Badge of Honour

Custom-made, is there anything more exciting? I recently sent some hand-printed fabric scraps to the multi-talented Sophie Isobel knowing full well that they would be made into something wonderful. In return, I was rewarded this week with my own "I heart screen-printing" brooch. Perfect for a fabric printer and an honour for me to wear. I can't wait to see what Sophie does with her remaining Thea & Sami stash.

The brooch made its debut today at the Metropolitan South Institute of Tafe (MSIT) when I spoke to a group of fashion students about our green business practices. The other guest speaker was Kelly-Ann Wickham, passionate owner of Bliss Ecowear, Brisbane's first boutique dedicated to eco-fashion.



The brooch came wrapped in this, typical of Sophie's romantic style.



I seem to have collected many badges lately including these that were made for the Stitches and Craft Show and for Mix Tape by Justin Telfer, co-founder of Mix Tape Zine which I, as slow as I am, only recently discovered and subscribed to. It really is a must-read for all craft lovers.




I was also the lucky recipient of this adorable camel brooch, made from one of those cocktail swizzle sticks and given to me at the Stitches and Craft Show by Craft Laboratory researcher Danielle. She is such a sweetie.

The red crochet flower is now a brooch that I pin onto my garments with a safety pin. However, in a previous life it, and three others like it, was attached to a bright lime-green vintage crocheted cushion. Nobody can accuse me of being a chromophobe but this was one ugly colour-clashing creation. I have since discarded the cushion and wear the adorable flower.

If you haven't already, I strongly recommend that you visit Sophie's blog: Her Library Adventures.

Small Details Matter

I love my roll of hemp twine.  I use it to cut and thread through hang tags to safety-pin onto our products. It's not easy being green as this is very time-consuming and using a tagging gun which I did in a previous not-so-environmentally-responsible life was much faster.

The little details do make a difference though and I think they look pretty good and much nicer than those ugly plastic tag holders. Our hang-tags are also printed on recycled paper, saving those extra trees from the mill.

The order that goes with these tags is our Autumn/Winter fashion collection going to Bliss Ecowear today.

We will also be showing some new hand-printed organic fashions at Artisan at a Mother's Day charity breakfast on Tuesday, May 5th. More details to follow but please keep the morning free if you are in Brisbane. The Artisan breakfasts are always lovely events and raise funds for a worthy cause, in this case the Royal Brisbane Childrens' Hospital.

Premier Skirt

Thank you to all of you who sent me messages telling me that the Premier of Queensland was televised wearing my hand-printed Brisbane (Skyline) Skirt on Brisbane television on Sunday night. Premier Anna Bligh was also photographed in the Courier Mail on Monday, 16th February.

I had visited the Premier last July for a fitting so it was nice to see that she chose to wear the skirt for the launch of her new website. Ms. Bligh looked every bit the Queenslander in pink linen and even coordinated her look with pink sandals; far more stylish than your average politician!

The Thea & Sami Brisbane Skirt had won a Memento Award in 2007. These awards recognise quality Australian designed and crafted tourist gifts.

The skirt is available through Artisan M(art) in Brisbane, Eimai in Melbourne and the unlined, organic linen version from Bliss Ecowear in Paddington, Brisbane.

Otherwise, please contact me directly as we make-to-order the skirt to your colour preferences.

July 2011 Update: The Brisbane Skirt is no longer available but you may purchase the print to frame as a screen-printed panel of Brisbane City. Other links in this post are also now non-existent.

The Green Precinct

Located in Brisbane, Queensland, the Paddington Green Precinct is a popular destination for eco-friendly and organic shopping, living and learning.  

The Green Precinct is hosting its first event for 2009 on Wednesday, 11 February.
It’s a free seminar and product showcase titled "Taking Real Steps to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint".

It’s an informative evening presenting people with practical advice and products for effective ways to minimise their greenhouse gas emissions.  A panel of speakers will briefly identify the most strategic areas to target, namely Food, Energy, & Transport, followed by a chance to check-out a showcase of products that help to reduce emissions, while enjoying a nibble and drink.

Speakers include:
Ronan Lee, MP - Greens Member for Indooroopilly
Robert Pekin - Coordinator, Food Connect
John Pittendreigh - Director, Epic Cycles
Kelly-Ann Wickham - Bliss Ecowear

Venue is Brisbane Workers’ Community Centre, 2 Latrobe Tce, Paddington.

You will Thea & Sami eco-homewares in Biome and our eco-fashions at Bliss Ecowear.

Hats, Glorious Hats

Congratulations to Leah Littlehales who is the winner of our Blog giveaway.  Leah has won one of our cute Door Mice.  For updates on Thea & Sami future giveaways and offers, you can subscribe to our VIP newsletter.

Meanwhile, Brisbane has been so hot lately that we were inspired to make these lovely sun hats.  After experimenting with different materials we found some hemp/organic cotton canvas that was a nice weight and wonderful to screen-print.  We will be offering this printed canvas for sale in the near future as it is ideal for sewing your own projects such as bags.  More fabric designs will follow so contact me if you are interested.

This first batch of sun-hats is now available for sale at Brisbane's wonderful boutique, Bliss Ecowear, specialising in ethical and eco-fashion.

Ragtrader

We are working like crazy to get our Autumn/Winter samples done for Fashion Exposed in September. Meanwhile, we were delighted that the image chosen for the Ragtrader article was one from Thea & Sami's Spring/Summer collection available from September in stores such as Bliss Ecowear.