window of opportunity at a sociable hour I'll make a phone call to my parents, a sibling or a friend. I don't get out to see people much, so have to make contact occasionally.

Mostly my spare 10 minutes happens after 10pm so it's a choice of this....

or

this....

or this.

Somehow I justify ALL of them as "kind of working" because they're related to work in a kind of sort of I can almost justify not writing pattern instructions kind of way..... sort of. Other times I just relax and enjoy a bit of me-time in the blogosphere and a bit of online retail-therapy.

Sometimes - VERY OCCASIONALLY - I get to sit down with a cup of tea and drink it WHILE IT'S STILL HOT! .....Ah, HEAVEN!

Thanks to Hoppo Bumpo for this week's theme, and to Handmaiden for hosting in Three Buttons absence.

Busy Girls

Totally inspired by this idea, I grasped at the opportunity to set the wee girl to work on a new project. I've been busy, and needing to keep the little one's fingers out of the way. This one worked pretty well over yesterday and today. Definitely a work-in-progress for her, but she LOVES it!

We did a body/pigtail/clothes tracing yesterday on some pattern paper, and she's been colouring, pasting fabric and glitter, drawing.... and keeping herself VERY BUSY!! YAY!


So what has the Mummy in the story been up to...?

Making umpteen patterns and (calico) toiles and taking photos of umpteen patterns and toiles for my patternmaking class on Monday. I've decided the notes could do with an overhaul and my samples need refreshing. They make for VERY DULL blog pics, though, don't they...?

I'd love to be joining Cathy et al in LOVE FRIDAY... but as usual, Friday night is spent doing a weekend's worth of domestic chores and preparing for a workshop on Saturday. I have to get up at the crack of it tomorrow and be in an outer suburb to teach a bag-making class. Yikes! I even have to go on the FREEWAY. Must get me some of that sleep thing I've been hearing about....

On My Desk.... Wednesday

This is a very well-traveled and much-loved pincushion (that I use as a NEEDLE cushion). Originally handmade and bought in Lithuania (where - quite coincidentally - we had an order from today) and gifted to me by my friend Orla when I lived in Ireland. She and her husband Seamus are very dear to me, and this pincushion reminds me of them every time I use it.

Still making hats.... The one on my desk here is a winter version in heavy cotton moleskin fabric. I've put a straight grain binding on it to pull the brim up into a sharp curve. (Did you know you can run straight grain strips through the bias tape maker just the same as bias tape? Wish I'd known that one about fifteen years ago...makes binding hats a LOT easier!!!).

My Clover Seam Ripper is never too far away. I actually have THREE.... strategically placed around the studio so I never have to get up from a work position (Oops, my secret is out. I'm not JUST a sewing geek - I'm a LAZY sewing geek...!!).

This book has been doing the rounds between Leah's and my desks. It's a good 'un. Full of handy tips (with a title like that, who'd have guessed it?). It's like the book version of this list - with diagrams. NOTE: I bought my copy secondhand on Amazon, but everytime I try to open up the page there to get the link for you, my computer crashes....!!?.

And Oh, Happy Day... Blue, blue sky and TWO parcels from Z&S Fabrics... what more could a winter-weary sewing chick want? Cheered me up, no end. I'm in love with the Flutterby range by Tula Pink for Moda. Really unique prints in great colours.

More desks at over at Kirsty's....

It's the little things....

We've had a delivery of long-awaited supplies - including the CLOVER Seam Ripper!!! Since Lara put me onto it last year ("You wouldn't think one seam ripper would be any different from another.... but this one is REALLY GOOD") I've been using it and waxing lyrical about it in any class I've taught. So has anyone who has used mine or bought one on my recommendation.

And so it goes.... like that old ad (am I showing my age?) for Remington shavers ("I was so impressed I bought the company")... I'm now selling them. Unfortunately I couldn't afford to buy the whole Clover company.

And AT LAST - the new Heart shaped zipper pulls have arrived!!!! We'd sold out and were waiting for what seems like ages for new stock to arrive. I get excited about things like that.

Oh - and in case anyone missed it - don't forget my pattern giveaway....

Well... I've always LIKED hats....

People always asked me why I made hats, and that's the best answer I could come up with.

It's actually quite true. See...? There I am up there - all of about 19 years old and wearing a HAT! (The dress and hat were made for a project when I was studying Fashion Design. I always included a hat in any outfit I made).

I've loved hats since I was a small child....

All of this waffle is just to fill space where there ought to be a picture of a hat I wanted to finish today...and didn't. I didn't want to put up another one of these (below) because you've already seen them.
BUT....I wanted to let you know that I'll be giving away a FREE PATTERN for these hats (multi-sized and multi-brim width). Leave a comment and you'll be in the draw for it. We'll draw it on the day we put the finished pattern up on the website. Hopefully that will be early next week!

Right now we're working on the cover.