Winter Op Shop Swap

What fun

too much fun not to share

so let's warm our op shopping, caring & sharing hearts with a

 Winter Op Shop Swap 

If you would like to be a part of the Winter Op Shop Swap Party
the rules are very simple;

 You will be required to have an existing Blog to take part in this Swap.

Minimum 3 & max. 5 gifts per parcel, with at least:
~ 1 item to be found in an Op Shop/Garage Sale/Flea Market.
~ 1 item to be handmade by yourself or someone else.
~ 1 Winter themed item.
REpurposing existing gifts is fine.

Price limit is set at $20 or the equivalent amount in your currency.

The Sign-up will close 10/06/2012.
Swap Partners will be announced 13/06/2012
You will have 2wks to find all the goodies for your parcel so it can be posted by 29/06/2012

This is an International Swap and I will attempt to match like with like
ie. Aussies with Aussies & Kiwis with Kiwis etc. to help save on postage costs.

Leave your name below and then head over
here
to Sign up.


There's also a badge to add to your sidebar so we can spread the love.....
the more involved the more fun!

Here's a few of my latest Oppie treasures
and the reason
why I shop where I shop

 

Have to come clean
and admit the last image is all Dans doing
....it amazes me how there's always room for another tin
and that cup and saucer, well, it'll tell your fortune!

JaM has been Tweaked

I've tweaked the  JaM recipe so it has a slightly different flavour.

JaM's now on Sundays and there wont be a different theme each week.

Coming up with different themes was proving too much of a strain for this little brain

instead
 there's 4 themes to choose from.

I invite you to take

Just a Moment

and share what you've
Noticed
Consumed
Created
Bought
during your week....
choose one of the themes
or mix them up!

There's a lovely little JaM community developing which I hope will continue to grow
so to join in pick a theme or 4 which best depicts your week
link your post up to the Linky (below), then we can all come visit!
 
 ~~~00O00~~~

 One of things I notice all the time is 

peoples hands....

you might have noticed I'll decapitate people in photos on the Blog & Flickr 

but I wont cut off their hands.....

This week hands seemed to feature heavily in & around classes.

(During our Friday Workshop lunch break, Alex got a lesson on how to comment on my Blog - I might have to switch comment moderator back on!)

(My hands - thanks Bron!)

(Carol wasn't sure what to do with her hands - wearing her newly created Piece of Cake Tunic)

(Charles loves using his hands to create with stitch & paint - his newly created Art Journal Cover from the basics & Beyond Pattern Package.)

(Brons hands created this gorgeous REinvented Cardy)

REinvention :: Carnivale Cardet is For Sale

The Carnivale Cardet

goes in the Shop this Friday 5pm WST 

- that's tomorrow!

I thought you might appreciate seeing it on an actual body,

to get an idea of scale, proportion & movement....

just in case you were thinking you'd like it for your own!

I'm very fortunate to have my beautiful daughter to call on for impromptu modelling jobs...

she's always been a natural.

 Eliza is an average Australian Size 12-14

 and as you can see the Cardet is a comfortable relaxed fit on her.

It is also well suited to a Size 14-16
and being a knit would work for a Size 18 if you didnt mind having the buttons undone. 

 The Carnivale Cardet is a REinvention  REcreated from 3 knitted garments,

she is a wool & acrylic blend,

 and she is soft to touch, light to wear & vibrant to look at....

 and moves exceptionally well when you do the actions to the 'I'm a little Teapot' song!

How To :: Cut the Buttons Off your Cardys

Knowledge is power 

and once you discover what's involved and how easy & fun it is to REinvent with your
 knitwear

you'll be cutting them up quick as blink!

I should point out this isn't going to be a demonstration where I show you step-by-step how to Reinvent a specific garment -

instead this exercise will be me sharing the tools, tips & techniques
  I've found helpful during my 20yrs of successful Knitwear REinventing.

:: Tools ::

:: Long pins with lumps on the end. 
Due to the nature of a knit and the fact you will be required to try the garment on occasionally throughout the REinventing process a normal run-of-the-mill dressmaking pin is useless, they slide straight out causing great frustration & the use of swear words, whereas a long pin (Quilting Pins) with a stopper on the end is better designed to hold knitted edges together until you are ready to stitch.

:: Unpicker, Quilting Pins & sharp Dressmaking Scissors are fundamental - I did contemplate including an Overlocker in this list because they are effective however they're not necessary. A Walking Foot is also helpful when stitching stretchy thicknesses however again not necessary.

:: Tips ::

:: When choosing the knitwear you want to use in your REinvention try to keep like-with-like ie. similar weights [not necessarily the same fibre content].

:: Sometimes you can cut straight through the garment and other times it is best to unpick.

:: Cut the garment when you need to open it up and aren't going to gain anything by unpicking it ie. retaining seam allowance is sometimes advantageous if the garment is too small - every little bit counts. If you do need to cut please cut carefully, don't hack into the garment .... if you respect the garment it will reciprocate.

:: As soon as you stitch a row of stitching the fabric will do whatever it wants up to that row of stitching (this goes for woven fabrics also), in the case of knits, once cut, the edges will either roll or fluff up however they will never unravel - you would have to find the end of a thread & start pulling it for that to happen however if you're really concerned do 2 rows of stitching.

:: I chose to Overlock all the raw edges on this REinvention because the nature of the knit ie. fair aisle, meant they were very stable. For lightweight knits I don't use an overlocker because it stretches the edges too much. As with all my overlocked edges I leave a 'tail' which is stitched back on itself, stopping the Overlocking from coming undone, creating a tidy finish.

:: I treat Knitwear as another form of fabric and as with all fabrics they come in different weights & thicknesses which require different handling. It is not always neccessary to create a seam with knitwear - to avoid bulk join two pieces by stitching them flat, one on top of the other.

:: Techniques ::

 

:: AVOID using a stretch stitch or a zig zag stitch during a knitwear REinvention - you want to avoid too much handling of Knitwear as it will stretch out of shape very quickly if over handled - a normal straight stitch is all you need. 

Some things that will make life easier;

• Ball Point Needle
• Straight Stitch on a longer length than you would normally use on woven fabrics.
• Adjust your tension to accommodate the fabric - test before launching yourself into the actual garment.

:: If attaching a woven fabric to a knit edge eg. bias binding or ribbon, cut the fabric the length desired [remembering turnover top & bottom], then stitch the woven fabric to the knit, this is because the woven fabric is more stable and will allow you to ease in any fullness avoiding puckering & stretching of the knit.

If you can sew a straight line you can REinvent.

The hardest part for some is cutting into an existing garment for the first time....

just remember

you can't make a mistake when REinventing if you

take your time and sometimes what you thought it was going to be isn't,

listen to what the garment/fabric is telling you, 

if it's looking like it wont work, don't beat yourself up, walk away [have a cuppa, go for a walk, have a holiday] you'll be surprised at what is reveled upon your return :)
Relax, be kind to yourself and have fun!

Click here for the printable version. 

REinvented Knitwear Mosaic

Here's a peak at what's possible when REinventing Knitwear.

 1. Cardet, 2. RyW - Brigita , 3. RyW - Jody, 4. Sideway T,
5. Jumper Wrap, 6. Edda - Jumper Wrap, 7. Edda - Jumper Wrap, 8. Julie - Jumper Wrap,
9. Sue - Jumper Wrap, 10. RyW - Dorelle, 11. FRAMED, 12. Jody,
13. RyW - Antoinette, 14. Jumper Wrap, 15. Cardy Wrap, 16. The B&B Jumper

Tomorrow I'll share with you the tips, tools & techniques required to pull it off.

Sunday Snippets

{sunday snippets}: a collection of photos from your week.  No need for words.  Let the pictures tell your story.

(we love sewing this much!)

(Cams cotton reel necklace goes with everything.)

(a REinvention for me)

(multi-tasking)

(Brons first REinvented Pants Skirt)

(Alex's latest version of the Piece of Cake)

(Basics & Beyond on a Saturday avo)

(Kates first Splice Skirt Shimmy)

(the jug's always on!)

  We've been creating a storm in the Studio this week.

Playing along at {tinniegirls}

Stationary Transformation

Pearl has found a useful way to transform discarded clothing into beautiful rugs.

I only went for a look...

I'll occasionally take a peak over on Ebay and Gumtree 

just to see if there's an older model Bernina close by looking for a new home.

It's not that I need another sewing machine, I don't, I've got plenty

and being that I encourage all participants in classes to bring their own machines

buying another sewing machine would be pure indulgence.

On the rare occasion my favourite sewing machines do appear for sale, they're usually in outer woopwoop
and/or are way out of my price range.

So it was a shock when there was one listed in my suburb....

Impulsively I rang and left a message 

and then forgot about it....

*
*
*
*

she rang back

at this point I could have said "thankyou but no thankyou, I don't need another sewing machine, I've got plenty"

but instead I thought it's only up the road - wont hurt to take a look....

it was the Walking Foot that tipped me over the edge 

 and then when I saw the Overlocker she was selling for her Mum 
was the same model as the one I'd killed and it came with a thread tray

I knew I had to have both!

I don't advocate buying second hand sewing machines 

as you're always in danger of buying someone elses problems

however like anything, if you start with quality you'll end with it

and from my experience, the older model Berninas quality is precision and their ability always reliable

as long as it hasn't come from a high school or Tafe.

Both sew like dreams 

and they also come with their User Manuels and all sorts of accessories & appendages 

however sadly one of my four Overlockers is going to have to go to a new home

*
*
*
one day.

12 Splice Skirts.....but who's counting.

I did have 12 Splice Skirts

which came as a shock.

When I signed up to do Cams 'Make it in May Skirt Sew-Along' I counted them 
and it was then I realised I didn't have a plain denim one.

A plain(ish) denim skirt is the little black dress for those of us who don't wear little black dresses,

it's the throw on, the one garment you know will go with anything anytime

and I didn't have one..... go figure?!

 Most  all of my Splice Skirts are punchy

which is great when you want to be noticed

but for those other days when you still want to be seen 

but maybe not heard (as loudly)

something a little more subtle & understated is required.

SS#14 is a single layer variation of the Splice Skirt, which I fondly refer to as the

'Stand ya Ground' Skirt,

 created using the wrong side of some stretch denim.

(worn with the Cardet & new Boots)

Trying to find wearable denim in Perth is like trying to find the proverbial needle,
only harder.
After a couple of fruitless trips to you know where
I remembered I had a few metres of dark stretch denim in my filing
and once rediscovered I struggled to reconcile wearing a very plain dark denim skirt
because I didn't want it to look like I was wearing a denim blanket.
Eventually I had one of those light bulb moments.....
by flipping the fabric over, a lighter much more wearable shade of blue was revealed
  and after days of sweating this denims future, it took an hour to complete.

When the only answer to joujing it up seemed to be with either
 applique or machine embroidery

I simply added a band of the denim,
stitched with the raw edges exposed, creating the interest I was after all along.....
in the knowledge the edges will fray back to the stitching line,
 detracting from the denim blanket look I didn't want. 
 She's a winner!

Thanks Cam, that was fun
and already I'm contemplating SS#14,

in Tweed maybe....

Sunday Snippets

{sunday snippets}: a collection of photos from your week.  No need for words.  Let the pictures tell your story.

(wearing)

(sharing)

(who's counting)

(re-arranging)

(early morning)

I'm really enjoying joining in each Sunday with tinnniegirls Sunday Snippets.