Finding and Keeping

Last weekend Brisbane held it's first Finders Keepers design market in the old museum. I love the old museum, I work near it and so get to gaze at it every day. This building is rather gothic looking and I remember being taken there as a very small child - it was like a junk shop of grand proportions, dusty cabinets displaying stuffed animals, collections of insects and, what looked to my young eyes, just a heap of stuff.

The museum moved to it's new home at the Cultural Centre in 1986 and it then became the home for the Queensland Youth Orchestra, and other performing arts and music groups.

The building itself has undergone a major renovation over the past few years and it's great that they are holding public events in it's lovely big rooms. I could go on about the market itself, but actually I wanted to focus on some of the images I took of the inside of this grand old dame.

On the wrong side

There used to be a very sweet retail store in the Valley called Super Fun 5 that stocked all sorts of indi-hip and random assortments of clothing, bits and pieces, and bric-a-brac (must find out where that term comes from). I saw this very cute bookbag in the window.

The clever designer had used her zigzag stitch to create a great piece of art.

Apparently it was a young girl from the Sunshine Coast who sometimes sent stuff to the store to sell - that's all I was able to find out. I have hung on to this book bag, with it's ink stains from de-lidded pens, coffee splatters and the odd moth hole and today I decided it was time to frame it and display. My flatmate and I agreed that the 'wrong' side of the stitching is perhaps the 'right' side as it gives the gazing damsel much more emotion...or something.

I have several design friends who often make things showing the 'wrong' side of the fabric. Have a look next time you're choosing fabric - sometimes the way it's woven or the shift in colour might be exactly what you're looking for (especially in denim).

Speed Queen

One of the features of my new abode is that we don't really have a washing machine...well, we do, but it apparently has, let's say, electrical issues. So this afternoon I made my way to the laundromat - it's at the end of the street, so I didn't have to drag my bag of dirty wares too far.

Why are these places so eerie? Is it the lighting? The lack of decent reading material? The plastic seating?  The fact that everyone walking past can see you pulling your underwear out of a bag and trying to shove it quickly into the machine?

Well, I came prepared peeps, I had something good to read (new Frankie magazine), a cup of tea which I made before I left home and then there were the other people in the laundromat to amuse me. Like the two young guys thinking that rolling up your sheets into a tight ball and putting that in the machine was going to somehow magically wash them perfectly...why were they wrapped up into a tight ball to begin with...not worth dwelling on is it?

Also, the machines were all called 'Speed Queens'...I like it!

Results - Kristen Doran Kitty

The newest edition to the family is from Kristen Doran's Kitty pattern. It's also the first thing I've made since moving into my new abode! I like my new place, it's an old cottage in West End, lots of character with its wooden floorboards, high ceilings and friendly flatmates!

But back to my moggy friend - I used some of Kristen's hand printed fabrics this time and like the effect embroidering the face has on this softie. He'll be hanging out with us (along with the bunny) at the Selvedge House stall at the Finder's Keepers spring/summer market being held at the end of the month in the Old Museum.

Craft Crush 3: Megan Guise

Megan Guise is only 22, super talented and lives all the way over in Western Australia in Perth. She loves drawing, Frankie mag, tea and homemade baked goods and basically everything we do. She's also got many projects on the go it seems and did her first solo exhibition earlier this year!

I first saw Megan's sweet paper doll illustrations in our favourite mag Frankie. For a limited time, you could send her a photo and she would turn you into one of her super cute paper dolls! Too hard to resist, I knew the exact photo - one taken of me in a crazy chinese shop in Philadelphia - I had spied a lovely red parasol and was trying to look beguiling - yeah right - anyway - here is my transformation into one of Megan's paper dolls (number 36 to be exact) - I just knew I was going to adore it! I especially like looking at all the other 'dolls' in the series and wondering what their real life alter egos are like. I wonder what project will be next?

Where do you get your fix? - Reverse Garbage

I know, I know, I've already harped on about this place - but seriously - they're on a craft vibe! I blew in there today - another hot Saturday in Brisbane - and they had set up a display of rolls of laces, buttons, fabrics...ok, so most of it isn't to my tastes - but, someone in craftland might be desperate for a heap of brown buttons for instance! There seems to be lots of fabrics - so get in and have a rummage if you're in West End Brisbanites!

Anyway - my really big find was a fantastic table which has a little handle at the front which you turn to raise or lower the height - brilliant! Plus, it's a really great size for cutting fabric on, laying out patterns etc - so I snapped it up (it was cheap)! Apparently an old warehouse was being cleaned out and they had four of these tables that they had no use for so just dropped them off. I think I might try gluing a 1 meter steel ruler on the edge (for fabric measuring)...or I wonder if I can find a cutting mat big enough to stick down on it?

Results - Kristen Doran Bunny

All week I had been itching to use my new machine which arrived Wednesday...OK, so for half a week I've been itching - a Janome DC3050 (DC stands for Decor Computer..apparently). My lovely friend Madame Fromage encouraged me to christen said machine with a new name.

Decor Computer - not very inspiring is it...a bit point dexter.

Hmm, Decor...Decoy? Destroy? 

Decor Computer...if you put this into an anagram maker it comes out as 'Come Corrupted'...

DC...as in Washington DC (went there for work once - amazing monuments...politics-corrupted  fits in with the anagram above)....Washington? 

I like it, my new machine can be a boy, surely! Washington it is! 

Right, now I need to actually use Washington to make something - what better than one of Kristen Doran's softie kits! I have had this kit sitting here for weeks waiting to be tried - it was easy peasy (great for beginners) and I decided to use other fabrics than the ones given in the kit for the arms, legs and internal ear bits and practiced my hand stitching in the tummy bit (liking french knots). You'll note the MASSIVE spool of white thread my new bunny is perched on - things are getting sewing serious when you buy the biggest spool of thread you can find.

Can you remember the first thing you made with your sewing machine?