mirror mania

Our special parcel arrived on Wednesday afternoon. A friendly delivery man, offering to carry the heavy box for me. An excited step in my walk as I carried it back down the path.

None of you even ventured a guess at our surprise parcel. No more clues, here it is!

A button :: mirror :: badge making machine!

We've been having fun, and trying to restrain ourselves from using all the mirror pieces and badge backs.  Everyone loves this - the kids, Sam, Danielle + me, as well as interested friends who have dropped by. Once you hold that little red lever and see your first completed mirror/badge, you're pretty much hooked. I think I could easily do that part of the making most all day. A tingly fun when you lift it up to see your creation.

And you know what. We're handing it over to you, to have some fun as well. We'll have our machine at the Finders Keepers this weekend, so you can come along and make your own!

We're cutting stacks and piles of fabric circles today, so you can choose your own - so many different colours and lots of sweet little animals.

As an added bonus - when you spend $40 or more, mention this blog and you can make a mirror or badge for free!
We'll also have some really cute stamping fun - so come and try that out too.
Can't wait to see you tomorrow. Only one more sleep (if I manage to get any at all..........).

not all board shorts and pineapples

In the last days before Finders Keepers, the city's abuzz with excitement about this festival-like designer market.

Danielle, being a new up-and-coming designer, was asked a few questions about her thoughts on this fun event. Go and have a read.

She puts it so perfectly; about Brisbane always feeling like the left-out kid. Well, let's show those other states what a great show we can put on.

Come along to Finders Keepers, ready for some music, food, fun, chatting and of course checking out some* of the best designers in the town.

                “Sometimes Brisbane feels a bit like the kid who gets picked last for a sports team. As we hear all of the wonderful events being organised in Melbourne and Sydney, we want people to sit up and take notice of the talent in the Sunshine State! It’s not all pineapples and board shorts you know!”

Can I tell you though, there'll be a few pears amongst the mix.

Fruits of Eve, by Flying Star Toys

A pair of birds, by Girls Made This

and our new 'Pear Shaped' fabric, that I printed yesterday.

And can I tell you, that I don't think I could be more pleased with this new collection. Come along and see for yourselves.

*I say 'some' because I know there wasn't enough space for all the amazing design and talent we see happening around here.

*First two images used with thanks. Click on them, to be taken to webpage.

{a few moments with} Danielle from Craft Laboratory

We've decided to start a little section here at Selvedge House called {a few moments with}.

So, please join us in introducing our very own Danielle of Craft Laboratory.

A scientist by day, Danielle dreams of full time crafting (which is where Selvedge House comes into the picture). She spends her spare hours crafting and planning, as well as bike-riding and frisbee-playing. Being a scientist sure does have it's perks - for one, she's very methodical, and also has access to those wonderful lab beakers that are all the rage in home interiors.

 from Inside Out magazine

 from Living Creatively's interview with Have you Met Miss Jones

A few quick questions. And if you {our readers} have any other questions you'd like to ask Danielle, please don't hesitate to ask away.

Describe yourself in 10 words or less - a creative trapped in a scientist's body.

What's the best/craziest/funnest/silliest/worst thing you've ever made? A bird brooch one friday night, which ended in a 3 hour wait in emergency as i stabbed myself in the hand with my pocket knife...mum wasn't too impressed but it was worth it!

Do you remember what was the first thing you ever crafted/made? Hmm, probably something in Home Economics at school...pillow case I think - oh hang on - no a crocheted worm bookmark - how daggy!

What inspires you in your daily crafting? Colour, texture and fabrics.

What's your favourite word? This week it's 'condiment'

How do you make time for your crafting in your busy life? Work suffers

What's your best 'eco' tip? Hmm, op shopping

Danielle has recently moved into a new home - well a very old house, but new for her. Leaving living on her own, to settling in with flatmates - she's brought a bunny house pet along (see photo above). Coincidentally, the house just so happens to be the exact same one that my best friend used to live in a million years ago, when I was a single gal and we hung out and chatted and cooked and basically were young little things. Don't you love the cycle of life - and living in Brisbane's trendiest inner city suburb!

*all images used with thanks to Danielle. Click on photos to go to particular page.

iron maidens

You know - I'm not much for ironing. Don't think Danielle is either. Are you? Do you iron your sweet little hankies or your freshly laundered smalls?

The times I do iron are when I'm sewing. For those sewers out there who don't iron, give it a go on your seams and you'll find things stitch a whole lot neater and easier. Give it a go. Just don't blame us if you burn yourselves, ok!

Well both Danielle and I have had our irons out this week, making some little pieces for the Finders Keepers market, in a few short sleeps*.

Do you love red on linen as much as me?

I think the ironing is worth it. These will be lovely, and practical, little pieces.

Do come along and visit us, to see what the ironing fuss is all about.

*the sleeps are extra short for Danielle, who spent a 14hr day yesterday in the lab doing experiments and things. Can you imagine, 14 hours of tedious and accurate work. Us mums can't complain can we - lunch time snacks and bed time stories can be done half-heartedly and not so accurately sometimes!
* ironing image found at winifred and bance.

we are waiting for....

Have been checking this web page periodically today. Waiting for an update that says 'arrived in Australia'.

Any guesses what we're waiting for.........
We're not giving any hints, but will let you know when we get it.
ooooohhhh the excitement, we can't wait. Too too too much fun when we open the parcel.

show us your.... robots

When we sell things at a market stall, we're always curious of where it ends up. What home it goes to. What it gets turned into. What couch or body is adorns. Or whose little hands may cuddle it up.

Just reading through some of the super+multi-talented BrisStylette blogs, I came across Bel's post of her robots.

She bought the Kristen Doran robot panel from us at the Racecourse Rd Street Party market a few weeks back.

She sewed up two robots, for two lucky little boys. And used some of the little-bot bits to applique onto a t-shirt. The spotty star just pops with that robot, doesn't it.

To be honest, if I had a new little one in my hands, like Bel does, I'm quite sure I wouldn't have managed to turn the fabric into anything by now. Check out all the work she's been up, getting ready for the BrisStyle Indie Designer's Market in December.

So, if you've bought something from us - anything at all - we'd love to see photos of it. Either a cushion scattered on your couch, a bag slung across your shoulder, or the fabric sewn into something wonderful (or even sitting in your 'to-do' pile). 

blog of the week

Some of you no doubt know about one of the sweetest people on the planet. I've been lucky to meet and know Tess through working on Peppermint together. She's the super talented gal you wrote the craft article in Issue 3, amongst so many others.

Discovering Tess's blog and her collection of cats and cookie jars and vintage pretty things, has shown a different side of her than at first glance. Tess is one of those way-cool people who wears the best put-together outfits, a fantastic mix of vintage love. Once you start looking, you see the vintage leather bag with owl detail, and the cute little shoes with cats sewn on (bought from etsy).

Her two tumbler pages are sweet and sugary, fantasy and romantic. A perfect place to visit when life is a bit dull, and you need some happiness and cheering up, and to dream for just one moment longer.

You can find more of Tess over at FourThousand, where she keeps us up to date with all the interesting things that Brisbane has on offer.

a design process

Sam normally does the design work around here - for our fabric as well as all our business cards, logos, etc.

Well, lately he's been focussed on making his skate jewellery and I've been sick of all this computer time, and not so motivated by the sewing machine. The other night, once the kids were fast asleep, and Sam was out getting his car fixed (his mechanic works all hours of the night!), I took up paper and pen. And started work on some drawings that mean something to me.

Slowly working on them over the past few days, and hours. They actually talk to me. You know what I mean?

So, 'the potter's daughter' was born. Well, my mum was a potter. My favourite tea cup. My (now broken) turtle bowl. Alter-style candle holders. As well as a potter, she was a yoga teacher, and a mother. There's other potting, clay influence in my life, too. Other family members (hi Roo, Ian + Annie) all with different styles and techniques. This leads to a deep appreciation and understanding of clay in your hands - and a distinct lack of care for those generic 'made in china' mugs!

Many of my photos from my overseas Greece adventure are of those beautiful vessels that I dream of - the lab who processed the photos assumed me to be an archeology student.

These images are first draft (and badly scanned at that!). Sam will take over now, and 'tidy them up' - as those designers say - ready to be exposed to screen.

And, here's Ari's version of a still life we set up for him with a few pots. He added the flowers from imagination.

I can't wait to see this as a screen print on fabric. What colours can you imagine? White on berry? Deep grey on black? Red on natural?

Tell me, what do you think you'd use this for? Cushions and aprons and bags? Imagine curtains flowing; soft natural hemp/organic cotton flapping in the Spring breeze.

We'll be printing it next week, so come along and see it for yourself at the Finders Keepers market.

And if you're a lover of ceramics, you'll be please to know that Kim Wallace will be showing her beautiful ceramic pieces at Finders Keepers, as will Shannon Garson and Kylie Johnson.

{bring your *pocket money*}!

*photos of pots used with thanks to Andrew Stewart.

{sewing tips} selvedge

Can you imagine that some people, those non crafty-types, don't know what selvedge is? Are you one of those people, we don't mind - cause we're going to let you join in on the selvedge love.

Definition:
A woven fabric is made of warp and weft threads. Warp being the lengthways threads that make the basis of the fabric. The weft weaves back and forth from selvedge to selvedge. Textured fabrics are made by using different wefts or by weaving the weft thread across two instead of one warp thread.

this is an example of a twill fabric weave

 The Joy of Handweaving

The selvedge is the longitudinal edges of fabric that are formed when weaving at the turning point. Some selvedge edges have the designers name and printing details, some have nothing at all, while some have distinct markings or dots. The selvedge gives strength to the fabric, and is like the necessary crusty edge on a loaf of bread.

I love the variations of colourful dots or markings on some edges, and that some only have the simple holes and perhaps a single line of colour combined with the frayed edges of the weft threads.

I must admit that we're not at all original in our love of selvedge.

Selvedge Magazine offers a world of textile riches, through design, writing, shopping, fashion, fine arts, interiors and the most beautiful photography seen in a magazine. Open any issue and you find inspiration bounding out from the pages. The writing styles are excellent, and compelling, while the stories expose you to so many forms of art, design, photography in all aspects of textures. Their phrase is "the fabric of your life", and the magazine fits firmly into those words. Even their ads are interesting to look at.

You can view an free online magazine of a past issue here.

Selvedge magazine a selling their back issues at an amazing price (half price) if you buy the whole lot of them. A library of resources to last you a lifetime, they never date and will continue to inspire each time you look at them.

Now a little closer to home, we have the fabulous and terribly funny, and amazingly talented crafty Jodie from Ric Rac. I'm really sure most of you are well and truely aquainted with Jodie's collection of selvedge pieces, which include this now-famous dress,

a stool, cushions, a scarf, keyrings and many many more pieces.

Jodie put out the word for selvedges and was inundated with those little strips of fabric edges from all over the world. In fact she got so many that she had to keep making more things.

The sewing of selvedge strips makes a fabric all on its own, which is different each time you make it. And that's part of the fun. 

I love Jodie's sense of fun in everything that she makes, so I'm sure we'll be visiting her again very soon. In the meantime, pop over to see what happens with Small-Bot and the girl at the bus stop.

*all images used with thanks. Click on each image to be taken to source.

blog of the week

I just found this blog, via a link from Pip.

Have a look at the shapes in some of these images. I've been drawing some new designs for printing, and these lines are playing in my head now. These designs may or may not make their debut at Finders Keepers in two short weeks (said in a whisper, so I don't scare myself).

Now go and check out more of her blog for yourself.

**all images used with sincere thanks from Saidos da Concha blog, click on each image to be taken to it's direct blog post. 

following

We've loved all the support and kind wishes and lovely words. We so appreciate your sweet comments - new mail in our inbox makes us happy.
Danielle and I have decided that we want to say a little thanks to those of you who are following our blogs. So, on the 2nd November we will choose a winner from our followers list. You can be a follower of the Selvedge House blog, or either of our personal blogs; Craft Laboratory or Petalplum.

So, jump in and follow our stories. If you've never visited Danielle, do please go and look now. Ms Science has some fun, inspiring and interesting posts about crafty experiments and adventures with a fantastic science{geek*} attitude. I love her craft crush posts.

And I blog at Petalplum. A place where I babble about life, kids, inspiration and well.... 'craft' and other stuff.

*totally the nicest and trendiest geek ever, I promise!