A little sunshine in my day

I have been feeling absolutely horrible today. Head cold, stuffy nose and yucky ears. I have spent most of the day sleeping rather than doing the readings for my Uni assignment.

But a bit of sunshine in my day came in the form of a teatowel I ordered online, and delivered by my friendly express post guy, Simon.

I love this design and a while back made a series of bags from Thea's fabric. Included in the package was a sample of her fretwork design in red. I am hoping this will become part of some nice pot holders for my kitchen.

If you haven't checked out Thea's work, then head on over to her blog and check out her lovely designs.

Marathon Sewing

It is amazing how much sewing you get done when you are not watching an election coverage!

I had a bit of a marathon sewing adventure yesterday and re-stocked my bags with some gorgeous prints, handprinted pippijoe, Thea and Sami and some yummy Japanese prints.

And I whipped up some media pouches for the savy shopper looking for a present for their dads.

Each pouch is quilted and fits a WD external hard drive, or iTouch. North Melbourne Market, come along and say "hi"!

New Handbags on etsy

Finally getting around to putting some more stock into my etsy store!

Thea and Sami handbags

I absolutely love this print by Thea and Sami and I have a red version of the bag cut out waiting to be sewn up for moi! If you don't like the linings that I have chosen, there is a strong chance that I might have another one in production with a completely different lining. I tend not to make the same bag twice.

Crime Scene Handbags

So my Mum thinks that they are a bit dark ... but people seem to like the design!

These crime scene designs are also available on cushions to adorn your bed or sofa .. all 100% cotton machine washable!

Northside Makers Market

I'll be glad when the week is over. The first full teaching week back is always hard yakka. Lesson plans, parent evenings, very little sleep and lots of photocopying. But in between all of this, I have managed to steal some time to make some stock for my first market of the year, Northside Makers Market. As a Northside committee member, I haven't been much use at all .. and to my team mates I apologise and promise to make it up with cider and martini's!

So here is a sneak peak of what I have been doing ...Firstly, my Wizard of Oz range .... Some Market Bags ....

Each one of course has a surprise lining ... you'll just have to come to the market to see what I have done!

 Some makeup bags or small pouches and some coin purses, these ones a bit bigger than my usual ones, so they should fit a licence.

I was very excited about using the Thea and Sami  hand screen printed fabric. They are a Queensland based business and they hand print it all themselves.

The bag has a bit of a Mattt's bag's feel to it, but the pattern is all mine and it is 100% cotton and machine washable (actually, the Thea and Sami fabric is 55% hemp/45% organic cotton).

And of course some new japanese fabrics have been used as well. I love this print and the colour palette.

So come along to our first Northside Makers Market for the year and check out all the new crafters and some old and trusty ones.

Thea and Sami

I received a package with free fabric from Thea and Sami! Very excited! *shhh* I actually received it a few weeks back, but I am only now blogging about it! Tsk, Tsk!

Thea and Sami, are based in Brisbane and hand screen print their own range of delicious fabrics.

So what should I make? There is enough green fabric for me to do something special for Tori with it, perhaps with some matching hand embroidery.

As for the fishes, I might just have to make a few of them with magnets for our fridge. I can imagine a range of magnet softies .... seaweed ... fishies.... star fish!

Although the fishies did come with instructions, I have never been the sort of person that would be a good pattern tester. I cut out the bits and then work out how they go together!

Thea and Sami have got quite a few fabrics on my wish list ...

I love this fabric with the margarite daisy on it. Printed on black linen, I can see this becoming a lovely handbag or pillow.

This fretwork pattern is lovely as well. Comes in red and green and would make an interesting contrasting fabric for a quilt.

Check out their blog, they have some interesting links and news about where they sell their fabric packs.

Passion for Fabric

I have a passion for fabric. I get excited by the texture, the colours and the way that it hangs in my hand. I love taking an idea from concept through to product with the aid of beautiful fabrics.

via Ink Productions

For a while I have been secretly lusting after the opportunity to do some screen printing. I have played around with a Gocco, but it is nothing compared to what other talented ladies.

On Saturday Beky and I went off to take a peak at the Ink & Spindle studio in Kensington. What can I say, it took my breath away. The large workbench, the screens, the designs. I would love to have the opportunity to print my own fabric by hand. There is something very primal about printing the fabric and then using it.

Another Aussie fabric producer is Thea & Sami. Thea recently sent me a lovely email to say that she was reading my blog and she had signed up as a follower. I spent *ages* on her site taking a look at all the lovely fabrics that she has screen printed. I look foward to purchasing some via her store.

via Thea & Sami

I know that the CAE in Melbourne do some screen printing workshops and also the Olive Grove on Sydney Road. Do you know of any other place that does workshops?