Sunday 30 November 2008
Soup: The final frontier
Saturday 29 November 2008
Artic outdoor market
Today I was hawking my wares at an outdoor market. It was below freezing and I was standing from 9AM to 4:30PM. It took about five hours from when I got home for my hands to unfurl from their purple lobster claws. My skin is prickly and hot but my skeleton is cold. I am hobbling around in a less than upright position. Inexplicably, my fingernails hurt.
It was a good day though, I sold quite a few things, including a coat that I hadn't even had a chance to photograph yet. You'll just have to trust me, it existed. The Christmas CD playing nearby made me feel festive, although it's appeal diminished as the hours rolled by. I got a reprieve from internecine toddler warfare.
My stall was between two lovely, talented women. Bryony Knox makes exquisite metalwork with moving parts, from little brooches and animals to larger automated sculpture. A lot of her inspiration is from the circus, mythology and heraldry, and Punch and Judy. That's my kinda inspiration!! We both recently finished the final series of the Sopranos, and ruminated over the final episode over coffee and soup. She has a son Maia's age who is now sporting a cowboy hoodie!
On my other side was Jessica Walter selling very pretty and unique contemporary jewellery and knitwear. There probably isn't a nicer person in the world, as evidenced by the 400 or so friends who visited her throughout the day!
Here is a picture of Maia drinking her bottle from a bucket. It just made sense.
Friday 28 November 2008
Folksy finds: birds
I think this tiny owlet from DaisyLily is adorable. The hanging ribbon really sets it off well and those eyes are irresistable.
Thursday 27 November 2008
Greetings from puppyland
I'm not entirely sure how it happened but this post and the one below it are out of order (think it was something to do with saving the The Nightmare Coat in draft and returning to it later). So look below if you want to see the latest coat-rauma.
The nightmare coat
The goretex fleece is really quite strange. I saw it on ebay and thought it would be the perfect lining for coats as it is waterproof and wind resistant (the two most important features of a coat when living in Scotland), and it would be an easier way of making a coat warm than a super thick batting. It was advertised as being red fleece one side, navy fleece the other, with an inner layer of goretex. So I was naturally expecting something fleece-like, maybe even super double-y fleece-like on account of both sides being fleece. What arrived wasn't very fleecey, it's more like neoprene with brushed surfaces, and very stiff. The listing was for 5 extra wide meters of it, so I now have heaps...
I had thought that the problems I had with the other bird coat would be eliminated as I was going to sew every piece of the goretex fleece to the corresponding piece of shell before assembling the coat. Good idea, yes? Well... yes and no.
- Good: stretch problem eliminated so no need to mess about with seam allowances
- Bad: assembling a coat that is already two layers thick (creating four layer seams) and then attaching it to a lining (making seams three layers thick) and then hemming (making it six layers thick)
My machine and I cried in equal measures by the time we finished hemming the bottom edge. Next up, sleeve edges. Again, six layers. And I just couldn't do it. I could barely get it under the presser foot even at its highest position. And despite being a (much too) pricey machine, it doesn't have a stupid free arm. Which is just about the most useful thing when making baby clothes. Left hand tried to keep the massive sleeve sandwich under the foot and straight, right hand tried to keep the bottom side of the sleeve out of the way. It was too much, we had reached an impasse. I was faced with a coat that was 90% done, using semi-precious hoarded materials, and four hours of my life I'd never get back. So I made double fold cuffs and abutted them to the sleeve edges rather than turn them under, and then slip stitched by hand to both sides.
Only the buttonholes to go, my least favourite part of any creation on account of my machine's loose interpretation of 'automatic buttonholing'. Automatically chew your fabric apart?.... Sure.... Automatically make a buttonhole that bears to no relation to the one you asked for?.... No problem.... Automatically destroy your dreams and break your spirit at the end of a project?.... Yep, done....
I couldn't risk it, so I did the buttonholes manually with a tight zigzag, very small increments and an overcautious use of a seam ripper. Just to make this coat as time-consuming as possible, I also made covered buttons from fabric with white polkadots on black.
I think I am going to charge $5000 for it.I tried it on Jamie for size (and also because he is more co-operative about doing things like lifting his arms if a breadstick is involved) and it fits perfectly. I actually thought he looked awesome in it. Steven doesn't share this opinion (the word 'garish' was mentioned). What do you think? Is it too girly a coat? To modify it for a boy, I was wondering if I should make it less a-line and have a normal pointy collar instead of peter pan collar. Maybe if it was less a-line it would need one of those slit thingys in the back too... Ugh, sounds like a lot of work... I'm not so sure why he looks glum in this picture, maybe he's worrying about looking garish.
The jacket is also fully reversible, but I can't decide what color buttons to use. Orange is the natural assumption but I worried there is just too much orange going on. I tried black but I thought it made the fabric look washed out. Any suggestions?Tuesday 25 November 2008
My tunic giveaway starts today!
These tunics are my own design, cut in a generous a-line shape and double elasticated at the neck so there is no fussing with zips or buttons. Fits as a dress at one, mid-thigh tunic at two and a hip length tunic at three. So get your comment on for a really good chance for a free tunic!
Jamie devises a new sort of Rorschach test
Sunday 23 November 2008
Another day, another coat
Saturday 22 November 2008
Maia and the amazing technicolour elf coat
Friday 21 November 2008
Folksy finds wallets
After last Friday's Etsy treasury, I'm doing Folksy this week. I'm still not sure about blog etiquette as far as using people's pictures, so it's worth saying that all items are available to purchase on Folksy and images are the property of the maker.
This wallet is by Plump Pudding and I love the fact it's so bright and cheerful. The ribbon and badge are a nice touch.
This caterpillar purse by Kitty eden is so adorable, I love the whimsical look of the applique against the black and white polkat dot fabric.
Thursday 20 November 2008
Eco dances
To watch Steven do the Eco dance, click here. For Maia's, click here.
On a completely different note, here are the giveaways that opened on Etsybaby blog today. Alphabulous is offering two free iron-on fabric numbers, Goldtonedesigns is giving away a Travelling Friends Sensory Key Toy, and Littlebirdcreations's prize is an iron-on Cardinal patch. Entries are still pretty low for some of the prizes, so get your comments on there for a really good chance of winning something for free!
Swing tops
Tuesday 18 November 2008
Heaps of giveaways from Etsybaby
Tues 18th Nov
Thurs 20th Nov
Tues 25th Nov
Thurs 27th Nov
Tues 2 Dec
Thurs 4 Dec
Sat 6 Dec
All you have to do is go onto the blog, follow the link to the giveaway you'd like to enter and then post a comment back on the blog saying something you you like from the shop. Each competition is open for 7 days and a winner will be chosen at random. You can enter as many as you would like but each one only once. Some are open to US or North Americans only :(
The giveaways start today with a personalised birthday playmat from Tutucuteandmore, a Bella wetbag from Thepatacakebaby and a $20 gift certificate from Radcover. I'll be posting the details of each giveaway on the day they open and you can enter to win the tunic of your choice from my shop starting on 25 November.
Remember to enter as many as you can and pass on the details to friends and family!