Upcycled Ladybirds in the making.

Upcycled Ladybirds in the making., originally uploaded by [mummalu].

These are currently being made by me. They are little ladybird purses with a zip through the middle. The dots have been screenprinted onto the fabric of old shirts. The little eyes have been sewn on using a free machine embroidery method. I can't wait to see them finished.

What do you call them: ladybirds, ladybugs or ladybeetles?

Circles by Encircled

I am currently working on some circular coin purses with a zip through the centre. My niece is in love with ladybirds at the moment, so the plan is to do some screen printing and make some ladybird style purses very soon.

Yes, I'm still alive.

softies, originally uploaded by [mummalu].

Here are some little softies I made a few months back. It's not the best photo, but I am quite proud of the screen printed fabric. I did a photo emulsion of some lace on to a screen. I can now jazz up some old fabrics with a bit of lace texture :)

A little update

Although things have been fairly quiet around my blog, my real life has been very busy. I am now back at work, hmm a real job, I am studying 2 days a week, helping a friend out with her ladies 2nd hand market and juggling a very active 2 year old.

School (TAFE) is moving along very slowly, but that's what you get for only going 2 days a week. This semester we had a good play with some screen printing which I have been loving. The last couple of weeks we have been doing up some screens with photo emulsion. I made a screen with my label 'encircled' on it so that I could use them for tags on the items that I am creating. The sushi fish was part of a project that had to be japanese inspired. We are in the middle of making a skirt that had to have one of our screen prints on it.


The pillow is made up of lots of upcycled fabrics including parts of my favourite pair of jeans and many men's shirts. I did some self cover buttons and attempted some piping for the first time. The circles pattern was made using some fabric paint and printing bubble wrap onto the fabric. I then free hand machine embroidered over the top.

A needle case that makes me feel like a trashy sunday morning.

needle case, originally uploaded by [mummalu].

Well I may have forgotten to tell you that I have started back at TAFE this year. It all happened very suddenly and I am now doing Certificate III in Fashion Design & Technology. Thanks god it's only 2 days a week as going back to school after almost 10 years is hurting my brain. I'll say by the end of the year I shall be a professional crafster.

The course is truly basic. We are learning how to sew from scratch basically. We will be doing some pattern making and my favourite part is the screen printing.

Today we had a play with some "Solvy". A water-soluble stabiliser. I just "chucked" a whole load of fabrics and fibres and even attempted to add some bubble wrap too. Place the layer of Solvy over your mess. Sew all over the top. Rinse the Solvy away. And ta da, a very cheerful, messy piece of art. This needle case, I have to admit, does look A LOT better in real life.