Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Show and Tell - Christmas Present Sewing 2013

For the past couple of years I have been making gifts for the majority of my family for Christmas. Now that it is over and everyone has their gifts I can show off everything that I sewed this year :) I left almost everything to the last two weeks before Christmas (majority were done in the 3 days before, I finished at midnight on Christmas Eve.) which is something I hope to avoid next year.

For my mum I made the Camilla Insulated Bag Pattern by Sew Serendipity. I have used laminated cotton for both the inside and outside of the bag so that it is water proof. Sewing with a double layer of laminated cotton plus the insulated wadding was a bit of a challenge but I think the finished product and the fact that it is waterproof both inside and out made it worthwhile. The binding, trim and Kanzashi flower are all regular cotton.
For anyone who is interested here are the fabrics that I used:

The first part of Cloud's present was a Dr Seuss One Fish, Two Fish Pyjama set. I drafted the pattern for the boxer shorts and I used Steph's Blank Canvas Tee Pattern for the top. I have adjusted the neck line and used cotton bias made from the Dr Seuss fabric to bind it. The tee shirt fabric is a Jersey cotton I found at The Fabric Store. 

The second part of Cloud's present was another pyjama set, this time using a cute Hello Kitty dobby fabric I picked up last time I was in Japan. Once again the tee shirt is the blank canvas tee which I have embellished with some appliqué plum blossom flowers. I would have liked to have bound the neck in the same fabric as the shorts but I only had 1m which was just enough for the shorts and the appliqué. 

For my eldest sister I made another pair of pyjamas using a Marvel comic fabric I also picked up last time I was in Japan. I embellished the tee shirt with a simple patch pocket.

There was just enough of the comic fabric to make a flap for a satchel bag as well.

For my youngest sister I made a Ghastlie Holiday dress, the pattern is an adaption of The Marilyn Dress Pattern by Sew Serendipity and of course the fabric is A Ghastlie Holiday Mauve by Alexander Henry. The lace trim on the bottom is something I found in my stash. 


and because Cloud obviously doesn't have enough pyjamas I also made her a set for her birthday. I picked up this Hello Kitty fabric during my travels. The Hello Kitty face on the tee shirt is an appliqué I made and they were packed up in a cute little drawstring bag.

Did you make gifts this year, we'd love to see them :)
- Ky

Sunday, December 22, 2013

New In Store - December 22

Lots of new stock was added to the website this week. Fabric from Alexander Henry, Japan and Robert Kaufman. New bag making hardware including slides, o-rings and snap hooks. And a new pattern from Funky Friends Factory. 
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Earlier this week I made up a sample of the seagull which you can read about here, I named him Steve Seagull :)
We'll be back with new stock after the new year, until then everyone have a safe and happy holiday season.
- Ky and Cloud

Friday, December 20, 2013

Fabric Friday - Little Red Riding Hood

Little Red Riding Hood is always a favourite and today we have put together a fabric selection based on our newest Little Red design by Trans-pacific Textiles. We have fields of daisies and playful bunnies, sweet red cherries and of course the big bad wolf and Little Red herself.
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I can see sweet little girls dresses, big girl dresses and 50's style aprons made out of these fabrics. What would you make?
- Ky

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

My Name's Steven...

Steven Seagull...

LOL that joke is not getting old at all :D and I've been making it all week since I made this little guy on Monday.
Specs
Steven is approximately 23cm (9") tall when sitting. He is quite firmly stuffed with polyester toy fill and weighs 210g. Cloud chose the fabric for him and his main body is a Tula Pink design from her Salt Water range. We think that the colours are very reminiscent of a hot summers day at the beach eating fish and chips. The yellow on his beak and feet was quite difficult to photograph, it is less orange and more golden in reality.
Give me a chip
Difficulty
I made Steven up in around 2hrs and would rate him at a basic - intermediate difficulty level. I am rating him a little higher than most Funky Friends Factory toys as there are foot pads and a gusset. These two items can be a little tricky for newer sewists.


Tip
Rather than clipping seams I like to use pinking shears. The pinked edge helps the seam sit flatter once it is turned out and also shouldn't fray as much. 
Any seams that are going to be under strain once the toy has been turned right sides out should only have minimal or no clipping if you can get away with it. For example the back, sides, under the beak and opening where the toy is turned out through, otherwise they may start to tear if you like to stuff your toys quite firmly.
If you would like to recreate Steven you will need the following:
If you have made a Funky Friends Factory seagull? We'd love to see pictures on our Facebook page.

- Ky

Sunday, December 15, 2013

New In Store - December 15

This week we have new stock from Riley Blake including pom-pom trim, a range from Wilmington prints with a bit of a steam-pink vibe and mini flamingos from Timeless treasures. If you are after the Flamingos be quick as we have already sold out of most of the bolt!
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We also now have 2 more lampshade kits available, these will be the last until our new stock arrives in early February. I added some of the Riley Blake black pom-pom trim to the bottom of our Zahara lampshade. I think it looks quite snazzy, what do you think? 
These lampshades are super easy to make up and would be perfect Christmas gifts. You can read more about the lampshade kits here

Till next week, happy sewing.
- Ky

Friday, December 13, 2013

Fabric Friday the 13th

We  have 13% off all full priced fabric in our web store and showroom today. No need for a special code, the discount will apply automatically on checkout.
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Winner, winner, chicken dinner
We have a couple of winners to announce for our Facebook sale competition from last Sunday night. The winners were picked by random.org, congratulation to Kirrily and Jean on winning a wall blanket each :) A big thank you to everyone who took part in the sale and paid their invoices promptly.
The prizes !
And last but not least we have the winner of our Funky Friends Factory Flamingo competition. The clear favourite was Rivoli Bubble. Using random.org we have drawn the competition winner, congratulation Anne Cah who has won a $25 voucher from both Funky Friends Factory and Voodoo Rabbit. Anne, we will be emailing you shortly with your prizes :0)
Till next time..
- Ky

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Riley Blake Road Trip

On Monday I went to visit the warehouse of the Australian Riley Blake distributor. I was joined by Pauline from Funky Friends Factory and Steph from Cake Patterns.  

The warehouse held row upon row of Riley Blake fabric, Pauline was very excited and was ready to take home one of everything, especially the spools of ribbons. 
Like a kid in a candy store :)
Steph was a lot more contained in her excitement but I think she looks a bit overwhelmed by the sheer amount of fabric.
She was very excited by the Riley Blake range of Jersey Knits, which are a very high quality and great to sew with. Read about Steph's Riley Blake 1" red striped Tiramisu here.
Jersey Knits and Cottons
Lots and Lots of Cotton fabric
Rolls of brightly coloured trims
We got to see advanced yardage of some of the new ranges due out next year as well as behind the scenes at the warehouse where kits are cut and packaged.
The boys cutting and folding quilt kits
We have heaps of exciting new Riley Blake fabric on order for next year, I can't wait to show it all to you :) There are a few items due to go up on the web store this week. Make sure you keep an eye out on our new products page.

- Ky

Sunday, December 8, 2013

New In Store - December 8th and a Facebook Sale

Not too much new stuff was added to the webs store this week as I have been busy prepping for our our final Facebook sale of the year. More about the sale at the end of the post.

We received a small shipment of Alexander Henry fabric this week including Home Decorator weight Friday's Garden!
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Our Facebook sale will start this afternoon (Sunday December 8). The sale officially starts at 5pm (Brisbane, Australia time) but the album is up now so you can peruse the wares:) The album will be live for 24 hours. Be quick as the first hour is always pretty insane.
As an added bonus, if you make a purchase during the sale and pay by the due date, you will go into the draw to win one our fabric wall blankets from the recent Brisbane Quilt and Craft Fair. There are two up for grabs and each one measures approx 2m wide x 1.4m high.
- Ky

Friday, December 6, 2013

Funky Flamingo Fabric Friday

UPDATE: This competition is now closed and the winner was Anne Cah.

It's competition time, and you can win $50 worth of fabric and patterns with Voodoo Rabbit and Funky Friends Factory

We are so excited that Pauline has finally finished her Fleur the Flamingo sewing pattern because we have been begging her to design a flamingo toy pattern all year :) While I was picking fabrics to make a shop sample we ended up having an argument over which fabrics to use. In the end I made up 3 Flamingos and we are settling the argument by running a ... 

CHOOSE THE CUTEST FLAMINGO COMPETITION!!!
Let us know which Flamingo you think is the cutest - to be in the running to win a $25 fabric voucher from Voodoo Rabbit and a $25 Funky Friends Factory pattern voucher. 
Without further ado, here are the contestants.

The first bird down the catwalk is Geekly Chic:
Geekly is wearing Geekly Chic Glasses Hot Pink by Riley Blake and finished off with Premium Solid Magenta by Northcott for her legs and Premium Solid Black by Northcott for her wings and nose.
The next beautiful bird is Rivoli Bubble:
Rivoli is wearing Rivoli Bubble Onyx by Alexander Henry and finished off with Premium Solid Rose by Northcott for her legs and Premium Solid Black by Northcott for her wings and beak.

This leggy lovely is Rose Pink:
Rose is wearing Premium Solid Rose by Northcott and finished off with Outfoxed Stripe Pink by Andover for her legs Rivoli Bubble Onyx by Alexander Henry for her wings and Premium Solid Black by Northcott for her beak.

And last but not least is Pauline's Pretty Preener:
She is wearing Premium Solid Bubblegum by Northcott and is finished off with fabrics from Pauline's stash for her legs and wings and Premium Solid Black by Northcott for her beak.
 flamingo soft toy sewing pattern 4

How do I enter I hear you ask?
All you need to do is to choose which stuffed toy flamingo is your favourite and let us know in the comments below. For a second chance pop over to the Funky Friends Factory blog and leave a comment there as well.

***** The winner will be drawn on Friday 13th December 
so don't forget to check back to see if it is your lucky day!!! *****

Good luck everyone - may the best Flamingo win!
- Ky

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Funky Friends Factory's Igor(ina) Iguana Pattern Test Drive

I fell in love with Igor the Iguana when I saw him on Pauline's stand at the Brisbane Craft and Quilt Fair so I knew that I had to make one of my very own. I also knew that I wanted to use one of the Ocean Ponies prints from Tula Pink's Salt Water range. The texture is just perfect for a lizard don't you think? I used the coral colour-way as I couldn't find a contrast fabric that matched the aqua or seaweed as well as I would like. 
Without further ado I'd like to introduce Igorina Iguana! Igorina loves to sit and soak up our beautiful Queensland sun.
At 52cm long I think the iguana must be one of the biggest Funky Friends (except the snake of course).  She is very firmly stuffed with polyester toyfill and weighs approximately 260g, making her quite a handful to carry. I think that once she has finished her tenure as the Voodoo Rabbit showroom sample she will be coming home with me :)

Difficulty
Igorina can be sewn up in an afternoon without too much trouble. I would rate her at a basic difficulty level, there is nothing too fiddly or tricky to deal with and there are minimal pieces to sew together.


To recreate my Igorina you will need the following:

Original Igor from the Pattern Cover
Have you made up the Igor Iguana pattern? We'd love to see pictures on our Facebook page.
- Ky

Sunday, December 1, 2013

New Patterns and Fabric in Store This Week - 1st Dec

This week we have added a heap of new dressmaking and bag/purse patterns to our store from Cake Patterns and Sew Serendipity. In addition to the two new Cake patterns we have also restocked all of the old ones.
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We have also restocked a number of our favourite Alexander Henry prints, including a couple that we haven't had in a while.
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The very popular Bohin Mechanical Chalk Pencils are also now available again.

Till next week.
- Ky