Cut, Dried, Fired and Burnished

I had the pleasure of attending a silver clay workshop with a handful of other crafty minxes at Pam Annesley's studio in Two Rocks, and I loved it! I wish I had done a little bit more research on what you can do with the clay beforehand, though, to maximise the time I could spend working on the clay instead of thinking and planning and wondering and second-guessing. Anyway, we had a blast and will definitely do it again some time.

Laptop & Linen

The creaking, whirring and crashing of my old laptop was a good sign a new one was in order, so I bought myself an Ultrabook. I quickly became anxious of the damage wrought on that slender electronic beauty as it jostled for space with pens, sunglasses and errant gummy bears in my otherwise exquisite grey KikkiK felt bag, so a new laptop sleeve was in order. 

I went on a weekend a pilgrimage to the wonderful Calico and Ivy. I came back with a very sweet cotton-linen blend* that soon became home for the laptop and its associated cables (the laptop sleeve is double thickness with extra layers of felt sewn in for cushioning; the smaller pouch is just a single layer of fabric with a press stud closure). The design is delicate and pretty without being twee, and even with the stitching being a bit wonky in places I am pleased with my new creation.

*I also came back with material for my new Liberty shirt, but no pictures of that as yet...

Summer Green

Here's a dress I made (up).

Ompeluseura!

How many Finnish-speaking crafty types are there in Perth?

At least this many!

Anna Maria Study Hall Skirt

I finally found a worthy use for some rather lovely pieces of Tilda fabric I picked up in Finland: I didn't have much of each individual design, but they made for sweet pleat inlays for my brand-spanking new Anna Maria Study Hall Skirt. The main fabric is Sevenberry, from the always-lovely Materialise in Nedlands.

The pattern was pleasantly simple: I'm no sewing prodigy and found it all very straight forward. In fact, it is entirely possible that I'll only be wearing Study Hall Skirts for a while.

Secret Monkey Sheriff

Giving the Ooshka pattern another whirl... I think the fabrics match up better in this one, and I'm pleased I got to put scraps of two of my favourite fabric designs to appropriate use. 

Upmarket Dollface

I went to the Perth Upmarket yesterday. It's held at Winthrop and Hackett Halls at the University of Western Australia, and is packed with local handicrafters. Nothing there is cheap, but everything is gorgeous.