Thursday, December 30, 2010

Whispering drawer of unfinished projects

I am working through the non-stat holidays over Christmas in the day job, but I have tasked myself in the down times with finishing some of those sewing projects that have been hanging around cluttering up drawers and generating guilty feelings.

I used to laugh at a friend of mine who started things incessantly and then left piles of stuff strewn around the house of half finished projects. It has taken a while for me to realise I am also that person. I have two drawers of unfinished projects and when I open the drawers I have to slam them shut again because the guilty feelings of lost interest come seeping out. With so little time and lots of fun things to do - it seems to take a real effort to go back to something I've moved on from and finish it off. Often more so because I may have put the project down because it got a little hard, or a little dull, or I made an error and the thought of unpicking everything again seemed too much to bear. However, I am sure they silently whisper to me making me feel mean when I opt for some new project. So you get the picture - that’s my holiday plan.

The mission so far …..
So far I have finished off some wee birdies I started. These were to be Christmas tree decorations but … well clearly if they are, its going to 2011. They may transform to being a mobile or something so I have placed them in the "presents" box.

I have also managed to finish a top I had started (pattern from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross). I got half way through this top months ago before realising I needed to make bias binding for the inside neckline. This raised two issues: 1.) I have yet to find any kind of inner peace with bias binding. And 2.) because having started with a contrasting fabric, I didn't seem to have enough of that fabric for the length of bias binding necessary. So I have carried a wee slip of fabric around trying to find a match whenever I happened upon a fabric shop. No such luck. My new determination has meant I just found something vaguely similar and went to finish it off. (In hindsight - I should have just used the same fabric as the top itself. And as it happened, the amount of bias binding needed was much less than stated so could have done it from the remaining scraps anyway. ah - sigh).

I'm not in love with the result. Its too short given how wide the top is (- I really should have lengthened the pattern as I always like my tops longer) and the neck sits slightly oddly. For some reason my bias binding seems twice as wide as the picture for the pattern. Given the instructions were incomprehensible to me, and I had no idea what was supposed to be happening, it may suggest the route I choose may not have been the correct one. Nevertheless - the point is this. Its finished! It won't be making it to my favourite top pile, which is a shame because I liked this fabric and in my mind's eye it was going to be great. Nevertheless, in emergency situations it will keep the sun off my shoulders, and if nothing else and it will be out of my "unfinished projects drawer" and that’s a start.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Nebulous Kingdom

I absolutely love the designs and prints that Anne-Julie Aubry has produced. Love them all! I find it hard to pick ten or twenty that I like the most. Just gorgeous.

This very talented woman sells her images through her etsy store called The Nebulous Kingdom. I bought some of her mirrors a while ago to give to friends as little presents, but got so carried away I ended up buying heaps. It was too hard to choose. The one with the design shown here I kept for myself.

You can see her work at Anne Julie's Gallery!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Apron for Mummsies

I had promised my mum months ago that I would make her an apron for her birthday. I had a bit of a panic when I realised her birthday was this week and I hadn't started. But I think it turned out ok.

I bought this fabric a wee while ago and totally love it. I had to keep reminding myself that birthdays are about giving and being generous, not hoarding loved-fabric in your cupboards.

It was a bit slap-dash and not exactly well planned - lets face it, I made it up as I went along - but it seems to have worked out. I'll put up a wee tutorial shortly if I can make my approach seem ordered.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Makara

An absolutely stunning weekend in Wellington allowed us to take a hike around Makara.

Makara to me epitomises all things great about New Zealand. A 20min drive from the capital city and you find yourself at a beach with a sprinkling of houses and a shop selling cold drinks, and a few like-minded individuals. You can wander around the coast walk, climb a (pretty flamin’ steep) hill and look out at the world. If you lie in the grass and soak up the sun you can almost believe you are all alone in the world – save for a few errant sheepies.

On this particular weekend the sea out to the South Island was astonishingly flat, and the colour of the water was spectacular. About a hour up, down the other side, and around the coast, the bloke hopped in the water and was able to grab large paua just a few metres from me on the rocks.

(oh, and I’ve figured how to bring him down to my fitness level – make him carry 20+ kilos of wet dive gear up the hill and we may be about the same fitness level.)

I loved these kids we spied. They had grabbed a few bits of log for a canoe and a branch for an oar and were making the most of life. Perfect!

Monday, December 6, 2010

Cowl neck top

Having searched around for a pattern for a cowl neck I lucked upon the selfish seamstress blog. SelfishSeamstress. Thanks so much for sharing your pattern - not at all selfish - it was just the impetus I needed.

I used this pattern, making allowances for the fact I'm wider (sadly) and I like my tops on the longer side. I also added some short sleeves with a few gathers at the top of each sleeve and elastic around the 'cuff'.


This was my first go with some left over fabric from a shift dress I made. Its not the best handiwork in the world but it holds together and I managed to wear it to work today and look respectable enough. (Note: In taking this photo I have skilfully enhanced the clothing wrinkles (bad posture) and pot-belly (bad wine consumption). Perhaps I should have straightened myself out and taken another photo, but sometimes you just need to go with it right).

I have just treated myself to my Christmas present of an overlocker so now I should be able to make the same thing but with much nicer seaming next time. This fabric is quite sturdy and I'm hoping to use the same pattern idea but in something with a bit more drape so the neck hangs.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Fabricabrac

I made it to the fabricabrac sale in November. Was my first time but what a treasure trove. Fabric people are all the same aren't they …. hoarders - every last one. We are all guilty of hoarding bits of fabric for years in the hope of making something wonderful. These brave ladies had opted to part with some of their horde.

I came away with quite a concerning amount - see the photo of the motherload below - but have already vowed to ensure that they don't become items in my own stash and I'd actually use them. That’s my pledge - watch this space.



Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Vietnam - a world away

Gosh - it feels like an age since I thought about sewing, purse catches or lining colours. It has only been a few weeks but in the interim I squeezed in a few weeks in Vietnam and it certainly makes everyday life seem miles away. What a crazy, hot, vibrant, loud, and delicious country. I thought I'd share a few pics as it will take me a while to get my head back in the zone I suspect.











Gorgeous right?

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Saw this glorious tree when visiting an open home.
Snapped a shot as it was so summer-full.


Photo to Fabric #2

So, I'm partially through the photo fabric project. You can see in the photo that I've made an attempt at putting the basic pieces of the picture down. I tried to cut it down to the key bulk colour parts. I'm not sure I had enough correct shades of brown/fawn to reflect the tones and I'm not really happy with the boat form in the bottom left. Nevertheless, if you squint and hold your head at an angle it kinda works.
Next step is to try my hand at some free form sewing and see if I can add some detail. Eeek - detail has never been my strong point.

WOW

WOW - the World of Wearable Arts - an extravaganza of creativity. I was so grateful to a friend who arranged and bought a bunch of tickets for this show (and great seats too Deb - ta!). The Wearable Arts show started in Nelson and moved to Wellington. I have always wanted to go to this (I often managed to miss the dates by a week or two when I’d pop back to NZ for a visit) so I was delighted to be able to finally go. And what an amazing show - such excellent sets and dramatic backdrops to these costumes. So much creativity, so much originality, truly awesome.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Fabric on the doorstep


Pretty excited about my wee fabric delivery. Hawthorne Threads has such a wonderful selection and I have been coverting some of the designs for a while now, tempted every week by their newsletters. I finally jumped in and got some wonderful new designs. The owl print from Alexander Henry I've been wanting for a while. I was going to recover my sewing chair with it but couldn't justify the postage cost at the time. But after a while ... well, a girl just has to have ... now I just need to find the perfect project.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Taking orders

Had a request to make some bunting for my friend's baby Jame's room.
Deb makes the best muffins, so all in all a good trade.
These flags were made from the same material as her curtains she used in James' room.
I used the very last scraps to make some wee birds using the pattern at Bird Mobile (forgot to take a photo of them though - whoops).
I love this mobile pattern so was delighted to be able to use it and share it.

Friday, September 17, 2010

The sweet brrrr of the machine

I feel like work life has been taking up way too much time recently. There doesn’t seem to be enough time for hobbies. I mean, sure it pays the bills, but I tend to get a bit antsy when I haven't snatched a few hours of sewing. Does one get addicted to the brrrr of the machine or the satisfaction of a straight line of stitches?

Anyway, I managed some time this week and achieved something – hey, I even completed something (which hardly ever happens). I'm starting quite a rack of shift style dresses but for some reason I kinda like this one - maybe I just feel proud. And the fabric had been a bargain at $3 a metre so all in all, a cheap outfit.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Photo to Fabric

My dear mother had kids in the 70s amongst hand printed fabric and hand-sewn clothes. Whilst I get the feeling she is somewhat baffled to see her daughter enjoying crafts and sewing decades on, she is also one of those treasured people who encourage your enjoyments, however daft.

She gave me a book the other night she’d bought on a whim which she thought I might like called “Photo-inspired Art Quilts” be Leni Levenson Wiener. I quite enjoyed the book and on a night this week when I thought I couldn’t listen to the grind of the sewing machine, I started to give the idea a go. Its a quiet pastime.

Despite the teachings in the book, I haven’t thought things through or mapped things out to make sure they work - it’s a first go after all, I’m surely allowed to make mistakes.

I chose an industrial photo of Battersea Power Station in London. Leni talks about applying a photoshop filter to break the photo down to its essential colours. This is the outcome after the filter I’ll be trying to render in fabric scraps. Hmmmm, might work or might be a total disaster. Watch this space – I’ll be honest either way.

Monday, September 6, 2010

trade me - out of control

'Trade me' is New Zealand's equivalent of ebay. It is people selling their stuff - sometimes nice, sometimes total rubbish.

Now, for fear of sounding like a grumpy old puss, it has to be said that this 'trade me' culture seems to me to have got totally out of hand. Previously people would give to charity or simply put their old stuff on the side of the road for a student to adopt, knowing it would be appreciated somewhere. Now people put their junk on trade me and ask silly amounts of money for the item.

I just saw a single piece of lego on trade me for $3. First - why bother selling this for the princely sum of $3? Surely the cost of the advert was more? Second - what kind of miserable git sells a piece of lego? Third - who buys it? I can't be alone in thinking this has it all just gone a wee bit crazy?

When I lived in London I loved the site 'freecycle'. People gave and donated the things they didn't want. When we touched down in London with a backpack only, we were so grateful for a TV, two chairs, and a coffee table that people donated. I carried them happily across town on the bus and loved them. And when we left, we kept the circle going, and people were equally grateful to accept kitchenware, sewing materials, quilts, and that very same coffee table. Does this happen in NZ anymore - or does everyone want their $3 for their piece of old junk? Some of this stuff is just mean spirited. Calling something that's simply old an "antique" doesn't make it valuable, and calling something that's plain dirty "shabby chic" does not make it cool. Whats going on? Leave the unrealistic selling chatter to the real estate agents I reckon and give away things you don't need with dignity. Surely it will bring you a lot more worth than $3.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Wasp bag - my new favourite handbag

I launched into the making of this bag some time ago with some upholstery fabric found in a thrift shop. The fabric was only $2 so a bargain. I also had some olive green durable fabric lying around which made for a nice contrasting inner.
I didn't have any fusible interfacing so opted to sew in some rigid interfacing I had already - I used some large circles because a sellotape reel was nearby at the time.
However, because of that time intensive interfacing part, this bag seemed to take forever. Not assisted by the fact that I must have incorrectly assembled each part, and unpicked each stitch at least twice. I'm not sure why it seemed so hard but it was a touch of a struggle. However, it is done (finally) and I really quite like the result.


The wasp pattern provides for the teardrop style handle connection (according to the pattern because she had used an old leather belt with that style of end) and I think it makes the bag.
The pattern is at
Wasp bag pattern. Thanks for sharing the pattern.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Nice spot to call home

I think when you've returned home (for us it was at the start of the year, after 7 years overseas) there are some places where that feeling is triggered in you - you know for sure you're home. For me one of those places is the hills above Seatoun, 3 minutes from my parents and where I went to primary school.
From there you can look over the mouth of the harbour, down along the south coast and all the way round towards the north. Always a glorious spot.


Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Fabric bouncy balls

Another moment of panic due to an upcoming birthday was thankfully addressed by the pattern provided by purl bee in New York. See www.purlbee.com/fabric-beach-balls/ if you want to give it a go. If you have stuffing sitting around then this is one of those projects that you really can achieve in a night and only requires scraps of fabric. It took me two evenings, and whilst the result is very obviously not from your designer kiddies store, they kinda work.

Crisis averted.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

A glimpse of Spring


Splashed out with the last gold coins left after this Sunday's market shop to bring a little bit of spring into the otherwise grey winter house. What a joy. Walking in the door and having the smell of spring hit you is wonderful. Must treat myself more often.

Flag Banner

It occurred to me in a bit of a panic that my friends’ beautiful girl Charlotte was turning 5. I don’t pretend to try and keep up with all my friends’ childrens birthdays, and I figured after the first birthday they usually had so many presents they didn’t need any more from me. However, with Charlotte turning 5, I thought perhaps I could manage some milestones.

The father Richard is a builder and has made their house absolutely gorgeous. As part of the work he was doing when I last visited they were working to have a rumpus room finished so they could have a kiddies party ( – lucky girls to have a play room. It’s also where Richard will be relegated to play his drums.) Anyway, I thought I’d make a wee banner to celebrate and also with the dual aim of annoying Richard if he thinks for a second it’s his room and not the girls’ room. So I opted for a banner spelling out “Big Girls Room” (is it wrong to make presents to annoy your friends? Perhaps I have the giving spirit a bit skewed?).

Anyway, I had some scraps fabric and left over kiddie patterns from a quilt I’d made for my niece and so I thought I could use those up. I opted for the front to be pretty with flowers, and the back to be a bit less girlie

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised, I think it turned out looking ok.
It’s pretty intuitive but just in case anyone appreciates a step by step:
1.) plan what you want to have. I am terrible at planning as I’m too impatient and always skip this step. Despite projects always having flaws due to failures to plan (I call them made-with-love-idiosyncrasies), I still just charge into projects. Key point though – make sure you have enough fabric for the each flag.
2.) I cut out triangles at a size of 7inches along the base and 9inches in height. They seemed a decent size – not too big, not too small. They are large enough to put lettering on if that’s your thing, but don’t require it. They show off the fabric pattern too. (When cutting them out you can cut a strip 9 inches high and then do the triangles side to side. So, the right side of one cut down like a “V” becomes the left side of one pointing upwards “^”.)











3.) I then did the lettering. In hindsight the letters could have been a bit bigger. I used a piece of black felt and some fusible bonding. Note if you haven’t used this before, remember to write your lettering onto the fusible bond back-to-front so when you finally turn the piece round to fuse it onto the finished fabric it faces the right way. You could also applique the letters if you like that look or have the time. Given this was panic job, I didn’t bother.















4.) With right sides facing and a 1/4 inch seam, I stitched the sides together down the sloping sides, just turning the fabric with your needle down in the fabric when you get to the tip of the flag. Do this for all the flags. I trimmed the seam on the tip so it wasn’t too bulky when turned. The tops were left open to allow the flags to be turned right sides facing out.



(At this point I realised I hadn’t made enough to allow a gap-flag in between the words. I also managed to get some of the same backing fabrics together when I wanted them to be dispersed randomly – not the end of the world but that kind of thing would irritate me if it was hanging in my room. I also suspect you need to be careful if you’re planning words on both sides to make sure the words read correctly in both directions. In short – this is where your planning or no-planning approach comes to the fore.)

5.) I choose a thick bias binding I had lying around as the joining line. I am not good with bias binding as I find I don’t have the patience to do it perfectly and whilst the concept seems simple and easy it never quite seems that easy in practice. In the end it may not have been the most perfect sewing but I figure kids don’t really care about that. I sewed each flag to the ‘ inside back’ of the binding and then folded it over and topstitched the ‘front outside’ of the binding to the front of the flags. This means on the back there are two lines of stitching in the bias binding which can look a touch scruffy for those perfectionists out there, but I matched the thread to the colour so it’s not very obvious. (If you’re a perfectionist or making this for a designer banner rather than a children’s’ banner then read up on sewing the bias binding so the stitching matches perfectly over each other. As I say – I’m too impatient but it can be done.)
I quite liked the result and not a bad effort for a couple of evenings work. I have posted it off.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Can't beat Wellington on a good day

Can't beat Wellington on a good day

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Patchwork Cushions - for sale

oh hurray!!!! - I've managed a post and to get the cushions up for sale all in one day. Good on me!

(Has to be said - this blogging thing is much harder than i thought it would be.)

Anyway, the range of cushions is up and can be seen at:
www.felt.co.nz/browse/user/12redhead

Perhaps not surprisingly I think you have to have one in your home.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Patchwork cushions

I am still very fond of patchwork. Often relegated to the realm of doilies and folksy patterns, the combinations and colours can so effectively be used in patchwork to create something beautiful.


While overseas one becomes naturally very patriotic, and New Zealanders certainly seem to become embrace the kiwiana vibe. I found a fabric store in London that was selling New Zealand fabric designs which I immediately had to have. Using those – and still with my hand stitching approach – I made a few cushion covers to remind me of home. They were popular and so became a present for expats in London.



I have repeated the same kind of concept again now, inspired by some bundles of fabric I found as I patrolled the stores of Wellington, on a line of cushions which I hope capture some of the niceness of simple patchwork. I think they work – they look stylie, homely, but also not totally ‘mummsy’.

I hope to be organised enough to get these up for sale soon.


The first quilt always has a place in one's heart


The sewing started almost 3 years ago now with a casual flick through a Home and Garden magazine during a visit back to NZ. I really liked the quilt that they had in the magazine, and when I returned to Australia my friend emailed me the instructions. (I still have the photo. See it’s a lovely quilt isn’t it?)

I didn’t want to shy away, or be hampered by a lack of experience or tools, so I started my first attempt at sewing regardless. It was all quite new – choosing fabric and seeing how patterns and colours work together etc - I had never stood in the fabric section of Spotlight before. And then I started painstakingly hand stitching the squares of fabric (that’s right – no sewing machine).

Eventually, about a year later I was 75% through the front, and I put the quilt down. It became difficult to pick back up. It followed me as we packed up our lives in Australia and moved to Canada for a few months, and then on to the UK. It moved from flat to flat in London.

Finally my partner relented to my whinging and bought me a sewing machine for a birthday present (big call as we were transient and living out of suitcases so a hefty sewing machine called for some compromise). It was only then I realised just how quick sewing in a straight line could be with the machine – what had taken me a whole evening to hand stitch could be done in a minute.

It took some time to go back to the partial quilt but eventually I did (this was after yet another country move, and finally being back in Wellington, NZ – having carted the sewing machine back). Only then did I finally finish it – some two and a half years later.

What it illustrates is how much you learn in a short space of time without really being conscious of it. Looking at the quilt now, I will always have a fondness for it as it was my first project and it took such a long time to finish, but if I was to start a quilt with the same pattern again now, I suspect it would turn out very differently. But still, it is cosy in winter and is for me more a heartfelt piece about perseverance more than quality or style.
I’ve been pondering on this day for a while now. It’s a truly scary moment to try to put yourself out there in amongst a world of talent and wave a teenie tiny flag. Like waving one of those cocktail toothpick flags amongst a riot of talent and creativity. Nevertheless, these things don’t happen if you don’t try, so this is my first baby step. Little, little baby step.

I hope this will be a hobby site. I am the first to admit that my attention span can be somewhat challenged. In my short crafting and sewing life I have jumped from paper bracelets to mosaics, from stencils to dresses. But I am hoping that I can bring some of these things together and make a little sense. I have no idea how to blog or how to create a readable site, but I’m hoping there will be many many lessons. I gave up when I had to start reading things which were initials phps and htmls and just jumped. It may backfire.

I shall now promptly demand that my mother and loyal friend immediately read this blog and be awestruck. Everyone else, please just bear with me as I learn.