Find me on Instagram

My posts have been fewer and fewer of late and so I've decided that to kick off the New Year and keep things simpler, I'll just be updating my Instagram account from now onwards.

If you want to keep up to date and in touch, then you can find me over at @margueritedesigns

Hope to see you there!

Illustrator for Textile Designers

Yesterday, I finished my course at The Fashion and Textile Museum.  I'm busy updating my skills - things have moved on a long way since I was in college for textile design.  Then, everything was hand drawn and painted, not a computer in sight....  However, that's not a bad thing, since a computer cannot replicate that skill - it's just an aid to make the whole process more efficient. Getting to grips with Illustrator and also Photoshop earlier in the year has been quite something to get my head round but I've done it and it's something  I'm proud of.  Just need lots of practice now ....

Christmas is coming ....

....  It's been a while - but I'm back - you'll be able to read all about my latest make on the www.minervacrafts.com blog, 1 November 2019 :-)

Liberty Open Call - Last Chance to Vote

Today is the last chance to vote for me if you like my design.  Please vote here:

https://www.libertylondon.com/uk/features/design-and-living/liberty-open-call-voting.html

Thanks for all the support received so far :-)

Need your votes please - Liberty Open Call

I’ve been fit to burst with this and have come down with a cold instead ....

I’m a finalist in the #LibertyOpenCall search for the best untapped fabric design talent in the UK, organised by Liberty of London, which is the fabric design worlds’ equivalent to The X Factor.  There were over 5,000 entrants and it’s been narrowed down to a shortlist of 12.

Fabric and design have always been passions of mine - they are something I’ve kept for ‘me’ and my own time around regular employment (as many creative people do ...).

I would be very grateful if you could please vote for my ‘Deco Travel’ design at the following weblink:

https://www.libertylondon.com/uk/features/design-and-living/liberty-open-call-voting.html

My design is based on the Art Deco era – I’ve used a colour palette reminiscent of the time and also incorporated the Liberty ‘housestyle’ colours of purple and gold.  I illustrated it with motifs depicting luxury modes of travel and luggage labels for exotic destinations – in tune with the Liberty ethos.

Although not crucial, the public votes will help the judges with their task of choosing 5 winners.

Each winner will then visit the Liberty studio and have their design translated onto Liberty Tana Lawn cloth.  They will also be taken to Italy to see the design being printed in the mills and it will then be sold in store and kept in company archives.  Winners will also be paid the industry standard for their design and receive 5 metres of their own cloth.

I’m over the moon just to have got this far as the competition has been very fierce.  I’ve been trying to keep calm about it all but it’s very hard!

(Oh – and I might be on the telly – there will be a BBC programme called ‘One Day That Changed My Life’ about the competition, due to be aired next spring J  )

Anyway, thanks and grateful for any votes from you and anyone you know – I quite fancy a trip to Italy in February …..

Macmillan Bake Off Apron

It's that time of year again .... last year I posted about the Tracey Island cake I made for our work coffee morning.  I actually won 'Best Baker' with it!  I'm reluctant to lose my title so this year, I decided to make a special baking apron which could be raffled as a prize and so raise money that way.  I used a metre of Michael Miller 'Home Ec' fabric which I've had in my stash for a while now.  I used a toning purple bias binding for the finishing touches.  I made a couple of changes to the pattern, which is a Simplicity 1940's repro, as I didn't have quite enough fabric to make thicker waist ties but saying that, I quite like how mine turned out ....  I also missed out binding around the whole apron itself but I don't think that matters either - it might have been too much ....  I might add the rick rack which should go on the pocket borders next time I make it, which I will!  I really didn't want to give this away ....  I love the fabric and the apron shape itself is great - it looks like a little dress :-)

Minerva Product Testing - Monogram Bag

You can read all about how I made this initialled bag over on the Minerva Crafts website here  It's my latest product testing project.

I honestly didn't realise how complex bag making actually is ....  It involves as much time and effort as making a whole garment and there are a lot of decisions to be made about how to decorate it, what fabrics to put together, etc etc ....

Anway, I  hope you hop on over to Minerva and enjoy the read :-)

Sew Over 50 :-)

It's been a while since I last posted and I've been undergoing a bit of an overhaul personally ....  I seem to have a bit of spare time now (unusual for me!) and I can look back over the changes and document them.

I finally decided to go short with my hair ...  I've been hovering between lengths for ages and am so glad I made this decision.  It feels so light and airy and my new style is really easy to look after too.  I wish now that I'd gone short at the start of summer.  I think that at a certain age, short definitely does look better.

I've also joined #sewover50 on Instagram.  This is a new initiative for older sewists like me.  I've been wondering for a while now where I fit in in the sewing world as I seem to have crossed the divide between the younger sewists and those like me.  Maybe that's why I haven't made much lately ...  It feels good to be part of a crowd again but I'll have to see if I can keep up with all the various challenges ....  Anyway, I'm old enough to know it doesn't really matter and it's all about the fun of taking part when I can.

Autumn is on its way - my favourite time of year and I am thinking about knits and cover ups.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted!

Proud Graduate of ...

It's been quiet lately as I've been beavering away over the past month on Module 3 of Make It In Design, Monetising Your Designs.  It only seems like yesterday since I was starting these Modules and I now find myself contemplating the next step - The Ultimate Portfolio Builder.  I've certainly grown in confidence since beginning ...  It had been such a long time since I last picked up a paintbrush.  I now feel organised and equipped to pursue the ambitions I still nurture for surface pattern design .... 

There's still some work to finish up and I so want to get on with things!

Minerva Product Testing - Astrakhan Jacket

You can see how I made this jacket up on the Minerva Craft Blog here now.  It's still a bit chilly out and I'm glad of it to wear!

Seaglass ...

Just over a year ago, when I was on my honeymoon in Overstrand on the Norfolk coast, we were located right next to the beach.  We often walked along the beach into neighbouring Cromer and it was lovely to beachcomb along the way ...  I found an aqua coloured piece of seaglass one morning and have kept it ever since.  I recently found a jeweller who made pendants, earrings and bracelets from seaglass.  I asked if she could make a pendant from my piece and she willingly did!  Here's the beautiful result ....

I now have a lovely reminder of my honeymoon week that I can wear.

You can see more exquisite creations here, all at a very reasonable price:


https://www.facebook.com/seawavejewellery/

Minerva Product Testing - Zandra Rhodes Vogue Jacket

You can read all about how I made this Vogue Zandra Rhodes Designer Jacket here on the Minerva Crafts blog:

https://www.minervacrafts.com/blog/product-reviews/zandra-rhodes-vogue-jacket-by-diane

It has to be one of the most technically demanding garments I have ever made ....  worth it though.

It's a New Year

Well all the festivities are over now but they had a sad tinge for me due to the loss of Oscar ....  I'll never forget him but I am helping myself to get over the fact that he is no longer here by doing some of my favourite things.  I've started a needlepoint cushion which I was given for Christmas and also did work on my next project for the Minerva Craft Blog (it involves a lot of quilting which took the best part of 8 hours to do ... the repetition was very therapeutic to do though).  I'll carry on into the New Year healing in this way ...

I am also starting the Make It In Design Winter School 2018 on Monday so I have that to look forward to ....

Sad news ...

I featured my cat, the lovely Oscar in this blog a few times in his capacity as my crafting assistant and I was looking forward to showing you more about his life but I have sad news ...  He passed away on 17 December suddenly.  He was a beautiful boy and Kev and I loved him very much.  We feel fortunate that he was given to us for the 2 years we had him.  He had a comical character and was a wonderful friend.  Sleep peacefully little one.

Pantone Colour of the Year 2018 - Ultra VIolet

What do you think of this?  I love it.  It seems as though this end of the spectrum continues - we had Radiant Orchid in 2016 and now Ultra Violet.  Both pinky purple shades, although strong and defined this year.  2017 was of course Greenery, but I'm rather taken with this year's colour ... 

Minerva Product Testing - Clover Tablet Templates

You can see my latest product test over on the Minerva blog here.  I made a sewing wallet using templates designed for making both paper and electronic tablet covers, which I customized.  The product is from the Nancy Zieman range for Clover, who sadly passed away this week.  I didn't know anything about Nancy beforehand but have since found out that she was a huge sewing celebrity in the US.  I was sorry to hear the sad news.

https://www.minervacrafts.com/blog/product-reviews/clover-e-tablet--paper-tablet-keepers-by-nancy-zieman-review

Tracey Island - Macmillan Bake Off 2017

A couple of weeks ago we held our Macmillan Coffee Morning at work, which is an annual event here in the UK.  It ran along similar lines to last year and we had a competition for the Best Baker - I came second last year and I went all out to try and win this time and it worked ...  In my head, I knew what I wanted to recreate - I had a vision of Tracey Island from Thunderbirds ...  I spent three whole evenings and about 20 hours trying to achieve this, plus about a week of planning time when I had to think about exactly how I would recreate the various elements in the design ....

I made a lake from melted Glacier Mints ....  that itself took a whole evening - I really didn't have an idea of how long it would take to melt a few sweets in a Bain Marie.  The idea worked though!  I first saw this done in an episode of this year's Great British Bake Off where it was used to re-create the effect of glass.  I melted the mints onto baking parchment and peeled away the backing.  I had the idea of making the end result look even more like a lake by backing the whole melted area with rolled out white royal icing which I tinted on the surface with blue food colouring.

How could I make palm trees?  I used Matchmaker chocolates for the trunks as they are long and nobbly and tree like.  The palm fronds are of green rolled out icing which I cut with Christmas holly cutters.  If they are overlaid offset on each other and stuck on the end of the Matchmakers, then they just look like palm trees!

The island itself was made from 3 cakes that I baked separately and then cut to shape and stacked on to each other to make a base, house, various launchpads and rocky crevices.  It was done from chocolate and vanilla flavoured victoria sponge swirled together to create a marble effect inside and stuck together with vanilla buttercream filling.  I covered the whole with chocolate flavoured buttercream which was then decorated with flower and green bobble cake decorations to look like plants and grass.

White and grey royal icing was rolled out to make the house walls, windows and roof, along with a landing strip, cave entrance and launchpad turret.

I managed to find a set of 3 diecast Thunderbirds vehicles in exactly the right size which provided the finishing touches ....

I was up against a lot of competition with tastes and flavours but the approach to make an eye catching traditional cake was favourite and apparently, tasted as good as it looked!

How will I top this next year?  I think I may just have to stand down and let someone else have a go .....

Minerva Product Testing - Vilene Bag Kit

You can read all about how I made this cute bag up on the Minerva Crafts Blog as it has been published today.  Find all the details here.

Aviation Dress - Complete

I’ve been to two airshows since completing this dress.  At both, I was stopped numerous times to have it admired – one lady said I looked stunning in it and some others manning a Red Arrows stall said they couldn’t stop looking at my dress  …..  compliments indeed!

I loved making it, both using the pattern and fabric.  The Liberty Tana Lawn was so soft and sewed beautifully - it is printed with a mixture of current and historic aircraft.  I only made one adaptation to the pattern in adjusting the skirt to a couple of inches longer – which I’ve also done on another SewOverIt pattern as the length just seems to suit me better than the one supplied.  When I make this one again – which I will – then I’ll also add about another inch in the body as it is a bit short bodied but fine as it is so I'm nit picking really .....  I love the style of the dress which is so easy to wear and flattering for my shape.

Minerva Product Testing - Felt Duffel

Another bit of news preventing me from posting about my finished Aviation dress is that my Felt Duffel is now live on the Minerva Crafts website here.  You can read all about how I made it from their printed felt sheets.  It was a really enjoyable make.  Busy with my next Product Testing project now ... seem to have my sewjo back again 😆