tote bag

The Grand Finalé

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The time has finally come with 3 days to the show I have been working towards. My inventory of stock has finally come together! This weekend is the FabMo Textile Art Boutique from 10am to 4pm at the Elks Lodge in Palo Alto. I finally completed my final piece for the day of the show which is a dress made from the cascades of colored fabric I have collected over time which I made into the skirt for the dress. As well the bodice is fabric that I found at FabMo – I love how it turned out and the skirt is a lot of fun to wear as I puffed up the hem with gathers to enhance the differences in the fabric.

My last few garments have been completed somewhat slowly in the last couple of weeks with little bits of time here and there and I finally made all the pieces that I have cut out ready to be sewn. The shift dress in the 1960s green and orange fabric has terrific hanger appeal and is very fun to wear – fancy a bloody mary anyone? The checked yoga PJs are super comfortable to wear and the feel of the fabric is wonderful, I am sure they will find a good home with someone. I know I used my fox yoga PJs all throughout my Australia holiday in the winter mornings doing my yoga sessions.

 

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Close up of the skirt above – I love the detail in this fabric

 

I found this velvet collection of cascades on my last visit to FabMo and it makes an amazing looking huge tote with denim straps – it is a mix of the luxurious and the utilitarian that will hold a heck load of stuff!

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As much as I would like to make more denim totes this is the last one as time is fleeting away and I think I have a lot in my collection and I need to have room on my table too! This beautiful butterfly fabric worked so well with this final bag for the show.

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So anyone in the Bay Area who is wanting to check out an inspiring textile show head on over to the FabMo Textile Art Boutique this Saturday, October 22, 2016 – hopefully I will see some of you there. I am looking forward to presenting my ‘Traveling Not So Light’ range inspired by my 8 weeks of travels and coming home to my sewing room.

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Hunting high and low

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A week of peace and contemplation and I managed to clear my mind to enjoy some creative endeavours. I had a pile of my husband’s jeans ready to be repurposed into something fun, so I created these tote bags. The fabric is from a sample from Designer’s Republic in the UK I love the colours and so did a friend of mine in Melbourne and purchased it as a gift for her niece in New Zealand.

The first prototype was sold and take two is with the black and white print with an interesting vintage fabric lining and red details on one strap going across. I still have 4 to work, though – as I design them they take a life on their own.

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Cute kitten picture from swimming class with the kiddos this week – so much fun to have kittens by the pool!

The weekend was a good mix of relaxation and fun with the Mini Maker Faire on Sunday at History San Jose. I highly recommend this event as an alternative to Maker Faire. The location is perfect for the Makers and space is the perfect size for a family so you don’t feel so overwhelmed to keep your eyes on the kiddos and their activities constantly. There’s plenty of shady trees and cool redwoods to enjoy and the bonus is that with the activities all kids can create, take away and learn some new skills in the process.

At one of the tables was a hexagonal quilt making project which was very insightful to how a hexagonal quilt is put together. It is a cute little hand sewing project and the perfect project for an 8-year-old and for me too! Still, to make a quilt with so many hexagons it will take forever, we can always do a small portion as a detail for a skirt or something! As an introduction to hexagon quilt making, you can make a group of 7 and form a flower with your colours or patterns of choice.

As we were on our way out we had the chance to look at a letterpress and as my background is in printing – the commercial type of lithographic printing on a printing press, I was intrigued to see the traditional wood type letterpress in action. Missy had the chance to sweep the press across the print that had a coating of gold studio quality printing ink. This was such a treat to see!

This Mini Maker Faire was the 2nd annual and I hope to see more in the future as there are many vendors scattered throughout the activity tables and it is such a pleasant day out with the family as a lot of local museums from San Jose and surrounds are presenting projects and crafts such as the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, the Lace Museum and an Embroidery guild – yay for the inspiration.

Sunday we were hiking on a 2.5-mile hike through the dry oak woodland forest with our friends from Oakland. Hikes up in the hills are beautiful in the rainy season but as there has been zero rain for months the marsh is non-existent and the grasses are brown, this is  very normal for summer. The hike was on the San Andreas fault line and offers the opportunity to learn about the area’s geology. Unfortunately, the kids were on a mission to complete the hike and eat as soon as possible. Off one of the trails, we had the chance to hang out with a buddha hidden in a rock formation.

Still, the peace of hiking with no one else around was a pleasurable experience and the colors of the leaves are starting to change to their fall colours as you can see with this poison oak trio – leaves of three let them be! Soon with some luck the rains will come and make the grasses green again and the forests lush with moss, though it is hard to imagine with this last blast of summer this week.

Tote for Jetting Away

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Leaving the USA for two months I am trying to minimize carry on luggage as I have two kids to keep an eye on at the airport too, so everything I carry has to be accounted for. I made this tote from the book Handmade Style by by Anna Graham from the sewing blog noodle-head.com. A friend of mine introduced me to the blog and this book is full of practical patterns that are super easy to follow. I increased the size of the pocket on the exterior as I wanted to use the width of the kimono fabric and I had to adjust the height of the bag to fit my 15″ laptop and it’s little padded pocket to keep it safe. At least it will make it easy to slip in and out when going through security! The zipped pocket on the outside can be used to store smaller devices like the iPad to keep the kiddos entertained. And the interior has pockets for the power supply, snacks and a water bottle. There is a longer strap with two handles as well, which I like the option of having. I love the colors and the combination of the kimono fabric and the linen interior, so let’s see how it travels.

A piece a Week – The Airport Sling from On The Go Bags

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I would have to say this project took me longer than a week to complete but I have to say that I am happy that I finally completed it! A lesson in all new tricks and techniques from the great book On the Go bags. It took me a while to understand how to apply the exterior pocket with zip to hold your passport and papers with a pen holder – now I will be well and truly organized for our trip to Australia in the Summer which was the inspiration behind making this bag. I accidentally made it taller rather than wider but it worked out well as my purse to hold cash and credit cards etc is a rectangle so it is perfect! I really like the fact I have reduced the amount of crap I carry around – yay!! And I feel so organized with those exterior pockets one for the phone and the other side for my glasses. 
This little pocket stores my phone

At the moment my glasses go in here but I will be sticking the passports in there too! 

For the Easter weekend I booked a cabin 6 months ago when the California State Parks had their sale as Samuel Taylor State Park is a popular destination for people who live in the city of SF. We travelled up to 2 hours to get there in bad traffic on a Saturday afternoon but still it was so worth it! The cabin is amazing – I have to say it is the best cabin I have stayed in at a State Park, the last time we went cabin camping I was freezing, this time – no way as there was an electric pot belly stove to make the cabin nice and snug. I loved the cabin and just outside our own little fire ring, picnic table and little BBQ (where you have to bring your own briquettes). We had a lovely beet felafel with goat cheese wraps in foil cooked on the fire with a salad for our easy dinner. For dessert we had banana boats which is a banana sliced in the center to make a boat then tuck in some chocolate chips and marshmallows wrap them in foil and have it all melt together – yum!

Our dinner beet felafel wraps and wine from Chile

The kids at the beginning of the hike find a California Poppy
In the afternoon before dinner we decided to go for a hike up hill to Barnabe Peak 1446 ft (447 m) high – which is 2 miles up and up and up the fire trail. At times we looked up and thought we are never going to make it as you can see from the pic below, Ash was ready to give up but we kept on powering on! I was dragging behind taking the pictures and it wasn’t until I said hi to a Michael Franti lookalike that said to me ‘almost there’ was when I felt the inspiration to keep on going to the top. Once we got there the winds were strong and the fog was rolling in – still it was an amazing 360 degree view and worth the hike! 

I can’t walk anymore!!

Green to the horizon

Feeling the wind as we are nearly there!!

You can just see the sea on the left

Looking out 

Heading on back down with views of the Kent Lake spillway

Going back down was fast though it was tough on the feet to stay balanced and not fall down the trail. We certainly slept well Saturday night with a few aches and pains in our legs.

An Indian Painbrush flower

As we were going down we saw lots of wildflowers in amongst the green – lots and lots of California poppies which was a real treat!

There they are little specks on the trail! 

Think we missed seeing this sign on the way up! 

Happy to be back in the cabin with this heater!

We had to enjoy the campfire not just for cooking but for hanging out with – it was super warm but the cabin with its coziness of the electric stove tempted me inside. Also I had other plans to do and that was to chat to the Easter Bunny about surprises for Easter morning 🙂

Burn baby burn

A story about the foxes

Surprises from the Easter bunny – eat my little friends he says and here are some eggs from my chicken friends, fair trade chocolate of course!

All lined up behind the blinds

Excited to find these goodies from the Easter bunny

We were sad to say farewell to our Fox Den – it was just an overnight stay but it felt longer and we are now walking that little bit slower and breathing deeper, as taking that time out in the woods was so relaxing.

The beautiful new cabin at Samuel Taylor State Park in the Madrone Campground

The log dude not the log lady?!?

After eating all that chocolate the kids needed to work it off with another hike to the beach – this hike was an easy one straight up to the beach via the Abbotts Lagoon Trail. I was hoping to see more birds but we just saw some hawks overhead – the dunes were closed off as the habitat of the endangered Snowy Plover, those guys are so cute and tiny. The kids decided they wanted to make some art from driftwood on the beach so Ash was on a mission dragging logs and finding sticks and Missy was digging holes for their collaboration piece they left behind on the beach.

Working together on a mission
 
All done – take this pic from the front Mom!

Fields of California Poppies

A piece a Week – Waves Handspun Wool Scarf

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My sister found me this gorgeous handspun yarn in Maleny, Australia for Christmas from a local craft guild and I finally found a pattern to make with it – an easy lace 13 row pattern repeat. The Waves of the Atlantic pattern I found on Ravelry was perfect for the weight of the yarn and the color is just beautiful. It is yellow with tiny specks of pink spun through which makes me very happy! I love when the yarn and the pattern fit just right and sometimes it takes more time to make that happen which can be well worth the tries and fails.

Beautiful detail of this sunshine yarn

The scarf being blocked – the drape will be so soft with the lightness of the yarn

Over the weekend we went on our second camping trip for the summer – this time to Little Basin. I was dreading the drive as I thought it was via Big Basin. As it turned out the drive is up through Boulder Creek and we avoid the 9 miles of squirrelly road that made my son throw up in the car last time we visited Big Basin for a hike. The drive was 1 hour and 30 minutes away from our house and it was the usual drive through the redwood and oak forests to get there. Back in the day Little Basin used to be used by Hewlett Packard for their employees until the land was sold to the Peninsula Open Space Trust and Sempervirens Fund and now it is park of Big Basin Redwoods State Park in the California State Parks (amazing) system!! This campground was open to the public in 2011 and is perfect for families. We arrived on the Saturday morning enjoyed lunch at our campground surrounded by redwood trees with our cabin neighbors close by. Still when night came the stars were beautiful as the open meadow was steps away from our campsite and we could look up and see the clear night. We enjoyed this campground so much we have booked the cabins for a Thanksgiving getaway – hopefully we will get to see some banana slugs in the rain, bring on some rain!! 

Tom Riddle the Gopher snake in his burial ground after he got run over by a car

The kids had such a fun time with Kaki the ranger on duty from the WOLF school. The WOLF (Web of Life Field) school is open to kids aged 11-13 for a sleepover for a week in the redwoods to learn all about life and science – in a couple of years our kids will get a chance to join in the fun. We met Kaki as we were enquiring about the Junior Ranger program and the next thing we were invited to help build a bug box for the afternoons kids camp program called Sense-o-Rama. The bug box was fun and we got an opportunity to learn about our ranger Kaki. Everything the kids were doing around camp centered around wanting to go back to Kaki to ask her questions about the goings on. Missy found a snake in the morning, as the kids were wandering around the campground while we were packing up and wanted to have a funeral for it. Next thing they had Kaki by their side with reference books identifying this road kill snake. It made for an interesting lesson on this little guy. The night before at the campfire the kids were making Ranger Apples, that is roasted apples on a stick that taste like a hot apple pie without the pastry – yum!

The kids with Kaki their hero – when can we see Kaki again??

We had to go for a hike before we left Little Basin and it seemed like we were up for it until we started and everyone was all a bit out of breath by the time we conquered the elevation of the first hill. I think a better breakfast of a smoothie and some fruit would have been helpful rather than the s’mores the kids had!!

Wandering the forest after our elevation climb

Just outside our campground this redwood stretching out it’s branches

Up up high in the sky a family circle or fairy ring of redwood trees surrounding it’s long gone great grandfather tree
The workshop that I was supposed to have next week is moving to the end of July due to hiccups at the library and my lack of time with being “on” for the school holidays and being mama taxi and the like with the kids. Lucky, I can make time to write this while the kids play with Legos or go bike riding around the trees outside. This is another sample for the video I am making as it has French seams on the inside. I will post that sometime but it is definitely a work in progress until I can find some quiet time in the house to record the sound!! 
Another sample for the library workshop

A piece a Week – A tote bag sample for the Local Library Workshop

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I am getting excited about teaching folks how to make a patchwork bag from 8″ squares from FabMo fabric samples. The Library Services Manager asked if I would like to host a workshop sometime at the library and this has been months in the making. Between busy schedules of myself, the library and FabMo we finally have set a date for June 25. It will be a creative collaboration presented by FabMo and the Mountain View Library and the totes will be free to take home to whoever wants to make one. The fun thing is that there are so many designs and patterns to choose from and every bag will be a one of a kind!

If you have ever wanted to try out sewing or would like to make a patchwork bag register at the library – flyers to be out soon… watch this space!!

Snacking tote made from 8″ pieces sunset, sky and grass side

Snacking tote made from 8″ pieces – pink & grey side

Lunchin’ tote made from 8″ pieces
Beach tote made from 12″ pieces

B side of the Beach tote made from 12″ pieces

Our kids craft project this week is pom poms – it was fine for the first one or two and Missy decided she wanted to make a snowman. I should have a picture of that guy but he got terribly squashed in my bag so here is our rainbow pom pom hanging happily at the front door. 

A piece a Week – A Bag Commission for an Xmas gift and a winter dress

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This week went by so fast and I had such a crazy day on the Thursday starting at 8am with our sewing class at school, then an afternoon at the school holiday boutique and the evening a classroom meeting. Whew what a day! I was so happy to take it easy on Friday and then came the weekend for a bit of R and R in the form of a night out with the ladies on the town! We met at the best Happy Hour restaurant in town – Xanh and had cocktails and dinner there. The food is so good and presented beautifully. After dinner we found dessert at Alexanders Patisserie – Oh My!! I really cannot wait to go back and try something with chocolate in it! I had the Lemon Tart and it was so divine, just right tartness and the custard was oh so creamy, yum!!

Lychee Martini – my fave!
This Lemon Tart was amazing with a cup of Oolong Tea

Sunday was another family night out for a potluck with our music school – missy played her first gig and Fur Elise is her fave so she played it in front of a crowd which was pretty impressive for a little person. A small video is here.

Missy playing Fur Elise

A friend of mine who I went out with on Saturday night reminded me about her commission for a bag for a Chrissy gift for her friend… I said yep this weekend I will get it started and I completed it and sold it and she loves it! The fabric is embroidered silk and is just stunning!

Such a beautiful tote bag commision

A project I started last week as I am wanting to sew more clothes for the season is the dress below. I will have to post a picture of me wearing it, as stretch fabric on a mannequin does not do it justice! A very interested pattern to work with and I will try it again on another thicker stretch fabric.

The dress I started making last week!