Time to breathe

Its been 8 weeks of non-stop designing and handprinting a collection of swimwear fabrics tailored for the Zimmermann market.(photos up soon)

While I enjoyed the challenges is brought(And there WERE ?MANY!)I can truly say I felt a huge weight off my shoulders when I dropped off the swatch collection ,a range board and a technical to my lecturers office.PHEW!

Strangley today, I find myself with time to do what I love to do...devour my looong list of favorite blogs to read,have a sticky peek into some beautiful things happening around the www. and maybe even bake some cupcakes:)

A special treat was finding this amazing interview on the design files!

I'm a self confessed fan and follower of Megan park and her AMAZING textiles and her latest collection is beyond beautiful.

Her new flagship store in melbourne.beautiful.

www.meganpark.co.uk

Oh how I'd love to join that "little" design team some day!!!

Also came across some other lovelies :) on the design files

In the mean time some bits and piecees of my work...

textile design for homewares.Fancy a tea towel with this design?or maybe a table cloth?

my favorite.textile pattern for aprons/oven mitts/tea towels or whatever you like...

So much to do...so little time

Hi everyone/anyone who's reading :)

I've been so busy with all sorts of uni assigments that I haven't made the time to blog:(in aaaages!However the beautiful spring sunshine has made me feel alot more cheery and hence here's a little post and a picture of a major kids bed linen project that I've been working on!

Enjoy!See you shortly:)

'sweet dreams' design for little girls bedlinen :) handpainted using gouache and oil pastel detail!

Paper Printing

I did some screen printing onto watercolour paper yesterday.
Below is a mock up of how I'd like them framed form my room.Its all aprt of the "facelift" plan for my bedroom!Fingers crossed all goes well!

Bedroom Blues!

I currently spend my nights in a pretty drab and boring bedroom with no soul what-so-ever and most sadly no colour or pattern :(
So,this winter break I am on mission : "bedroom renovation" and have been looking around for simple ways to introduce some colour and charecter into my room without hurting the hip pocket too much!I'm concerned about painting the walls because I might get moody and what happens if I don't like the colour I choose after a few weeks?!!?!
So,I think I'm going to keep the walls the creamy colour they already are and add elements of interest and splashes of colour with accesories and bits of furniture.
I definately need a head-board for my bed,bed-side tables,new curtains and a few decorative pieces.
Here's what I've found so far...

Image from here.
Like the idea of using a set of canvases mounted as a headboard.I'm thinking of covering the canvases in a neutral fabric and that way I can pin photos/pictures/other colourful elements on onto it.
(kinda like below!)

Image from july issue of Realliving magazine
Like the earthy tones with bursts of bright colour!How I'd love to own a bed -end ottoman!Sigh!
But yes,definitely loving the natural textures and the casual/thrown together feel:)

Gingko!

Look what I now have thanks to the Lovely Lara at Ink and Spindle,Gingko wall decals!
Yay!So excited to own a Lara Cameron design!
I'm yet to find a nice home for them!Maybe a nice arrangement on a wall in my bedroom?workroom perhaps to keep me inspired:)

Holiday time and scarf montage

Yes!Its finally holidays and I now have the head space as well as the free time to blog my heart away!

It was a relief to be able to hand-in all my work over the last week and now enjoy a well deserved break!

I've put together a little step-by-step montage of my scarf in making ( remember the length I was printing for it?)Anyway after lots of planning,plotting,sewing and screaming! I finally made it!

P.S - A little note on what this is about : The idea behind this scarf was to make create a piece of cloth filled with personal memories and the aim was to illustrate what made "me happy" and translate it into something beautiful that I can touch and feel and keep for a long time to come...

I'll stop rambling on now and show you some photos:)Enjoy!

a collection of my hand-printed swatches ready to go into the patchwork scarf!

Like a puzzle! working out a layout that works best,trying to slot in the bits and pieces(the long blue piece of fabric is my printed length...very happy with it:)

Cut and sew...

A mock polaroid of some cool sewing "shots" and sneak peak of the scarf...

Et Voila! The final scarf!

Thanks to my sister for being a perfect model :) and to photoshop for making the photo look pro!

Printing

Just a super quick post with some pretty pictures of what I've been upto in the wonderful RMIT print studio :)

REPEAT PRINTING

A small sample of what needs to be printed.Tests are VERY IMPORTANT :)

Handpainting solution( dye ) mixed and ready to go.I'm aiming for a indigo-ish tint with this one

Background all painted and ready to go!(I'm printing on a gorgeous silk-linen blend)

The screen awaits...

and printing in repeat begins :)
Incase anyone is interested : I used a technique called "discharge printing " in which a special paste is made which when printed onto coloured cloth removes all colour from the area printed = your design.

So,when steamed and washed the part of the fabric covered in my design will have all colour dischaged fromit to reveal the original colour of the base cloth which was WHITE.Cool hey?

I'll post up pictures of the final length shortly :) This piece of fabric is the backing for a patchwork scarf!

Exciting!