fair stash & repros

 so you know

a girl has 'got-to-have' a great fabric stash hey!?

there may have been some great sales on lately ...

my deliberate fabric selection has changed a lot in the last year

i've gone from thinking fabric for items for markets

to sewing more clothing items for me

with some 'tweaking' to the fabric shopping list

in order to 'make' for a friend's new shop being opened in feb

very excited about that

so this bundle may have made its way home with me this week

some for me & some to sew to sell

stay tuned hey!

now back on the topic of 'stashing'

there's some innate desire to stash & own & treasure

with those who sew

sometimes the stashing can get in the way of the making

for women is it the 'gatherer' instinct

is it something to do with the temptation of the 'great sale'?

but i have to say that i love that when i 'need' to problem solve

a design element i can turn to my stash & the answer is there!

lucky me ....

so in the big furniture & sorting re-shuffle that happened

about our home last year with the completion & set-up of 'the studio'

we moved this fabulous wardrobe into my sewing room

(yes i am completely spoilt as i have an art studio & a sewing room!)

we've had this piece for years & its had a variety of uses

was a fantastic op shop buy a few years ago

my FIL fitted the shelves for me

there's a beveled mirror on each door as well

.... & since sewing more clothing having a mirror 

in your sewing room .... is very very handy!

i spent 3 evenings collecting all my fabrics from assorted storage

unfolded, pressed & refolded & sorted

yep ... totally worth it!

so when i say i've raided the 'top shelf'

i mean it .... dualities!

great story behind these little fishies
..... swim fishes swim along the grainline!

i have purchased lots of fabric on line in the past but this

last year has brought on much more expensive 'shipping' to australia

so yeah ..... not so much! to make it worth it you really need to buy bulk

& that's just not always necessary .....

and as well as that i've found more & more

that i like the thrill of finding & handling fabrics

that has a lot to do with the making clothing change

so rathdowne remnants & spotty & darn cheap fabrics

have been more frequented 

..... with no encouragement from others!?

their advice is gold

my recent spotty splash out - top pic

have you been to spotlight lately & seen there

vintage linen range? called?

well i did spot some IG discussion & some disapproval

of Spotty's choice here to reproduce these designs

for people who know 'fabric' to us they are

one of the designs from Denyse Schmidt's

Flea Market Fancy Free Spirit range 

from some years back by Westminster Fibers

 yeah that's true ..... but its also not

they are designs used early last century

that have no 'copy right' & may be used for reproduction

kind of makes you feel like you've been cheated a little huh!

can you spot the difference between them?

which is which?

left :: spotlight version in stores now - linen

right :: flea market fancy - quilters cotton

the spotty one being a linen is slightly more grainy looking of course

i love this design & i have absolutely NO issue with it being reproduced

& with the recent 40% off it made it very afforable

i only bought x1m & am now wishing i'd bought more

i came across this same reproduction issue a few years ago

when i found a little plate in an op shop 

with another fabric design that i know well & adore

i did .... i wrote to 'amy' ..... she/or one of her staff kindly wrote back to me

saying they'd investigate ... they did & explained

they also asked for my postal address ....

lucky me was sent some ab patterns of my choice!!

so no getting upset peoples .....

we do not live in an ideas vacuum

there really are very few 'original' ideas out there

support our bricks & mortar stores .... we need them

but what i would like to see happen

is some kind of coding as to where the fabrics were

'grown' ..... i'd love to know there fair-trade ratings!!

a year of ethical fashion

so i spotted pip encouraging people to

join her in pledging to a

Year of Ethical Fashion 2014

#YOEF

now this is my kind of thing

i have for most of my adult life bought

second hand or upcycled clothing

i love buying from a maker when i can

i own plenty of clothes to meet my needs

& i'd like to join in a swap thing somewhere, sometime

oh & now i have been back sewing

clothes for me ......

these are small grass roots ideas that are not new

all of history has determined that our textile industry

requires of us to have these attitudes to sustain our resources

sub or lack of standard conditions for workers are not new either

what is new is that our world wide economy of scale

has escalated over the last generation+

we are not satisfied with what we need

our desires to have more

accesibilty to more economic clothing

& the hype of fashion that creates 

some kind of 'socially approving' desire

to want to have to use up & to discard

we have created an impossible whirlwind that our planet can not sustain

and

then there is the issue or what is 

fair????

fair conditions & fair payment

from the very production of textile fibers

to the actual garments

there are more and more companies

are joining in with supporting 'fair' & 'ethical'

Oxfam Australia regularly posts on their face book page

join in over there too ....

so in 2014 ..... i 'pledge' to be always mindful in 

shopping/sourcing for

clothing to wear for both myself & my family .....

that it be ....

:: bought from ethical makers 

= fair trade or handmade sellers

:: bought second hand

:: made by myself

:: be it already in our wardrobes

:: swapped or borrowed or gifted items

essentially i have what i 'need'

but in finding 'my-style' which is a

'first-world' fashion esthetic ..... 

i would of course like to have 'new-to-me' items

since May '13 i've made myself lots of new items

they are unique, fitted to me & my taste

& i can only hope that the people involved

in the production of the fibers were treated 'fairly'

who knows ..... probably not!?

but at least i'm half way to helping getting this 'right'

join in ....

its World BAMBOO Day ....

... in case you hadn't heard ...

18th Sept has been for the last 4 years ....

 

aims ... "to elevate the status of bamboo everywhere

to be considered as a plant with amazing potential

to improve the environment 

as a positive substitute to other materials

– such as a source for textiles, bio-plastic, bio-fuel, and non-timber products"

... info from the World Bamboo Organisation

i love a bit of bamboo ...

i've been sewing with it one way or another for a few years now

it has amazing properties

its super soft

its antibacterial

it breaths

its biodegradable

super absorbent

warmer than wool

cooler than cotton

sustainable

ethical

& the bamboo i buy is grown & made in Australia

so that makes it fair trade as well

so i sewed with it today

lots of lovely soft bamboo baby wraps

& super snugly baby modern patchwork blankets

these i make in 2 sizes:

capsule .... just the right size to wrap an extra layer over baby when out & about

also fits easily into a bag to take anywhere or if the little person is deeply attached to holding on its not so huge to be dragged about ....

bassinet ..... this is just right to tuck baby in or take as that travel blanket

or use as a play mat ... lovely ....

 these are made of bamboo & cotton

you'd wash them in cold water

with a mild environmentally friendly detergent

you'd lie it fat - ish to dry

& as it is used & loved it will soften even more

 would you like to get your hands on one?

for your own needs or as a gift ....

well you can always ask as i can make these to order

but if you happen to live or might be passing through

our nation's great capital city .....

 well all these lovely pieces pictured here

have either been sold recently

or are in stock

or are about to wing their way northward

to be waiting for just the right person to fall in love with them ...

 have you been to 

Shop Handmade Canberra???

its a designer collective

you should work in a visit somehow sometime

it really is a slice of something special

well here's some news

i'm now one of those designers ....

yep ... had this under my hat for just a little bit

but am so excited to tell you about it!!

 

 so i'll just send these new pieces all off tomorrow

& by the weekend some sweet little person could be snuggled

under a whole lot of bamboo goodness 

made by hARTylittlepeaces

..... that's me .... i'm wendy

... i have some more little goodies in stock there 

which i will tell you all about soon ....

  oh & i really meant to post about this sweet little number

yep more bamboo .... hoot twa hooo!

some wise punter at our kinder trivia night silent auction

walked home with these lovely handmade items made by me 

a large bamboo modern patchwork blanket

& a couple of muslin cotton baby wraps to match

so happy to help ... & loved being part of the whole night

well done ladies .... super effort ... yay

the Playful Market @ ABC

 last Saturday we held a wonderful event

the Playful Market ..... 

the story behind it ....

14 months ago I stood behind my own handmade stall 

at another market ... chatting with a great friend, Aretha ...

i waved my arm across the room ....

"we can do this ..... ABC style!"

our Playful Market 

at Ashburton Baptist Church

was born ... its kind of my baby!

its been a massive work in progress

last year's august market brought more than 500 adults

through our doors ... the sun shone 

there was the infamous piggy

we had stalls galore

the baristas were sensational

& more ....

from there the question was repeated

it echoed .... ok lets do it again in 2012

 ..... twice

one just gone & one to plan

so excited about all the involvement of the people in our 

ABC community

we make an amazing team

my cup runneth over

 i know i've mentioned it here once or twice

making no apologies for that

i love it

theres barely anything to do with the PM

that I have not had anything to do with

i have an amazing duo who have my back

thanks to Aretha & Christine

we complement each other v nicely!

i adore the process ... its the journey

i'm always on about enJOYing the journey ....

from dreaming up the ideas both

large & small

to the actual implementation

where so many people join in the create the fun

i love it when people 'own' the process

take on the idea & make it their own

 as part of our Playful Market

i had spotted the idea about blogland

of a treasure hunt using

egg cartons  ... with painted colour blotches

all i needed to make this happen was an amazing 

bunch of enthusiastic

creative

energetic

engaging

funny & caring

young women

thankyou to

kate & bonnie & marie & carolyn & miriam & katrina

 they hopped, skipped & jumped in puddles

all day long

leading all the little children & their families

along the garden path

past the orange flowers

around the green frog pond

catching aqua fishys

un-pegging cute red lady bugs

spotting little grey rock friends

climbing through the deep dark black of the spiders web

walking the tight rope to find the pink hearts

catching falling snow balls

flitting past the purple butterflies

digging like pirates for gold

chasing blue balloons

planting sunflower seeds

.... & so the Rainbow Treasure Hunt 

grew .... just like the magic beanstalk

it was a huge hit

was lots of fun

was all about the experience

seriously ... it was so much fun

& i managed half an hour to go & be 'mum'

& have the priveldge of enJOYing this little journey

ladies you made my heart swell with pride & thanks

 its taken me days & days to process

some of these thoughts

i put so much of myself into every aspect

physically & emotionally

but i would & will do it all again

the 'ripple affect' of an event like this

expands wider than we will know

there were funds raised for the amazing & worthy causes

 we the people of ABC worked together across the generations towards a common goal

& lastly we welcomed many many people in through our doors to have a look at what we are about ...

the outcomes of all of this is almost immeasurable

but in my book it was all an abounding success

 there was face painting & fairy floss & a patchwork demonstration

& the ABC Cafe & the Sausage Sizzle & 2nd Hand Books

& the Lob-a-Choc game & Gingerbread Decoration

 .... & our amazing resident clown Marcella

all fabulous .... & really the weather barely stopped us!

&

then of course there were all our stalls

all Handmade or Fair Trade

for all these details please look over here

 over at our Playful Market blog

i have thanked the mass of people who helped hands on with this event

right here i'd like to thank the people

who helped me personally

who cared for Oscar in some way

who asked how they could help

& particuallry those who jumped on in the join in the

Full Circle project

.... which is a whole other blog post 

(coming soon!)

.... i must on a personal note

say a really really big Thank You

to my husband Craig & my little boy

without their support
& forever entertaining

the well used phrase
"I had an idea!!!"

it simply would not be .... xxxx

soap box tags ....

made some little extra tags for all my market items .... its a little preachy but i figure i have something worthwhile to say ...

"THANKYOU for choosing to own or gift this HANDMADE item ...

... it seems that in our Post-Industrial world as humans we have 'sold out' to the mindset that we 'need' to have it 'all'
& that it must come at the lowest price possible ...

the true COST of this 'need' is usually out of sight ... often ending with the people behind the factory turnstiles ... so in light of these thoughts THANKYOU kindly for supporting the concept of HANDMADE ... made with care by one human who'd like to encourage all to seek out the handmade, the up-cycled, the ethically made, the kind to earth & the unique objects of our world ... 

... not so that you have 'more' but so that you love what you have with an ethical & environmental mindset !!!"

I'm currently having ethical issues with where the cotton that makes the quilting fabrics I love comes from? how it is grown? use of pesticides? how the humans that help grow it are treated? & paid? & at what cost? how the cotton is transported? what kind of 'fabric miles' has it truly done & at what consequence? what other environmental impact this has & what kind of non-fair trade is evident? what kind of dyes & inks are used? how do they affect the environment? how do they affect the people using them? what kind of impact does this production cost have on water supplies? who & what issues are involved in the whole process? crikey .... we know more about eggs than any of this??

me thinks our chickens are more fairly treated than most likely the humans in this chain

... i still value of course our part in the world of handcrafts & art ...

that very need to create is innate & simply human at its roots

what do you think or know??