Gearing up

Ahhh... A lovely clean studio and a picturesque display of the beginnings of a leisurely craft project...

Yes, well, that didn't last long. 

That photo was from the week after Christmas, when my studio was still empty, having been cleared for our family Christmas lunch, and I was embarking on my holiday quilting project.

For the last month or so, it's been looking pretty much like this...

I've been making garments and step by-step-samples of garment techniques, in preparation for my classes at Grampians Texture this year.

This year, my 2-day and 4-day classes are both about garment sewing. 

The 4-day class - The Endless Wardrobe - is about making the most of the garment patterns by changing around or adding details like pockets, button and zipper openings, collars, cuffs, pleats and gathers. A single pattern can be used as a foundation for endless designs, if you know a few clever patternmaking and garment sewing techniques. We'll be exploring a lot of those.

There have been a couple of late cancellations in the 4-day workshop, which means that there is still room in the class for late enrollments. If you feel like spontaneously treating yourself to a textiles retreat (18th-23rd March), here's your opportunity! :)

I'm looking forward to the lovely bubble of textile goodness and gorgeous Grampians landscape that Grampians Texture is. 

I'm looking forward to friendly kangaroos on my classroom doorstep.

If you want a single day of this sort of thing, I'm teaching at Cutting Cloth in Fairfield again this year.  Apart from March (when I'll be in the Grampians), I'll be there on the 3rd Sunday of each month. You can work on your own projects, and I can help with things like fitting and tweaking and lots of tricks for a faster, easier or better finish. 

And yes - the holiday quilting project was finished.  It was a quilt for my girl's bed. No guessing what she asked the design to be.

The fabric is mostly Jodie Carleton's range "The Cat's Pajamas".  I made up the cat as I went along, and the quilt blocks in the background are from Tula Pink's Modern Quilt Blocks book.  I quilted the whole thing with cat-head shapes.

This is the back of the quilt.

In other news, I have book edits coming in soon for the new book (due out in November) and I'm back at my regular fashion school job.  

It's all go. No more tidy studio.

Teaching and Writing and Living and Dying

Yes - I'm still here...occasionally peeping out from behind the curtain of real life and the Facebook and Instagram rabbit hole. This year, I've been pretty well occupied and away from this slower, more considered form of communication.

When I received notification of my Weekender Bag project being a Top 10 hit over at Creativebug, it occurred to me that I hadn't actually mentioned that class in this space before.

It appears that since I was burgled recently, the new owners of my old computer now have all the images I had of this bag, so here's a screen capture of me in action... talking to a finished bag.

I use my original version of the bag for hauling student folios to and from my regular teaching job.

I do a lot of hauling of folios, and marking of folios, these days... and a lot of kid-free Friday nights look like this.

One looked like this... :(

I've also been teaching a Garment Construction class regularly at Kellie Wulfsohn's fabulous fabric shop Cutting Cloth in Fairfiled (Melbourne).

The classes are on the 3rd Sunday of every month and you can come and go month by month, doing pretty much as you please (although I start you off on an A-Line Skirt if you're a newbie) with lots of help and tips and tricks from me.

The rest of my time this year has been all about juggling the joys and sorrows (and Mum's taxi service) of family life, wholesale biz and working on a new book. Much of the last few months has looked like this...

And the crazy-wild-kid-free Friday night version looks a bit like this...

As I near the completion of the book project, there's a sort of freeing-up of mental bandwidth, and ideas are flowing again. I'm tying up loose ends, ticking off long-overdue to-do lists... and thinking about the way ahead from here.

I have plans... Stay tuned. 

Part 2 - Or Why I Do What I Do.

I think I may have mentioned the wonderfulness of Grampians Texture before, but I only touched the surface.  It's hard to put into a few words and pictures.

 

 

A brief show-and-tell at the end of each of the 2-day and 4-day workshops is a visual summary of what took place, but the rewards run much deeper and richer than that.  When I look at these purses and bags, I see the people behind them, the challenges they faced, the stories they shared and the achievements that were made.

 

Below, I see a cluster of purses at the front, made by 3 lovely ladies who were 'knitters and embroiderers' and had no faith in their ability with a sewing machine. 

  

And I met so many wonderful people.... 

We laughed, we cried, we sewed.... we conquered fears.

We made bags.

Anne drove down from Sydney to come to my 4-day workshop, which made me feel very honoured.  I'm so glad that the adventure of designing, pattern-making and sewing up a bag was a part of the her journey.

Val thought that she'd never understand the pattern-making process.... but this (below) is the bag she designed and made (including the pattern) ... before whipping up a quick Fan Bag to finish the 4-day workshop.

Viki was afraid of zippers, but managed to do a stirling job of a feature zipper on the front of her bag, a zippered gusset in the top and an exposed zipper pocket on the lining.

I was thrilled to be able to teach seasoned dressmakers like Viv and Faye a few new tricks.

And when I took Viv slightly outside her (zipper) colour-matching comfort zone, it was a joy to see her triumph.

There was so, so much more to it...but in these deadline-heavy days, I haven't had the time to ponder the perfect blog post about it, nor even find the right few words.

I'm tired.  I'm busy.  I have another cold. I'm thinking about the book I have to finish writing.

But these photos speak volumes to me. 

The next phase

Yes, I know.. it's very unlike me to fill sketchbooks or write notes and lists....

But the usual, "let's see what we can make from this chaos of ideas and half-started projects" attitude doesn't cut it with craft book publishers... and there have been talks with publishers (nothing is set in stone).  We're at the pre-aquisitions planning and list-writing stage, so there's no way this free-forming non-list-writing chick can avoid it. 

And the funny thing is, I'm enjoying it.  It means endless hours spent watching slideshows on Style.com, playing with design ideas, playing cutting-and-pasting, and calling it "work".

Today, since the wee girl has a little friend over to play, I'm hoping to steal odd moments to play with fabric and patterns, too.   I'm breaking out of the usual mold and about to explore a wider range of fabrics for bag-making....

I have a very interesting roll of all sorts of millinery fabrics from Torb&Reiner to play with.  Collaboration and fun times ahead... I love the opportunity to branch out and learn new things.  New materials and a lack of comfort-zone habits present new curve balls, and usually result in Great Leaps Forward.  I love Great Leaps Forward.

Rather serendipitously, I've also been invited to teach at next year's Grampians Texture retreat, where I'll get to put all the above "work" into practise in some workshops.  My workshops will have a focus on bag-making techniques, using unconventional or handmade textiles...

Looking at the programme of events and the callibre of the tutors, I'm actually wishing I was able to go as a paying guest... It looks like Textile Heaven!

And quite aside from all this overlapping of skills and note-writing and whatnot, I can't stop thinking about something completely unrelated.

I've borrowed my sewing buddie's (Japanese) Pattern Drafting Vol III book (borrowed, because I can't seem to find my own copy for less than $150, these days!).  It was published in 1972, so the silhouettes are inspiring a healthy dose of nostalgia for the things that I wore as a kid, and the illustrations are an absolute delight.

Also inspired to make clothing patterns, is the smallest designer in the building.  Here's her nightie design and related pattern pieces... to inspire me.... (I love those collar pieces..).

Right at this moment, the playdate that's going on here is involving one little girl teaching another to sew (super-cute), using my machine.  I guess that means that my opportunity to sew was spent writing this blog post, and I'll have to get back to my lists and sketchbooks for a bit longer.

I do believe I was in Adelaide yesterday....

I was up at 4am yesterday and home at 9.30pm.  In between I taught a class at Hettie's Patch in Adelaide. Today,  it feels like a bit of a dream. 

 I'd never been to Adelaide before, and I'm still not sure I can actually say "I've been to Adelaide" (not that it's ever bothered me before...), but I can at least say with confidence, that I've been to Hettie's Patch in Hindmarsh and that it is a fabulous Aladdin's cave of all sorts of fabric wonders.

Yes.  Even cat fabric.  (And yes, some came home for the smallest fabric freak in the family). 

The combination of fabric evidence, Amanda's blog and these few photos on my camera tells me that I wasn't dreaming.  And I seem to remember having a lovely time and meeting lots of wonderful people, including the super-friendly and fun staff at Hettie's.

We also seem to have slightly less hardware stock here in Melbourne today, since the full range of rings and things is now available at Hettie's for all you South Australian bag-making gals.

And today, when I felt the absolute need for a midday power-nap and woke up at 4pm*, I realised that I was indeed feeling the effects of having had a big day out yesterday.

*And all I can say is that the (newly discovered) ABC iView app for iPod touch saved my school holiday bacon.  The novelty of watching all her favourite programmes as she pleased and on a small hand-held screen, while snuggled into bed with (sleeping) Mummy was a rare holiday treat for the small girl, and it meant that she didn't think to wake me.  I'm usually not a fan of electronic gizmos as school holiday entertainment, but today I loved having an electronic gizmo to hand over to a child.

But I'm still struggling to believe that, having flown interstate and back again - as I've been doing a bit lately - that I came back to Melbourne airport and didn't spend at least half and hour looking for my car in the long term carpark.  Surely that wasn't ME, getting in a car and driving straight home...?

Teaching (..and not teaching)

It's occurred to me more than once, that this scene is my comfort zone. 

No matter what kind of chaos, minor ailments, grief or stress is going on in daily life, I step into this scene and feel like I'm home. 

It's wonderful to meet so many other people from the sewing-tribe, who are interested and enthusiastic about the same things that I am.  Best of all, I get to see them take a journey from uncertainty and self-doubt to bustin-out-all-over pride in their achievements.

Thank you Bargain Box in Mornington and all the fab people who came to the class and trunk show on Wednesday.  (Apologies to those of you who read my mailing list false-advertisement about the sewing machines being included in the 30% off special on the night.  I can't read or write late at night, obviously, and somehow read "EXCLUDES" and wrote "INCLUDES"...).


I'm currently gathering up my kit  and packing my bags to fly up to Canberra in the morning.  I'll be at Addicted To Fabric all day Saturday and Sunday.... and loving it.
 
Of course, there are other times when my teaching is unwelcome forbidden.... My knows-everything-about-sewing 6-year-old is on the home straight with the quilt she began in the last school holidays.  It's a lap-quilt for me, for when I'm working at the computer in winter.

 ...and it's coming along quite nicely thankyou, without any input from me. 

Rather typically, this quilt designer has opted for a less-than-traditional approach.... leaning more towards the art-quilt end of the spectrum.  Each block has been an experiment in colour combining, fabric origami, fibre and texture.... and all has been shoved under the poor little Mini Elna with great confidence and lots of singing.

My heart swells....

Tour Dates

I'm traveling a bit this year.  Packing up my bag of tricks and getting out to those of you who can't get into classes in my studio.  I'll also be in my studio a bit, too.



These are the dates in my diary so far....

MARCH 2012-

Wednesday 14th - The Blanket Box, Geelong - A "trunk show" of my patterns and samples of what they make.  Try things on and have a chat!

Sunday 11th March - You SEW Girl,, Northcote - Private booking  Purse Frame workshop

Saturday 17th March - You SEW Girl, Northcote - Customised Bag In A Day

Saturday 24th March - You SEW Girl, Northcote - Private booking - Bag in a Day

Wednesday 28th March - Bargain Box Fabrics, Mornington - Shell Purse Class and Trunk Show

Saturday 31st March, Sunday 1st April - Addicted to Fabric, Canberra - Zips for Bags and Shell Purse classes


APRIL 2012

Mondays 16th April to 7th May - You SEW Girl, Northcote - Absolute Beginner's sewing course

Saturday 21st April - Australian Sewing Guild, Essendon  - 'A Sharper Edge' class

Saturday 28th April - Kimono House, Melbourne - Trapese Line top and Book Signing


MAY 2012

12th May You SEW Girl, Northcote - Customised Bag in a Day

Friday 25th May - Treehouse Textiles, Merricks - Bag in a Day

Thursday 31st May to 28th June - You SEW Girl, Northcote - Patternmaking For Bags 2


JUNE 2012

Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd June - Australasian Quilt Market, Sydney - Wholesale show

Tuesday 5th June - Peg's Pieces , Kirrawee NSW- Class content to be confirmed


Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th June - Addicted to Fabric, Canberra - Purse frame and 'Sharper Edge' bag-making classes.

Saturday 23rd June - Kimono House, Melbourne - A-Line Skirt workshop


JULY 2012

Sunday 8th July - Hetties Patch, Hindmarsh, SA - Class content to be confirmed

Saturday 14th July - Kimono House, Melbourne - Class content to be confirmed.

Thursday 19th July - International Federation for Home Economics World Congress, Melbourne - Zippered Purses workshop

Saturday 21st July - You SEW Girl, Northcote - Zipper's for Bags workshop (Now BOOKED OUT - please email us if you'd like to go on the waiting list.  I'll schedule another class soon.)


AUGUST 2012

Saturday 11th August Kimono House, Melbourne - Trapese Line Top
Friday 17th August - Treehouse Textiles, Merricks



SEPTEMBER 2012

Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd September - NOTY Quilter's Symposium  - purse workshops

Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th September - Addicted to Fabric, Canberra - Class content to be confirmed

There will be other dates popping up during the year - there are discussions going on - and there will be more classes scheduled at my studio.  I'll keep you posted here, on Facebook and through my newsletters.

Photos  by Denise Nestor - Bus Stop Bag and Preschool Backpack  projects, from my book "You Sew Girl!"