The wheels on the train ...

I have been quite industrious today, sewing away making some basic stock items for Made n Thornbury this afternoon after I got home from my teaching "day" job. On a Tuesday I am home at lunchtime (well, around 2ish) and then I get a few hours of sewing done before picking my husband up from work and then driving to my inlaws to have dinner with my daughter. A long day.

My list of "things to make for a market if I have time" is always quite long and I try and stock up on things that I think people might buy based on sales of the last few markets.

This Sunday of course, is Fathers Day. So I have tried to have my "manly hat" on while sewing. Trains seem to be the order of the day for my husband at the moment, so I thought I would knock up a few things using some realistic train fabric that I picked up a few weeks back. Would you buy this for your Dad if you were a kid?

I try to re-stock the things that sold at the last market and introduce at least one new item. I made a prototype for my "new" item this afternoon, there is still a bit of work to go, making sure the measurements are right and that it sits right ... all will be revealed.

These pencil cases seem to be a hit amongst little people. Their little hands can grab a hold of the cord and pull it shut or open. I only have limited supply of this fabric, so once these are sold on the weekend that will probably be it!

Pencil Case for Tori

In a month my little girl will turn two and I have no idea where the two years went since her birth. She is a real person now, talking, singing and of course displaying the famous Lawson temper!

Her Oma has been on at me to make her a pencil case. So tonight I grabbed some fabric I bought a few weeks back, some left over micro-cord and an old dodgy zip and voila!

The pencil case has a strap that she can pull across to open or close. Inside there is matching lining as well!

I have uploaded some of my other pencil case designs to my etsy shop. Yipee!

July Giveaway, a few days to go!

Just a reminder that this Friday is the deadline for my July Give away! So leave a comment on this post or on my giveaway post and good luck!

The rules are ...

Tell me 1) where you in the world and 2) what interests you about my blog, and you will go into the draw for a longitude/latitude pencil case with your custom co-ordinates on the front and map fabric on the inside. Easy!

Entries into the prize draw go something like this ....

• One entry for every comment on this post.
  
• PLUS, if you comment about my giveaway on your blog, I will give you two additional entries! But you have to tell me about your post in your comment.

The draw closes 31st July 11.59pm Melbourne time! So there area few weeks to enter into this draw!

July Giveaways

There are lots of great giveaways happening out there in blog land at the moment.

Of course, the Konstant Kaos Longitude/Latitude Pencil case (closing date end of July). A cunning plot to find out where my visitors are coming from (and perhaps discover a few more blogs to read!).

Your Cheeky Monkey is having a softie giveaway until July 19th, and if you haven't checked out their online shop then please do! Their sound bite is "Gorgeous things for Babies and Children"

Then I came across this great little apple brooch (closing date 22nd July). Adelle also has another giveaway on the go as well.

Do you have a give away?

July Giveaway

I have some scraps left of my map fabric that I just can't get any more of ... and I thought it would be a great opportunity to do another GIVEAWAY!

A while back I made a collection of custom pencil cases for various people with co-ordinates on the front. So, it goes something like this ..... according to my various analytics widgets, I am getting people visiting my site from the US, Canada, Hawaii, Scotland, South Africa and Japan. I love traveling and hearing about other people's adventures.

Guess where these co-ordinates lead you ...

But the short story is, I want to know more about you all!

Dimensions of the pencil case for the give away!

Tell me 1) where you in the world and 2) what interests you about my blog, and you will go into the draw for a longitude/latitude pencil case with your custom co-ordinates on the front and map fabric on the inside. Easy!

Entries into the prize draw go something like this ....

• One entry for every comment on this post.
  
• PLUS, if you comment about my giveaway on your blog, I will give you two additional entries! But you have to tell me about your post in your comment.

The draw closes 31st July 11.59pm Melbourne time! So there area few weeks to enter into this draw!

I so look forward to reading all about where people are from, what interests them about my blog and even if you have been to Australia! So come on Comment!

Another Custom order with Japanese Fabric

I can't quite remember where I got this fabric from, but it has proven to be a real hit! I love the fact that within one print there are so many possibilities and the colour scheme lends itself to so many different colours on the inside as well. Initially I got 4 metres of it, and I am down to my last metre!

So here is another custom job!

This time the inside was a teal colour, rather than the rust colours I have been using in past jobs.

Natasha likes to model for me ... this is a pencil case to match! (You can see Ana in the background claiming my white towel for her sleep space ...)

The elegance of the fabric lends itself to the label being on the inside.

I might have to make myself some things with this fabric before it disappears!

Birthday present for a girl who loves Geography

Just finished a custom job via etsy went into the mail this morning. Hopefully they will get it before the end of next week.
The customer wanted a custom longitude/latitude and she also wanted to choose the type of maps.
I am slowly running out of this fabric, so if you know of any other map fabric let me know!


I love doing personal things like this, so special!

Birthday presents

Tonight I gave myself permission to just experiment. Rather than sew an order (which I should have been doing), I just created something from scratch and I wasn't sure where I was going. I haven't done this in a *long* time! Material, batting, interfacing and velcro!


The result, is a birthday present for a three year old this weekend. We are off to the party on Sunday (so hopefully her Mum won't read my blog until afterwards).

Not quite too sure where I got the material from, or where the idea for the two straps came from. The bag just kinda materialised from two squares. I finished it off with some buttons on the right hand side of the picture and a felt flower which I have attached with machine. The top of the bag closes with two flaps and velcro. I wanted to make it easy to open and close.

I also whipped up a quick pencil case from the left overs (note my dodgy attempt at patchwork).


I used my lanyard clips to make a strap open and close the pencil case (not sure how three year olds operate!).

Tori and I are going to put a few more goodies in the bag for the Birthday girl, hopefully she will like it. It isn't my usual style, but I think it might be good for a three year old!

Konstant Kaos now at Devil Kitty

I haven't posted in ages and that is mostly because I have started back teaching part-time. Although I am only working the equivalent of a few days a week, it still feels like full time when you take into consideration the fact that getting to work involves dropping a toddler off at either childcare or her grandparents! Exhausting! Now that things have settled a bit, I can get back to concentrating on Konstant Kaos during my non-teaching days.

Some good news, Konstant Kaos creations are now on sale at Devil Kitty in Brunswick Street, Victoria, Australia. This shop has so much cool Rockabilly stuff - you have to visit!

Pencil Cases, Pouches, Coin Purses and Shoes are all on display! What a buzz!


I am hoping to get a bit more shop frontage to compliment my markets and etsy shop online.

Longitude Pencil Cases

A friend wanted me to make some longitude/latitude pencil cases, so I battled with my embroidery machine yesterday to get them done. I don't like to have numbers or letters embroidered with large stitch lengths. They catch in things and the embroidery gets wrecked. So I had to persist with the cheaper thread that kept on breaking .. grr... this afternoon while the family swanned around The Glen, I bought some expensive thread in the colours I was working with.

My "map material" stash is starting to run low, so I might have to go on the hunt for some more. There seems to be real interest in the pencil cases/pouches that I have created. But they really do hinge on the lining material to create the interest. I might have to create some interesting designs at Spoonflower. I hear through the grapevine that their material prints are of a high quality.
I have always had a facination with longitude and latitude and when I was teaching Year 7 Humanities mapping was always my favourite bit of the course. Unfortunately next year I am not teaching Year 7 Humanities, but rather Year 7 Religious Education. I might have to think about how I can bring maps into the course!

Another project that I finally finished was a knitting bag based on the tutorial at Dragoknit. The knitting bag was based around the Shannon Lamden fabric called Knit One that I bought at the Patchwork on Central sale in October (or was it November ..).

The lining fabric sat in my workroom for weeks until I decided what to do with it. Then I decided to use red velveteen as the outside fabric.

I am pleased with the result, but I am also aware that this is the "first prototype" of this type of bag that I have made. So there are undocumented enhancements (flaws) in it. I have a scrap left over, so I might make something small and cute from it.