Faith Restored

I received a beautiful surprise in the post today. I wish my camera could do justice to the colour and the intricate patterning on this painting. It sings.

At the moment it's perched where there was once a hat I loved - to remind me of all the good, generous people in the world. Cathy really is one of those special people.

I also thank all of you who have sent comforting words or spread the word to be on the lookout for a garish orange fedora.

There is still hope that someone somewhere will spot it and send it home to me.

In the meantime I'm loitering around this laptop sleeve with a dangerous-looking gadget...

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Thanks Cathy - you made my day.
I'll keep the faith.

xxn

Making a spectacle of myself...?

Or making a spectacle CASE for myself..? What the hell - I'll make a few of them.

I'm editing instructions on the directions of a few pattern testers, and we should be ready to hit "print" as soon as they're proof-read again. So.... that giveaway draw is looming! Are you in it?

I'm still refining new techniques on this purse (read: making more instructions to write). I'm also playing with earlier patterns and using a few newly-learned tricks to make them better. A great leap forward, indeed.

I think my Advanced Purse Frame Class will be better than I initially planned it to be.... there are two places left on the course. Any takers...?

Feeling a bit clever...

Loving this new-found structure technique.

(Not too fond of working with beaded, reverse-pintucked silk... but the results would make a bride happy, don't you think?).

I've been working through techniques for varying this one. Making notes, taking photos....

150mm barrel clutch pattern on the way soon... yippee!

Substation Artists Market

My sister has been busy getting ready for her stall at the Substation Artist's Market in Newport on Saturday. She whipped up this batch of lavender sachets with prints of her original drawings on them... perfect for keeping your drawers, suitcases and wardrobes super-sweet (and moth-free!). She's also selling her original drawings, cards and other textile-based goodies (using prints of her drawings).

The substation is a fantastic venue and the market is chock-o-block with talented artists and craftspeople. Worth a looky.

If you're interested in a spot of life-drawing, Leonie runs a group on Saturdays where you can drop in week by week - without having to book in for a full course. It's a great way to try out something new and creative (or scrape off a bit of rust that may have built up since college days). There's always great food and fine company, to boot! Contact Leonie through her blog for more details.

Can't talk...

This week has been a bit crazy. I'm exhausted, but not as exhausted as these lovely gals must be....

Amy, Shannon and Elissa have been at the Craft and Quilt Fair all day for the last few days (unlike me - who just flutters in, fluffs up my pattern stock and leaves) at the Kelani Fabric Obsession stand.

If you're in or near Melbourne and you haven't been to the Craft and Quilt Fair then you have two days left in which to do so. Go and say hello to the girls and just try to escape without being tempted by the ABSOLUTELY STUNNING fabrics that Kelani stock. I bet you can't! Hey, you can even pick up some of my patterns there (including the new Barrel Purse Kit).

Oh - and if you see anyone wearing this hat (I mean ever in your life) grab it from them and send it back to me. Someone stole it from my display early on the first day of the show. Not only have I lost my favourite hat (and have no more of that fabric to make a new one) but it's affected sales of the Fedora pattern at the show (no sample usually means no sales at a show... but I'm not putting another one up there to be taken!). I'll also have to make a new sample for Stitches and Craft in Sydney - like I don't have enough to do already.



Did I mention that I've kind of lost my sense of humour? And I've definitely lost all power of words or wit. And quite possibly a bit of faith in humanity.

Barrel Purse Kit is HERE!

All back from the final round of testing (thanks Lara!) finished and packed....the (90mm Square Frame) Barrel Purse is ready for sale! It's the first of the new generation of my purse frame kits, which focus on teaching you about creating structure on smooth curves ..with LOTS of tips and tricks to help you along the way.

The kit contains the four different types of interfacing that you'll need, piping cord and the frame, as well as a full-size pattern and a booklet of very detailed instuctions. It's like a purse frame class in a packet, and is designed to bring intermediate sewing skills up to advanced level. It'll have you whipping up little gift purses for everyone you know....

It's $32.95 for the whole kit and kaboodle. You only need to supply the fabric scraps and glue. ORDERING CODE: PFKBA90.

The major breakthrough I spoke of was for a variation on this barrel theme - with size and structural differences (and a bit of singing and dancing and thinking I was a bit clever thrown in). Stay tuned for more on that.... in the meantime you can practise on the 90mm one!

The Great Leap Forward

Most of the time I feel like I'm climbing a greasy pole (or walking through treacle)... so many ideas and things to do and not enough time for one busy Mum to do it all. I spend more time doing laundry and setting up "cwaft activities" than patternmaking or sewing. But still, I chip away at it... little by little....

Occasionally I break through to a whole new level, and I almost burst with excitement. YOU can only see purses here, but I see a whole new way forward with internal structure!!!

I can't stop smiling to myself. People will think I've been up to something (other than sewing).

PS. Don't forget about my GIVEAWAY.... there's still time.

The Design Market that was Not a Design Market..

I only took one photo today - the wee girl eating a sausage in the "birdcage" at the (not a) design market today. A gloriously sunny (if a little chilly) Melbourne winter's day meant that there was a somewhat festive air in the outdoor area.

I'm afraid all the eye-candy in this post will have to be via links to the designers' individual websites (I don't like borrowing images without asking!).

The market included some of Melbourne's most talented designers - established and emerging. I bought a bangle for myself and a card for my mother. The wee girl only got a sausage - it was a bit of a change from the usual market scenario as far as purchases go.

It was lovely to meet Bronwyn and Mark who worked together on the fabulous bangles. I also caught up with Karen from The Cat's Meeow (and my studio building) who was squeezed into a corner while crowds slapped the racks of her gorgeous clothes and tried things on.

I really really liked Melissa Cameron's work. Amazing stuff... cut out of tin lids and bowls and things. Soooo intricate and clever.

It was lovely to see my old friend Scott from Haul - who makes great bags, laptop sleeves and things from recycled urban materials. We worked together on developing some of his bags and laptop sleeves a few years ago, and it's wonderful to see how his brand and business has grown. He's looking to expand his empire into the city, and is looking for space.... and running a competition to speed things up. Any Melbournians who know of quirky up-a-laneway type spaces (that's SO Melbourne!), contact Scott NOW!

All in all a grand day out. They plan to have a few more of these markets - so if you're a local and into design, keep your eye out for news of it!

This looks interesting...

THIS IS NOT A DESIGN MARKET is a 1 day outlet for local fashion, products, paper, furniture, lighting art and people. 19 July 2009 10am to 5pm.

The inaugural TINADM will run from 10am - 5pm on Sunday 19 of July 2009 as part of the State of Design Festival's Design for Everyone program.

Situated at 500 Latrobe Street, Melbourne, THIS IS NOT A DESIGN MARKET will take form in the striking backdrop of a 2000m2 former non-ferrous metal workshop, otherwise known as The Factory

More details here. (You may have to scroll down to see details and pictures if you have a small computer screen).

The wee girl and I might be dropping in for a look...

Oh - and in case you missed it - I'm having a giveaway (see the post below).

300th post... with thanks (and a giveaway).

Last night I was lucky enough to have been invited to a wonderful blogmeet organised by Lara. Great Thai food and warm conversation with like-minded souls and friends. I gabbled on about how wonderful blogging has been for me - the connections and friendships forged with wonderful people around the world - and very much in my own hometown (and it seems, particularly in the Northern suburbs of my home town!). I meant every word of it.

And so... on my 300th post (!!) I'd like to thank you for reading, for commenting, and for making me feel like what I do is worthwhile. I'd also like to thank you for your creativity and the inspiration you share with us all. The generosity of the craft-blogging community never ceases to astound me - and it warms my heart.

... and of course you want to know what the giveaway is.

I've mentioned secret patterns, mad deadline-bound writing, half-finished projects. This is one of them.... nearly finished. The finished Spec Case kit should be ready within two weeks.

If you'd like to win a kit hot off the press, leave a comment here with a short introduction to what your blog is about... sewing, crochet, family, food etc. Think of it as an opportunity to connect with a few more bloggers - introduce yourself to new friends at a virtual blogmeet! If you don't have a blog, you can write about the types of things you like to read about on blogs.

I'll random-number thingamy it when the kit is finished and ready for sale.

All Kinds of Everything

I'm still scratching around several projects here. Some of them are completed or nearing completion. Yay.... or should I say "PHEW!"?

You may have noticed on my video tutorial, that I finally finished this Day Bag. It was sitting on my sewing machine for two weeks before I finally got the straps on. It was one of those dribs-and-drabs projects that hung around for too long to excite me enough to finish it. But I did it anyway.

Now I quite like it - I only wish that RED was an easier colour to photograph. And I wish we had more sunshine this week because all my photos look dull.

Another thing that I finished last week was overhauling the Day Bag instructions. I often re-work instructions as I discover better ways to do things, and a few things were bugging me about the layout of these notes. Now there are more photos and diagrams, clearer instructions and a better ordering of the steps to making the Day bag - all in booklet form.

Still photographing bits for the new website.... and chasing suppliers around. We've been having problems getting some of our flat o-rings lately. These rings (above) are the temporary substitute for our 38mm rings. They're like our shiny shiny square-edge 25mm rings, only bigger (40mm). Still shiny, shiny... and rather lovely.

Same price and code as the 38mm rings for now.

2-pack - $4.95 - CODE: OFLAT38/2
4-pack - $8.65 - CODE: OFLAT38/4
10-pack - $20.80 - CODE: OFLAT38/10

And the Barrel Purses are breeding... They're popping up around the blogosphere too, as super sewing gals are testing the pattern for me. Ann Marie, Cam and Kathryn have all made them. Super-trouper Lara is lined up to go through the final print with a fine-tooth comb.

This pattern should be hitting the shelves by the time we get to Sydney, and I'll be making a lovely display of them, for sure. If you're coming to the show, come and say hello.... or just come and fondle these cute little purses. There may also be a few other surprise patterns there... shhhh.

Flickr Favourites Friday

I love what Sharon has done with my Mod pattern.

She made another gorgeous one here. Isn't she clever?

These pics and more are in the Flickr photo pool for bags made with my patterns and supplies. If you have any to add, feel free - I love to see them! From time to time I do a favourites post. Usually on a Friday.

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Have a lovely weekend.

My Creative Space

Twenty years ago....

I was sent home from my parents' house last weekend with an ENORMOUS folio (which I'd quite conveniently left in my childhood bedroom for 20 years. Apparently it's no longer required there). Opening it up was like stepping back to 1989. Mountains of design roughs from fashion college, storyboards, life drawings.... random bits of paper that I wonder why I kept...

...And I'm back in a flat in St Kilda with a sack of Yoken marker pens and an overwhelming project ahead: my final range for the graduate show at RMIT. Watching The Scarlet Pimpernel on television. Reading about the Regency period.

Drawing and drawing and drawing.... working through design ideas.

Coming up with a few ideas I decide to follow through...

Patternmaking, toilling, finding fabrics...

(I know I've posted these photos before, but they're in context here too!).Making hats, fake fob watches. Organising my brother to make twisted walking sticks from apple-tree roots...
Illustrations, storyboards, folios. Mountains of Letraset. Typewriters.
And a week before final assessment realising that I was yet to actually MAKE the garments!

That week.... passing in a blur of tears, coffee, no-doz and a real fear that there was absolutely NO WAY I was going to get it all done. Roping in my sister for a few all-night artwork-mounting sessions. My mother on the day of my assessment -following me around with Lucozade and fruit salad ("You need to EAT something!"). ...Right down to the last 15 minutes before my presentation to a panel of lecturers and industry heads (when I - normally meek and mild but presently caffeine and panic fuelled - snapped at a senior member of RMIT staff that it was too bad that they were ready to see me - my appointment time was in 15 minutes and I would see them then. I had photocopying to do!). It's a recurring nightmare I've had ever since - the anxiety dream I have when there's too much to do in too little time. The difference is that now, twenty years on, I know that I'll survive it. I'll get it all done and get the result that I want.

Oh... and I'll see you in Sydney, folks! (Believe me - I'll get there!).

See more creative spaces over at Kirsty's.

How to insert eyelets in straps

My cinematographer and I have been at it again... This time it's a video tutorial on using our eyelet kits - something I'm often asked to demonstrate in classes.

I'm using the saddlers punch (again) and working on the Day Bag.

I love my saddler's punch... have I mentioned that before?



For those of you who missed it, I also have a tutorial (not video) on how to use eyelet pliers - here.

Small details

Nothing big happened today. It's all about the small bits right now - the details of pulling together new patterns, preparation for classes, accommodation for the Sydney Stitches and Craft Show.

Chipping away at lots of corners and not seeing anything forming yet.... spending more time organising activities to keep the wee one occupied (do you want glitter with that? ...sticky tape? ...you want to do footprint paintings?... whatever will keep you occupied, darling...) than I did actually doing any of the tasks I'd set for myself.

Little by little.... that's just how it is in these here parts. But we get there. And we collect a lot of fine child-art along the way.

Other small things I forgot to mention - the winner of our "Spend over $50" draw prize for June was Monika Griffin. She won a packet of super-fun inkjet fabric. This months prize will be a 75mm purse frame kit with fabric included. At the end of the month we put all the month's invoice numbers into a random number generator and the first invoice for over $50 wins a prize. Easy-peasy.

Sonny & Coco

Another lovely market in the Northern Suburbs... and what better sight to greet us as we walked in but Melbourne Epicure's delightful delights.... mmmm.... and Cathie was as lovely as ever, too.


The wee girl and I assumed our regular positions.... me following her around, handing over money for all the cakes, hairclips, badges, face painting, jigsaw puzzes and heaven-knows-what-else she decided was a must-have. (Quote of the day - wee girl stands in front of a table full of babies' bibs and says with a determined tone, "Hmmmm.... now what can we buy here...?").

Felicity was (taking cover from the icy breeze coming through the door) behind a wall of gorgeous colour and characterful softie critters. I took loads of photos but none of them really captured the full glory of it all. In fact, none of them were really in focus....?

The same happened with trying to photograph these lovely brooches.... I couldn' tseem to get a good shot. I bought a lovely brooch for myself from Madz - determined to get something for myself this time.

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We then went over to the Newport Folk Festival to catch up with my sister and her choir in the Substation. We missed her performance (left the market too late) but enjoyed amazing voices in the fantastic acoustics of the Substation and then caught some of the music playing around Newport. I didn't take any photos, but I think Leonie will probably do a post on the festival..... when the weekend is over. I suspect she's busy playing a guitar somewhere right now.

The Great Purse Frame Crimper Debate...

I'm often asked about purse frame crimpers, so I thought I'd share my experience of them.

Years ago I heard that there was such a tool so I sent Mr Google to work to find me some. I ended up Paying $70AUD (including currency conversion and postage) for a tool to be sent from the USA..

Yup - it's a c-clamp vice grip with a block of wood stuck on it. I could have bought the clamp from Bunnings for $30 and organised the wood bit for myself.

The metal end originally had a piece of felt glued to it, but it fell off ..as did the subsequent five or six pieces I glued to it.

The clamp had a rounded end on it (??!) so I asked a metal-worker friend to grind it flat for me. The felt still fell off. Even hat felt and the strongest glues I could find couldn't stop the felt from breaking away after a few too many squeezes on frames.

And it did this to frames...

So I ditched the purse frame crimpers and went back to my tried and true super-secret-unless-you-buy-a-kit-from-me method***, which gives me results like this... much better.

I've stuck with that since. I only use the crimpers occasionally - for really small, fiddly bits - with a chunk of cork coaster protecting the frame from the sharp, ground down (and felt-repellent) metal bit. Even then I find them awkward and annoying.

Anicipating small and fiddly bits on my new frame purse, I started to get nervous.... But today I found this set for $15 in my local hardware shop. I liked the look of the tool in the middle, with its flat smooth ends and compact size.

With a bit of cork coaster and cardboard cushioning, I tried each tool on a frame. Surprisingly, the tool on the far right worked the best. I half expected it to damage the outside edge of the frame - as normal pliers often do - but it crimped at just the right angle and the outside of the frame was safely in that open area in the middle of the pincer bits. As you can see, I'm right up on my technical tool-talk.

The only down side was the rough adjuster thingamy on the end pressing into my palm. (Hours later, it still feels somewhere between a mild burn and a bruise).

So I devised this high-tech method of hand protection....

Of course, you could use fabric other than Amy Butler's for the crimper... but the koala cork coasters definitely work the best! ;)

For more details on working with purse frames.... you can buy a kit here! And if you know of a good purse frame crimping tool... pray tell us all where to get it!

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***And please remember, kids.... if you still want me around to make patterns and kits and tutorials, please respect copyright and don't share my secret method!!!

:)