Friday, September 30, 2011

a before and after

As promised ive returned with a sort of before and after of yesterdays happenings.
Two images different moods. Both good, just different.

 Im glad both the girls were pretty great at the whole market thing for first timers.
Im glad you cant see how im wearing a black bra under this whitish background dress but im not so sure I got off that lightly with the folks on main street. Eeeek. 
I wish I was one of those people that goes to market prepared for anything. I suppose I will get there eventually but it is kind of the last thing on my mind to take a raincoat. Plus a sheer hatred for umbrellas grows each year so I would rather be rained upon. I just dont like being stabbed in the side of my head as much as the rest of you do. However scoring an amazing pair of gumboots at Dimmeys the other day for $9.99 should have been the warning for this day because my thongs that I was wearing slipped off a number of times while I crossed busy streets packing up. I went barefoot the rest of the time and just decided to embrace the feralness of being drenched from head to feet. 

We hope to do a photoshoot of our clothes very soon. I havent done one for a couple of years so its time. The only images I have to show for winter (and even then these Heidi coats are still lying cut out in a box) are these gorgeously shot images from Danielle Quarmby with her daughter Sienna as model.
Im so grateful to her for taking them and showcasing my clothes with an honest, artistic softness. 

There is an exciting collaboration coming up that I will be able to speak about soon, but not yet.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

market day at mornington

This is our stall today. The story goes that this mornings set up was easy. We unpacked on a fairly empty street with other stall holders smiling saying hi and by the time id reparked the car and walked back, Zjahlii had hung the dresses all on one rack and the knits and pants and jackets on the other, clever and fast even though she had Mali and Archer with her.
All in colours and sizes pretty much too, with just a bit of tweaking left to do and the table top bounty for me.
Easy.

This is the first time ive been able to do this with enough dresses in stock to make it look juicy.


The racks are seeming a tad full so we will need some more before next week to make it easier to browse, plus im finally working on some ladies wraps tomorrow, in between cuddles of all three grandbabies.

 I feel like such a lucky woman right now with all of them here under one roof for a whole week. Not to mention being able to watch the girls sew together for the first time.

I snuck some DorothyBills cards on the table as well for a bit of marketing for her cushions and quilts, plus Eleesa only works a couple of doors down from where we were today.

There will be something new for the table next week. I hope they turn out as well as whats in my head.

We were up late last night of course and Mali wouldnt go to sleep so I had her on my lap and tried not to sew over both our fingers in my tiredness. Pics taken by the Mr. Thanks honey! (someone else taking photos for a change).


Mali is going to be a sewer I just know it by the way she really
watches the processes, clocking it all up in her brain.  

We woke up to this and take my word on it, this was the tidiest room in the house hands down.

The rest of the story goes that we had a thunderstorm hit halfway through the day and had to pack the stall up and leave early. The dress I was wearing was see-though by the time I finallly got in the van after five trips in the rain to a car park 100 metres away. So that was me, the girls and the three babies! Madness but pure fun. We giggled in good humour about our predicament instead of the other aspect. It was supposed to be 28 degrees and the storm was supposed to be held at bay til evening. Argghhh!

Ill add some before and after shots that Adelin has on her iphone but for now she is tucked up in bed with poor little Violet who isnt feeling well but smiles the whole day anyway. She has such a wondrous, sunny nature.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

little tree kids at mornington street market

Little Tree Kids will now be available at Mornington Street Market which happens every wednesday between 9am and 3pm. All us girls will be there tomorrow and here are the 
latest dresses and wrap tops for spring/summer. 








Zjahlii is staying for the week, so we have all our grandbabies in the house at once, and we are all working on our own projects and designs. There will be mad chaos today as we prepare some things for tomorrow and im beginning my day with more pattern making for Zjah.
Bring it on!

Monday, September 26, 2011

the last four days

The last four days before market encompassed so many things* it was hard to prioritise my sewing.

Friday Adelin helped by cutting out baby slippers while I worked on the Aviators and a new design im calling Kittencaps (ill show a finished one in the next couple of days).
 It wasnt just a matter of head down bum up sewing as I would have liked. I have taken progress shots of the studio table, the dining table, even my friends table because we stayed in the city saturday night and I had to take my almost done dresses with me. I didnt have time
to post on the days these were taken as it was full production any spare moment, squeezed in around life.

Im using wools from the blanket offcuts cut on the bias so they stretch and give, then t-shirting for the linings to add softness.


Here is saturdays table at our friends place.
I sewed late into the night again! Will I ever be organised with enough stock?

 I dislike showing these evening lit shots but there is no sunlight at 1am. My finishing would have been earlier if we hadnt gone out for an amazing meal. So my predicted timing was pretty good this time around and I reckon would have gotten to bed at midnight all going smoothly.
Anyway, everyone else watched a really good movie while I plowed through the dresses, then discovered
I needed the overlocker (left at home) for a final seven seams. They got sidelined for the following market.
Well I hadnt thought that one through had I?






*A week ago our couch potato lit himself on fire during a skateboarding stunt (before you go feeling sorry for him, dont! he did it to himself plus it is a regular thing he and his mates do, so was bound to happen eventually) so weve had doctors appointments thrown into the mix.
He was lucky he was metres from the beach and only on fire for 10 seconds.



Friday, September 23, 2011

cheats pom-pom tutorial


For all of you asking about how to do cheats pom-poms here is a little tutorial.
(okay so it was just my daughter, Zjahlii, and Kate) but here it is anyway.
Ive done these like this for years cos theres no way I can be bothered doing them the proper way. It wasnt until my own daughter rang and asked 'so you sew through the cardboard and....? that it hit me that it wasnt obvious how to make them the cheats way.
So no... you dont sew through the cardboard.
You cut the cardboard out so you wont wreck your needle honeychild!



You need something rectangular like this made of cardboard. The width of the card decides the width of your finished pom-pom. Curve the cuts of the slot you create slightly so when the wool is wound around, even if it tightens the card sides together, you still get left with a channel in which to sew.

Wrap the wool around keeping in mind that you need to be able to get it through your sewing machine
so dont go too thick. Try not to pull it too tight as you go or the cardboard will bend in and youll lose your slot to sew within. 

About 50 times should do it.

Press down firmly as close to the needle as you can and sew to the end.

Reverse back a bit to reinforce.

Slice the wool open from the card both sides.

Push the wool free from the card.

Lay it down in a long caterpillar and make sure you havent messed the sides together.

Roll up.

Hold firmly.

Tie with an extra piece of wool.

Trim the extra and also the telltale cotton that gives away the machine stitching so people think youve done these the hard slow way.

Rub and fluff your pom-pom!

Trim anything that sticks out and youre done.
It looks like alot of steps but they take around five minutes all up.



Wednesday, September 21, 2011

on the table

Im the first to admit, okay, so its completely my own doing, that this ostentatious photo taking of the sewing table daily is proving how unconditionally, outburstingly mischievous I can become. I am so off-centre to my list
things are becoming compounded which is usual before market but this time im showing you all how it really is with me. Allow me to guide you through my afternoon of sewing.
We have baby slippers and some tags the teenager hole punched and strung while I bribed him with an online shopping foray of his favourite skate brand.

Aviator hood patterns in sizes 0 - 5 that I didnt even know I was making till they were done and dusted.
Who would have guessed? They still pass as upcycling, well sort of (what im supposed to be doing in case you werent here 3 days ago) so am I off the hook? Perhaps youll allow me that, once ive made more that one singular, still pom-pomless effort.

Some Juniper boots fully lined but the general consensus is that they look even better inside out.

The slow but sure additions of embroideries for the wrap dresses.

Now...
I will get through the mountainous array of dresses, the junipers, the slippers and the zesty hoods and although I am becoming aware of the self inflicted entanglement that is my market prep, ive already reached the place where I wish I had one. more. day.

I leave you here, with a view of whats on the table, hopeful that overnight a miracle happens.
If anyone has any tips they are very welcome to leave them in the comments. 

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

tuesday makings

I totally forgot it was the Mr's day off today so that means it was our weekend, like our sunday, which completely lets me off the hook for tuesday makings and makes the list obselete, dont you think? Just for today?

I managed a few bits and pieces like baby slippers in between going in and out doing
the stuff he had on his mind to do. No eskimos in sight though and at this point im hoping for a miracle.

I have a pile of mens shirts ready for upcycling tomorrow, which I know is looking very optimistic, especially because I think im coming down with something.
I wish I felt like cutting out some little girls dresses tonight but I dont.

Here is a sneak peek at what weve been up to on our day off, ahem... I mean his day off.

I have been sidetracked working on things for him.
Wood engraving production is covering our rather large dining table and there is no room for my sewing left.
The good news is that now im the proud joint-owner of
the biggest cutting mat available so patchworking here I come!
But hang on, im getting ahead of myself here. I have to wait til thursday...

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