Thursday, October 28, 2010

My Wellington debut at Craft 2.0

My nationwide tour of Rose in Thorns has picked up from where I left it in July, and is about to arrive in Wellington. I am in Palmerston North right now, and will be heading down to Wellington tomorrow. This is so I can be at my very first Wellington Craft 2.0. I am very excited to be at the home of Craft 2.0, after attending and selling at the Christchurch events. I will be joined by Emma from Freedon Creative, Lucy from Felt, and Mel from Black Swan Designs who are also coming up from Christchurch.

Craft 2.0 is New Zealand's biggest contemporary craft event, and features some great talent from Wellington and beyond. If you're in Wellington, it's well worth the trip to The New Dowse in Lower Hutt. It has expanded upstairs this time, so will be the biggest Craft 2.o ever! There will be a crafting space where you get to make things, a huge prize draw, and free entry too. It's on from 10am - 3pm. If you come along, do say hi, it's always nice to meet readers of my blog!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Off the Rails at Little River

Thank you for all the lovely comments about my couch. It looks like there is now a waiting list for my skills, and at six years a couch, the next spot should be available in 12 years! I haven't had as many opportunities to sit on it as I would have liked – it's in a completely different part of the house to my candlemaking, and for good reason too!

I've been busy working on some new products, which I hope to debut at the upcoming markets I am attending. The next one is on Monday the 25th of October, at Off the Rails @ Little River Fair with Flair. There will be craft stalls, raffles, children's lucky dips, face painting, live music, pony rides and much more. All of the stall fees have been donated to the Little River Volunteer Fire Brigade.

It should be a great day out. Then I will be getting ready to go to Craft 2.0 in Wellington the following Saturday. I will be going via Palmerston North to visit my brother and sister-in-law, so it should be a nice wee break.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

My couch and it's many outfits – Part 2: The Finale!

Along with riding around around on my bike in a pink dress over the weekend, I also finished the (seemingly) mammoth task of finishing the new covers for my couch. If you missed the first post, with before pictures, you can read it here. It is a great feeling to finally finish a project that has been going for a long time, over six years I think! Here are the pictures. The light wasn't great for taking photos, so I apologise for the quality.

All the cushions are double sided, which means I can change the look of the couch whenever the mood strikes.

Since the last recover, I replaced the calico on the base of the couch, put on some new feet, replaced the foam chip seat cushions with foam squabs, and replaced the wadding on the back cushions with some recycled wool batting. As well as sewing new covers for the whole thing!

So, what else needs finishing...?

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Frocking out

I had bike fixed up in time for Frocks on Bikes on Saturday. I'm not sure how well I did on fitting the tyres and tubes though, as the air didn't stay in them as long as I would have liked. I cycled through town in my pink dress, feeling a little self conscious. That's until Briar arrived on her tandem bicycle adorned with ribbons!

Mel and Lucy (of Black Swan and Felt fame) were also there with their bicyles. Mel even had a wee portable stall setup on the back of her bike. I'm already scheming how I might be able to replicate that on mine... Unfortunately Briar left before I got the chance to photograph her and her daughter on their tandem bike. There were lots of bikes on display, including this very pretty Pashley Princess which I took for a wee test ride.

Earlier in the week I hadn't chosen which dress to wear. Then I remembered a conversation I'd had with Ninotchka of The Wardrobe at the last Crafty Business. While regaling her with stories of my sewing skills, I mentioned that once, a long time ago, I had made a dress without a pattern one evening. I had only worn it that night, and didn't go out until it was finished. Which ended up being about 2am. The design revolved around the length of zip I was able to acquire on a Saturday evening. I searched for a supermarket with a decent haberdashery section, and eventually found one at Woolworths.

So she challenged me to find the dress, see if it still fitted, and put a picture of myself wearing it on my blog. I thought I would kill two birds with one stone and wear it to Frocks on Bikes. It isn't the most practical style to bike in, so the leggings were a much needed addition to the outfit. As it wasn't that warm, I added a long sleeved top to the mix as well, so I was secretly a little bit glad it wasn't really hot day. Here are the pictures to prove it, showing front and back!

My winning streak also continued, and I won myself this sweet t-shirt as well. Maybe I should get myself a lotto ticket?

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Felt like helping out


























In the days following the earthquake, the Felt community wondered what it could do to help out. After some discussion, the idea for a FeltAid shop was born. Crafters have been donating goods to the shop, which the proceeds from will go to the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal. So far a whopping $4,000 has been raised, and they would love to hit $5000 before the shop closes on the 31st October. Sarah from Songbird Designs and Ana from Amiana have put in a great effort setting up the shop, soliciting donations, listing them, and co-ordinating the sending of goods from the donaters to the purchashers. Felt has also stepped in and offered no commission and free listings for the shop.

I have recently submitted a donation, as I thought it is a great cause and wanted to help out. You can help out too by browsing through the shop and purchasing some christmas presents, or perhaps a wee treat for yourself. If you would like to donate something, head along to the blog for more details.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

My couch and it's many outfits – Part 1: Setting the scene

This is a two part blog piece. There are two reasons for this: I haven't finished it yet, and I wanted to create some suspense. It is nearly finished though, so you won't have to wait too long...

Many years ago, while halfway through my graphic design course, myself and a couple of friends decided the YMCA student hostel just wasn't the same anymore, and it was time to find a flat. A friend from my course mentioned that her sister happened to have a spare lounge suite and dining suite, which we promptly snatched up. This became pretty much the only furniture in our student flat. Especially as only one couch made it up the stairs, the other was far too big. That one eventually found a new home with some other poor students.

The couch endured many hours of television watching, and numerous parties. I even have a photo of some dancing on the couch (which will remain in the photo album, and off the internet, I might add). After a year of this it was beginning to look a little worse for wear, so I decided it was time for some new covers. (Isn't that orange wall just so fetching?)

After a trip to Kutwell Fabrics, and about 10 metres of fabric for a grand sum total of $30, I set about drafting a pattern from some newspapers. Within a weekend I had drafted and sewn new covers for the entire couch. It was now resplendent in navy blue, and had no worn patches. (This is the before picture while it lived in the garage before I re-covered it again!)

A year or two later, it had started to fade, and I was a little tired of the foam chip cushions. So I decided to buy some foam squabs and cover them. This time I bought some remnant furnishing fabric. Some in a red/black fleck, and some black fabric. I covered one squab with this.

Since then, I went to London, and lent the couch to a friend. I eventually picked it up again about a year after I got back. Then I got married, so the project stayed on the backburner. After the wedding I went to Fabric House to buy some proper furnishing fabric for it. This was a little more expensive than the first time round, but I like to think it was worth it. I told the lady in the shop I would bring in pictures of it when i finished. I haven't forgotten!

That was nearly two years ago, and at a snails pace compared to the first time round, I have slowly made progress. I just need to sew the covers for the cushions now, and it's all done. It now lives in the studio/spare room, and I have grand visions of reclining on it whilst designing some new range of something.

The big reveal will come once it is finally finished, and I have had time to take some nice pictures. So don't hold your breath, but now I've put it out there, I might have to make sure I finish it sooner rather than later.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Frocks on Bikes

I was very excited to discover last week via the Black Swan blog that Frocks on Bikes is returning this weekend. I missed it last year because I was out of town. Since then, I have acquired a much more stylish bike than my current mountain bike. It needs a few repairs, so I went out yesterday to buy the required parts for my blue, folding Raleigh 20 bicycle. I just need to get them all installed before Saturday! Once that's done I just need to cross my fingers for a nice day like today, and decide on which frock to wear.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

A Star of Craft 2.0

Craft2.0_OCtober 2010
My profile for Craft 2.0 in Wellington has gone up on the blog today. Have a wee read to find out what makes me tick, and while you're there you can check out all the other talented crafters who will also be selling there.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Markets Galore!

It was nice and sunny for both my markets on the weekend, but I could have done without the wind on Sunday at Rolleston! I had some of my mum's handmade bobbin lace bookmarks and earrings to sell as well. I made a few sales, and it's always nice to chill out and do some people watching in the sun.
I used my new gazebo on Monday at Ashburton, which provided me a nice cool space to sit. I didn't put it up on Sunday because of the wind, which turned out to be a wise move, as it got so windy we all started packing up shortly after 12.

I have some more markets coming up. I thought I would try a few different ones out this season, and see which ones work well for me. So next up is the Methven Craft Market in the Square, as part of Springfest, this Sunday the 3rd October from 10am - 1pm.

In the next few weeks, I will also be at Off the Rails @ Little River with Flair on Monday the 25th October. Then the following weekend I will be at Craft 2.0 in Wellington. This will be my first time travelling to Wellington for Craft 2.0. and I'm really looking forward to it. Keep an eye out on the blog for my profile, sometime between now an then!