Hello? Hello?

Sooo, another great long gap in blogging. Haven't really got the hang of this, yet. Ho Hum.

However, the new years resolution is to be a bit more consistent (what do you mean, it's June?)

so in between setting fire to things

dyeing things

restocking the hen house

and a bit of sewing

I shall try to get back here a bit more often.

Sneak Peek

I have been cutting. And stitching. And, as I once wrote as a job description"I take big pieces of fabric and cut them into small pieces. Then I sew them back into big pieces"

This is the unfinished top for '3 shirts to the wind'



The lines and stripes are staggering drunkenly all over and it was made from, well, 3 shirts of mine. Couldn't really call it anything else!

Rags to Riches

Well, that is the idea!

A long time ago (though not very far away)I started my first business, making quilts, bags and generally anything that could be made out of patches. I loved it, it was fun and I used almost exclusively remnants and roll-ends of fabrics.

I loved the recyclingness (grammar police? shush!) of it and I loved the unexpectedness of creating. What I made came from what I had, what I could find. Nothing was really planned and a huge element of luck and chance influenced the final results.

For some reason, I downplayed this aspect and even deliberately tried to move away from it. Instead, I chose fabrics and colours simply for what they were rather than what they could be.

Looking back, a mistake. I lost the fun and I lost the excuse to hoard scraps and pieces "just in case". Life was a little more organised, but ever so slightly more sterile. A number of other things got in the way - losing my studio space, a prolonged renovation of a new house, Little Button* - and a pressing need to have the haberdashery business in a state where bills could be paid.

*I love her to bits, but toddler + pins + shears is never going to end well.

But this past week, a visit from the incomparable Ali made me rethink. And so it is back to basics - a new look, a new online store and a new range of bags, quilts, throws - anything I can make out of patches - from recycled, upcycled, (bicycled?) or eco/organic/fairtrade fabrics.
There will be handmade haberdashery along the same lines, a revamp of boutonnerie, a changing focus at Overspill and all in all, a quiet revolution in where I am going and what I am doing.

I doubt it is the easiest decision I've ever made, but I do hope it will be one of the best ones.

Of course, if it isn't, I shall just blame Ali!