peeking...

....into a little sewing peek project i'm doing for fat quaterly's designer's challenge using pieces of the shades of grey collection by jan dicintio. i've done some patchwork i've never attempted before, and i've really enjoyed it. i couldn't do it properly 'by the book' though, cos that's just not how i roll...(and no, those points above are not supposed to match! ha!)

d'you know what?

i'm going to leave pouch making to the experts. despite getting really good advice from zenzhey (who told me i was on the right track with making tabs on the zip, just to make them longer) i managed to cut off my tabs by accident and got crappy top corners again. i did manage to make a standy-uppy one though, without too much brain power needed. maybe i'll have another go when i'm feeling less pissed off :)

ho hum

i love the idea of making little zipped pouches...i've crawled t'internet for various tutes and advice and i really thought i'd got it sorted in my head. so after printing my 'totem' fabric on saturday, i proceeded to make one. (top pic) while it's not a total disaster, i didn't get that joyful feeling i should have had when i finished it. i really hate how the zip looks crappy on the edges, it drives me bonkers. am i just being fussy? i thought about it alot over sunday, and wondered if the solution lay in adding little fabric tabs the the ends of the zip before sewing it together, which would mean no tricky zip jiggery-pokery when stitching up the sides. i've just finished making a new pouch (bottom pic) and while it's better, it's still not perfect. i think i'm going to give up.

in 'commercial' mode

it just occurred to me to post a few pics of the 'other' creative work i do. i sort of consider these as my day job (except it doesn't pay very much!) i create a range of framed pieces for the home; small box frames like the one pictured here for children's doors and bigger versions (i call them 'samplers') to celebrate births and weddings. i sell them through a site called notonthehighstreet.com and you can look at the other things i do here. i also have a website where i will be selling these and other stuff but it's currently being updated. i will do a post about it when it's up and running. i juggle between doing these and doing what i call my 'arty farty' work, generally the stuff i usually post about, my quilts and drawings and prints. i love doing both things and working to other people's specifications and deadlines is really good for me, it's a great lesson in time management!

the pics from top to bottom are: printing in progress for the backgrounds; i have millions of alphabet beads, but you can never have too many so if anyone knows of any good places to buy them in the uk, all info gratefully received; a door plaque framed and ready to go in the 'spring' colourway; a closeup of a door plaque in 'sunshine' colourway.

hope you enjoy a peek into part of my working day! (the other part is woefully dull; washing, ironing, hoovering, child caring, cooking, feeding, washing up, calorie counting, carting kids about, you get the picture.)