Inspirations > the Craftorialist

l’uccello: vintage haberdashery and fancy goods

25th January, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Buttons

I thought I'd show you my dear friend Kim's shop, l'uccello. She sells vintage haberdashery and fancy goods from the second floor of the Nicholas Building, in Melbourne. Check our that super wide ribbon! It's intended for making espadrilles (which I love to wear). Words cannot describe how stunning it is in there. It's almost too much beauty all at once. It even smells divine. She's a major stockist for French crochet designer, Sophie Digard, whose necklaces these are. (I'd include a link to her website, but weirdly, I couldn't find one.) Vintage threads, buttons, ribbons are mixed in with new things; they're all so well chosen and displayed. Kim has an extraordinarily good eye for colour and design, like nobody I've ever met. Everything is inspiring. Including these vintage stamens and other bits for making flowers. (She's a big hit with all the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Accessories, Crochet, Inspirations, Sewing, Textiles Tagged With: , , , ,

Big Day in Bendigo: Australian Sheep & Wool Show

21st July, 2012 by 6 Comments
wpid-IMAG0294-1.jpg

Now that I'm living in central Victoria, Bendigo is just down the road. The Australian Sheep & Wool Show is on this weekend, so today we made a day of it. Here's my haul: We wandered through the woolcraft halls admiring some incredibly fine handiwork and extraordinary techniques. Predictably, there was a full range of styles and objects, some hideous and some just stunning. After watching the sheep dog trials for a bit (amazing what those dogs can do), we found ourselves in a wood turning display. Not sure why that's in with everything else, but I bought this beautiful little bowl, just because. Later, this made more sense: it's a nosterpinne. You use it to wind yarn into neat, centre-pull balls. Since I often need to do that on the fly, I reckon it was worth the $18 I paid. We ran into an old school friend at the fashion parade; his two gorgeous little girls were in it … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crochet, Inspirations, Textiles Tagged With: , , , ,

Cosy winter coat

10th November, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Winter coat: front

It's been a rather long blogging hiatus. My mother, who has multiple myeloma, has been undergoing chemo and a stem cell transplant, and caring for her has been one of the things taking up my time (somewhat) and energy (a lot). The cancer won't be cured, but she's on the mend from the chemo now and looking at several more years of health, thanks to some cutting edge treatment. Amazing stuff. So: as I've not stopped making things, I'd better catch you up. I was travelling to and from Melbourne in the last days of winter. I was determined not to be cold; I had a week or so before I left: a new coat was in order. The thing about Melbourne cold is its relentlessness and its piercing wind—a 'skinny' wind, my cousin used to call it—one that's skinny enough to get through the thickest knits. I decided pure wool and a quilted lining were called for. Of course, since unusual is the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fashion design, Inspirations, Pattern making, Sewing, Textiles Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Ergool and Alby

26th June, 2011 by 1 Comment
In his hands

As promised by his Mum, we have some images of young Alby with his crochet Ergool to share. You'll have to forgive the blur: Alby doesn't stop moving unless he's fast asleep. Alby enjoys playing with Ergool often. Almost as much as he enjoys his dinner. Nice to see he's continuing the star theme. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: 1 Ball Projects, Accessories, Crochet, Inspirations Tagged With: , ,

Super fine

13th May, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Lace sleeve

I seem to be developing a disturbing preference for working with extremely fine yarns. Disturbing, because these projects can take an awfully long time to finish. So many more stitches. But working with very fine (lace-weight) yarn feels great, and the results can be so divine. … [Read more...]

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Silk swatches scarf

13th February, 2011 by 2 Comments
Silk swatches

Having realised just before Christmas that the crochet spiral scarf I was making would not be ready in time for the family Kris Kringle, I needed to make something to replace it. I have a sizable collection of silk swatches and remnants, so I looked through those to see what would look good together. Some shot wine silk chiffon overlaying a pale pink silk satin from a friend's wedding dress, some striped swatches, remnants from a previous designer client and a previous project of my own ... It all added up to a rather luscious silk scarf that more perfectly suited the recipient than the original idea would have, I think. Especially since that turned out like this: Rather more over the top than I had originally imagined. Almost '70s funk, really. Don't get me wrong, though; I like '70s funk. I'm busy writing up the pattern now, for a future posting, so stay … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Crochet, Inspirations, Sewing, Textiles Tagged With: , , ,

French seaming and sleeves

18th December, 2010 by 4 Comments
Striped cotton lawn

I've been making a new tunic top, using a gorgeous fine cotton lawn I've had sitting in my stash for a few years. When you're sewing something in several colours, it can be hard to decide what colour thread to choose. I ended up going with one that doesn't actually match any of the colours, but somehow seems to sit unobtrusively with all of them. I decided to French seam everything; it's a much nicer finish than overlocking (serging). With such a fine, stable fabric, that's very easy. On each seam, you start by putting the wrong sides together, as opposed to the right sides, and stitch very close to the edge. I keep the edge of the fabric lined up with the middle of the side of the foot. You do have to be careful that you are catching both sides, so make sure they're lined up exactly. If the edge is a bit frayed, trim the stray threads away, or they'll end up … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fashion design, Inspirations, Sewing, Textiles Tagged With: , , ,

Linen: sowing to sewing

15th November, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Here's a stunning video on linen and its uses, following production from growing flax right through to contemporary design uses. Thanks to Kathleen Fasanella's marvellous technical blog, Fashion Incubator, for putting me on to this. BE LINEN MOVIE from Benoit MILLOT on Vimeo. I have a great fondness for linen as a material, in all its many forms. Co-incidentally, my namesake, the linnet, gets its name from feeding on flax seeds. … [Read more...]

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Beautiful new store: Baraka HQ

11th November, 2010 by 1 Comment
Baraka HQ

Last month I attended the opening of a new store in Sydney's Inner West, Baraka HQ. (It's at 136-138 Georges River Rd, Croydon Park NSW, if you're ever in the area.) Run by two of the loveliest people you're ever likely to meet, Baraka HQ is the culmination of a life's dream for co-owners Kath Fry and Eisha Saleh. I first met the pair at a fashion parade where they were showing their latest range at the time. I was there to gather information for an article I was planning to write about them. The venue was a gigantic hall in Lidcombe, the occasion was a Mother's Day event for the local Lebanese women's association. A women-only event, they had a DJ playing fabulous Arabic music, food, dancing and there was some serious revelry going on, let me tell you. Anything you've heard about how hard Muslim women can party, when they're all together with no men watching, is all … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Accessories, Fashion design, Inspirations, Knitting Tagged With: , , , ,

UFO 1: Needing Inspiration

22nd October, 2010 by 3 Comments
Summer coat UFO

For those wondering about the radio silence lately, it's all due to a major move: house and studio all packed up, moved and unpacked (mostly). Normal transmission should now resume. The first UFO (unfinished object) submitted to the UFO Project is a beauty: hand dyed, quilted and embroidered. The artist, Ulrike, is not so much in need of technical advice (she's clearly highly accomplished), but seems to have become stuck in getting it to a point where it feels 'finished', at least for now. Ulrike's adventures in dying, weaving and other textile crafts are beautifully chronicled on her bilingual blog, Handspindel. Ulrike says: Not sure if my biggest UFO is actually an UFO or more like an eternal WiP [work in progress]. But where's the difference there anyway? It's a coat I started to sew nearly four years ago. A summer coat in kimono shape. It was kind of finished Sept '08, when … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Inspirations, Sewing, UFOs Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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