Floor Cushions for Pip and Eddie - Part 1

We've been busy printing up a storm in an attempt to make some super awesome floor cushions for my sister and her boyfriend for christmas. They have a fab studio in Potts Point with an even fabber deck with amazing views across Sydney to the Bridge. Anyway they want some floor cushions that they can put onto some pallets and put out on the deck. So ma and I spent Sunday printing up the Squares design in Coral......it looks sooo yummy........we were stoked about how well the whole process went, especially considering what a shocker we had had a few day earlier with the round cushions......but that's another story. So stayed tuned, tomorrow is a sew-a-thon and we plan to get it all done and dusted.....and in plenty of time for Christmas!

Comfort for Clive

 

We've been busy and the beds are coming along beautifully, see pics below..........

Cushions, More Cushions and Dog Beds!

So I've been keeping pretty busy over the weekends for the last couple of months, with the help of my ma and Clive as our mascot we have printed and made lots of cushions in the Stripey Square design, started printing the fabric in the coordinate design and have even started making dog beds (just some prototypes so far). The cushions are a hemp/yak hair blend.

Last weekend in between printing sessions we did a bit of a photo shoot of the collection so far. 

Hope you like them!!

The whole collection

Stripey Square Cushions

Stripey Square Cushions with the coordinate design

Olive Stripey Square and Coordinate

  

Colour Range:

Teal, Burnt Orange and Olive

50" x 30" Stripey Square Cushions

And here is our mascot amongst the dog bed prototypes!

Comfort for Clive

I have decided to combine two of the things I love in life....Design and my dog Clive! How will I do this you ask? Well I have decided to make some funky designer beds for dogs.

The print will be simple yet bold and contemporary.

The fabric all natural 

(hemp is the plan at this stage, but the prototypes are in cotton).

The filling - still deciding on this but obviously comfort and durability are key.

I have finished making the first two prototypes today and am super happy with them and so is Clive. I have not been able to get him off it. Not sure if it's the comfort or the cool design but he loves it.

Coordinate Print

 Here we have the coordinate print. This is designed to work alongside the original square print. The coordinate was much trickier to line up and repeat but we got there in the end!

Cushions

Ok, I know I have taken forever to get the first cushion made. My fabric has been done and dusted for a few weeks now just sitting, waiting patiently for me to turn it into something useful. Sounds silly but it was really hard to make the first cut. When it's fabric that you've put so much love and effort into producing it's almost painful to cut it up. But that's what it's for hey. So the scissors came out along with the sewing machine, overlocker and iron and the result is shown here. Hope you like it!

There'll be more to follow very soon and then I'll be putting them up for sale (maybe I can actually make some money back rather than spend it!). Probably on Etsy at this stage but I'll keep you updated on that as it happens. School holidays soon so I plan to be very busy printing and sewing to get this range of cushions out there. Stay tuned....

First Print Run

I've done it! My first print run (albeit a small print run) has been successfully completed. With lots of help from my ma, her backyard and outdoor table I have printed 5 metres of my Stripey Squares design. 2.5m of turquoise and 2.5m of burnt orange onto a natural hemp and yak hair blend. Check out the process pics below.

The printing process in action.

 A full view of the repeat pattern. 

Close up. 

View from the side, I love the way the lines have different effects depending on the angle you're looking at.

 The print in progress.

Think I will be making some cushions from these, so stay tuned!

Ready, Set..........

My very first professionally prepared screen arrived yesterday, I am so excited and can't wait to get printing.....but first things first.

Because I'm focusing on repeat pattern designs I've come up with a little hand made (cheap) printing table and scaffold system which once setup I am hoping will make printing faster and more accurate(I am a perfectionist and a maths teacher after all, those measuring skills come in handy sometimes). So although I have the fabric, inks and now frame to get the printing happening I spent most of today sorting out the nuances of my brilliant scaffold system (just a few tweaks here there and everywhere). Can I just say (whinge) that life would be so much simpler if a piece of timber that looks straight, actually was straight!!! So yes my brilliant scaffold system needs a couple more minor adjustments and things should start happening tomorrow, fingers crossed xxxx. Here are some pics of the test runs done today!

Refurbished Lounge

Hey folks! Project number 2 for the holidays is now complete. Yay!

So my poor old very much loved red leather lounge has been falling apart for about a year now, a slow demise at first which quickly developed into a severe case of rippage!!! So seeing as how I am now a surface designer (very early days.....maybe an apprentice SD) I thought that instead of buying some fabric that already exists and was created by someone else I would design, print and sew my own fabric panels to replace the fallen apart bits of leather.

Step 1. Inspiration, then a design...........So whilst walking Clive (the scruffball ferret I call my dog) down to Bicenntennial park in Glebe and absorbing the sights and sounds around me I was taken by the pattern made when looking at the trunks of these palm trees.......Aha an idea!


















Step 2. Ink sketches. Sorry I haven't scanned these so not here.


Step 3. Design a repeat pattern in AI.

Step 4. Get some plain fabric, some inks, already got the screen and squeegee, a dining room table and I'm ready to go.

So now...........my first attempt at some serious screen printing of a repeat pattern. Luckily for me my skills as a maths teacher came in very handy for all the measuring, lining up and spacing of the pattern. Here's the work in progress.

And the final printed Fabric, I love it soooo much, absolutely stoked about how it turned out!

And now........the new........one of a kind.......original........designed, printed and made by moi........new but old red leather/canvas lounge!

TADA!

Mokum Industry Awards

I was very excited to find out the other day that my Mokum design from the Surface Design course I did at ISCD this year received a highly commended award and can be seen on their studio98 blog. Congrats to the other ladies who also recieved recognition from Mokum for their fabulous designs! Here they are.................

Highly Commended - Alexis Vassett

First Place - Pascal Rajek

Highly Commended - Nancy Constandelia

Pippa Bradbrook