Crafty projects for the Handmade Market

Some of our first projects.

Here is a peak at some of the nice things our little craft group have been working on. Some of them are really only first editions so there may be a variety of versions to come.

Janie's lovely lamps

I thought I'd start with these little table lamps made by Janie. Jane is playing with familiar shapes and is working with a ‘free’ machine sewing style to create a sketched- over appearance to her designs.

Joe-Marie's beautiful bags and other soft furnishings.

This is a cute collection of birdie coasters with matching trivet.

And another set of coasters with matching trivet. This time they bear appliqué inspired by ancient Japanese tea pot designs. Each of Joe's coasters and trivets are made using natural linen and machine appliqué.

Joe is also a print media artist and makes many of her own designs which she then screen prints onto the fabrics herself. Joe has been looking at the effect of Japanese calligraphic mark making to develop some of her recent designs. This throw cushion is one of her first using this technique.

Joe's beautiful bags really a treat. They are seemingly simple but have lots of delicate and subtle detailing. They are made with a combination of linen and Japanese fabrics.

Blue flower shoulder bag.

Ribbons and roses bag.

Pleated evening purse.

This is a sample of my Ladies' tool roll.

They all started because I tend to be the handy person about my house. My husband had the idea to keep all my tools in the one place and that it could be made into something thats' really nice to use. We thought it might be something other handy women would find useful and enjoy too.

The tool roll has a heavy duty thick cotton exterior. It is lined on the inside with coloured fabric which is sealed from any tool mess by a clear flexible plastic layer.

Nicky's happy Chair

This is one of Nicky's second life chairs which she has redecorated. She reupholsters beautiful retro furniture with fun fabrics and brightens them up with colourful paints.

She is transforming chairs into cheerful and inviting objects which can bring cheer and light into an interior space. Nicky’s chairs recharge your energy levels and set a happy tone in any room.

A Pocket cushion.

Nicky is also making these lovely sofa cushions which are uniquely designed to look like they have a pretty pocket flap. This one uses a grainy dark blue Japanese fabric with tiny white polka dots.

Thank you for stopping bye. As you can see we have all been quite busy!

Please leave us a comment if you have time.

Bron.

Introducing Janie.

I just wanted to take a minute and start this post by introducing my lovely friend Jane.

Jane is an artist and teacher and an amazingly talented woman. Since we have been meeting as a group she has been working on a number of projects but my favorites are her gorgeous lamp shades. She hand and machine appliqué's the fabrics first then turns this into the shades.

Soon Jane will make a post and you can see for yourself just what I'm talking about!

The Australasian Quilt Convention & Expo

Now this post is a tad late I know, but I had such a nice time so I really want to mention the Quilt Expo in Melbourne.
My DMIL took me along to see the quilt show and we had a lot of fun while she showed me all the various designs and told me a little the types of techniques used. We were both really excited to see so many lovely Japanese fabrics as we have both recently visited Japan and are enjoying the subtle beauty of these designs and those beautiful grainy textures. This is me at the entrance of the exhibition.

Whilst we were there I had the opportunity to meet a very inspiring group of women. They are all working on a quilt design called the Civil War Bride quilt, which is a beautiful quilt but also a massive undertaking to commit to such a project. They are all bloggers too and were finally meeting up in real life to share samples of their work so far.

From left to right they are Lizzie, Debb, Natima (my mum in law), Ronnie(no blog), Kaly.

They are all fun women and seeing all their lovely work was really inspirational but also a little intimidating too as I began to realize just how much I have to learn!

This is a close up on of one of the quilts I found most interesting. It is made from many khaki woolen uniforms worn during the Second WW. Some of the pieces have holes in them and all of the pieces are a different shape. I liked to way it hangs too as it undulates like an aerial view of a landscape.

WW ll Army Uniform Crazy Quilt

So after a fun day out I got home to find an early mothers day gift waiting for me from my darling husband- he has given me a sewing machine!

This is my first sewing machine and I think we are going to have a lot of fun together.

Dyeing day results

Well these are the results of a fun day of felt dyeing and I am really happy with the amazing bright and beautiful colours achieved with the wool. Wool really seems to take up colour very well.

After leaving all the bags of dye and fabric overnight, we rinsed all the peices out by hand.
This part is really exciting as you discover how each one has developed. I found that many of the colours that I thought were going to be blues, turned out an amazing range of greens.

Here are the felts drying in the shade. The colours seem to change in the sunlight.

Some of the softer colours.

Mauves and reds,

yummy greens and lemony yellows,

Im so keen to get started creating lovely things for my little Bella with all these lovely felts. Thankyou Natima for such a fun day. I am lucky to have such a kind and creative mum in law.