My Weblog

I'm back!

I'm back! I didn't actually go anyere, but what I did do was study full time for 6 weeks. School everyday from 9.30 to 3.00 plus homework plus preparing for market stalls left me just enough time for eating, sleeping and breathing! - so no blogging for me! I have been spending a lot of time at my sewing machine (now repaired after having a tantrum last week) and heres some of what I've been making.

Inspired by a full circle collar/top-type piece I saw spied in a Japanese sewing book, I have been making "collar scarves" which are reversible pieces which can be worn as a collar/vest/scarf depending on how they are wrapped and pinned around the body. This one was made using plain cotton drill and a bold printed quilting cotton.

The "tails" of the scarf can also be wrapped around the hips and pinned at the front to create a belt

I have also been working on some Japanese-inspired vests. I'm happy with the fact that they have visual interest from all angles.

Heatwave!

At last some relief! Three days of 40 degree plus really takes it out of you! Last week was my first week back at "school". It sure has been a long time since I have been in a traditional classroom environment (about 12 years, actually) My brain was about the consistency of unrefrigerated ice-cream for most of the week, so I hope I took in the important bits. But with the crazy extreme weather, I think everyone was pretty much in the same boat. It got so hot at my place that the yabbie who lives in the fish-tank upstairs decided to climb out to avoid being poached and high-tailed it to the back door! My workspace it also upstairs so it was pretty hard to be productive. The sum of my total efforts was one skirt and couple of tunic tops.

I had my first stall at the Rose Street Artists Market on Saturday (the pre-Xmas one fell through due to lack of council permits). As I had kind of anticipated, it was a pretty quiet day, and who could blame people for going to beach, or to air-conditioned cinemas or just lounging around a home recovering from the week. Still, now that I have had much first market there I have better sense of how it all works and can plan for next month (fingers closed for a pleasant 25 degrees!)

 

New design

Thinking about the feedback I got on my reversible tops at the market, I decided I needed to rework my sizing because they didn't fit a  broad enough spectrum of body types. I'm working on that at the moment. Something else I've been working on is using the bodices to create a more tunic-style top. This is my first finished version. I wanted it to have a slightly flapper-ish feel to it with the drop waist. Like the smaller bodices, it is fully reversible, but this time I've used cotton heading tape which threads through loops sewn into the side seams of the tunic to allow the piece to be fitted to individual bodies. The wide tape seems to be more flattering in the way it sits on the body as opposed to the elastic which can dig in to the torso.

This is a size small. Next...larger sizes.

Oh, and I've got some good news to share. I had an interview for NEIS (New Enterprise Incentive Scheme) and was successfull! NEIS is a government funded program which helps small businesses get started. You take part in a 10 week small business course and also receive some financial assistance for 12 months to help you be able to work full-time in your business. I start the course next Tuesday (the day after my Birthday). I reckon it's a pretty good may to start my 30th year:)

Outdoor market logistics

Did my first outdoor market on Sunday: the Shirt and Shirt Market at the Abbotsford Convent. It's a really lovely location for a market, set against the backdrop of the historic Convent buildings and their well-established gardens. The vibe is relaxed and upbeat, with lots of people coming for a late brekky at the Convent Bakery and families incorporating a bit market shopping into their day at the nearby children farm. Being a dedicated fashion market it was also a wonderful opportunity to check out the work of other Melbourne designers and chat with them about the ins and outs of marketeering. Being a bit of a late applicant into this market I found myself scrambling to get myself sorted for the day. Luckily, Dad donated his marquee for me to use. But when I received the market organisers email advising of potential high winds I had panicked visions of my flimsy Bunnings marque sailing off into the sky like an awkward air balloon, so I quickly tracked down a garden supplier and got myself some sandbags to weigh it down, as well as borrowing some 20L water containers to serve the same purpose. By my own admission, I went a bit overboard paranoid with weight thing. My poor little station wagon pulled up to the Convent in the morning, groaning under the weight about 160kg of weights along with all my other gear! It turned out to be a beautiful, clear day with hardly a breath of wind! Still, better safe than sorry, I suppose! According to the regular stallholders, it was pretty quiet day, but a made enough sales to make the day worthwhile and got some pretty valuable experience in what is involved in setting up an outdoor market stall. I came home satisfied but also completely knackered!

   

Market update

Just a quick little post to say that I will be selling my handmade wares at the Shirt and Skirt market at the Abbotsford Convent this Sunday (18th Jan), at the Rose Street Artist Market on Saturday 31st Jan and at the Yarraville Arts Festival on Saturday 14th Feb. Looks like it's shaping up to be a busy start of the year! I also wanted to share my most recent secondhand finds: a beautiful pair of soft leather pointy-toed knee-high boots ($4 from a local garage sale) and vibrant fire-engine red fitted turle-neck jumper a found at Savers. Yes, I know it's the middle of the Australian summer, but when you are a dedicated op-shopper you have to snap up what you find when you find it!

Hope to see you at a market some time soon!

New Year, new stuff

I'm still in denial. It can't really be 2009, can it? Don't a whole lot of supa-important things need to happen by the mythical "2010"? How can people talk about "last year" when they are referring to things that happened a mere few weeks ago?! Looks like it'll take me a little while to settle into this 2009 thing. Still, it's been a pretty good year so far on the home are craft front.
I picked up this old wooden ironing board at Savers last week for $7.99.
 
and Ed has re-terraformed the big fish tank in the lounge room with the help of some pieces of the great driftwood we found down the coast.
 
And the garden is still producing. This is our first cucumber.

and the cutest stubby little carrots!

Meanwhile, I've been working on some half-tops/bodices. I had a similar little top I found at an oppy years ago, so I took it apart and made a pattern from it. Not entirely happy with the lack of bust room, length or degree to which it wrapped around the body, I played around with a simple shift dress pattern to come of with a version with a fit that I was happier with. Here are few of my faves .They're all fully reversible (so whilst they are half a top you get two halves, so I guess that kinda makes them whole tops!)

I've also been working on some more skirts. But this time I have been using a quilt-as-I-go method when making the feature panels which seems stabilise the pieced fabric and prevents warping. I'm feeling pretty happy with how they are evolving in terms of structure and design.

  

A holiday! (short but sweet)

Despite our less than healthy bank balances, Ed and I decided it was time for a holiday, so we packed the car, dropped off the puss at my parents house and headed down to their holiday place at Somers. As luck would have it, the Bittern market was on on the Sunday we drove down (a market is like a siren song for both of us) so we stopped in there and had lunch and a browse before heading down to the beach. I've never been the type to enjoy lying on the beach all day in blistering heat (with my white skin that's probably a damn good thing) but give me windy, slightly overcast day, and I feel much more at home walking barefoot on the shore, peering into rockpools. We sussed out a wonderfully sculptural piece of driftwood lying on the beach which we thought would look great in one of our fish tanks, but quiet inconveniently, it was attached to an entire fallen tree! Figuring that bringing a hack saw to the beach in broad daylight to cut it down to a managable size might not be received so well by our fellow beach goers be decided to return that night. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it. It's not often  you find a piece of wood like this which has practically tied itself in a knot.

The next day, after a fruitless fishing attempt we took ourselves off to Ashcombe maze (the largest and oldest hedge maze in Australia) It's really beautiful, as are the surrounding gardens. We made it through the first hedge maze but the second one defeated us.

But we redeemed ourselves by making it to the centre of the Rose Maze.

On our final day we drove to Mornington. The pier there is really cool. It's not like your average tame little pier. Instead, the sea crashes up through it's wooden boardwalk making the structure move and groan. Kind of wild and wooly feeling to be on it-quite exciting really.

Ahhh, nature...

On the drive back from Mornington we came across one of the best Op-shop strips I've been to.
A huge Salvos, Vinnies and another charity oppy, as well as a great place called Outlook Environmental which is like a cross between an Op-shop and the tip, with lots of furniture and building materials. I was in heaven! Here's what I picked up.

The mirror is set into a door with a great retro handle retained, and that particular 50s shade of green is my absolute fave. The fabric shown is only part of an enormous curtain I picked up for $1 (I'll make some funky skirts out of that). And the little poof...what can I say! It's green and circular (I have a bit of a fetish for circular furniture! So, all in all, it was a really enjoyable break- our kind of holiday.

Back at home, in the spirit of the New Year, we did a big clean out and rearrange of the house. This is my new favourite interior vista.

Merry post-Xmas

To the largest degree possible I managed to avoid Xmas retail madness this year which made things soooo much nicer. Low key Xmases are the way to go, I reckon. It's all about the food (and family too, of course;)) This was how I wrapped my pressies. I decided to forfeit the whole wrapping-paper thing and make the wrapping part of the gift, so everyone got a fabric bag.

  

Edwin and I spent Chrissy eve preparing a variety of dumpling fillings for our Xmas lunch starter offering. They worked out pretty well, especially the chicken, corn and leek versions. Mum cooked up pickled pork with mustard gravy, honey soy chicken legs and cheesy ham-rolled zucchini/asparagus things. Yummo! As predicted, we all stuffed ourselves silly until we had no absolutely no room left for another morsel...except a big fat serve of chocolate mouse with strawberries and whipped cream! We then spent the arvo intently digesting and watching Dexter epidodes. Nice and relaxed.

The garden is really beginning to reward us for the hard work put in with flowers and produce (I'd d never seen capsicum or corn growing until now.

As usual, I've been mucking around with fabric. These are some works in progress

and I made my first cushion cover to use up some scraps

and I'm thinging about what to do with this fantasic alphabet fabric I found at Savers last week

Oh, and I finished my first custom order apron last week too. Here's how it turned out.

I always line my aprons, but there is usually one "feature" side. With this one I wanted to make it fully reversible so that there where two disctinct sides (one pink based, the other green tied together by the mushroomy mauve).

Ed and I are heading off to the coast for a few days, so I'm going to go and make some carrot cupcakes with cream-cheese icing to take away with us. Have a good new year and see you in 2009 (Yikes!)

If only I could be this peaceful

If I was one to believe in reincarnation, I think I'd like to make my return as a cat. Bit of exploring, lots of affection, and lots and lots of relaxing. No stress about tommorrow, just enjoying now. You could teach me a lot Tomas!

Relaxing. Figures 1.1 - 1.3

 
And rudely awoken by troublesome human obsessively photographing his restful state.

See you at Rose Street

How wonderful has all that rain been! almost can't remember the last time it went on for that long!The water tank is full, along with a wheelie bin, and various other recepticles littered around the yard. The garden is squealing with delight. Perfect weather for going out for coffee and stickydate pudding or cosying up inside with a book listening to the patter of rain against the windows. Did  bit of both!
Got an impromtue invite to take part in the Rose Street artists market this coming Sunday the 21st.  Needless to day, I've been working pretty flat-out in preparation for the market. Below is a preview of what I will be selling. It's a great place to sort out your last-minute Xmas shopping. Hope to see you there!