Alexander Henry goes retro!

How awesome would this print be for a coffee carrier turned summer drinks carrier!  I can see myself walking along the beach with it already  :)

Problem solved. We hope.

Here I am - still camping out in what used to be the music/chillout area upstairs which has now become the sewing room storage area!  But hopefully this won't have to go on much longer.  We had a good old dig around in the drains under the house over the weekend and discovered what was causing the shop to flood.  My father in law bravely stuck an arm into a pipe and pulled on what he thought was a tree branch to instead be greeted by an enormous ex-possum.  It looked like it had been partially preserved by the cold water - very sad to think how it must have died and not very pleasant to find.  I certainly won't put that picture up for you.

I noticed that this time last year I was complaining about the excessive amount of stuff in the sewing room and we also got flooded about that time too.  So I'm thinking the universe is trying to give me a big ole kick in the pants.  So none of this stuff you see in the picture is going back into that room unless I can't live without it.  And before anything goes back in I am going to give downstairs a good makeover.  Yay!

Utter chaos and devastation

...and a woofy smell to boot.

As you can see the sewing room is in utter disarray after the Great Flood.  And it looks like it will be for some time as from our initial digging around under the pavers outside that wall it seems like we have some kind of major plumbing issue under that part of the house and we're going to have to get a plumber in to dig under part of the wall.  Anyway, this all means I'm going to have to take out anything that is still left in there and drag it upstairs for what at this stage will be at least a couple of weeks.  And you see that shelving there with the stash - yep that's going to have to come out too for the diggin's.

However!  Where there are ashes there's a phoenix.  While I was shifting things out I discovered a box (thank goodness a waterproof plastic box!) full of unfinished projects.  Like this cute handbag I made and was in the process of making a pattern for.

I have no idea why I stopped work on it but I really quite like it so I'm going to get back onto that one.  Seeing as I'm not really able to sew at the moment, I may as well get stuck into writing some new patterns.

And then I found this cute collection of fabrics.  I have no idea what project/s I was thinking of here but how adorable are they?

And to think I wouldn't have found these for another couple of years.  Thank you, flood!

Nature redecorates

Gah!  So... my hubby and I spent all of yesterday afternoon and evening literally manning the pumps to try and stay ahead of the flood of water coming into the downstairs part of the house which, sadly, is where my sewing room resides.  Even with two pumps going it was coming in faster than we could get rid of it.  I managed to get all the perishable items off the floor in time and we've had this happen to a lesser degree before so I already had most of the beloved fabric and yarn stash in (many) plastic storage containers.  Sadly there are a few nice pieces of vintage furniture that were too heavy to move in time so I am waiting to see if the wood (mostly cedar) dries out effectively.

So while downstairs is drying out I have carried the stash and whatever I could shift up the stairs and Teapot and Snail is camping out in the sun room upstairs.  There isn't much space for making things up here so I am using this opportunity to write a pattern for my 2 cup version of the Espresso Express coffee carrier.  With any luck I'll have that out and ready to purchase by the middle of next week.  Providing the heavens don't open up again and keep me down in the basement on pump duty.  ;)

Tying up loose ends

Hi there everyone!

Goodness, it's been awfully quiet from me over the last five years.  My main focus has been on my daughter and sewing and creating patterns has had to take a back seat for that time.  But my big grownup girl (as she is now) has recently started school, and Mum is back in business!

We've just had a couple of weeks breaking ourselves in to the new routine.  I'm so impressed at how confidently she's taking on her new role and that's really allowed me to free up my mind to focus on my own work.  I've come downstairs to the dungeon of my poor neglected sewing room to begin afresh and the first things I've noticed are that:

a)  this poor room needs a major makeover and
b)  the shop itself could do with a makeover too.

So out with the paintbrush and off to the local fabric store for some fab new curtains.  That will sort out a).  I am not brave enough to show you the before picture just yet - it's that bad.  Wait till I have finished the room and then I will share the before and after shots together.  I am so inspired by people like Anna from Noodlehead.  She has just made her sewing space over and it looks so organised and clean and clear.  Just what I need.

Sorting out b) may take a bit more doing! First of all I want to sell a few of the handmade items I have finished but haven't had time to put up - so they are up now.

     

When that's done I will be doing a bit of rebranding.  I don't feel like the current shopfront really represents my shop or me at all.  It does have a history though.  Originally, back in '07 I had the intention of selling handmade children's clothes and somewhere along the line that shifted - first I found myself making women's bags, and then the sewing patterns came along.  That's really where I find myself now.  I love the challenge of pattern making and I love that it means I am always making something new.  I find it so hard to be making the same thing over and over with all these new ideas piling up in my head.  Time to set them free I think.  And once those loose ends are sorted I will be onto some of the new patterns I am currently writing.

Just as I finish writing this I am starting to panic the teensiest bit.  We are having a huge flash storm and the sewing room has started to flood.  I can literally hear the water bubbling up under the carpet.  I think nature might be doing the job of redecorating for me.  Wish me luck  :(