Yummy Peppermint Mag

Yay! It's finally here - Issue 2 of the wonderful Peppermint Mag featuring fresh Green Fashion. I am expecting my issue to be in the mail box tomorrow.

If you want to take advantage of reduced rates (only until April 3) head over to the Peppermint Mag site and subscribe. Otherwise you will be able to buy a copy at various outlets (to be announced).

Support Green Fashion.

K.I.S.S.

Keep It Simple Sweetie; the best designs are often the most effective when screen printing by hand. Susie Raz printed this vase with flowers on a hemp tea-towel as well as printing another design in 2 colours in this lovely fabric border (below). A simple design on a small screen can be used in endless ways and printed in several directions and colours to get a different look each time.



Gitta Siemund-Edwards gets the award for coming the greatest distance for our workshop. She is visiting Brisbane from Germany where she teaches craft. Of course, she didn't come all the way just for our class but I like to believe that we have inspired her a little. Gitta overprinted on an Ikea cushion to make it unique. That's Susie Raz in the background... I apologise Susie for not getting a better photo of you.



The simple lines (below) by Gitta are also quite effective. All of these type of designs are easy for anyone to do. If you are visiting the Brisbane Stitches and Craft Show, I will be demonstrating how to easily screen-print at home.

Inspiring Couple

I have a confession to make; sometimes I just don't feel like getting up on a Saturday morning to drive to my studio.  Of course I do get up and I know that once I am there to meet my new group of eager beavers waiting to screen-print, the day will be quite exciting and full of inspiration.



Last Saturday was no exception with a fun group including Irene Beets & Ray Von Ronn.  Irene printed this adorable Sock Monkey on a t-shirt for her daughter.  I was very impressed by the detail and how she managed to make it look so three dimensional, all from a hand-cut stencil!

Ray printed these amazing lions (cougars? He is American, after all).  If you look closely, there are playing card symbols cleverly hidden in the design.  Ray and Irene have been designing clothing for Poker players - their latest career move.



That's Ray with his Bounty Hunter t-shirt looking more like the hunted than the hunter. More pics to follow.  Visit Workshops for more information or to instantly book your screen-printing class.

Printed Organic Linen

Beautiful hand-printed organic linen fabrics have now been added to the Thea & Sami on-line store.



I love these exclusive fabrics and have been using them in our own line of stylish organic clothing, such as the black wrap dress. Clothing will be added to the shopping site at a later date.

The linen is lightweight and ideal for making dresses and blouses. No need to dry-clean either as adding nasty chemicals into fabrics that don't have it defeats the purposes of buying them. Hand-washing or a gentle cold-machine wash is safe; guaranteed by me personally as I always wash my clothes this way.



You can also order these fabrics unprinted to coordinate with printed panels or whatever clever ideas you come up with. See organic fabrics.



You will also be able to view and purchase these fabrics at the Brisbane Stitches and Craft Show.

New Organic Canvas Prints

After a wonderful show in Melbourne, we are confirming that Thea & Sami will have a stand at the Brisbane Stitches and Craft Show in the Incubator Section (the coolest part) for Indie Designers. I will be conducting daily screen-printing demos.



I know that you all want more eco fabric choices and as we have been printing for our organic clothing line, we thought that we could share some of the fabric with you.

These 2 designs are hand-printed on hemp/organic cotton canvas and would be suitable for making tote bags or homewares. The striped design was achieved by ripping strips of black paper to create the film positive needed for the screen exposure. We really like the organic feel of it although the guys who expose the screens for me weren't as enthused as the amounts of sticky tape (biodegradable) used caused some buckling. This made it difficult to keep the positive flat during the light exposure process. I do tend to push their boundaries and they generally, at best, tolerate me.



The image above shows the laying out of the striped positive over the text one as the two prints also work well together as 2-colour design. See our Fashion Shoot for our upcoming canvas skirt for an example.

The text does have a meaning that if you are patient enough to read it and move across the square, you will be able to decipher it. You will probably have to have the actual fabric in hand to do that.

So what do you think about colours - any suggestions or preferences? And we are also printing the text onto other lighter fabrics such as organic cotton jerseys and hemp/organic cotton. Of course, we always customise our ink colours for minimum purchases of 6 metres.

After a short break, my screen-printing workshops are starting again tomorrow. Yay! You are now able to book workshops instantly via our on-line store.

Decluttering for a Good Cause

We have been busy decluttering at the Thea & Sami studio, don't you love that feeling?  Better still when your clutter can be put to good use.  Yesterday, we packed a box of hand-printed summer skirts and have sent them on to the Handmade Help team.  They will be distributed to the Victorian Bushfire Victims who lost so much.

The team has done an amazing job and you can read more about what has been achieved and how you can help at their blog: Handmade Help.

Drumming by Candlelight

8.30pm (in your own time zone) on Saturday 28 March 2009 is when thousands of cities internationally turn off the lights in support of Earth Hour. The big goal is for one billion people across the planet to turn off the lights. Incredible landmarks such as the Acropolis in Athens and the Empire State Building in New York are participating.

Brisbane City Council is supporting the Earth Hour event and is planning to turn off the lights on our city’s well-known landmarks including City Hall, Brisbane Square, Green Square, The Story Bridge, The William Jolly Bridge and Victoria Bridge. Other Brisbane landmarks supporting Earth Hour include the South Bank Cultural precinct, Gateway Bridge, Brisbane Powerhouse, XXXX Brewery and the Eiffel Tower on Park Road.



The Green Precinct in Paddington, Brisbane is holding a special candle-lit evening in the front courtyard of Urban Retreat Massage & Day Spa at 24 Latrobe Terrace. Voyt Reich and his band Bagunça will be playing live Afro-Cuban & Brazilian music. So turn out your lights at home and join us for an great night out. BYO wine & wine glasses.

When: 8-10pm Saturday 28th of March. RSVP is appreciated but not essential. Please phone Sowelu on 07 3367 1950.

Find out what is happening in your part of the world for Earth Hour.

Pecha Kucha

Have you heard about Pecha Kucha?

Pecha Kucha Nights, now held around in cities around the world, were conceived by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham (Klein Dytham architecture) in 2003 as a place for young designers to meet, network and show their work in public. Designers come from all backgrounds including artists, engineers, architects, manufacturers and animators.

The key to Pecha Kucha'a success is its patented system for avoiding long-winded presentations. Each designer is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each – giving 6 minutes, 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up and gives more people the chance to show.

Pecha Kucha (which is Japanese for the sound of conversation) has tapped into a demand for a forum in which creative work can be easily and informally shown, without having to rent a gallery or chat up a magazine editor.

Brisbane is holding its next Pecha Kucha Night as part of its Ideas Festival this Friday night at 8.20 pm at the State Library. Entry is free and speakers include Project Runway winner Juli Grbac and Vein Wear shoe designer Chris McCallum.

To check if your city is one of 181 worldwide to host a Pecha Kucha night, visit the official site for schedules. You can also apply to start one in your city if it doesn't have it.

What a Hoot!

I have so much to blog about so I am playing catchup here. One of the many talented Melbourne artisans who was exhibiting in our Incubator Section of the Stitches and Craft Show was Liz Jones of Betty Jo Designs.



Liz makes the cutest clocks, pendants & brooches mainly from vintage linoleum cleverly collaged with pre-loved buttons and doilies. I'm sure you will agree that the lino looks much lovelier as owl and bird clocks on her tree display than they ever could as your nanna's kitchen floor.



Visit the Betty Jo Designs BLOG for more information on her wonderful upcycled designs.

Selvedges are beautiful

Yes, I am still alive. I have been doing boring but necessary stuff since my return from Melbourne such as calculating costs and typing up price lists for new products.

Here are a couple of pics from the Craft Show including the absolutely fabulous dress from Ric Rac created solely from selvedges. Selvedges are the non-fraying edges of woven fabrics that are often printed with the company's name. Jodie, Ric Rac's creator, has to be the most talented sewer I have met. Check out her blog for more amazing creations including 3D fabric teapots and cups.



This photo is from the Channel 9 coverage for the Mornings with Kerry-Anne show (see previous entry). Presenter Tracey Atkins is admiring my hemp/organic cotton canvas shorts (not yet available) while chatting to the creative director of the L'Oreal Fashion Festival about eco fashions.

Many of you are wondering if I get any sleep since I am always working at weird hours. Yes, it is now 3 in the morning here in Brisbane, Australia and the secret behind my bad sleeping patterns is that I have my husband relentlessy snoring quite loudly in the background. It's impossible to sleep so I am working instead. What can I do besides snuffing him with a pillow? He refuses to do anything "unnatural" about it. Does anybody have a solution that works?

At the Show

I am at the Stitches and Craft Show and have been meeting some lovely people here in Melbourne. Thank you to all that have visited my stand and subscribed to our VIP News. We have had a wonderful response to our fabrics and to our range of hand-printed organic fashions what were also featured on the Mornings with Kerry-Anne show yesterday. We will slowly add new items to the website as time permits.

Unfortunately, as I am not at my computer, I am unable to upload photos for you to see what is going on. Do come along if you are nearby as there is soooo much talent here, especially in the Incubator Session where we are. Thea & Sami is Stand 213. You can still download a creative savings voucher for 15% off our products at the show.

I promise to show lots and lots of yummy hand-made goodies next week from some of the wonderful Indie Designers that are around me. Don't forget to check back for updates or follow my blog.

Vintage Fabric Packs

Vintage fabrics accumulated over the years have been lovingly washed, ironed and packed into craft packs for some lucky sewing mamas to magically transform into something wonderful.  These will be available at the Brisbane Young Designers Market this Sunday or if there are any left, at the Melbourne Stitches and Craft Show next week.

Some of these pieces were bought when I lived overseas, others are leftovers from vintage tablecloths that I used to previously make my skirts with (very few of these left). The packs will feature unique finds and of course will be very limited in supply.

I am working at home today trying to finish off the Thea & Sami eco-fashion look book and working out costs.  I am washing more fabrics as I am sitting here blogging. Unfortunately, I am recovering from a major migraine where I was physically sick last night. The stress levels are rising.

I really need to feel better so please say hello and tell me what you think of any of the work we are producing and the vintage fabric packs.

Organic Cotton Jersey

Thea and Sami hand-printed organic fabrics have been featured for the second time in a great American blog called Crafting for a Green World. Check it out here.



Speaking of organic fabrics, we are now offering organic cotton jersey fabrics for sale on our website. This is the fabric that we are using in our new range and is the softest fabric ever! With no pesticides used in the crop production and no nasty chemicals in its finish, these fabrics are ideal for sensitive skins, particularly babies and children. Good for you and the environment.

The range also includes organic cotton/spandex that is ideal for leggings and fitted tops such as our Va-Va Voom top. In keeping with safe environmental practices, the white fabric is bleached with hydrogen and not chlorine.

I have shown an example of nicely this fabric drapes and we have a lovely range of feminine styles coming soon in these lovely organic fabrics.

Calling All Crafters

Like most fabric lovers, I have accumulated quite a stash over the years.  However, in the name of decluttering and boosting my cash flow, I decided to start printing the fabrics that are taking up studio space.  Thus, we have been printing all week and while these particular fabrics are not organic, it is a good thing to pass them on to clever crafty types who can make something wonderful with them. As we have used fabrics in stock, these particular colourways are limited-edition and will not be repeated. Organic fabric packs will be on offer too.

I love printing over patterned fabrics such as this cotton ticking. Look out for our own layered designs that are coming soon.
   

I spent the better part of today cutting and packing the fabrics into craft packs.  It took me a while to figure out the best way to do this and folding and ironing each set gave the best results.  The packaging is biodegradable cellophane and I am waiting for some recycled card labels to arrive this week.

We will be selling the fabric packs at the Young Designers Market at South Brisbane this coming Sunday and then at the Stitches and Craft Show in Melbourne from March 11 - 15th.   I will also be packing some vintage fabric pieces into packs.  

 

Hint for my blog readers - go to Living Creatively to print out a Thea & Sami voucher to save 15% off 2 or more products to use at either event.  The voucher does not apply to sale items and there will be lots of clearance items at the Young Designers Market.

Thank You Fans

Hand-printing fabrics is a slow process so imagine my delight when hubby Voyt scored some wonderful old industrial fans for peanuts. This is one advantage of him selling industrial real estate.  Destined for scrap-metal, six fans have now been given a loving home in the Thea & Sami studio.

After much needed cleaning, we put them to the test and these guys are super-duper efficient! Our 7 metre table-length of printed fabric was dry in 10 minutes.  I was impressed as this means we can now print more yummy fabrics in a fraction of the time than previously possible.

  

And to demonstrate that inspiration surrounds us, I started playing with the original image (yes, part of my studio walls are pink) in Photoshop and came up with this retro type print.  Possibly a t-shirt print, what do you think?  Go ahead and try it - any photo of an object can become art.  If you have Photoshop, go to Image, then Adjustment and play around with the Hue/Saturation settings.



Speaking of fans, if you have been lurking (we've all done it) on this blog for a while, do consider publicly following my blog and please say hello.  All bloggers appreciate comments and feedback on their craft and designs.