Wink Designs

i heart craft

Here is some of my haul from Mathilda's Market in Sydney yesterday:

 
Paper Doll Parade Notecard Set from My Messy Room, a gorgeous Vintage Storybook Tile with little mousies from The Red Thread and some wonderful Happy Camper fabric from Badskirt (check out that gorgeous puppy on Amy's postcard - what a face!).

I got lots of other little stockingfillers besides which have already been claimed or given away pre-stocking-filling-time!  And the piece de resistance, my "i heart craft" badge.  Sums it all up really....

The "Apple Notebook" (in pink)

Meet one of the little loves of my life.  It's my MacBook (which I'll call my Apple Notebook for the purposes of this post).

 
I still run a PC (it has its uses) but this is sleek and portable and life is much easier when you're not tied to a desk.

When I got it a few months ago, Daughter Number One gave it the once over approvingly (she's hanging out for her own computer) but then thought for a few seconds before asking "Do they come in pink?"  Well, not in the way she'd hoped, but here it is.  Her own "Apple Notebook" in pink....

 
Don't they look cute together?

Dolls and dots

Another "Wrap-Up Skirt" this time in Kokka Russian Doll and Amy Butler Full Moon Dot fabrics.  This one has been sent off to a little friend who I suspect will look very cute in it.  I have another stack of nearly completed skirts in various print combinations which are headed for the shop as I want to offer both the pattern and readymade skirts.  Then I'll take a little break from sewing these babies and move onto something of the non-skirt variety!

 
Full Moon Dot is one of my favourite fabrics ever.  It's sadly being discontinued (or so I've heard).  It adds a more modern twist than normal polka dots and seems to work with so many different prints.  I managed to snap up a little extra from this etsy shop, whose lovely owner Jennifer had some yardage at normal prices (many shops have upped the price in response to its scarcity).

 
Also, the Kokka Russian Dolls print must surely be one of their most successful ever. Probably because of its versatility for both clothes and softies.  On my shopping travels I've noticed some suspiciously similar doll motifs on clothes, bags and homewares.  Coincidence? Perhaps.....

 

Sneak peak

Here are some lovely little fabric off-cuts from a project that's been in the pipeline for quite a while and is now nearly complete.  

Actually it was Cathy who inspired me to use this Liberty Lawn and polka dot cotton combination after she posted a little outfit on her blog ages ago made up with the very same fabrics from Amitie.

I immediately fell in love with them and have had them earmarked for this project ever since. Stay tuned....

"Prints" and princesses

I couldn't resist jumping on the Heather Ross "Far and Away" bandwagon recently - thank you Corrie! The fabrics in this range are just so perfect to make into wearable presents for little friends.   This Princess and the Pea skirt was given away last week and we managed to get some pics before wrapping it up.

 

I was trying to think of a way of combining the Snails and Princess prints together and settled on a very simple apron skirt design.

 

There's a Unicorn skirt in the works as well.  

And while we're on the subject of fairytales, my little ironing board has also been visited by Prints Charming.  (It's one of those Ikea mini-boards that are perfect to pop on the work surface for a quick press job).  It definitely looked like Cinderella before the ball and I'm afraid a "before" shot would be too shocking. 

Now, after resurfacing it with some thick felt underlay (which you can get from Spotlight) and a new elasticised cover with bright and cheery fabric from the stash it looks very decent.  A half hour's work, tops, and well worth the effort....

The "Owl Pal" Pincushion Kit & Pattern

Did you know? Wink Designs "Owl Pal" Pincushion Softie Kits are now in the shop.  The kits include wool felt, fabric, buttons, pattern template and sewing instructions.  Everything you need to make your own little owl friend: just add polyfil!

Sweet swap

I received a fabulous swap package from Amy of nanacompany this week.  I'm a huge fan and have been following Amy's gorgeous work on flickr for ages.  Just when you think Amy's made the best-thing-you've-ever-seen she goes and tops it with an even better thing.  There's that and the fact that her fabric stash is quite something to behold.

How cute are these (?):

 

And this gorgeous selection of florals will certainly be put to good use:

Thanks so much Amy!

Round neck sundress

We're just back from a late season ski break and after several loads of washing I'm very glad to be packing away the winter woolies. (How is it that 5 year old first time skiers can so shamelessly outshine their elders on the slopes??).  Not much crafting got done but I did make an attempt at re-learning how to knit (not great results but still hanging in....). 

Anyway, back to the topic of the day.  I tested this pattern out a while ago in the depths of winter but am only just unveiling it now that it's getting springier.  

It's made from the "Round Neck Top Sundress" pattern which is a downloadable PDF pattern from YouCanMakeThis.com. The simple retro style caught my eye when I was browsing through the site so I thought I'd give it a whirl. The pattern is well written and put together and the finished dress also fits perfectly (I made the Size 5). It includes Sizes 2 to 7 and both top/dress options.

 

The Heather Bailey print was teamed with some Moda french blue dots on cream.  It's not an obvious match when you look at the two fabrics separately but I think they work really well together in the finished dress.  The cute red plastic flower buttons were from Tessuti (boo hoo - my local branch has closed.....).

Hope you have a great weekend - my Google Reader is calling me so I'm off to catch up on my favourite blogs....

(By the way, I've not yet mentioned that I'm a YCMT affiliate and earn a wee percentage if you click and pay for a pattern there via a link from my blog.  Also, I should point out that, affiliate or not, I'd never recommend a product that I hadn't tried and liked myself.  I truly do think this one's a goody!)

Criss-cross dress

This little dress made its debut at the Stitches & Craft show.  I didn't get a photo of it then but plonked my little (reluctant) model on the grass some days later to try and capture my handiwork.  You can just see her thinking, "What am I doing here and what's with the coloured hoops?"

Her older sister had a baby-sized dress of a similar style that was sent for her as a gift from France.  It was so pretty then but now much worse for wear. I've often looked at it over the years whilst sorting and re-sorting old clothes and thought that I'd like to try making a pattern for it.  

 

So, finally, voila! It's not quite the same as the original because I couldn't quite work out how it was constructed.  But my pattern worked, it fits and it looks great (even if I do say so....).  This style works well, also, if you've got one of those babes who hate clothes being pulled over their heads (mine does).

I even had the self-discipline to make pattern pieces for it as I went rather than winging it.  This one has bias around the armholes and along the neckline.  I've made another with facings rather than bias (I'm still a bit scared of bias) which I've yet to photograph.

Not sure what to call this style.  "Cross-over dress" sounds a bit ordinary hence "Criss-cross dress".  Can you think of a better name?

I loved that Stitches & Craft Show Mum!

I had aimed to go to the show on Thursday but a headache of near migraine proportions kept me house-bound for a couple of days.  Then on Saturday I crazily decided to head off to the horse track with two small people in tow.  It seemed like a good idea at the time and Grandma (theirs, not mine) kindly volunteered to come along and help with the kid wrangling.

(Photo: Gorgeous embroidery panel on linen from the lovely Lisa and cotton drill FQs in red and pink from the Dandi girls, who graduated from last year's Incubator status to a spot downstairs this year.)

The Incubator section was particularly fabulous, as I'm sure you've read in numerous other reports.  I caught up with lots of blogging friends (even if only in passing while being pulled along impatiently between the Crayola Crayon station and the ice cream stand) and met some whose blogs I've been following for ages like Nan and Kate.

  

 

(Photo: Liberty scraps from Amitie - had to have 'em.....)

 

 

(Photo: Kaffe Fassett FQs from a little patchwork shop whose name escapes me.)

 

As you can see, I did manage to make a few purchases along the way.  Those are Nan's fabulous peg dollies below, just waiting to be styled.

 

And Cee Cee's "craft secrets" left on those little scraps of paper pegged to the line?

No 1: "My secret ingredient is super-glue" (Don't know where that one came from as her usual adhesive of choice is Clag.)

No 2: "There are no mistakes" (v. philosophical and right on the money I'd say.)

Actually, although not satisfying in the way that a child-free visit would have been, we all returned home exhausted, happy and having really enjoyed ourselves.  And it was truly interesting to have experienced the show through a child's eyes.  (One child at least. Miss Wink, aged 1, was decidedly underwhelmed, choosing to spend almost the entire duration of the visit alternately sucking her thumb and snoozing in the MacLaren.)

The final verdict?  Well, you can see it in the title of this post.  And I was even asked if we could go again next year.  Yes, indeed we can....