Peach Patterns

Wink Designs on Vacation

Our European trip starts tomorrow and I want to enjoy our time away without feeling the need to be constantly tied to a device.  So rather than trying to manage the shop on the go, I've reluctantly decided to put it on vacation mode for the next 6 weeks.

The good news is that you can still head over to one of these stockists, all which have the full range of Wink Designs patterns:

Pink Chalk Fabrics

Fairytale Frocks and Lollipops

Patterns Only

 

 

Thank you so much for your support of Wink Designs.  I'm looking forward to releasing the leggings and other knit basics patterns in the next few months (and I also have another few pattern ideas up my sleeve)....

"Mollie Makes" found...

I've never had any luck finding a copy of this magazine in the big smoke.  On holidays out of Sydney on the Central Coast, though, I hit paydirt.  In Coles no less...

The styling and design are definitely a cut above and the projects, like the Liberty leaves pictured on the cover, are oh so sweet.  

I also enjoyed reading about the newest book by Jane Brocket (of the Gentle Art of Domesticity).

I'd love to be organised enough to take some stitching with me when we go away but I don't think I'd find the time.  

Doodling, sketching and jotting ideas in my little journal is about the most creative I get in between swims...

Scandinavian Stitches

I know I'm a little late to the party on this one as this lovely book was released way back before Christmas but I only recently bought a copy (the price came down on Fishpond!).

Kajsa Wikman, who creates under the label Syko, is pure genius when it comes to applique, free motion and creative stitching.  My favourite image in the book is definitely the "Love Machine" - how incredible is that tiny patchwork quilt?  (And I see you can buy the image as a stand-alone print in her etsy shop.)

 

While we were in Finland last year I was lucky enough to stumble upon an original Syko.  I found this little pouch in the crafts shop attached to the tourist office on the main square in Helsinki.  There were quite a few of Kajsa's original items in the shop: cushions, prints, pincushions and her signature little stuffed houses.  All so lovely.

The work on the pouch is really amazing.  I've been playing a bit with free-motion stitching lately but it'll be a while before I'm anywhere near this good.  Look at the detail on the daisy!

 
P.S. I haven't bought much fabric of late - just the odd bit here and there - the prints above are some cute Lecien spots and stripes from sewdeerlyloved.

Strawberries & cream

I made another little criss-cross dress from this fabric with strawberries on a cream background which was bought in Japan.  The pattern is close to being finished - I'm happy with the way it sews up either as a quickie like this one made with just one fabric or as a more sophisticated model complete with contrast band.

The fabric came from "Yuzawaya", which I think is one of the largest chains of fabric/craft stores in Japan.  We visited the Shinjuku branch.  I loved the little vertical trolleys you got to wheel your chosen bolts in as you browsed - no struggling with armloads of fabric a la "Spotlight".  It was all so ordered with separate cutting tables and checkouts.

The really amazing part of Yuzawaya, though, was the section with the buttons, trims, beads and notions - it was a dream come true and I could have spent hours there.

The other place where I did the majority of my fabric shopping was "Okadaya", also in Shinjuku. Whilst smaller and more crowded than Yuzawaya, it had some real gems including a great selection of Liberty and some really pretty florals and cute Japanese prints.  The notions were housed across the laneway in a separate building and I'm not sure if I looked in the wrong places, but I couldn't find anything of interest there.

I decided that I wouldn't make the trip to the Nippori textile town this time around. I was quite happy with what I bought around central Tokyo and as Japan was our last port of call, the suitcases were already bulging from other clothes and souvenir shopping.  Next time, maybe....

There are hundreds of tips and articles on craft blogs now days about shopping in Tokyo and I read my fair share of them.  I found the posts by Alison of Lark - here - particularly useful: comprehensive, readable and concise!  As most of my shopping was done in Shinjuku, the Time Out guide to that area here was also really handy.....

Hello again!

We've been back from our holiday for a week and a half and have come down to earth with a thud as the constant activity and adrenaline of traveling are replaced by the usual household and school routines.  Returning to chilly temperatures from the balmy summer weather overseas has also been a bit of a shock to the system.  

 
The trip, on the whole, was amazing but I know I don't need to tell most of you that travelling with toddlers and kids for an extended period is never going to be a job for the faint-hearted.  

We covered a lot of ground from France to Spain to Finland to Japan.  As well as revelling in the sights, sounds and tastes of all of those places we encountered our fair share of travel gremlins.  

Luggage that didn't arrive at our destination including the stroller (twice!), sick kids, European train strikes and (horror of all horrors!) no functioning movie screens on one long 10 hour legs of our flight.

Cee Cee was great and enjoyed the constant stimulation of changing locations.  Miss Wink, on the other hand, was not a happy camper for most of the time and missed her little routines and familiar surroundings at home.  We celebrated her second  birthday while we were away.  In retrospect maybe she was a little young for a trip of that kind....

Two places we visited were fabulous from a crafty point of view.  Tokyo, of course, needs no explanation but the other gem was Helsinki, both in terms of its handmade craft and also the higher end Scandinavian textiles and design.

 
I'll write a bit more about both places when I get the chance but in the meantime (for your viewing pleasure!) I've included photos of some of my shopping haul of stationery, fabric and notions from Japan throughout this post.  

Some favourites are the pink and orange trellis flower fabric and the Liberty Mirabelle fabrics in the second photo from top, both of which are tricky to find online.  I also treated myself to a couple of metres of Nani Iro gauze fabric in the photo below, the motifs and colours of which seem to happily echo (in a more modern way) the retro design in the Lecien print at right.

Am enjoying catching up on all your blogs.  It seems everyone's been busy, busy busy!

A little break in transmission

Our departure date is looming (this Sunday).  This will probably be my last post before our holiday and I won't be blogging until we return!

Hubby has been taking care of the European leg with numerous hotel, minibus, hire car, train etc. bookings and I have been busy reading up on craft shopping on Central Tokyo and its surrounds and looking after the extensive array of kiddy related travel paraphernalia which we need to take.  

 

I'll be putting the shop into hibernation mode while I'm away but wanted to let you know that a lovely new stockist, Magpie Patterns, now has my patterns for sale.  So you can now:

Sewlovefabrics on etsy has also been stocking them and they'll be available in both those places while I'm away.

Hope you have a great June/July and until then, happy crafting!

Ooh la la, konichiwa!

The Wink family is excitedly planning a trip for June.  We're going to France for a wedding and then back home through Tokyo.  As fabulous as it will be to be in Paris I can't help being just a teensy bit more excited about the Tokyo part (no need to explain why, of course, dear readers!).

Assorted French and Japanese themed photos from my blog archives!

 I'm reading up on my Japanese craft blogs and will be armed with Suzy's fabric shopping in Tokyo guide.  Any other tips from seasoned Japanese craft trippers will be most welcome!