Teddy Bear's Picnic (Sans Bears)

A while ago I made a new product for my Turning Trixie market offerings. It's a little picnic set which includes a bottle bag, two placemats that have a handy little pocket and loop for your cutlery and napkin, and some dandy mismatched cutlery. The two that I've made so far are from an old curtain, and it's all just a bit cute.

On the market day I had a bottle of wine as part of the display - I went all classy. I was going to take some new photos today of the sets to put on here, but I've run out of class (wine) so I'm just going to stick with the market pics.

{Photo by Naomi}

And after you're done picnicking, the placemats handily roll up and can be carried in the drinks bag. See the handiness! See the multi-functioning item!

{Photo by Naomi}

I also went on a little op-shopping trip the other day, and I scored. SCORED. There are some days when you just happen to be sitting somewhere, playing with your fringe and wondering if maybe you should part it on the other side, and suddenly you're struck with the overwhelming need to go to a particular op-shop.

Sometimes it doesn't pan out. Sometimes you drive hell for leather to that op-shop, only to find stained 80's clothing, hundreds of white shirt buttons, the ubiquitous Kamahl records, and hostile volunteers who just won't smile, however damned hard you try.
But sometimes it DOES work out. And they're the days that make that instinct worth following. The days that, for example, you spend the princely sum of $23.50, and walk away with 4 dresses, a cardigan, a jumper, a piece of fabric, 2 doilies and 6 tablecloths.

Suffice it to say, I'm a pretty happy, tablecloth-laden kid.

The Creative Mind

After some thorough (questionable), thought-provoking (REALLY questionable) self-analysis (narcissism), I have come to the conclusion that the creative mind (or this one, at least) has a few different easily-distinguishable stages that it goes through on a regular basis. There are gray, in-between areas, but these are the more common moments.

Now, get comfy people. Dr Trixie is here to help.

Stage 1: Unmotivated, and guilty. This stage involves a lot of self-recrimination, because you have TIME to do things. A valuable commodity, time can be rare. And having time to do something, well. That's about as frequent as the whole blue moon, pig-flying phenomenon. But you don't feel like doing anything. Either you just can't be bothered, or your head is emptier than... something really empty. Cue the guilt.

Stage 2: Over-motivated. You have ideas. You have hundreds of ideas. And ALL OF THEM WILL BE AWESOME. But there comes the problem - what do you do first? You may go to start one project, and then realise that something else would be more timely to make. So you start that. And think about the other equally timely project you could be working on. And you work yourself into a state of stillness and confusion, simply because there are so many things to start, and you are only one person. Is the world really ready for that much awesomeness?

Stage 3: Creative on crack. This is the most productive of the three stages, because the ideas are there. The motivation is there. You might even have time to get things done. Everything somehow magically aligns, and you are fuelling yourself with caffeine (or your addiction of choice) and crafting like a person possessed.

After a few weeks of swinging between Stage 1 and Stage 2, I hit Stage 3 the other day. And it was good. So good.

I'm going back to Sydney in a week, and I had a list of projects that I wanted to get finished before I went. I had my doubts as to whether I'd even finish the first project I was working on before I went.

After seeing a rad scarf in Frankie magazine, I thought, I can make that. So I picked up a crochet hook, pretended that I knew what I was doing, and started a scarf.

Then the crack stage kicked in. I finished the scarf. I altered a dress. I made a new handbag. I altered another dress. I bought wool to start making another scarf. I drank a lot of coffee.

And soon, I was sitting amidst the debris of fabric scraps, stray pieces of cotton, and machinery, looking at my broken overlocker needle, and dizzily wondering what the hell had just happened.

Stage 3, my friends. She is a hard but fair task-mistress.

That’s Frock-tacular

A couple of weeks ago, I made a very big decision. It was a difficult one, and one that can’t be made on the spur of the moment. But when I thought about it, I realised that I’m old enough, I have a steady job, and I have a good support network, if I need it. And I’ve wanted this for so long that it just made sense.

So I took the plunge.

I bought an overlocker.

And I’m just so happy. I’ve named her Sadie, and she fits in perfectly with my crafting family (Stella, my sewing machine, and Wallace the sewing kit). I was even tempted to do a little naming ceremony, where I uttered the words, “And I dub thee…. Sadie.” but I couldn’t find my knitting needle so that I could tap both of her shoulders. Even if I’d found my knitting needle, I’d have had to find her shoulders. And I couldn’t be bothered.

That doesn’t stop me from singing, “Sadie, the stitching laaaay-deeee.”

I decided that I needed a Sadie-specific project, instead of endlessly overlocking scrap pieces of fabric, so I went down to Spotlight to seek inspiration (read: spend money), and I came across the most gorgeous vintage-style fabric. It reminded me that I’ve had a dress pattern sitting in my drawer for about 7 months now, and that it’s probably time to make it. Fabric was purchased, and dress was made.

The dress took longer than I thought it would, basically because I always mistakenly start projects with the idea that I am invincible. I am not. I was also trying to be really neat and precise with my cutting/sewing/darts, because it’s not often that I use proper paper patterns, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this.

On the topic of darts – they are the devil’s work. They are right up there with unpicking buttonholes, and I do not much care for them. Get them wrong, and you end up looking like Madonna in her Vogue period. Why must they be so damned hard to mark onto the fabric? I was sticking pins through the pattern, and then marking on the fabric with chalk where the pin was. I was hoping that I was actually doing it the wrong way, that there’s actually a way easier way to do it. I ran it past Michelle and Claire, and it turns out that I was doing it the right way. I cried.

Following that, once I slip-stitched my finger to the zipper, I stopped caring quite as much. My original plan had been to add a peter pan collar to the dress (I’m totally digging peter pan collars at the moment), but when the point came to add it, I decided that I just wanted to finish the damn thing.

In hindsight, it probably would have looked better with something there. A placket would have been great. Or maybe some pockets on the side. I don’t know – something starting with ‘p’ and ending in ‘cket’.

Anyway, dress is finished. It even looks like the picture on the front of the pattern. I’ve proved it to myself. Yay me. Blah blah blah.

And it’s all because of…

Sadie, the stitching laaaaaay-deeeeeeee.

Fiddlesticks

Yesterday I picked up a wonderfully 90's dress in the op-shop, and my head was filled with visions of alterations and all sorts of excitement that could make it acceptable for public viewing. Granted, my alteration skills aren't fantabulous - my skills extend only as far as taking things up, letting them out, and mending them. This project was a little ambitious for me.

BEFORE

Please note:

• Shoulder pads that create a shoulder span enviable of any American footballer
• Gaping buttons over... bodice area
• Flattering length that makes me look like someone's well-intended spinster aunt
• Cute fabric

I was so excited about its potential that by the time I got home I had a killer headache and had to have a little nap. Until this morning. But today, after my Sunday morning laze about and coffee out on the patio, I got straight into that sucker.

1. Removed the shoulder pads (such a shame really. I enjoy looking like I could balance pint jugs on my shoulders).
2. Cut the sleeves off, leaving an inch of fabric to be folded under the edge to create the new hem.
3. Added darts to the bodice - those shoulders REALLY didn't want to stay down.
4. Folded back the top of the neckline, to create a collar-type effect.
5. Sewed buttons back onto the outside of the collar, to create a feature. Yeah, a feature. I'm so fancy that I astound myself sometimes.
6. Took the length up.

And this is what I ended up with:

AFTER

Collar

The neckline now sits really nicely, and I'm so pleased with myself for actually doing it that I skipped through the house a few times, forcing Susie to praise me. I didn't even have to unpick anything that I'd done! Now, that's what I call an accomplishment.

I've also finished Jake's mobile phone cosy. As anticipated, it was very fiddly. What was not anticipated was which bit would be fiddly. The applique was the part that I was concerned about. And yes, it was fiddly, but easy enough to do. The body, however... led to me using MA+ rated language, and smoking furiously on the patio several times. I won't go in to what went wrong, but suffice it to say that I'm not as good at using maths as I think I am.

I'm really happy with the finished product, and through years of counselling and help from friends, I will slowly but surely recover from the trauma of making it.

Image from deviantart

Peace, Love And Mung Beans

Last Saturday was our third Made With Love market, and we rocked it out in our 70's/hippy clothes. There were many peace signs, talk of lentils, and some drumming. That's what happened in the 70's, isn't it?

Allana and her lovely stall

Nardia's goodies

Our new OH&S friendly clothes hanging system

Georgia's awesome pendants and decorations

Michelle's kiddly clothing

Michelle rocking out on the drum

Susie's first stall at Made With Love

Michelle and Jaclyn's rad artwork

Georgia

Jaclyn's incredible jewellery

Michelle and Claire's little girl Maggie

Michelle and Claire in the back of Claire's Mum's camper van

Michelle and Claire

Claire

Me

Me again!

"I'm not loved up enough to be loved up."

Michelle Walker, 2011

Doily Splat

Wow. So. Less than a week until the next Made With Love Bazaar, and I’m not exactly sure how that happened. I had many grand plans for over the Christmas break; all sorts of inspiration floating through my head. Sadly, that’s where they seem to have stayed.

One of my pieces of inspiration came from the amount of discarded boxer shorts I have picked up on my travels. While I’ve been making business shirt cushion covers, I’ve come to the realization that some pyjama tops have fantastic patterns on them. And piping. Oh, how I love piping. This lead to me ending up with a few awesome pairs of guy’s cotton boxer shorts, and thinking myself very lucky for having such variety for myself. Guy’s boxers are always so much more comfortable than chick’s – plus they actually cover your ass. However, there’s only so many pairs of boxer shorts that a girl needs.

So this week I’ve been working on some pyjama sets, using the aforementioned boxers, some brand spanking new singlets prettied up with some matching appliqué, and drawstring pyjama bags (I found a great tute for drawstring bags here). A fairly simple task - or so I assumed.

My main hassle occurred after effortlessly cutting out the appliqué design and bonding it to the singlet (if you do appliqué, and haven’t ever used Heat ‘N’ Bond before, stop whatever you’re doing and go to Spotlight to buy some. It is EXCELLENT! – when used correctly. Please read the instructions first. It’s like a double-sided interfacing that bonds your two pieces of fabric together and it makes everything soooo much easier. This message was brought to you by Turning Trixie Productions TM.) and I was surprising myself with the lack of effort. Normally simple things make themselves difficult once they reach my hands. Well. Once I got to my sewing machine it had other ideas about the difficulty level and played up something rotten. It kept skipping stitches and it took me a lot of time to figure it out.

Sarah Guide To Sewing Machine Troubleshooting:

• Unpick the mistake.
• Change the tension.
• Sew.
• Unpick.
• Change tension again.
• Sew.
• Unpick.
• Read manual.
• Change machine needle.
• Sew.
• Unpick.
• Rethread machine.
• Change tension.
• Sew.
• Unpick.
• Refer to manual again.
• Change tension.
• Sew.
• Headbutt table.
• Unpick.
• Change tension.
• Change stitch length.

Is it??!?... IS IT?!?!?... By George, I think I’ve fixed it!! That wasn’t difficult at all *eye twitch*

During this process I also concerned myself with the idea that perhaps my items would end up looking like appliqué splat, which is closely related to doily splat.

Doily Splat: When a doily has been taken in hand and thoughtlessly applied to an item, eg. cardigan, t-shirt, pillowcase, etc. Michelle and I spoke of this phenomenon one night when I’d rocked up to Stitch ‘N’ Bitch with a pillowcase and my doily box in tow (yes, I have a doily box. You’re so jealous right now.). The conversation threw me into an existential type crisis on when it IS ok to apply a doily to something, and whether I’d been misguidedly applying to doilies to all and sundry under the impression that I was doing some good in the world. My fears have been abated ,however, and in sewing, as in scrapbooking, you just need to work a doily into the design of your crafty item. You can’t just splat things anywhere – you need to think this shit through, people.

But anyway, it’s all finished now. And with only 6 days (!) to go until the next Made With Love, I’m hoping to get a few more things done, including picking up an awesome outfit for the next dress-up theme. Hurrah!

MADE WITH LOVE MARKET/BAZAAR
Saturday, 15th January
9:00am - 1:30pm
Artscape Building,
45 Jackson St,
Wynyard

Where’s My Disco Ball?

Three blog posts in three days. It’s madness, just madness. However, I got my little self down to a bit of crafting today after a short hiatus. I was a tad worn out from the onslaught of the markets, but now I’m ready to get some stuff done. I’ve already started a list of things to do and EVERYTHING!

Today I made a little cosy for my new fancy pants mobile phone. It’s not actually that fancy, but hopefully it will be able to hold a phone call without dropping out. And perhaps will even send a message without turning itself off. The possibilities are endless. I'm a tad worried about the screen on it getting scratched (I keep it in the same pocket in my handbag as my keys), and seeing as it isn't a piece of crap I'd like to take care of it. Thus, the mobile cosy *drum roll*.

 

The only down-side to making this is that I had disco songs stuck in my head whilst doing the embroidery. A few bad disco dance moves may have also been involved. Nobody needs to be subjected to that.

Making Love (Crafty-Style)

Saturday saw our second Made With Love Bazaar, another pretty cool day. A few of us decided to get our 50’s on, and the week previous was spent planning clothes, gloves, hair-do’s and general 50’s fabulousness. Those who didn’t dress up still got into the spirit with some lovely aprons adorning their person.

The weather, again, was dicey. But hey, Tasmania – what more can you expect? This time, as well as our crafty stalls from last time, we also had a couple of extras including a coffee van, and Allana in the kitchen serving tea and coffee and cupcakes. Delicious cupcakes.

Early in the day Claire and I walked down to the RSL to put our sandwich board outside. We got a few glances from people driving past (I can only imagine how impressed they were with our outfits), and we made the most of it by singing Sandra Dee and dancing a little bit.

We had a couple of minor crises during the day, one of which was the collapsing of our *awesome* hanging system in the Green Room. I legged it into the room (no mean feat in high heels), made sure nobody was hurt, then acquired Claire’s toolbox and got my 50’s housewife handyman thing on.

I didn’t manage to get as many photos this time… I think I got distracted by doing 50’s poses. And Michelle’s feather duster. Some of the following pics are nicked from Michelle’s blog (in between dusting people, she managed to get some good shots).

The next market will be coming up in January sometime. A date hasn’t been decided on, but we’ll keep you posted. I think a few of us need a sewing breather. Our poor little fingers can only produce so much. I'm looking forward to it though - sewing pain can only make us stronger! *insert evil laugh*