Best bunting for your bucks.

This week I have been making some bunting for a charity called SEND A COW

Bunting is such an easy way to quickly add some colour and fun to a party or any place that needs jazzing up a bit, I have scoured Etsy and here is my top ten, hope you like them too.

From Paisley handmade.

From AniVintage

From vintage green limited.

From 1 pixie place

From Baloolah Bunting

From eaden yarns

from vintage and nostalgia

From chillipeppa (hee heee)

From peony and thistle

From The doll city rocker

Of course other market places are available but seriously why bother else where?



A little goes a long way

I have a fabulous customer who makes unique handbags and more, she is as crazy about wax print as I am and she recently sent me a picture of a her green boucle, while she had it wrapped around her shoulders she had a eureka moment, what could possibly make this snugly wrap better?

AFRICAN WAX PRINT OF COURSE!

I love how wax print is just as interesting on a small scale and I have a Grey wool blanket that needs some life injected into it so I think I may be stealing this idea.

Fabric printing

I have been working on different fabric printing techniques, I had a go at screen printing using home made screens, but I didn't like the way the ink had to be really solid just to get a print. Then I remembered when I worked at a T-shirt printing place a very long time ago, I was told that there is no variation in screen printing. You have good prints and bad prints. This is very true so I realised that I would probably never be happy with screen printing, I needed some thing that let you be more creative with the ink amount.

Stencils were the way forward. and any way, screens are just stencils...............on screens right?? 

So I have nearly finished my first yard. I have to say, I SERIOUSLY LOVE IT! I have been designing and cutting my own stencils, lots of angular stuff, but also some circular masks. Here is a little peek.

I love the way you can use the ink how you want, creating light and dark areas. My stencils are all temporary and will only be used for this piece so it will be absolutely one of a kind. I will post the finished fabric as soon as its finished.

Ink, stamp, fabric.

I have been doing another custom order today, so the rag rug has taken a back seat, I had a request for some Indian block printing. <------- video here! I don't have the speed of this guy, and a 36 x 60 inches piece of linen took me a looooooong time. I will definitely look into making some kind of ink pad like he uses for next time I do a large piece, I think it will help me get into more of a rhythm, right now I apply the ink with a small sponge. I took a quick pic while I gave my back a break, please excuse the poor light, had to wait until the monster had gone to bed.

I have bought a few new colours and plan on going to bed with this book. for inspiration on how I will use them. Its a beautiful book that I really recommend. Its written by the lovely MissPrint ladies and covers a broad range of techniques.

'Rag rug' for the munchkin.

This is what I managed on day one.
It is definately looking more ruggy now. not sure how far this fabric is going to stretch.... but I am loving the colour combo and it will look fab in her room anyways.

I would love to see pics of rag rugs you or someone in your family made, or if you are making one right now why not post your progress too?!

Cozy cushions

I managed to get hold of some pieces of fabric from the Da Viva collection, this is actually made in Ghana, most african wax print comes from Holland. I really like this print, and decided to make some large cushion covers, I didn't want to make the whole cover from the patterned fabric as it would be too much, a little of this goes a long way.

I put a panel between two pieces of bright Red fabric, the panel is placed to one side to make them a little more interesting. I really like these and they might still end up on my Grey sofa where they stand out beautifully. But for now, they are in my Etsy shop.......