When Inspiration Strikes

You just never know when the next brilliant idea or inspiration might appear.

I was brunching with Cathy in a nice little cafe one day when I spotted this lovely metal screen.

I have a bit of a fencespotting thing going on over on instagram (which also includes metal screens in cafes). I really like looking at the patterns and the shapes.  I'm particularly fond of the 50's 60's and 70's type era.

These have all been added to my inspiration folder for future reference.

I was particularly smitten by the cafe screen so I got to work designing a repeatable pattern.

Which I then had printed up as fabric.

I decided that I wanted to make myself another Wiksten Tank, so I chose a cotton voile basecloth.
Although you can't really tell from this photo, the cotton voile is really sheer, so I have to wear a singlet undeneath.

You can just see a little peak on the right armhole from this photo (and it's a little washed out), but I used a really bright red binding for the armholes and neckline. It worked perfectly with the red in the print.

Thankyou Cafe Screen - I think this might be my new favourite top!

Proud Moment

I spent yesterday afternoon packing fabric for the upcoming Polly Pratt Pop-Up Shop this Saturday.

As I haven't been selling at any markets, I usually only cut fabric to a specific size as orders come in from the shop.

When I stood back and looked from afar, I have to admit to having a bit of a proud moment.

Fingers crossed the shoppers like them!


PS - this is post number 2000!!!

A Make-Up Purse

It was my SIL's birthday last week and I really wanted to give her a handmade gift, but it needed to be something useful.

A new Make-Up Purse fitted the bill perfectly!

WIP iPhone Shot

It's large enough to fit everything she could possibly need for a weekend away, with a separate zippered section on the back for anything that's a bit precious.

I'm a bit in love with my Spring Bouquet fabric that I used for this one!

Spring Bouquet

It's only five more sleeps 'til Spring... and hopefully some much needed sunshine.

Sunshine arrived at my doorstep today when my new Spring Bouquet fabric arrived a day earlier than expected (gotta love that)!

Mr Limpy Houdini Attack Dog wasn't quite so amused by the knock on the door.

This is a Kona Quilting weight 100% cotton basecloth. 

It's a bit hard to see from the photos, but the design size is smaller than the Spring Bouquet Cushion Cover so that it's more useful for small projects and for my next A-Line Skirt of course.

I hope everyone else loves it as much as me!



  

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Psychedelic

When I designed my current range of fabrics and ordered sample swatches, it included this fabric design which I originally created a little while ago as a background banner for my sister.

I just happened to show the sample swatch to Cathy at around the same time as I was racking my brain trying to come up with a handmade birthday pressie.

Check out Little Cat in the background

I completely forgot to take any photos after I'd finished, so I had to wait until she unwrapped it, and then I snapped a couple of quick iPhone photos... the outside

... and the Kindle Touch snuggled up inside (check out the matchy matchy lining - Linear in Tangerine)


But do you know what I was more impressed by?

Cathy's amazing homemade cream buns - heaven!

New Fabric Range

There was much excitement when I heard a knock at the door thismorning. It was the sound of my new fabric range arriving!

Mr Limpy Houdini Attack Dog made lots of noise.... Oh, the poor Delivery Driver.


You may remember that I conducted a little online colour research on the social networks recently.
I posed the question: 

What is your favourite colour combo at this very moment in time?

Linear Design in Aquamarine Colourway

I was very happy to find that Grey/Green Grey/Blue and Blue/Green were some of the most popular combos.

Linear Design in Tangerine Colourway

I couldn't resist the same design in one of my fave colour combos!

Clark Loves Edna in Aquamarine Colourway

Then of course there's Clark and Edna. These two were some of my favourite hand-drawn illustrations, so I couldn't resist combining them into a Chic Geek Fun design.

Hope you like them too!

They're now in the Fabric Section of the shop.

A very late engagement

Sometimes handmade gifts don't quite get made in time for an occasion...

The fabric panels arrived on Tuesday and I madly scrambled to get this cushion finished so that I could take it along to NCB lastnight for B-Fab (please forgive the hastily taken blurry iPhone snaps as I was running out the door).

Just in case the design doesn't make any sense to you.... that's the happy couples first initials.

....and here it is in its new home - on Boyance's couch!

Things that make me smile...

When I see someone making something completely gorgeous using fabric that I've designed.

Handpainted doll by Jennie at A Little Vintage using my Go Granny and Owlie Oracle...

This one is perfect for Blogtoberfest.

Juliet from Tartan Kiwi won my Reindeer Row fabric during last years Blogtoberfest finale, and she's made a little zippered pouch as a pressie for her nephew.

Soooooo cute! I have a teensy bit of this fabric left and it's making me want to get it out and make christmas pressies.

I haven't had a chance to organise my own Blogtoberfest giveaway just yet, so keep your eyes peeled for it this coming week. In the meantime, please check out the Blogtoberfest Giveaway page and good luck!

My Creative Space...

In my creative space today...

Some more fabric samples that I picked up from Frankie and Swiss yesterday. I haven't managed to get the colours just as I like them yet, so there's still a bit if tweaking and testing to go.

The home of our creative spaces.

Rolling Along - Part Two

When I posted Rolling Along - Part One, I also promised that there'd be a part two in the not-too-distant future!

I like this one better (of course), just because it's pink and orange.

More stitching along the lines..... using my owl fabric.

I hope Charlotte and Flynn love them!

Rolling along - part one

There's been quite a lot of little bits of crafting going on around here lately. Jumping from one project to another before finishing the first one has become 'the norm', hence all the blog posting in parts!

So this is part one of the latest request from one of my girlfriends. She needs a texta roll each for her niece and nephew, with twenty pockets for textas.

I'd never used my own fabric designs for these before, but just look at how perfect they are for the job.....

....you just stitch along the lines.

Next texta roll coming soon...

My Creative Space

Researching, Testing, Thinking, Working, Dreaming...

..... and wishing the best of luck for dreams coming true!

The home of my creative space

The Owls Have It

Things have been so crazy busy around here that I completely missed a 2nd birthday a couple of weeks ago...

So I whipped up a super simple and super quick little skirt.

It's just two rectangles - the front one appliqued with a lovely row of owls, then overlocked and sewn together, hemmed, and elasticised.

The applique is a strip cut from my Owlie Oracle fabric.

It's hard to see in this photo, but I pressed and topstitched the side seams in pink thread, just for fun!

I'm off to deliver it today, with fingers crossed that it fits... here's hoping.

The Evolution of a Granny Bag

It all began with a hand sketched drawing.....

....which became a design way back in November last year.

It was digitally printed as a lovely linen cotton blend fabric sample in December (right here in Australia), and has been longingly fondled and gazed at ever since.

It's finally been transformed into a handbag, just the perfect size for me and all of my bits and bobs.

I'm hoping to be able to share the fabric printing news very shortly, but in the meantime, I have more samples on the way, and I'll hopefully have some granny square fabric available very soon!

For the Late-Adopter

I'm one of those peeps that you might label a late-adopter when it comes to technology.

I have no desire to have the latest or the greatest of anything in particular. I bought my very first laptop only last year, I was late in joining Facebook, and even later in joining Twitter.

So it comes as no suprise, that I still use an old school mobile phone. It has all the bells and whistles that I need on a daily basis....... but it seems that everyone else on the planet has an iPhone!

My poor little phone was the perfect muse and inspiration for my latest iPhone/Gadget Pouch design.

These three colours are now available in The CurlyPops Shop.

Revealing - part two

This is another custom order which I couldn't reveal prior to the big day.... just in case.

A certain lucky little girl received a mini laptop for Christmas. So, of course, a mini laptop requires a mini laptop bag!

It should be very hard wearing with the denim outer, and a layer of S320 and then a nice cushy layer of fusible wadding.

I had a bit of fun with the flap using my Owl Oblong Fabric, and then a lovely silver twist lock to finish it off.