Good Green

I got a smallish piece of green cotton from my Nanna which she sourced from the Op-Shop she works in. I've been looking for this shade of green in cotton drill for ages, but they never seem to have it. It's always bottle green or bright grass green that borders on fluoro. I was going to make a bag from this fabric because the piece was the perfect size for a tote bag but as I was doing a smaller print decided I wanted to use it right away, so it became a wallet. The print is of two trees and the design is very square so I added some large circles in rows of three and used my high school mathomat to create them. I'm sometimes not very good at cutting circles, but because they were a little bigger they cut out much better than I thought. The design goes the whole way around the wallet so it is sort of split into three different areas.

Wristlet

I made this wristlet on the weekend with the white fabric I printed on. I made the pattern up as I went along, all I knew was I wanted to make little creases in the white fabric and then I figured I would just sew the rest of it like my other pouches. It all worked out okay, although I almost forgot to sew in the strap, which is pretty necessary. I like the four different shades of blue in the print, zip, band and lining. It is also a little bigger than I imagined, but not too big. I think it would hold quite a bit of stuff before it gets to bursting point. I love the white and blue striped fabric I used for the lining. It was in the bargain section of Spotlight because I think they thought "nautical" was out of fashion although linen was also about 80%. I think they must have left the work experience kid in charge of markdowns that day.

Flying Start

I found another Australian Etsy seller that makes fantastic stuff! Florence Forrest's Etsy store, Flying Start Toys, began last month and I particularly love these little Snow Walkers. Florence also has a blog so you can read about all her lovely creations.

After a hectic week I was back in the studio today. I cleaned it up and sorted it out, a job which I started but didn't finish a few weeks ago. I finished a wallet and made a wristlet with the screenprints I did last week with the blue circles and I also did a new set of screenprints for some wallets which caused a sneezing fit. I'm not sure if it was from the ink (I hadn't opened a window, but couldn't smell anything due to the sneezing) but Gareth said it was really stinky when he came in.

I also made a wallet with some white and red fabric my sister got me. I used it a while back for a little coin purse and decided to use it again. I was going to make it a dual fabric wallet, but thought I would try the whole hog.

Little Brown Wallet

This is one of my wallets downsized quite a bit. I had one of those days where almost everything I touched was ruined. In this case, the larger piece of fabric was lying under some other fabric I was cutting, and decided to join in the fun and ended up with a 2 inch gash. I decided to make a mini wallet from it because I don't like to see printed fabric wasted (I have a box full already). It is the right size for business cards and credit cards, but it was actually a fluke because I didn't measure it. The blue lining is quite bright and looks lovely with the brown.

Bright Stuff

This is one of the wallets I made on the weekend with my new machine. I am not sure where I got the fabric, I think it was from a stash my Nanna saved me from the Op-Shop she works in. It looks like fabric from the sixties or seventies although it is hard to tell when it was made. All I know is I never remember buying it. It works well with the denim because it is so bright it needs something to dull it down a bit, you know what I mean when you open it because I used it for the lining and it really stands out when you are faced with even more of it. It is currently available in my Etsy shop.

Above And Below

I got a new sewing machine this weekend and it is all rather exciting. I did lots of sewing to test it all out and so far so good. I made some wallets, costumes for the school production and this artwork below. I specifically asked the lady in the shop if it was a problem to sew on paper and she said it would be fine. I will be listing the wallets during the week. I have bright purple, two even brighter retro/denim wallets and a brown one with the blue screen print from the last few posts in large and mini sizes.

Blue On Blue

This is the blue wallet with the blue print now available on my Etsy shop. The print looks really bright and stands out on the pale blue fabric, which looks like denim but was really soft and not very stiff. I interfaced the fabric with a thick interfacing and the lining is black linen. I think I will make some more things with this fabric because it is really beautiful.

I love fabrics with two different colours of weave through them, particularly ones with white weave. I found some lovely emerald green silk which I think will make some pretty wallets, I'm just a little scared to screenprint on it in case I ruin it.

Blue On Black

I spent some time this weekend on a new screen print especially designed for my wallets. I was cleaning up my studio putting fabric away when I had an idea of doing a very off white/pale blue print on white fabric. That changed to doing blue on white, then the cleaning process stopped and I started cutting out my stencil. I was going to use the print as part of a dual fabric wallet, with the little stems coming out from the seam, but the ones I have made have all been single fabric wallets. This one is the blue print on black linen. I had only planned on printing on white and brown, but once I started I pulled out the black linen and also did a print on the pale blue fabric that is lining this wallet. I will be listing more during the week.

howlin doggie

I found a new Australian Etsy seller via Flickr during the week. Howling Doggie makes handmade jewellery including rings, armbelts, cuffs and earrings. This leaf pendant caught my eye due to the simple cut out design.

Check out her blog, Mettle Design Studio and her Etsy shop.

Leaf Pendant by Howlin Doggie

I have also updated my shop with a new dual fabric wallet in denim and Japanese Cotton. I have started using new press studs which I don't need to stitch in. It's much easier and they look a lot better, athough I did like the button on the outside of the wallets.

Roars

This badge is a cross between my man badges and the puffy things I have been making. The last time I made puffy badges was back in July when I first started my Etsy shop. I didn't think they were really sucessful and got so into making the ladies I forgot about it a little bit.

This guy looks like a lumberjack and I'm not sure if the felt on top for the skin colour really works that well, but we will see.

Wallets and Badges

After a long break from my sewing machine I got back to making some little pouches and wallets. I had a custom order for Etsy seller Sheeps Clothing to make a pouch or wallet for business cards and I am getting some of her lovely knitted hair ties in return.

Here is one of the wallets I made with the red flower screenprint on olive green drill, it is available in my Etsy shop.

I also made some more little badges on Saturday night. This one was one of my favourites and the red felt is really lovely and soft. I made him while watching Season 2 of Twin Peaks that just arrived in the mail a few weeks ago. I like watching tele shows over again and remembering things. You would think watching something again you would remember everything, but you don't.

Dinosaurs Roar!

Allira Tee is a Melbourne based designer who just started an Etsy shop. Allira makes lovely brooches from acrylic and wood and also has a shop on Mintd. The dinosaur brooch is my favourite, although the raw one is also very cool, and everyone needs some yellow in their life right?

I was also tagged by Sylvia Vincent, here are the rules:

• Start with 7 random facts/habits about yourself

• People who are tagged have to write their 7 things on their blog

• Then choose another 7 people to get tagged and list their names

• Don't forget to leave them a comment to tell them they have been tagged and to read your blog

I was in a fictional band called Randall'us at University. It was taking the piss out of the popstars band Scandal'us and we had our own website.

I liked to crank call people, although I have not done it recently. I like it most when I get a cold and my voice goes husky and people I know cannot recognise me.

I worked in a very low quality call centre for 3 weeks selling fire extinguishers to people in Noble Park, Springvale and Keysborough. The woman who was the "team leader" was annoying and I left and didn't bother to tell them for 2 days because I had a new job and didn't have time to call them.

I went to Poland for 2 days in July 2005. I ate more meat and drunk more beer in those two days than a normal month in Australia.

I told a member of the band Area 7 that I didn't much care for their music after a concert during O week.

I had a white pony called Pippin who died when I was in Year 7. I didn't tell my "horsey" friend because I was worried she would get mad with me.

I got addicted to a computer game made by one of my students. Although it took me almost all holidays I clocked it.


I now tag Jason, Jodie, Veronica, Helen, Sarah, Mike, and Penny