My Creative Space

Smells like lavender....

See what else is going on in the creative blogosphere over at Kirsty's.

Super-crafty school holiday studio goings-on.

The studio has been a hive of crafty action this week.  The fancy-schmantzy Bernina extension table was repurposed as a lightbox/tracing table.
 

My assistant's latest obsession is tracing things, so the table with a few Ikea lamps shoved underneath was a HUGE hit.

There was also a goodly amount of pva glue splashed around.  Two new fabric scrap bowls are drying on the window sill.

And not to be outdone on the foyer (lobby) noticeboard (by the blokes downstairs), the wee girl contributed her own football poster.

It appears that four and a half years of indoctrination* has been a resounding success.

*Her father is immensely proud!

Today I fused paper-backed fusible web to various coloured fabrics for the wee girl to make an applique cushion. 

The paper made it easy to cut out shapes.  She then peeled off the paper and placed the pictures on the denim backing fabric. 

Then she reworked the design completely. 

Eventually, things were fused and stitched into place (wee girl on my knee, operating the presser foot up-and-down and the reverse button). 

Then the shape of the cushion was re-designed (to be the same width as the sky), re-cut and re-sewn. 

Then it was stuffed.

It was at this point that she hit it with the metaphorical REJECT stamp.

"It's a HORRIBLE shape!" 

She wanted it to be square, but with the edge of the cushion at the edge of the picture.  She'd miscalculated the dimensions of the central image.



She wouldn't look at it while I finished stuffing and slipstitching it.  She played with little magnet things instead. 

She told me not to blog it (SHHHHH!), but I think it's fantastic.  I hope that one day she'll be glad that I recorded it.  I also hope that her perfectionist streak (where could she have got that from?) is a little phase she'll grow out of.

So.....  What have I been up to? 

I made a lavender bag.


I'm reworking the Homespun project into a simple little project/kit, to be released alongside the Kiss purse kit.  Both should be ready early next week.

A great day for it.

(....for photographing crafty projects in the garden, that is.)

The finished Boteh Scarf was very well received by my soon-to-be-birthdaying sister.

Mid-laundry-hanging, I was spontaneously inspired to photograph these little dresses. It's best to photograph things before too many run-ins with kid and/or front-loader and these have each seen a few rounds already.

The denim dress detail was featured in my yo-yo post but the green (felted wool) one has thus far slipped through the photographic net. 

The flowers are a combination of felted jumper (the blue), hand felted string and needle-felting and machine embroidery (the flower centres).

I finished a prototype of a wallet (on the request of my sister-in-law) but I wasn't 100%  happy with it.  I had to unpick and redo the binding twice before I bit the bullet and hand-stitched it. 

Now I'm not happy with the finish and I don't think I have the time to develop the design into something machine-stitchable and pattern-writable.  It needs a LOT of development.... but it'll do as an "OFMSIL" (Only For My Sister-In-Law.... yes, the category range of OF's is broadening...).

I was, however, VERY happy with Vilene S520 and S320 on the card pockets and dividers.  Super smooth and fine, but nice and strong. 

There was also a bit of pottery action in the garden (and it's an activity that will ONLY EVER be in the garden.... clay everywhere!).

And there was a fair bit of creative gardening going on.

I hope you had a lovely weekend.

Special Delivery

These new leather bag straps from Clover are lovely.  Just gorgeous.  Beautiful quality leather with "antique brass" fittings.

They're not cheap ($53.90 a pair), but would be perfect on a special handmade bag.  I'm not going to carry a large stock of these, but can order them in black or brown for anyone who needs them.

So I finally did it.... this week.

As I mentioned before, This week I joined Facebook and Twitter. You may have noticed a bit of new widgetry about the blog and website (or not).

I can see why I avoided all this social media hoo-har for so long.... what day is it and how much time have I spent in front of the screen????

It's been lovely to reconnect with old friends through my personal Facebook account and at last I've created a Facebook page for the business to broadcast updates from the land of Nicole Mallalieu Design (to the non-blog-readers of the world).

And my goodness, this week I even updated to the "new" Blogger editor (it's not exactly new anymore, is it?)

Another thing I did was crack the Boteh Scarf code. 

This thing has been worked and reworked and I finally have the idea of how to do it.  (Lara - cancel that lesson, we'll just have a cuppa instead!). This yarn doesn't photograph well, but it's a rather lovely denim-coloured cotton yarn called "Amalfi" - bought in the Lincraft yarn sale.

Le book has also reached a point where the designers and editors are working together to put the whole thing together.  Sample pages are being emailed between various parties.  It's looking like a real book is happening.

Another workshop Scheduled!

I reckon I could squeeze in a Bag In A Day class on the 7th November. 

It'll be fun.  I'll supply the patterns, interfacings, bag bases, magnetic snaps ....and some yummy snacks.  You provide the fabric and the desire to finish a bag in a day and go home feeling very clever indeed (with a new bag and a new skill set).

There'll be a maximum of 6 people in the class, so that's oodles of personal attention from me as I teach you all the tricks to making your bags look super special and well-finished.  I've had some great feedback about this class - if you'd like to join us, you can book HERE. 

In other news, I'm trying to work my head around Facebook and Twitter.  Apparently I should have been doing that years ago.  I'll be updating both with workshop and classes as I see windows of opportunity to run them, so stay tuned! 

A spot of crochet action

Playing with multi-colour cotton yarn...

...between page loads today.

I finished a wash cloth (yep - I finished the whole square!). Who'd a thunk it?

Go on.... give us a kiss!

I began this pattern some time early last year, and it's finally at "testing" stage.  Watch this space - there'll be a new kid on the block soon!

Using the 200mm Chunky frame (or the similar frames with loops), it's a flirty small handbag that can stand on its own.... errr... five feet.

It can also be a wristlet... and a little bit shabby chic.

Or teamed with a silver purse chain and a modern print (like this one from Saffron Craig).



And you know what?  I didn't ask anyone what to call it.  It'll simply be the Kiss purse.

If you've never made a frame purse before, I'd suggest you start on one of the more simple purse kits and then move on to the barrel shapes. 

Alternatively, if you feel you need a bit more help, I'm going to schedule a Purse Frame Class on the 9th October. Make a booking through the website to grab a place.  I only work with groups of 6, so get in quick! 

There's an up-side to being the size of the average 12-year-old

So there's another change in plans.... and it involves moving that flower a bit.

Yo Yo Maker Tutorial

Here's a remake of the video promised yesterday. It shows how to make yo-yo's (Suffolk Puffs) using the (Clover brand) Quick Yo Yo Maker.

Check yesterday's blog post (if you missed it) for ideas on how to use yo yo's for all sorts of embellishments and hair ornaments.

You may have noticed....

I'm a bit of a fan of a bit of a yo-yo embellishment, especially since I discovered the Clover Yo Yo Maker. Before that, I was calling them Suffolk Puffs and making them with bits of cardboard and lots of fussy edge-turning. Some of them were a bit wonky.

I discovered that with these little gadgets, I could make perfectly uniform, evenly gathered yo-yo's - without having to think about it - and I could stitch them onto everything.

And stitch them, I do.

I also combine them with buttons and hair ties....

...and hairclips.
I particularly like doing lots of arty-farty free-machine embroidery all over the top of them - this time to tart up a simple A-line dress. ( It kind of takes the lolly-sweet out of them and makes them a bit funky, don't you think?)

Until recently, I only stocked the small and the large sizes (but I secretly owned all the other sizes). I've now added the EXTRA large size (which makes 60mm yo-yo's) to the shop.

I promised someone a visual tutorial (yes Chrys - that'd be YOU!) - AND I MADE A VIDEO - but I'm going to have to edit or re-shoot it. I think it could be made better. Stay tuned, folks!

My Creative Space

Is at the dull end of the creative process.

And I don't think I'll be going with the working title for this one.

Kirst's is where it's at today. See what's happening in the creative blogosphere over there.

On the way to work this morning....

I found myself at GJ's Discount Fabrics. In the back room, there was a pile of patchwork fabrics on clearance for $12 and $8 per metre - Moda, Robert Kauffman, Vera Bradley, Michael Miller etc.

If you're in get-down-there-quick-before-all-the-good-stuff-is-gone distance, it might be worth popping in for a spot of stash-building. (Word of warning - I bought the last 3.5 metres of the Moda "Sweet" rose and stripe print).

A slight change in plans.... OR... How to spot a knitter with a background in Millinery.

I learned early in my hat-making career that you can hide a multitude of sins - if indeed make a silk purse from a sows ear - with the right size cabbage-rose, spray of feathers or well-placed bead feature.
I've now extended the theory to include crochet flowers and slip-stitch chain detailing on knitwear.

...and the unravelling of sleeves and blocking-the-bejaysus-out-of-the-garment to reduce the dodgey "make one stitch" increases. A few little stitches with a darning needle can work a treat, too.

But it still looks wonky.... and not at all like the sleeved tunic I thought I was making.


A good knitter would have unravelled and started again at the first (garter-stitch-edging-on-the bodice-gone-wrong) mistake, but I ploughed on.

I was on a mission to learn all the techniques that the pattern was introducing and calling the result a "toile". It was a practise garment that would be snagged and paint-spattered too soon to worry about little or large imperfections. Serious OFMK knitting.

There was a little issue with the size. I wanted an oversized tunic, but probably one that would fit within the next year or two.

Perhaps I should have done that gauge swatch...?
I'm assuming that by the time the girl fits into it, she won't like it. This run around the backyard (with the dress falling off the shoulders) will probably be one of its few outings.

Luckily, I learned a lot on this much-embellished sows-ear OFMK toile.

Not your average garage sale

If you're around Brunswick tomorrow (Sunday 12th Sept), you could do worse things than pop in to visit my lovely soon-to-be-ex neighbours, Theme from JAK. They're having a garage sale before they move premises.

There isn't a broken toy or old pair of shoes in sight. There are river stones and fake turf.... xmas decorations by the ton....

Exotic Eastern homewares...

Razzle-dazzle musical notes....

Polystyrene numbers.... (Is that how you spell polystyrene?).

In fact... cut-outs to suit just about every theme possible....

Ribbons and bows and glittery bits....

Garlands and artificial flowers and vases and platters and....

...sticker mirror tiles (which kept my wee girl occupied this evening).

There are fantastic printed balloons, cocktail parasols, all manner of glittery, sequinsie things, baskets and lampshades and fairy lights and LOADS more interesting and gorgeous things. I've bought enough party supplies to last until the wee girl's 21st.

Jane and Kerryn are super-talented event stylists, who specialise in big themed parties, Bar Mitzvahs and weddings. They have SO MUCH FUN STUFF to clear out before they move to their new digs....and it's all priced to SELL!

If you can get along, they'll be at 420 Victoria St Brunswick (Building B, which is through the carpark at the back of my building) from 10am tomorrow.