Change mat for baby : Kara

Yesterday I made this change mat for my baby due in January. I had been looking at change mats online and in stores - they were either horrible or really expensive... so I finally just made one!

I used some leftover polyester quilting fabric that I had lying around and recycled denim and kiddy print (it's hobby horses which are actually zebras).

More from Kara...

Loads of new bags uploaded to my site - including 1960's geometrics, 1950's florals and more! If you buy online and purchase over $100 (+p&h), you will receive an exclusive one-off Anna Laura badge - while stocks last!


Thurs 20 - Sat 22 November is the Lindesay xmas gift fair at Darling Point, Sydney. This is a fantastic market to buy unique xmas gifts. Come past and say hi!

Kara

Piecemeal production

I found a half-completed quilt I started years and years ago this week. It's quite lovely, scraps in browns and reds forming interlocking circles on a dusty pink ground. Trouble is, I can't see myself hand-piecing the remaining square metres required, yet if I stash it away again, whole decades of my life could pass before I pull it out and attempt to complete it.

So I've decided to make it into a doona cover, hardly the utterly handmade masterpiece I envisaged at first, but at least the work-in-progress can be enjoyed day-to-day. The plan is to applique the large pieced section onto a plain background, then scatter the remainder of the smaller pieced shapes around it, to celebrate the unfinishedness.

Hopefully in a few more years I can post a photo of the results.

A

Things I like on madeit : kara

Here are some gorgeous gift ideas by Australian Designers on madeit. Christmas is coming soon and what better way to say 'Merry Christmas' than by buying Australian independent design! I'm sure your loved one will love something a little more unique and unusual.

Autumn leaves brooch : Mattea : $15 AUD

Cosmetic Bag : 0049Design : $40 AUD

Recycled wool necklace scarf : Gaye Abandon : $35 AUD

Cute summer dress : Dick & Jane : by Brusselsprouts $18 AUD

Blue Mountains Business Awards

Kara: Last Friday night I went to the Blue Mountains Business Awards at the York Fairmont Resort at Leura (very swish). I still can't believe it but I received 2 awards: New Business and Home-Based Business!

Receiving New Business Award from Phil Koperberg, MP.
(photo by Jessica Lindsay)

Receiving Home-Based Business Award from
Gold Medallist Swimmer, Duncan Armstrong.
(photo by Jessica Lindsay)

Then, this week, Freedom turned up with a lovely bunch of flowers to say congratulations! I've photographed them here with the awards... which I'm not sure what to do with. Perhaps bookends?

Wrapping up

Hello There,

Laughing Bird has been busy printing gift cards with wildflower prints and printing up tea towels which make fantastic recyclable wrapping paper..for those organized and in a pre Christmas - wrapping up mood already!

Leura Markets

                                                                     April & Freedom
                                                                  Kara & Freedom

We had so much fun setting up our stall at the 2 day Leura market festival. Such a great idea to do it all together. The weather was sunny & the people were friendly, everyone loved our work..

Leura Village Fair

Come and say hi to us at Leura Village Fair this weekend! Freedom and April are sharing a stall and Kara is next door. We are just outside of the Wayzgoose Café (nice and convenient for treats).

Bakelite Buttons

Katoomba boasts quite a few antique shops, Mr Pickwick's being one of them. I found some lovely bright buttons there recently, and used them on the dress below. The hexagonal buttons are 1940s casein, and the two toggles on the sleeves are bakelite, probably 1920s. The supplier, Button Bower, also has a stall in the Victory Theatre antique centre in Blackheath.

The dress is made of hand-dyed hemp silk.

A

Squirrels clutch

This fab lil' clutch purse is made from original 60's recycled screenprint. I've sewn a big plastic white button on the front. Would look so cute with a summer frock!

More news: I have made it as finalist in the 4 categories I entered for Blue Mountains Business Awards. The categories are: Environmental Business, New Business, E Business, Home Based Business. I can't believe it and am so excited. Winners announced 17 October at Fairmont Resort where we have booked 2 tickets.

Kara

Creation's Doom

Just finished, a belt and detachable pocket made from hand-dyed hemp silk. The belt was quilted with images from a favourite book of mine, a Pictorial History of Science Fiction. I stitched Icarus falling to earth from a Durer woodcut, a few monsters and lightening bolts, and 'a city of the future' as imagined by a 1920s sci-fi artist. The pocket flap says "Creation's Doom, See inside", a phrase pinched from the cover of a 2 shilling sci-fi weekly.

I quilt with the image I've chosen propped up beside the sewing machine, so I guess it is stitch - sketching.

The belt is fastened with big siver press studs, and lined in black hemp silk. The pocket detaches to be a little clutch purse, also lined in black with a touch of turquoise round the opening.

A

Busy little bees...

Yep, we are all slack and so busy that we have been neglecting this blog! Sorry...

Last night we had a catch up: Freedom is exhausted with big wholesale orders, Alice busy with teaching at UTS now and children, Kara with custom orders and graphic design and poor April is going through some turmoil too.

Back on board soon!

Clutch purses go to Texas

Today I finished these 2 clutch purses for a girl in Houston, Texas. She bought five clutch purses to give to her bridesmaids as thank you presents. What a great idea!

Kara

Jean Genie

With all the talk of recycling and upcycling and so on, I was intrigued by a DVD I watched the other day featuring Charlene O'Brien, a Western Australian fashion designer. One particular process was using denim offcuts to create a yarn.

The scrap denim was colour-sorted, then shredded, then respun into a sturdy yarn (like an 8 ply) that is then knitted or crocheted into new garments. She made the point that denim is heavily processed with dyes and finishes that mean that even though it is a natural fibre, it will not biodegrade. The resulting knitted garments had that lovely denim colour, ranging from indigo through to washed-out blues.

To take the idea further, the yarn that has been created this way could be claimed again from the knitted garments, and then knitted once more into fresh garments. To me, it is a start towards a cradle-to-cradle design model.

Lucy carry-all by kara smith

Yesterday (Sunday) I made Lucy.

I was feeling a bit out of sorts and wanted to be creative and try something outside my regular patterns. I had some old vinyl bag handles that I had been meaning to use for a while and the base of the bag is an old 60's hot pink heavy cotton dress that I wanted to make something funky with.

CELEBRATE THE RE-OPENING OF THE BIRTHING SERVICE AT BLUE MOUNTAINS HOSPITAL

Monday, September 1st at 10.00am

Blue Mountains Hospital

(Great Western Highway side)


The provision of local birthing services is vital to our community. Come along and show your support for our local maternity unit.

Enquiries to Janet Mays of HEAL Ph: 0424 720 720

x-large tote designs : kara smith

These are my new x-large tote designs that I will be taking to the Powerhouse Museum Youngblood Designer market tomorrow til Sunday. Hope to see you there!


Kara

Dyed by her own hand

Enlisting the help of my dye-guru Leanne, yesterday was spent dyeing massive amounts of hemp/silk charmeuse. The fabric supplier warned it was a notoriously hard fabric to dye, so we did a fair bit of swatch testing first. Above is a shot of one of the steaming dye baths.

The final fabrics, with the original natural colour on the left. I am not 100% happy with the colours, but I think we (read: Leanne) did exceptionally well in light of all the variables in the process. The final proportions of the colours in the design will be crucial.

Swatch tests, colour chips and design roughs.

A

Jane Pollard jewellery - studio sale

Friday 22 August 6-8:30pm

10 Cambridge Street

Enmore, Sydney

Jane is a fabulous jewellery designer and I hear her studio is wonderful, so its a shame she has to move on... go take a look if you are around and feel welcome to pass this flyer on.

Kara

Puffy Playful Curtains

This week I was asked to make a soft padded curtain for a local daycare centre, ideally using donated fabrics in neutral colours.

The idea was to make the room more soothing and less echoing for the children. The donated fabric was masses of synthetic semi-sheer fabric, and I used nearly all of it for my crazy creations. I stitched some of it into large sheets, then bunched up the rest to form a wadding-like mass sandwiched between.

I quilted on top, and this was the fun part: I went a bit crazy with ships and houses and mermaids and stars and clouds and umbrellas and raindrops and suns and snails and butterflies....

The entire contraption is puffy and soft, though bulky. I have yet to see it fully installed, so hopefully it works ok in the space!

A

SOYA - Spirit of Youth Awards 08

I was sent this by Springboard and thought I'd share with any talented young Australian designers who might be interested to enter the SOYA awards. There is an industrial and object design category with a $10K prize plus a mentorship with Marc Newson.

Entries close this Friday August 8th so be quick!

Object designers: functional, experimental, conceptual, manufactured, handcrafted, furniture, appliances, accessories, objects, ideas, innovations... are you the next big thing?

"Design Sponge"... round up for Australia

Hello.

An american based design blog..."design sponge" is looking for Australian designers to feature on their blog this month after a successful edition based on Icelandic designers last month. Check out their site at www.designspongeonline.com, and if you are interested in submitting work email Anne at pretavoyager@gmail.com.

Youngblood designer market

I got a call yesterday to say that I am in the Sunday Telegraph's Style section! Part of 'The It List' showcasing eco-friendly fashion. Looks like Sportsgirl and adidas have caught onto the organic, eco-friendly connection...


And found out that I have been accepted into the Youngblood Designer Market at the Powerhouse Museum (over 4 days) 14-17 August. A lot of work now booked in for the next 3 weeks but it should be fanastic. It will be running as part of the Sydney Design 08 festival.

Hope to see you there!

Kara

A Fairy Wardrobe

Here's the latest of an ongoing cheery side project of mine: making fairy dresses for my three-year old daughter.

Last month alone I made four, for her and for her friends. This month's is a frothy rainbow concoction, that has been worn solidly day and night for three days.

A

Blue Mountains Birthing Unit

The Blue Mountains Maternity unit has closed the doors to birthing women for 3 months or indefinitely due to staffing issues.

Loads of upset expectant Mums joined in a rally on Monday outside the hospital.

My natal experience at The Blue Mountains Anzac hosptial for my first daughter was wonderful.

The staff were caring and professional..& in fact couldn't have be better and the facilities brand new.

The gazette tells me that regional hospitals all over NSW are closing their birthing units due to lack of staff. 

I am concerned about the many families who have moved to the mountains from Sydney to start families and what their laboring experience will be like with a 1 hr drive in either direction to give birth. I am more concerned given the current situation for birthing units in NSW about new families starting in 10 years time. 

Let's put pressure on local and state and federal governments to make sure staffing issues are sorted out promptly and we see a steady improvement and not a decline in birthing unit services.

Dinner last night

Last night the four Gussy Up Gals went out for a celebration dinner (a post-Winter Magic catch up). We headed out to the fabulous Canton Palace in Katoomba and ate EVERYTHING!

Discussion wasn't very crafty... babies, weddings, engagements, boob jobs, movies, food, colds. But it was lots of fun and I wish now that I'd taken the camera.

Kara

Victorian Design Festival

Hello There,

L bird had a wonderful holiday and came home wishing she had told the gussy up blog about the Victorian design festival before she left..The last day today.... Website is www.stateofdesign.com.au for the best Victorian innovative products in all discipline's, and spotlight events including getting 6 Top Victorian designers to make a designer Pizza each!

Umbrella Collective no more

Flying Star Toys at the last Christmas Umbrella show.

I was sorry to read on Liana Kabel's blog that the Umbrella Collective has disbanded. Liana has blogged that they have all grown and changed, with common goals no longer.

This group of like-minded crafters was a real creative inspiration for getting the Gussy Up Gals going. 

We hope they are all happy and moving forward in their businesses.

Mend and Make do

This week's task was a little something for a local company I do a bit of work for, Earthly Goods. Earthly Goods creates bespoke quilts and homewares for customers, with a sustainable ethos, using recycled and vintage fabrics, hemp and organic cotton wadding.

Many people may have a stash of special fabrics or embroidered linens, without really having a way to make use of them. So the idea behind Earthly Goods is to take these precious fabrics and showcase them on a quilt or some such so they can be enjoyed in daily life.

No project is too big, or too small, as can be seen by this little makeup case I whipped up for an Earthly Goods client.

A

Whoa!

This swing tag, by 'Do It Baby', was spotted on the Living Creatively website (story about Design-A-Space in Melbourne). It had me in stitches... mainly cos it's what a lot of us indie designers THINK but may not SAY. You go, guys!

K

Analogue Piracy

This week I made a flag for painter Phil Williams. He's designed a skull and crossbones out of a cassette tape... not the most obvious pairing...

It will be on display in the window at his exhibition 'For the hate of paint', 13 June 2007 - 7 July 2007 at Peloton gallery, Chippendale.

Textile exhibition in Adelaide

Freedom is on holidays but I spied this exhibition she is in down at Adelaide (I got this from Anna Laura's website). I'm sure she will fill in more on the details but tomorrow night, Friday 4th is opening night. So if you are down that way, check it out.

Nest studio in Adelaide presents Modern Australian Textiles featuring work by Laughing Bird, Anna Laura, Umbrella Prints, Helena Gieger, Nicola Cerini, Publisher Textiles and Pip Willy.

16-18 Elizabeth Street, Croydon, Adelaide

K

This week

Custom orders everywhere! I guess its good but there is a lot of tooing and froing to get each customer something totally unique that they love. This is what I am doing all week. Doesn't help when the car is dead (new clutch needs to be fitted)... arghhh!

Above is some beautiful recycled woven silks, ready to create an exclusive tote for a customer.

Kara

Clothing Exchange comes to Sydney

'My Sister's Wardrobe' is a regular event in Melbourne, a way to reinvigorate one's wardrobe through swapping clothes with others. The idea is everyone brings along a few of their garments they no longer wear, but think that other people may value. Then, using buttons as currency, it's possible to 'purchase' a few delights that were hiding in other people's wardrobes.

To me this clothes swap idea has it all - a way to share your once-treasured garments with others, tell the story behind the garment, find a vintage treasure perhaps... and 'shop' in a sustainable way.

Now it is arriving in Sydney: 7pm Tuesday July 8th, 10a Fitzroy Pl, Surry Hills (upstairs, off Crown St).

www.clothingexchange.com.au

Carrington movie nights

On Tuesday night I saw 'An Affair To Remember' at the Carrington Hotel. It's only $10 for a classic movie and you get a plate of popcorn and get to snuggle down into the big sofas near the fire in the lounge.

Or you can get a cheese or dessert platter with coffee or tea plus the movie for $25 which is delicious and way too much! Yum!

Upcoming movies are:

Tues 29 July - To Catch a Thief - 8pm

Tues 26 Aug - The Old Man and The Sea - 8pm

Tues 30 Sept - How To Marry A Millionaire - 8pm

Tues 28 Oct - Singing In The Rain - 8pm

Tues 25 Nov - West Side Story - 8pm

Tues 16 Dec - Miracle on 34th Street - 8pm

We have booked into most of them and noticed on Tuesday that some are now booked out. It's a great night out and hope to see you there!

Kara

Winter Magic Festival

Thank you to everyone who came and visited the Gussy up Gals stall at our Eco themed Winter Magic festival.

It was a very exciting day, and my  adrenaline was  on full speed. It was very satisfying to see all the vibrant Katoomba made products side by side, so beautifully highlighted in the winter sunlight, and to hear such lovely and encouraging comments from the crowd. The Lil Bean kiddies T-shirts, Alice Payne recycled T-shirt hoddies with mouse ears, Kara Smith vintage bags and Screen printed tea towels together made for an original and  fun display. 

The Gussy up tent was the perfect place to watch the parade and congrats to the belly dancers who braved the cold bare bellied. Thanks Maryanne for your support of local arts.

 Only 363 days untill the next one!