a new fabric design in the works ...

This week I've had some time to start turning some of the ideas in my notebooks into actual designs. The abundance of carved wood, ornate stone buildings and the influence of art nouveau in Spain has featured heavily in  my sketches. This is a sneaky peek at the design I'm working on at the moment ...

This design is at the final tweeking stage. When I get to that stage, I print it on to some paper backed fabric (just through the computer printer) in colours I'm thinking about. I always find a need to feel it and drape it all over the place before I decide whether to go ahead with handprinting yardage. This one is nearly there. If you haven't already, sign up for my newsletter (top of the column on the right under "about me") and you'll be the first to know when it is released. I'm thinking fresh new colourways in pale blue and cool green ready for spring ... thoughts?

In other news, the Yardage Design SHOP is now OPEN again. I will be back in Australia on the weekend, so orders will be posted from Monday. Early birds will snag a few left-over bargains!

More creative spaces here.

huge fabric giveaway UPDATE

Good morning! I am so grateful to all of you who have entered my fabric giveaway to help support the QLD Premiers Flood Appeal - we've raised almost $300 here so far, contributing to more than $45,000 that has been raised through all of the crafty giveaways/raffles/auctions organised by Toni through her blog Make it Perfect (where you'll also find the Master List of all things available to win).

The good news is that the closing date for giveaways/raffles, including this one has been extended to 12pm AEDST 26 January (Australia Day). So there is still a few days to donate and enter to win nine fat quarters of my fabric - go to this blog post for all the details and to enter.

What would you do with all that fabric?

{exclaim} ... a new fabric design

{exclaim} ... indeed! Regular readers of this blog will know how much I love typography, and this fabric design is a dedication to beautiful parentheses and exclamation marks ...

I love this motif - the curves especially. It came to me one Friday night as few months ago as I was slowly going through the footy tips (NRL - we're originally from NSW) with Little Mister - he chooses the winning team based on whether or not he likes the mascot (side note, we came third in the tipping comp using this method - go figure!). Anyway, as I was calling out the mascot names and waiting for the decision, I was doodling (quite crudely, as you can see!) and came up with variations on a theme of parentheses and exclamation marks. Sometimes the ideas come straight away, other times they take some work - you just never know! 

As you can see, I've already been busy making cushions for the Finders Keepers market this weekend ...

This design is hand printed onto a light cream coloured, medium weight hemp/organic cotton blend base fabric. This fabric is slightly heavier than the hemp/organic cotton blends I've used in the past (288gsm as opposed to 200gsm), making it perfect for soft furnishings, as well as craft and dressmaking projects.  I've chosen three bold colours - cherry red, ocean blue and black.

This new design is now available in the shop, and will also be available to buy at the Finders Keepers market this weekend.

updated ... yardage fabric packs

Yardage Fabric Packs have been updated. Three pieces of 35cm x 35cm fabric (one of each design), in cream (Pack I) or natural (Pack II) base cloths. Each pack is $20 (free postage in Australia), and available online here. Perfect for little projects!

PSSST! fabric and fabric packs now in the shop ...

At last, my very own yardage is in the shop ...

Fabric is available in fat quarter increments as well as in packs.

As always, free postage for Australian buyers. Enjoy!

meet my fabric: agapanthus

Hello again - I'd like to introduce you to my third and final yardage design, "Agapanthus" ...

I really enjoyed the design process involved in creating this pattern. I started with a photo I took in summer of an agapanthus flower that hadn't quite bloomed. I took the photo in the first place becuase I was interested in the shapes of the buds and stems, so I started drawing ... both on a print out of the photo to get an idea of the shapes, and then freehand in my trusty sketchbook ...

After quite a bit of trial and error, I came up with a flower design that I was happy with - I wanted it to be structural, but organic. This design is the largest of all three ...

This design comes in two colourways: deep purple on off white and white on natural - both linen/cotton basecloths.

Both colourways of this design will be available in fat quarters (approx 70cm x 50cm) at the Melbourne Stitches & Craft Show. You will be able to buy this fabric in my online shop after the show.

So there you have it - my first yardage designs, all ready to be sewn into lovely things! I can't wait to see what others make with the fabric - if you make something, please send me a photo - it would really make my day!

I have really enjoyed sharing my designs and design process with you. No time to spare - so many things to do before next week. Have a lovely day!

meet my fabric: "circa"

The second of my yardage designs, this one is very personal to me. I came up with this circle motif right after visiting the Melbourne Stitches and Craft Show last year and being inspired to get more creative. I called it my signature circle as I went on to use it as part of my branding, but I'm calling this repeat pattern Circa ...

As my ideas developed and turned into Yardage Design the business, I held onto a small dream of one day seeing this pattern hand printed onto lovely fabric. Last Friday was the day I realised that dream and ticked a box on my personal "to do" list - it felt great.

This design comes in two colourways: navy blue on natural linen/cotton, and deep red on off white hemp/organic cotton.

Both colourways of this design will be available in fat quarters (approx 70cm x 50cm) at the Melbourne Stitches & Craft Show. You will be able to buy this fabric in my online shop after the show.

Thanks so much for the lovely comments about Swizzle - they were much appreciated! See you tomorrow for another design.

meet my fabric : "swizzle"

I thought it was high time that I introduced you to my very own yardage designs ... beginning with the one that I teased you with on Friday.  Meet "Swizzle" ...

Swizzle (so named because it looks a bit like a swizzle stick to me) started life as a doodle in my sketchbook ...

The idea came from a daisy chain, which I then played around with until I settled on a basic stripe effect pattern. The design is realtively small scale because I wanted a fabric that I could use for smaller projects and trims.

I'm a bit obsessed with red and teal at the moment, so I had this design hand printed in both teal on an offwhite hemp/organic cotton basecloth, and deep red on a natural linen/cotton basecloth ...

Both colourways of this design will be available in fat quarters (approx 70cm x 50cm) at the Melbourne Stitches & Craft Show. You will be able to buy this fabric in my online shop after the show.

Stay tuned for another design tomorrow!

yardage .... at last!

Just a teaser ... more (designs and colours) next week when my head is less scrambled!

It's been one of those great days for me - seeing my dream become a reality. Have a lovely weekend!

what's in a name?

It's taken me ages to come up with a design name that not only suits the sort of things I want to create, but strikes a chord with me personally. For me, it's also all about the font!! When I finally decided on yardage as my design name, I spent hours fiddling with fonts. Anyway, this is the first yardage thing I made - a denim shoulder bag with some Liberty trim and the design name embriodered. It makes it feel real when it's in the flesh!

I hope you're having a great Friday - cheers to the weekend!