Nice Stuff on Sunday

So, having bothered you all yesterday with my incipient communist leanings which may or may not be hypocritical in a woman with a veg box and a yoga studio membership, today I just wanted to show you a couple of really nice shops I found on etsy while I was poking about looking for Stuff. (I think I started off doing Nice Stuff on Monday: I've moved it to Sunday. Minutiae like this only bothers me and not you, I do understand).

Gnomes lavender bag! Gnomes are the best! I doubt gnomes smell of lavender but here they do!

The first one is Ceridwen Hazelchild designs - you can look at her etsy shop here, her facebook, her twitter, and her blog.

Typewriter illustration pocket mirror. Never go anywhere with lipstick on your teeth

She does bags and various accessories printed with the most beautiful illustrations. I do think the word vintage is overused, but I'm going to use it ;-). They have a kind of quiet, detailed, careful, vintage-y vibe. They just look very British to me, I don't know if you get that feeling.

Hedgehog tote bag, owls and foxes and badgers also available. Let me tell you about our wildlife: three black squirrels and a bad ginger cat from a few doors down

I particularly love the wildlife illustrations. Aren't they pretty? Anyway do have a look at her shop because she has some really lovely things and if you are like me you always need another cloth tote bag for when you are buying your lentils at the local Wholefood Co-operative.

I also wanted to show you Designed By Jane, who makes really, really beautiful embroidered felt pieces (and also if you look at her etsy at the moment she has some on sale).

Marrakech felt brooch

I came across her work on flickr while I was thinking about colour combinations for a blanket I may or many not crochet in the future. After the one I'm finishing at the moment (which I'll show you at some point!) I'm going to try and get away from the 'throw all the colours into the middle of the room and use whichever one gets entangled round your crochet hook first' kind of method which I use currently.

Tree brooch with freeform embroidery

I love the geometric, abstract nature designs

Scandinavian bird brooch

And I love this little bird and his Scandinavian design. I just think these are all really pretty.

I have a real thing about jewellery made from non-traditional materials and I think the idea of felt brooches is great. Also I think the whole thing reminds me of Fuzzy Felts, but, Fuzzy Felts reinvented in a marvellously sophisticated way. So go and have a look at Jane's shop, because she really has many more things (including owls! I love owls despite Alan Partridge), and her blog, and be inspired.

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One more thing very quickly - guess what it is in a fortnight hey hey hey?

It's the fourth annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week! (starting on 22nd April), and if you have a look at the blog of the lovely Eskimimi you'll be able to see a list of topics etc and get planning. You don't have to do all the days (I suspect I won't manage all of them, indeed I'm slightly nervous of the thought of an infographic) but just see if any of them grab you. It'll be fun! I'm glad to be able to participate as I didn't have the time last year.

Have a lovely Sunday!

Painting-in-progress and a new-to-me etsy shop

Just wanted to show you quickly my latest painting-in-progress.

It's the cliffs at Hunstanton! I think my many years' experience of painting woodchip-covered rooms helps

I don’t know if you know this (I didn’t before I started), but, oil paints take absolutely ages to dry, so you have to do your base coat first and then do the detail a week or so later. It’s a bit like emulsioning the kitchen and then waiting to do the glossing. So that is why it looks like a bad painting-by-numbers at the moment, it is waiting for the Fine Brushwork. If you want your paints to dry in a sensible timescale you use acrylics, but, obviously I am used to knitting things for months and then them not fitting, so a week is nothing to me. Nothing. In fact I am considering one day knitting Lyra and that may take me the rest of my life.

Slap it on! The man next to me said through gritted teeth, thin your base coats out a bit more otherwise it will crack. I said, in my lifetime? He said, no, I said, well then

While I was doing my painting, the man next to me in the art class (who has read a book) got very anxious because he said I could not paint a cliff scene with my canvas vertical, I had to paint it with my canvas horizontal as that is the only correct way to paint landscapes. He actually turned my canvas round. I said I could live with being wrong and I turned it back again. He is a nice man, though, because when the woman next to him told him his cherub looked like Bart Simpson he took it in excellent part (cherubs are difficult. Start with a cliff, that’s my advice).

We had to lean our canvases against the wall at the end of the class to discuss them, and there was not much space, so one woman leaned hers against the door. Well, we all watched carefully in case anyone was going to come through the door and knock it over (remember, they are completely wet), but, we were not watching for people in the class going out as we thought they ought to realise. Well, do you remember the woman who told me she would never knit? (No Lyra ever for her then!) - She went straight out of the door, did not move the painting so the door knocked it smack on the floor face down, and then did not even come back to check it was ok when we all let out a collective gasp (it survived, just about). If it had been my painting I might have been a bit suspicious, but, perhaps her mind is just on Higher Things. I think it must be: she is clearly a Proper Artist, as she has a smock.

Also just wanted to show you this etsy shop I found: Simply Original Frocks. She is having a half-price sale at the moment and I think she has some really nice things which you could either wear straightforwardly prettily or ironically if that makes sense, so, if you are in the market for some new threads for summer it might be worth a look. She bases her clothes on original 50s patterns and the fabrics she uses are really beautiful. Anyway, her sale is a mothers’ day sale, so, perhaps move quickly if you want something (I’m no connection, I just think her clothes look really nice!).

OK, that’s me done. I’m off to make a marmalade cake. I’ve somehow lost half an inch on my waist (may have just measured myself for possible skirt-buying purposes…) even though I’ve doubled my cake intake, so I’ve decided it’s a health food and our intake probably should be tripled so best get going. Besides, you wouldn’t believe how much marmalade is in this house, honestly, you wouldn’t.

The sad tale of a Droopy Dirndl

Well, I was a bit under the weather last week, so I slipped behind with my blogging activity and reading blogs, but it's nice to be back and I shall be catching up this week (oh, yes. Grit your teeth). I did notice, though, that Resa at Discovering Asterisms had made some amazing lino cut cards, one of which may be for the swap – Resa, goodness me woman, you have raised the bar. How is everyone else getting on? We've got (almost) a fortnight to go so no need to panic yet (don't worry, I'll let you know when it's time to panic, because I'll be panicking right along with you).

Snow. Post - nice & fresh, pre - slush

Anyway, it's snowed here now. Partner has cracked and we've got the central heating on all day, also he has trotted out to work today in his yellow scarf and gloves (Partner is very, very colour blind, but he just loves yellow. We think perhaps it's one of the only colours he can see) looking like a bad-tempered Rupert Bear. I have been hunkered down sewing, drinking tea and listening to the Dresden Dolls. I've taken some photos of the silky scarves and put them on etsy.

I have produced a non-mad product photo that has the side benefit of making our house look normal. Which it isn't. Go me

I'm linking them here because I actually think the photos don't look bad, and I'm quite pleased with them. (Those of you who've tried to take photos of things for etsy/ folksy/ blogs/ anything – which is probably pretty much all of you – will know how difficult it is. It is difficult, isn't it? It isn't just me?). Can you see my rug? I got that from ebay. I'm never too ill for ebay*. It's made from recycled fleece bits. I don't know how I'm going to hoover it. Perhaps I'll just buy a new one when it gets dirty. (That was a joke).

Back to the mad photos. Sorry

And I've been having a go at a pouffy kind of a skirt from recycled men's shirts. I've had the idea to do this for a while, because the one thing I always seem to be able to find in charity shops is nice, good quality, cotton men's shirts. Those of you who are squeamish are now thinking, yes, that's because they come from dead people, but I'm not squeamish. Or not about that, at any rate. So I'm not bothered. Bring on the dead people shirts, that's what I say. Let's get some use out of them!

This is the side. This is an informative rather than a funny caption

It's made from two shirts (although these ones are from my dad, who, I should point out, is very much alive), and I've sewn it so that the button bands run down each side, and one of the button bands forms the closure (I'd quite like to play up the button bands, but I'm not sure how to pick them out. Perhaps with contrast buttons?).

This is just much my very initial prototype (almost a pre-prototype. A pretotype?), but I think when I've made a few improvements it actually won't be a bad design. I can see it working quite well. I made this sample from short-sleeved shirts, so it's got a contrast waistband from some fabric I'd got hanging about, but if I made it from long-sleeved shirts I'd use the sleeves to make the waistband. The waistband needs narrowing, tapering and interfacing. Actually, that's my one sewing tip, listen carefully: Interface Everything. There, you'll thank me for that one day. No probs, you're welcome.

It's a bit of a droopy dirndl. I'm working on it

I'd like a bit more fullness. I considered lining it and I might try that, but I don't want to get too far away from the simplicity of making it just from two shirts. I think if I use slightly stiffer shirts it might help. I could make a petticoat, as well, I suppose. Of course, the fuller you get with a skirt like this, the more you risk it making you look like Anne Widdecombe, so I might see if I can shape the waistband a bit and bring it further down the stomach. Anyway, I'll do another version, and see how I feel.

* On the subject of ebay, there may have been an incident involving boots. It was late. I was weak. I may need to blog for absolution when they arrive. I do hope you won't begrudge me.

The Friday Interview: Jennifer from From The Fig Tree

Today’s interview is with Jennifer (Fig) from From The Fig Tree.

Fig from From The Fig Tree

One of the things that really sold me on Etsy when I discovered it a few years ago were the clothes. It was just at the point where there was loads of publicity about the conditions clothes from chain stores were produced in (and just as a side note, I’m not sure the big firms have gone much beyond lip service even now: check out Clean Up Fashion for up to date info on how they’re dealing with their suppliers; Asda seem to come out particularly badly. Also Labour Behind The Label), and to find somewhere where I could buy direct from people making their own clothes, with creativity, craftsmanship and love, was fantastic. I particularly loved how clothes were made to be worn and worn, and to fit and look good on different sizes: it was such a different philosophy from high street fashion. Needless to say, From The Fig Tree has been one of my favourites since I first found etsy, and I’ve got a few pieces from her which I’ve worn and loved for ages. Indeed she made me a custom magic skirt which I wore right through quite a dark time in my life, and which was, shall we say, a cheerful companion on the way ;-). So I was thrilled when she agreed to be interviewed! Here are her responses below.

1/ How would you describe your clothes and what you do?
I love the idea of community, it's something I aspire to create in the modern world. When I make clothing I often look to tribal cultures, Native, Gypsy and Vagabond people.

2/ Do you feel you’re part of the ‘Fashion Industry’? (In quotes?).
Most of what the big names of fashion do is search out trends and scout to see what other people are wearing. Then they make the designs their own and market them to their audience. So I suppose I am unwillingly part of the fashion industry. I really try to stick with things that I want to wear, clothing I need to fit into my life. I don't worry so much about what trends are, I think of things I would like to wear and make that for others. It does not always fit in with the status quo. I think there is a big push to move away from mass produced big label companies and either make it yourself, or to support independent artists. Not only are you rewarding makers, but rewarding yourself with a item made by a craftsperson.

3/ How did you start sewing, and what advice would you give to someone who was interested in making clothes? 
I would tell anyone who is just starting out to try it all. Even if you think it cant be done, you learn so much from trying. Often your experiments will take on a life of their own and you never know where it will take you. I started sewing by hand because I did not have access to a sewing machine, my first project was a leopard print tube top from the car seat of a Karmaan Gia that we had sitting in our front yard. Eventually, a friend of mine saw that I was truly interested in sewing and offered me her Old Riccar Sewing machine that had very little use on it. That machine was a lifesaver. It is a relief to go from taking an hour to sew a seam to ten seconds! Soon after I began taking Dance classes and was making outfits for the women in my class all the while selling at concerts and making extra cash there. I wasnt perfect, but I did have a good grasp of what I wanted to see myself wearing and was able to put colors together and mix up the style a bit.

4/ I really love your patchwork style of clothing. How did you develop this, and was it influenced by recycling/ using up fabric?
At the time I started sewing, I was a new mom and had very little money or resources. So I learned to use what I had and nothing was off limits! From Car seats to bedsheets I was using whatever I had on hand to create and eventually sell. I would take clothes that no longer fit and chop them up into patchwork items. I found the local thrift store and began using vintage fabrics, I got word out that I would love to take fabric off of anyones hands who is not using it. Soon I was accepting donations from friends and family for fabric (and sewing lessons!). I learned to use every scrap out of necessity and soon learned it was good for the environment as well. My son was a huge blessing in my life and really shaped me into the artist I am now.

Mum and son!

5/ You say in your etsy shop that you’ve been ordained Priestess of the Sacred Dance by Caya Coven: this sounds fantastic. Do you find that your spiritual beliefs inform/ enrich your work?
Certainly! I feel that everything carries energy with it. I sing songs of blessing when I sew, I bless my thread, my machine and all the tools I work with so that we can work together to create a garment designed specifically for someone.  When the piece is complete I have it sit on the altar at our full moon rituals. Then it is continually carrying the energy of Goddess and the Magic of community in it. This helps me have a better appreciaton for the materials I work with and connects me to the people I create for.  Sewing really changed my life, its not just something I do to make money or get famous. I really needed an outlet and a talent that I could own.

6/ Which of your designs are you most excited about/ enjoying making at the moment?
I really enjoy my SugarBritches at the moment. If I could wear them everyday I would and they offer so much variation that they are constantly fresh to me. They are great for when I like the look of a skirt, but really want to wear pants. They are both! [Note from me, I can vouch for this – I’ve got some Sugar Britches, and they are fabulous].

7/ Are there any other clothing/ other designers you admire that you’d like to tell us about?
Hazel at www.Phunkybrewster.com is a major inspiration to me. She creates some of the most beautiful unique pieces that I have ever laid eyes on! Truly someone I admire and respect.

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Thank you Fig, that was great, your answers are really interesting! You can see From the Fig Tree clothing in her Etsy shop (and I am particularly liking the Duster Jacket at the moment, I think that looks lovely).

Have a good weekend everyone – I shall be popping in with more blog hub swap goodness and hopefully doing a bit of patchwork as well, because I’ve splashed out on a rotary board and cutter (it’s bloody huge. I must learn to measure things before I buy them. I really, really must).

Tie Dye and Autumn Leaves

I'm waiting for Gary the Plumber to come and condemn our bathroom fix the leak so I thought I'd show you some things I've been working on. Because I've managed to actually list some things in my etsy shop, hooray! But first I've got some bad news. I'm sorry about this. There's no easy way to tell you.

O leafy harbinger of Autumn

Yes. It's the first falling leaf. I saw something orange on the grass earlier, while I was standing in the kitchen muttering about how other people have functioning houses and why don't I. What is that, I thought. Is it? No, it can't be. But it was. Readers: autumn is here. Did we have a summer? Did I miss it? But no, the blackberries are reaching their peak

and the nights are drawing in. Never mind, says she brightly, autumn is actually my favourite season of the year. Being able to wear boots. Making chutney. Enjoying knitting rather than feeling you are wrestling a big hot thing on your knee. Bonfire night, Samhain, cosy nights, lighting candles, fighting about when it is cold enough to put on the central heating, yes I can't wait. We won't mention the C word although they are probably getting their displays ready in Asda as I write this (the woman on Create and Craft the other night said brightly, 'It's time to start making your Christmas cards because it's only 130 days till Christmas!'. Well no. I think we've got a bit of time yet).

Anyway here are some things I've been listing. To start with, this is how the tie-dye came out. Red and blue spirals:

And experimental yellow-green-purple -

I thought they looked great, actually, I'm rather pleased. And here is my completed tie skirt.

I actually love this, I think it looks fantastic. And possibly foolishly I am offering the Rainbow Patchwork Skirt

as a custom order. I think enough time has elapsed that I can face ruffling another 50 miles of patchwork without wanting to murder anyone. Indeed I think I would quite like to make another but obviously there is a limit to the number I can have for myself. And I think I have reached that limit. Because I think it is one. So I am hoping the Rainbow Patchwork Skirt will go out into the world and find another home.

Right. Gary the Plumber is here and I must hear my fate. You know how plumbers suck their teeth? Well unfortunately he will be entirely justified.

Les Animaux

I am a furry grey Pussycat. I luxuriate in the coruscating intensity of my grey furriness on this unpromising-looking random Cambridge step. In my dreams I am charging through the African Savanna in pursuit of a Gazelle. In reality I shall trot off indoors shortly and 'encourage' someone to dish up the Gourmet Pearl.

But wait. A faint clicking: it has disturbed my dreams. The Gazelle: it flees, it flees. Might there be someone there with a camera? Go, person clicking their camera at me! You are Stealing my Soul.

I don't know how I forgot to say this (this is me again, not the grey cat) because I am excited. Colour It Green put my rainbow bag in an etsy treasury! Go look (there are some very nice rainbow things.) Colour it Green on etsy sells wool directly from sheep. I understand (from CIG's blog), that one of the sheep is called Sharona. If you can think of anything cooler than wool from a sheep called Sharona, then you have a better imagination than I do.

Taking photographs is more difficult than it looks

Now, before we start tonight's post, I want you to understand, very specifically, that in real life I am not particularly unattractive. I look perfectly normal. Children do not see me and cry. Small puppies do not whimper and shrink away. Now, having got that out of the way, I am going to show you quite how unphotogenic I am. Partner took these photos, and he was fine. I had to explain what a digital camera was (Partner is an Academic Medieval Latinist) and he was momentarily distracted by fascination with the viewfinder, but I can honestly say that, given the material he was working with, he carried out his part with aplomb. I was trying to model a bag. When I next do this I will wear make up. However, clearly I subconsciously thought that my natural beauty and grace would carry me through. It didn't. This was our first attempt.

I am a zombie cult member. Would you like to join us? We're a friendly bunch. Our belief system is based around patchwork bags. Come, come and join our cult. Well, clearly this wasn't going to be any good. Even Partner, who is used to my not looking good on photographs, thought this was going it a bit. 'Why don't you try not smiling?' he said, tactfully. That seems like a good idea, we thought, taking our positions once more.

Dear Lord. Is the world too much for me? Have I been exhumed and propped against a door for the purposes of bag modeling? Am I weighed down by ennui and lassitude and a strange light effect that makes me look as if I have one black eye? Oh, hypocrite lecteur, mon semblable, mon frère! Would you buy a bag from this woman?

I would like now to show you a photograph where I suddenly realised how to pose and look bright-eyed and happy (but NOT MAD), and a stylish backdrop to the bag. I cannot do so, however. Because one does not exist. We had more success when we took me sideways from an angle but, I think the euphemism is, there is work still to do. Models. They earn their money. I will persevere though. I know now why I see so many things on etsy being modeled by people wearing masks, and I'll never tut and mutter 'ooh those ironic hipsters' again.

Patchwork Without Commitment

I've had fun today making tiny patchwork cushions to put in the shop.

It was great: it was Patchwork Without Commitment, trying out ideas I might want to make into something bigger one day. And they're brightening up the craft room, sitting there waiting for their openings to be whip stitched, bright little puddles of colour. And I used up some of the scrap bag, which is great: I'd always rather the scrap bag turned in to something nice than got thrown away. (And also, the Scrap Bag does sometimes threaten to overwhelm. In fact sometimes this room feels like one big Scrap Bag with me sitting in the middle trying to stay afloat.)

Hello, introduction etc

Hello... First blog post so let's do introductions. My name's Susie. I've been sewing for years and years and years, but until last year I mostly made cushions and bags and patchwork, and square things like that. Then last year, the hugely stressful and time-intensive job I was doing ended, and I thought I'd teach myself to sew clothes properly. Well, a few months on and I've restocked my wardrobe, anything that could possibly need a cosy has a cosy, and I haven't got enough time to wear or space to store all the things I want to sew. In fact I'm eyeing up next door's cat and thinking whether he'd be improved by a little quilted jerkin. And he really wouldn't. So I thought I'd see if other people might like my things, because if I can sell some then I can make more. And I don't want to sound naff, because there's enough naffness in life (isn't there?) but nothing would make me happier than to think of other people walking about wearing my clothes. That would be amazing. So I started an etsy shop and it's been quite a learning curve so far (and I've hardly got anything in it yet.) I'm learning more than I ever thought I'd need to know about taking photographs in a house so small we haven't got any blank walls, using Gimp, and engaging with sergers. If I ever get to a stage where I know what I'm doing with any of them I'm going to blog about it.


In the meantime, this is my studio: I say studio: I mean box room. You note I'm not showing you the floor? The picture is by Dave who I used to work with. Dave has some lovely pictures – look on his site. But don't go buying all the Sun ones, because I'm having one of those as soon as I've got a bit of spare money. And the plant is a Peace Lily. It's the only plant I've ever not killed. I haven't given it a name because I don't want to become too attached (well, I have. I call it Fred. But I don't call it that out loud, because that would be tempting fate.)


This is a shelf full of my books. It has so many books it's actually bending. I won't tell you what I think about Weekend Sewing because I'm trying to be upbeat. All I'll say is, do you remember when Les Dawson used to dress as a woman? I looked like that in the Kimono dress.


And this is my tree. It only looks like that for about 5 minutes but while it does it's spectacular and I rush about taking photos. I thought it was appropriate for Spring and new beginnings.

Thanks for reading. I'll be back tomorrow to tell you my adventures with my serger because I'm hoping my experience can serve as a warning to others: that might give me some comfort, at least.