the patchwork dress

stamping and stripping

Quite simply using brown paper and some festive ink stamps.  The stamps can be reused across the years, and inkpad colours can be changed - so although they can be a bit pricey initially, it will pay off - plus it's a lot of fun! It's really just a more sophisticated version of potato printing!

The 'ribbon' was cut from a strip of wallpaper from yesterday's gift. You can start to build up a palette of elements so although they look different, they also look good together.  

The stamps can also be used to print up gift labels - make or buy these luggage labels from stationers.

tying and punching

day 2: Just another idea for you - this parcel was wrapped with vintage wallpaper picked up in Oxfam for 79p!  I like the black, white and gold theme - quite current, don't you think?  The ribbon was some I already happened to have at home - a huge batch in fact of old Penny Kennedy ribbon given to me by a neighbour.

The teasels were tied on - part of a theme I'll repeat later - which is to tie on extra bits and pieces as embellishments or gifts, so that the wrapping itself has layers.  The photograph actually came from inside the card I cut down yesterday from the curio shop.  (What a heartbreaker that was, finding peoples old photographs in a big box for sale.  There was even an old wedding album - I tried to convince myself it may have been one given out as a gift, not the original. I just felt as if I wanted to rescue them all! Merry Christmas to them, wherever they may be.) 

Anyway, the image could be a family photo - either of or to another family member.  Scan or photocopy family pictures, stick to card and punch with a hole punch.  Single hole punches can be bought quite cheaply in craft stores, or just be tricky with the A4 punch!  While we're on the theme of punches - there are hundreds of different designs in the Hobby market, heartshapes, stars etc which can also be used.  I find it quite addictive and therapeutic punching holes in things - must come from a fascination with ticket punches on the old trains!

By the way, if you enjoy an advent adventure, pop over to Lynne at My Baboo, she is knitting advent with a new thing everyday... can't wait to see what she comes up with!...did you ever see 'Noah & Nellie'? this one's for you!

all about presentation...

Happy Advent to you! Over the next few days I'm going to do a bit of a rerun of the demo I did at the Country Living Fair, which was based on alternative ideas for wrapping gifts using recycled or wherever possible, existing materials. The whole idea was influenced by a book I have on the Japanese idea of Omiyage - and the ceremony of gift giving. Although not a direct translation, the emphasis was on personalising and creating ways to present the whole gift, not just the contents.

Just before the talk, I was in some local High Street & charity shops and was shocked to see the number of foil, plastic and metallic wrapping papers, ribbons and tags on offer.  Even with the emphasis to recycle, I'm fairly sure most of these would be unbiodegradable for several years!

This gift was wrapped in secondhand sheet music and tied with baker's twine (which I was very kindly sent by Diana last year - so thanks, Diana - your string got a lot of comments!  You can do an internet search to find sources for it, but I also found it here in the UK).  

Leaving the string long like that made it look more vintage, like an old delivery parcel -  it could be hung from a tree, for example.  The double tags are really just for show, but I liked doing this it sort of feels like a double message.. the top tag was cut down from a vintage card bought for 50p in a curio shop (and yes it is hard to cut into something that has lasted this long, but I like to think it is doing its initial job again through second use). The holly/mistletoe tag is made from a magazine image stuck to recycled card - one of my own Patchworkdress Eco-tags (6 handmade and themed tags in a pack) which I hope to feature here soon! - or you could make easily yourself.

winter craft fairs

I had a bit of a return to crafting last weekend with the first in a series of winter and Christmas craft fairs.  Last week saw me burning the candle both ends yet again - making cards etc when I came in from work, so in a funny way I didn't mind that the fair was a bit quiet.  It gave me time to reconnect with some people and also means I have a reasonably healthy supply of stock for the next market... as this week is my last at work - I want to be able to rest (and blog!) in the evenings.

The recycled cards are making a re-appearance.  I have single Christmas ones, and a few packs of 4 notecard/envelopes.  I have also been making lots of gift-tags from all the small pictures in magazines that are too small to do much with.  I have then been indulging in my extremely therapeutic habit of theming them into groups of 6 - by colour or story (and then giving them a name!!).

 

My other exciting news is that I will be doing a very small demo of Christmas wrapping at the Snapdragon stall at the Country Living Christmas Fair - thanks to Jane Lindsey, who has offered to take some of the Patchworkdress wares on her stall.  I'm hoping to show an informal way of wrapping presents using alternative ideas which are more sustainable and personal.  So if you want to say hello, please do.  I'm not at all nervous...yet! (don't confuse me with Jane Means who is a professional 'wrapper' and will show you how to do it properly!).

I hope to have some of my recycled cards, recycled gift-tags, some newer music gift-tags & my new winter photocards available.

Meanwhile I hope to make some more bits and pieces and ideas I have storing up in time for the Christmas fair in Killearn in December.  It's a matter of work/craft balance at the moment - and I am desperately keen to keep it enjoyable and manageable - keeping the sustainable element of using the materials I have to hand, and ordered - and not going overboard or getting too stressed out!  

I also hope to get some of the cards into my shop or onto this site if anyone is interested - let me know.

There may be a wee glass of sherry after all this!

Tuesday 18 November - BBC Staff Christmas Craft Fair, "the Street", BBC Pacific Quay, Glasgow

Thursday 20 - Sunday 23 November - Country Living Fair, SECC, Glasgow.  - I will be selling my cards on the stall of Snapdragon, and also doing 2 short demos everyday in wrapping presents! (first demo 12.30pm)  Themes will be sustainability, reusing things creatively & personalising gift giving.

Saturday 13 December - Wee Green Christmas Fair, Killearn Church Hall (10am-1.30pm) - this should be a buzzing affair with lots of stallholders and homemade craft gifts.

* Wee Green Fairs will also feature Snapdragon, Suzanne's Fieldy tweed range, Rebecca and her glassware - so lovely things & lovely people!!

fair spring fair

Yesterday was the wee green fair at Killearn. I went for a sort of spring-like Easter theme on my table. I haven't quite got the right hang of displaying my wares - I really don't like cardstands, and I feel if I put them stacked in boxes you can't really see the individual cards. But I'm working on it.

You wouldn't think I once had a stint as a store designer!, "height" being the mantra of getting it all nicely stacked up and full looking.

I dressed up a couple of old egg boxes with some chocolate eggs, and they made quite fun stands. I did a few more of those photo notebooks, and although popular on the blog, I didn't sell any to the Killearnites - so plenty left if you'd like one!

It was a nice fair. I wouldn't say it's the most I've ever made financially, but certainly not the worst (Suzanne, Portobello? where I didn't even make the table fee!). There were lots of stalls selling lovely cakes, bread and eggs - and for a small village it was a good standard of stall and a reasonable turnout. By 10 o'clock in the morning I'd demolished a cream meringue.

Here's Jane with her lovely wares (against the village hall colour scheme!). That's the edge of my stall in the background with the pink rose, and although Suzanne couldn't make the fair to trade, she was there in spirit with her old curtains covering the table in blue check. Now I don't feel so bad about driving around for weeks with them in the back of my car!

It felt very sociable, and it was lovely when friends Susan, Pat and Suzanne all dropped in. There were a few connections, so it became more of a social than financial do. N's measure of a 'good' fair is to ask "did you sell anything to people who weren't your friends?" Er...yes, I did. Anyway I now have a bowl of Easter bunnies to wade through.

Spring is definitely in the air today, we sat out in the garden at lunch, and for the first time in 8 years...

...I was able to hang some washing out. I ran in the house to get my camera with this pink against the sky!

Going back to some full-time work tomorrow and have another course assessment due on Friday, so posts may be a bit short next week, so I may do a bit of a photoblog to document my happenings for a while, while my words are busy elsewhere.

callander

Saturday was one of those wonderful blue sky days here.

There was something extraordinary about the light and the promise of Spring, that I decided to take a drive up to Callander.

This was the view from the bridge over the river. There were men on both sides up to their kidneys in cold water. I was having difficulty keeping warm just standing on the bridge! Ben Ledi in the distance is covered with snow. It really is a beautiful, and unusual place. Like many small Scottish towns 'on the way to somewhere' it has become a service station and fuel stop for coach parties and daytrippers. You have to run the gamut of chipshops, icecreameries and fudge sellers to find its depths. My favourite is a secondhand bookshop at the Stirling end of the main road, which always reveals a hidden gem.

The Ben Ledi café was always a favourite too, and that has now changed hands, or been upgraded to become Mhor Fish. The business have also bought the old-fashioned bakers at the other end of the street, and I am glad to see they have kept it's aesthetic of the genuine old Scottish Bakery.

On Friday night, inspired by this post, and this... I sat down and made these...

little notebooks using some old photographs I had printed out, but didn't feel worked for whatever reason. They really are quite small, 70mm x 95mm, being a normal size photo trimmed and folded in half.

I tied the insert papers in very simply with a length of reclaimed cotton tied in a knot. How to tie them could be an interesting variation.

I always like to have a wee notebook with me in my bag for ideas, and often when I've a lot on my mind to do or remember I carry a piece of paper in my back pocket with my list on for that day, so these are just a bit nicer and perfectly pocket sized.

and a new home card!

...a new home announcement/seasonal card, made using one of my photographs with Adobe Illustrator graphics.

quick make

Last night I had the urge to make an oven glove.

The idea came from Lotta Jansdotters Simple Sewing which I got a while ago.

In the end I made my own pattern from drawing round an oven glove we already have, and followed Jansdotters tips for quilting it with the wadding freestyle, before cutting out and sewing together. It took just over an hour, a little longer because I handstitched the bias (made from same Ikea fabric) round the cuff, rather than do her wide cuff. It was great just to make and finish something really quick like that, and it's unique and much nicer looking than the burnt one that hangs out in our kitchen.

I had some leftover polyester type wadding from an old project - but I would recommend being very careful with fabrics and fillings if you are going to do this... I haven't tested mine yet, but it's worth being aware of flammability,...just in case.

blogarhythms

I've been very aware that over the last few days the patchwork dress was one of those annoying blogs that hasn't changed, even when checking in daily...I kept seeing those tags in my mind's eye, so will wean you off gently with some more photos taken on the same table!! I expect there is a system where you can get notification that someone has updated their blog (is that RSS?), but somehow I feel this is a slippery slope, so until then, I am content to do the daily rounds.

The 'crafternoon tea' on Sunday was a great idea organised by Cheryl to raise funds for Breast Cancer Awareness... I'd expected a little gathering in a living room, but we each had a 'pitch' throughout the house like a proper craft fair. I immediately got a bit nervous about how to arrange my 'stall', as still getting the judging when to stop making/start presenting timing right.

...these were a fun little extra made to supplement the cards. Tealights made from secondhand china cups! Each has a tealight candle sitting in some (optional) lavender & rose herbs - so as the candle melts in its tray it will heat up the lavender. The bigger cup/saucer is a Wee Willie Winkie type affair - you hold the saucer as you would an old candlestick, and the cup has been super-glued to it's base.

I loved the autumnal pattern on the cup/saucer, and although it was a minor sacrilege to glue and decommission it's teacup status, this was outweighed by it's second life and reuse as a tealight. I often see lovely bits of china, but know I'll never use them as a teacup, so this gives an excuse for a new purpose.
The labels were made using a photo of the lit tealight to show the warmth & prettiness missed when they're unlit. (I've still got some small ones and the autumn cup left)

I picked up the Christmas mitt stamp a couple of weeks ago at Craftology and could see it in red as an emblem for 'handmade Christmas'. On Saturday I popped into 'Hobby Heaven' in Helensburgh for a red stamp pad, and saw the alphabet kit 50% in the sale.. had a lot of fun stamping up these pricetags and labelling some handmade items. It reminded me of college days when i shared a flat with a graphic student and they still set type by hand. There was one computer they could use once a week to print out their text, and then it had to be cut by hand to space and arrange and be photocopied into an original. I can see how computers revolutionised typeset graphics!

These 'winter' cards were something I tried out at the sale, and proved very popular with only one pack left at the end. I've created them as a set of 4 cards of different designs but matching theme... the labels show the 4 designs. In two themes...

...frosty flowers (hoar-frosted hydrangeas and leaves)...

...and snowy trees...

These trees were so heavy with snow, I thought they looked like a Japanese block print. I may still do more with these photos, or wondering if it is worth putting some packs in to the shop.

autumn colours

Fuelled by cutting up Country Living magazines, or possibly by the recent arrival of Kaffe Fassett's Quilt Road (which I have been asking for, for years and eventually bought myself) where all the quilts are photographed outdoors,...

...I thought I would photo my latest makes in a friend's garden while the weather was good, as the light has been poor for indoor photography lately.

they are 2 little belts made as a gift for a 2-3 year old girl from recycled and reclaimed fabrics.

They were quite difficult and unusual to photograph. I tried a few different things... which attracted some attention...

Can you see what she's doing in there?...

...just about, if I stand on my hoof-tips...

...I'm not sure what it is, but I don't think it's something to eat...

By the way, is is slightly obsessive to lurk daily and ask if the new copy of 'Country Living' is in yet? N said he overheard an older lady sighing to her husband as she leaned on her stick - "it's not in yet".

Don't worry, I know the answer to that question... but there are some lovely photographs of autumnal colours in the November issue...