Monday 31 December 2012

Spoonflower

Creepy Cocktail Hour by kayajoy

I've had customers ask me recently about using Spoonflower fabric for their bag patterns.  If you haven't discovered Spoonflower yet, go have a look - it'll knock your sweet cotton socks off.  It's basically a website that will print off fabric in your own designs and sell it by the yard to the public.  More recently they have started printed your designs on wallpaper and wall decals too - it's just all kinds of awesome.

One thing though, when you are buying the fabric keep in mind that the width of a yard will vary depending on the type of fabric you choose in the drop-down menu.  For example, linen-cotton canvas is 54" wide but basic combed cotton is only 42" wide.  Cotton silk is 40" wide which might present a problem for some patterns - you might want to get a bit extra!  If you are buying Spoonflower fabric (or any fabric really) for a Teapot & Snail pattern, don't be afraid to email or convo me if you'd like help to calculate how much you need to buy.  There's nothing worse than finding you're just a bit short and having to re-buy.

Sunday 30 December 2012

Friends!


I've been putting together Friends Lego with my daughter recently.  I didn't get this range at first.  I thought it was another pathetic sexist marketing ploy - rather like the Bic for Women range of pens (thoroughly sad).  But now I see how they came up with it.  Because it taps into the kind of creative and role playing games that my daughter and her friends are so into.  They focus on relationships and interactions.  The characters they play with are representations of themselves and the social interactions they have with each other every day. For them, Lego is not about the wheels or the things you can make that will fly or do stuff (all the things that I see my husband enjoy).  It's about making things that the characters can use when they are hanging out together.  I guess our nature is there, no matter how we argue there is no difference between the sexes.  Women and girls building relationships, nurturing, communicating.  The lads focused on building, moving, tearing it up!  There aren't many toys in the "girl toys" aisle that don't make me cringe a little but I'm glad to say this is one I am happy to take home.

Wednesday 19 December 2012

Hot hot hot

We've had 33 degrees Celcius today and are expecting a scorcher of 35 in a couple of days so I am currently "engaged in indoor pursuits".  Yes!  Sewing!  On with the air con and out with the machine.  I'm getting myself seriously stressed at the moment with all the pre-Christmas activity this year - for some reason a great deal more than in recent years.  So I'm having a nice little drinkie to chill out now.  Today we have a nice concoction of tequila, peach juice, and ginger ale.  The TV is on the kiddie channel and I am unparenting for a wee while.  Hope you are having a nice relaxing time too.

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Starting over

Hmmm...if you've ever thought of crossing over to the Etsy side, if you are a crafty person who'd like to make something more careery of your hobby, here is some interesting advice from the Etsy Quit Your Day Job blog:
My ex-banker “start a business advice” for people is to start out part time while still employed. Once you’re making about 50% of the income you need to make the leap, then leap. You can almost surely double your income with another 40 hours.

Wednesday 12 December 2012

Better to do

Can't believe I haven't seen this website before.  Where on earth have I been all this time?

http://www.domesticsluttery.com/

Merry Xmas to me - tee hee!


I just bought this from Spiffing Jewellery on Etsy.  Bit of self-gifting - couldn't help it!

Tuesday 11 December 2012

Yikes!


Oh my lordy, I could laugh until I cry.  This Etsy seller is a crackup!  Read her writeup on the bear you see above.  Very funny lady with a very scary imagination!  :)

Another one!


It was my aim to get one of the Sling Totes made per day but alas life with a preschooler is not always that easy to schedule.  So I'm a day late with my second bag, but I think I'm still doing OK.  I basically spend every second I can sewing, but at the moment my little one is fixated on dollies.  These guys live their lives out in pink bliss and at the moment Mum is an integral part of the process.  We're giving our little girl a Cinderella doll for Xmas so I expect that's going to be a pretty big moment!  Prince Charming will be played by Buzz Lightyear (with Dad at the helm - he refused to play Ken, and understandably so).

Anyway, there's the latest Sling in Prints Charming fabric, and off I go to get the next one cut and underway!

Sunday 9 December 2012

New range!





So I decided to make a short run of Sling Tote bags for those of you who don't sew and I put the first one up today.

Here it is in all it's measurey glory - love this fabric.  I went a bit nuts and got a fair bit of it so if there's another pattern you'd like done in this one just convo me on the shop or email me at teapotandsnail@gmail.com.

I figure I can make one of these bags a day (in amongst activities with my three-year-old), so I look forward to being able to show you another one tomorrow!  I don't intend for these to hang around long though.  Anything that doesn't go on Etsy will be going to market so get in quick if you want one.