Monday, November 28, 2011

market day at mulgrave

Rosina and Sue are always kind enough to put me under the beautiful robinia trees when im at Mulgrave Makers market so on those hot days the heat doesnt get the better of me.

Im liking the symmetry of the stall now even though I forced it on myself when I decided to use my blue market
table in the studio makeover. There are still a few things I need like an extra rail/rack for the ladies dresses and to fit the two more designs for summer (they are still very much in my head but soon...)
I need to sort the changeroom out with proper curtains, and more baskets/containers to hold homewares would be good to fill the empty holes on the floor. Im thinking lightweight ones with wheels perhaps? Of course I need to sew the homewares too!

When I look back on my market day shots lately im a wee bit proud of how full things are looking. I mean it actually looks like I know what im doing, which is still in doubt.


When the style guru Eleesa comes to visit she does tell me but when your in the middle of it all you dont realise until later on how your stall might look to another. I am beginning to agree, Eleesa, and thanks cos you always make me feel sorted and relieved when you pop by.

Happy monday to you!

Im heading out to the shed tonight to do some much needed sorting.
Ive been leaving it up to the menfolk but it really needs a womans touch to tweak things back into their correct spots. Id rather be sewing but there is no choice.

mums kitchen - part two

Thursday and friday last week I was down at mums again sorting out the second instalment of her new kitchen.
Plan A for this week was to put together the cabinet to house the oven so mum could start cooking again. She has been using an electric frypan for the time being.
Only thing was, when we rang to make sure we could pick up the oven tower that we were waiting on, it hadnt even been ordered. Plan B, find one somewhere and go pick it up. While there we could get the rest of the bench top and get cutting out the hole for the cooktop. Well that wasnt meant to be either as they didnt have the same colour as the other Bunnings store. .


I didnt have a plan C. All I was able to achieve thursday, was to cut the hole for the sink ready for my son in law to plumb in, and a bit of problem solving. On the friday we did get our hands on the illusive oven tower, yay, but when I got half way through the instructions, I read it was a two man job to erect the entire upper part. The housings for the microwave and the top cabinet were too heavy to hold in place while screwing in. So after a bit of cupboard emptying I gave up doing any more woodwork and came home to sort myself out for sundays market.

It threatened to be a not so nice day (drizzling) but that didnt last very long, only while setting up really, then ended up sunny around midday. Ill be back later today to show how the stall looked this time around. I took our coffee table again! I need to get something that is a bit lighter to transport, methinks.


Wednesday, November 23, 2011

market day

I seem to be making alot of pink this week.


I had to reconfigure the stall due to me using my market table for the redesign in the studio last week. You might recognise our coffee table!

I got around to constructing a makeshift change room and it definitely got used, so good timing. 




Im finally doing some cushions for kids rooms!
The guy next door to me sells organic eggs at $4 a dozen or three dozen for $10. I, of course, bought the 3 for $10 as we are on a quiche kick here.

Happy wednesday!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Its 10pm and im waiting for the Mr to get home and secretly hoping I have a couple more hours up my sleeve to prep for market. Ive been sewing since I woke up. By the clock to be precise.
I sewed more dresses than I thought possible and now am working on some girls shorts and a couple of cushions for the table, things Id been meaning to do a year ago. I will be ironing and labeling and sizing into tomorrow which I try not to do as im not a morning person by nature and it renders me slightly incoherent for the first hour in the morning. Lately ive been organised enough and getting to bed before midnight but im not that lucky tonight.

I hope to see some friendly faces tomorrow, actually I know I will cos a few of my friends live closeby, but I mean regular customers and the other stall holders. Find me at Mornington Main Street market tomorrow, at the beach end across from the great little eatery,Via Boffe.

Monday, November 21, 2011

dress production

After announcing my new label its only fitting the next dress should be a tree print. This one
 has a pocket on each side.
These are part of my shop update tonight  
but my heart is not really in it as ive just come across from Posie Gets Cosy.
She has had some devastating news so if youd like to send her some love by way of a kind comment im sure she would appreciate it.


size 16



stocktake

The Mr has been very patient with me sorting out for the market this wednesday. Over last week I began trying to do a mini stocktake and ever since then weve been waking up to this.
There is not much to say really. Im in a bit of a panic today when I see how little I have left.
Market day is wednesday, I have around fifteen things cut out for Little Tree Kids and a few ladies wraps started.
Where did my weekend go?

Sunday, November 20, 2011

announcement


With all of the choices of names with their multitude of different connotations ive never been sure of what name my womens clothing label would be. I have always liked the word Piece. It is simple and it pretty much sums up what I do and how I do it in one singular word. A piece of clothing, a one off, made from, again, a piece of cloth or pieces of embroideries ive found. These labels above are what I had made up when a few years back I was making dresses for Lyn Gardeners store, Empire Vintage. She was extremely nice to the creatively, sporadic, mother of four that I was and didnt ever ask too much of me by way of stock. Just allowed me to bring in whatever designs took my fancy at the time. I hardly had to make the same thing twice.


Anyhow that name, Piece alone, hasnt been available for a few years.
I checked. By the time I had the plan to use it as a label name someone had already thought of it. But annoyingly not for clothing or anything to do with it to my knowledge. A Google search and you get this. So the other night I had an idea to go one better and outsmart the outsmartee, typed in Piece by Wendy Hill... and because id attached my name it worked!
So I will now, a bit excitedly, be making womens dresses under my own label and not simply a byproduct of the blog as The Textured Leaf dresses. It was about time wasnt it? I have this week, opened an Etsy shop under that name and have been going about simplifying things, (being very hopeful here). I guess ill keep you updated.

Friday, November 18, 2011

shop update - wrap dresses

womens size 16

I went to a friends to sew yesterday as she is down the road from our mechanic. So once id dropped the van off  (one day late) to be serviced I kind of got nicely stuck there all day and finished these dresses. The first two are for Elaine, a lovely, (becoming quite regular) customer of mine. They are special order fabrics from overseas.


womens size 16


womens size 10


womens size 14

I adore the look of the vintage sheeting bias binding on a sheeting dress. I wasnt sure at first if it would look too over girly/feminine which it does, but I seem to like the look regardless. This sheet is such a lightweight breezy fabric, it will be lovely to wear during the hottest summer days. Almost like wearing nothing...

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

naughty corner

Let me show you my naughty corner.
The one corner of the studio that I will allow to be built up with a little bit of chaos.
There are three main identities to the stuff here, the long rolls of fabric and pattern paper, clothes in progress hanging up waiting to be finished/labeled and the rack of trims. Excuse the lovely ray of sunlight hitting. I hope to not stray too far outside these boundaries (if at all) now that things are super streamlined. I had visitors today and showed them around the new house and I was a little bit beside myself when we entered the room and saw that im up to my old tricks of not keeping on top of the putting away, already! At this rate im going to need to tidy up big time once a week. Not good! I could be sewing instead....

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

in the middle of the night

This was the sunlight that came through the window yesterday afternoon while I was sewing. Isnt it glorious!
I feel lucky indeed to have such a space to work in. The light now reflects off the wall where previously the dark piece of furniture lived. Up til now I thought this room was too gloomy to do much work in during the day due to the shutters, and mostly I just came in here at night times. Even then things werent good because the lighting needed a strong globe and I never seemed to remember to buy one. Well, the concentrating of the doing up of the studio has altered my perspective entirely. I woke up in the middle of the night to go and look at what id achieved. Okay, okay, so I had a mountain of orders to cut and that was what kept me awake, but the point is im smitten with this room now!

Im working my way through cutting out some ladies size 16s this evening. I have a day up my sleeve tomorrow as instead of heading off to market the van is getting serviced. I feel free to play, and play I will! even if I have to get up in the middle of the night again. The Mr is used to me having these sporadic hours where I have to get my head around things I simply cant tackle in daylight hours.

Ive been working on a dress for Kelly. I only just got the size out Kel! with millimetres to spare, phew!

And a very small shop update tonight is this size 1 dress.

Does anyone know where I can source some grass green gingham? Im a bit desperate.
It must be the perfect green.
Leave me comment if you do, cheers!


I have to say a huge thankyou to Christy who sends me the nicest fabrics from her stash.
She says she will never use them but I just think shes being nice to me. Ive already cut out a wrap dress from the big liberty type floral you sent. Thank you for your kindness!

Monday, November 14, 2011

studio makeover

Its taken me a few days to get into the swing of the makeover. First there was the emptying of the cupboards (scary), then the wait for the menfolk to help me shift them (I ended up doing the first one myself-no mean feat), I then had to go through fabrics and toss just a few to make some room for the overflow (not a fan of the overflow). I knew in my head which ones I wasnt that fond of, things id had for years, just a matter of performing the ritual of bagging them and putting them on the front porch for the girls to look through when they come on friday for our sewing afternoon. I havent gotten around to telling you about that yet but they have been happening on the odd week.

Now, the ultimate space for me is industrial in its simplicity and I definitely dont like girly. Just a workroom aesthetic with big clear tabletops.


I have a clock to sometimes time my sewing, not necessarily to see what the time is. Like, I try to challenge myself do a task that takes me 20 minutes in 15. Sometimes I almost sew over my fingers if im tired so I dont really recommend it.



I thought I wanted an artwork but now im not sure. I think after looking through the photos I prefer it without.

There are quite a few makeovers going on at the moment. Ive seen three so far this past week.

Happy sewing to you all.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

once upon a weekend


A few weekends ago we spent the best part of the day doing artwork together. There was an animal theme going on. Bird with big head by our daughter, Zjahlii.


Our son Navarh's skull woodcut. 

 
The Mr's tree.


Its wasnt long before things got weird.






The next day there was a different sort of medium happening.
Lets say things got a little bit competitive.


This fantastic watercolour is by Zjah for her husband, Riley who's a keen fisherman.
It was the nicest way to spend a weekend.

I really meant it when I asked you all about my dilemma.




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