Every now and then the inner geek in me is allowed out. Alright I admit, it’s probably more like every other day the inner geek is allowed out.

When I saw these test signal socks the inner geek did back flips, jumped up and down and begged me to buy them. Seriously, it doesn’t get any cooler in the world of socks than this and there was no question… they simply had to be stitched up into a Baby Zilla.  

I LOVE the end result (thank goodness!), so much so that he will be making a personal appearance in kits at The Finders Keepers market in Sydney next week. What do you think, winner… or inner geek allowed out one too many times?

Update: The Baby Zilla Pattern with all the instructions is available here: http://craftschmaft.bigcartel.com/product/baby-zilla-pattern-pdf

I haven’t named this one yet – any ides?  This piece was on an afternoon when the colours just sang to me and the design almost completed itself. So rare. I was probably procrastinating about doing something else, which ironically is when my best creative moments happen. I couldn’t wait to see the fabric test print which arrived this morning. What do you think? 

 
And then there are the Emerald balloons that I promised you picces of a few posts ago. I’m realising I have quite the thing for green at the moment. Looking back through vintage illustration, vintage toys and even homewares, green has such a history and such a variety of messages to give. Deep green evokes heritage, bright green is so fresh, yellow-ish greens have us dreaming of nature and then there’s the combinations with green… aqua and it’s cool, red and it’s christmas, orange and it pops. Yes, I do indeed have a crush on green.  I will stop typing now and just let you look at the pictures. Happy Crafting!

The cute little flags you see on the Balloons are made with just some fabric scraps, webbing and perle cotton. The best part is that there’s absolutely no sewing required. Yes, lovely people, this is no sew fabric bunting!

You will need:

• Fabric cut into 5cm/2″ strips (10- 30cm long)
• 2.5cm/1″ fusible webbing (hemming web is perfect)
• Perle cotton (size 3, 5 or 8 will all work fine)
• Embroidery needle & some scissors
• Iron

Here’s a little bunting triangle template for you, although you could just as easily draw your own 2cm wide and 2cm high. Simply print it at 100% (no scaling, no fit to page). I’ve used this bunting for way more than balloons – it’s great to decorate kitchen shelves, adorn cakes and as a finishing touch on party tables.

So there you have it, the first of what I hope will be many video tutorials for you. A big thanks to Meg Young and Matt Cluett who shot the video and stills so beautifully (and edited out all of my tongue tied nervous moments… it was my first ever video!)

See more in the Hot Air Balloon App available in the iTunes store here.

Never one to be decisive, I played around with the legs. I’m torn between baby style legs and the saucy little numbers pictured above. Like all good women I changed my mind several times on this and then realised… hang on…. I can just design the pattern to include both options and then you lovely makers can decide. Which do you prefer? 

So now that she’s ready… anyone up for testing the pattern? Leave a comment here or contact me claire@craftschmaft.com The pattern will be ready to go out on Thursday and testing needs to be complete by the 18th of May ( so you’d have two weekends in there to work on it).

P.S. Thanks so much to everyone who downloaded the Hot Air Balloon Tutorial App … wow… what a week!

I’ve been working on turning the Hot Air Balloon Mobile pattern into a Hot Air Balloon Tutorial app since late last year and I’m so proud to say it’s now singing and dancing in the iTunes store. Not only that but it’s the first sewing pattern app to be released, which I have to pinch myself to believe. First, people, first!

Click here to have a sneak peek…

I wanted to share more than just words on a screen to inspire and enable people to get hands on. I worked with an incredible team to shoot video demonstrations and gorgeous photography (thanks Meg and Matt!) for the app that accompanies step-by-step instructions and pattern pieces. There’s also a video stitch glossary and a gallery that I hope to fill with images of your mobiles so please send them in!

mobile loop from Craft Schmaft on Vimeo.

The Hot Air Balloon Tutorial App is now available on itunes for a special launch price of just US$4.99 for all my wonderful blog, pinterest and facebook followers. 

So thank you for being patient while it’s been quiet around here, I hope you like the app, I’d love to hear your feedback.

P.S. Android version coming soon too! P.P.S It may take a few minutes to download with all the beautiful videos and photography.

I spent last weekend in Melbourne at the fantastical Finders Keepers market. I’ve been doing these for a little while now and it’s so nice to see familiar faces and fresh talent each time and so difficult not to spend every dollar I make on designer wares. You all know what my stuff looks like so this time I thought I’d post some of my favourite stalls from Melbourne.

1. Emily Green    2. The wolf and I    3. Bespoke press   4. Me We

Oh and the emerald balloons were a big hit, thanks so much for all your comments and encouragement!

Photo: Pedro Szekely via Flickr

I encountered a flamboyance of flamingoes (don’t you love that term!) in the wild when I was in Kenya and they were just as stunning as I had imagined.

As far as I’m aware the world does not have a sock flamingo pattern, a travesty of justice that needs to be remedied. I set about designing my very own on a crafting weekend recently. Socks love to curve and the shape was travelling well, I created wings from felt in shades of pink that I instantly loved. But when it all came together the flamingo just wasn’t right. It was gawky. Kinda cool. But also pretty ugly. Nothing I tried with the beak helped. My kids stared at it in disgust. My sister said… “ooooh yeah…. I see what you mean”.

I had hit upon a flamingo crisis.

This kind of thing isn’t foreign to me. Ever since design school I’ve experienced the highs and lows of creativity. There’s always that moment of having to stop and figure out what isn’t working, undo some of your design and re-work it until you’re happy. This is true of graphic design, advertising campaigns, writing and, yes, even softie design. So I did what any creative would do in the same situation – I completely ignored it. The flamingo was shelved.

Fear not. The flamingo is back. Last night I spent an hour drawing with the big kid and in the midst of monsters, robots and a sketch of me wearing a tracksuit that is joined into a dress at the waist (flattering), I solved my dilemma. It’s all about the head size. Not the beak after all. The flamingo is going to be OK.

So tonight I’ll be re-stitching the flamingo and hopefully over the weekend you’ll see the end result. Fingers crossed.

I’ve been inspired by all things green lately. It began with Pantone’s colour of the year, Emerald, spruiked as lively, radiant and lush. A sydney summer with tropical plants and green lawns played a part and the deal was sealed when I watched original The Wizard of Oz. Oh that vintage Emerald City!

So I got to designing some more balloon fabric and have snuck in some stitching time over easter. I love the way that blues and aqua greens play together and that you never quite know how it’s all going to look once they’re sewn up into balloons.

Now it’s just matter of choosing the final four for my new Emerald City hot air balloon kits and fabric panels. Tough choice. Normally as soon as I see the fabric samples printed a few jump out and a few can easily be binned. Not so much this time. There’s been a flurry of conversation over on facebook and instagram as to which balloons should make the cut. So far it’s looking like the solid colours will go, but I’m going to finish each of them beforeI make a final decision. I feel strangely attached to all of them. What do you think… ? I’d love your opinion too.

Materials:

• 1 x baby sock (size for approx. 12 month)
• Yarn (1-2 metres/yards, I used 8ply)
• Matching cotton thread

Tools:

• Needle
• Small fork
• Scissors

Directions:

1. Take your sock and turn it inside out. Cut from above the ankle band to the curve of the sock as shown.
2.  Stitch a seam, by hand or machine, straight down the cut area. Snip the top of the point off.
3. Turn the sock the right way out, creating a point at the top of your little hat.
4. Cut a piece of yarn approx. 20cm/8in long and set aside (this will be used to tie up your pom pom).Take your fork and begin to wrap the yarn around and around the prongs as shown.
5. Pull your cut piece of yarn through the centre of the fork as shown. Pull firmly and tie a knot. Ease your yarn off the fork and wrap the cut yarn around the bundle again, pulling to make it as tight as possible. Tie another knot.
6. Take scissors and cut the loops of the yarn on either side of your pom pom.
7. Trim until you’re happy the pom pom is rounded and fluffy. Don’t be afraid to really trim!
    
8. Using needle and thread, stitch the pom pom to the tip of your hat. 

You’re all done! You can use bigger size socks for bigger hats and it’s perfect to go on top of chocolate easter eggs too.