Saffrons Blog

“If money was no option what would you like to do?”

This pictue was taken by Steph.

It sure got us all to open up and talk about ourselves a lot more, share advice about the world out there. It helped us to talk, listen and be inspired. We connected through the questions; there were so many women to admire.

1. I have never worked in an office! I guess I feel lucky.
2. Time for me to start teaching. When I spoke to four people at length about different routes for teaching I am realising that the universe is saying something...
3. I like to chat! And to listen as well.
4. I like meeting people.
5. I like to learn from other people and their journeys. Especially when I feel I am a few years behind them.
6. There are a lot of ladies out there living their dream. You can too!
7. Advice and experiences should be shared. We learn so much from each other.
8. You can achieve a lot by making sure you stay focused.
9. We are all wishing for similar things.
10. Steph and Lisa are truly awesome and so supportive and giving.

Here is some of the bounty from the goodie bag which shows a lot about the talent and passion of the people that come to these meetings.

Like this blouse from Roberta of Rowan Tree Design.

As well as these angels from Polli.

All thanks to Lisa and Steph. Next Meet Up is in Summer, January, and I hope we get to wear a frock instead of our winter woollies..

Come along, the more people the more interesting it will be!

There are a lot of ways to make a cushion. The way you close the cushion adds a lot to the design and I like to place a zip in a side seam so that there is no obvious front or back.

In our house cushions tend to be used a lot so it's great they can be flipped around. Also with a side zipper there is less chance of falling asleep and waking up with zipper teeth marks etched into faces, which I have had my fair share off. :)

I took a few pictures as I was making this cushion with an explanation of the steps I take. Here's the way I like to sew a zipper into a cushion.

Firstly I iron under the seam 1.5cm. In this example I used the selvedge of the fabric so I wont need to over-lock it. Over-locking stops the fabric from fraying.

I open the zipper and pin the zipper teeth parallel to the folded side edge of the fabric.

To attach the a zipper I always use the zipper foot. It makes sewing easier. I set the needle position to be closer to the teeth of the zipper rather than centered, which is the default position on my machine.

I like to attach the zip by sewing on the top side or the right side of the fabric using 5mm as a guide. You might want to move your pins to the top side of the fabric so you can pull them out as you sew.

Then close the zipper, pin the other side of the zip and attach in the same manner.

Now your zip is set in the seam.

If your zip is too long you can trim the zipper by cutting through the zipper teeth.  Pull the zipper head down the teeth a few centimeters to make sure that the zipper head does not detach itself. By sewing through the teeth of the zip the head will not be able to come off and detach.

As a last step fold the zip in half both at the top and at the bottom then pin. Slowly stitch the seam over the zipper teeth. Using a reverse stitch to make the seam strong. Then continue to sew the cushion.

This is what your zipper will look like every time. There are so many ways to sew in a zipper and this is simply the way I like to do it. I thought you might like it too?

Ana commented on 30-Sep-2011 08:32 PM

That looks so much better than a seam across the back. Love your comment about zipper teeth marks - do you have any tips for waking upi in a pool of drool? ;¬) We could really do with that here!

My friend Kirstin and I were having an email chat  this week and she mentioned Holly Crosby.

I listened/designed to Australian musician, singer and songwriter Holly Throsby all day. 

Thanks Kirstin.

Sometimes I have the urge to sew something quick and don't want to start a new, big project. So yesterday I decided to make up a few place mats to celebrate the beautiful spring wheather we're enjoying here in Sydney.

Thankfully this time I took a few pictures to share. :) 

Instead of having 6 identical mats I thought I'd experiment with plain and patterned fabrics, batting and no batting, machine and hand-quilting. Cause that's the way I work; hap-hazard, it's difficult for me to make the same thing twice, it's the designing, the playing I like most.

To start I put some fabrics together to see how they work as a composition.

For this place-mat I made the top first then quilted it onto the batting.

 
Once finished I trim away the batting.

For all the place mats I simply cut a matching back the same size.
For this one I didn't use batting between the 2 layers.

Once you have the top (place-mat) finished simply make a matching back exactly the same size. Pin the right sides of the fabric together. Then sew them together with a 1cm seam. Leave a small gap through which you pull the fabric turning  them the right side out.

Then the all important ironing and closing the gap with a few stitches.

I machine quilted this place mat in parallel lines. This has no batting.

I like the huge zigzag stitch my Pfaff can do. Really stands out on the black and grey.

For the batting I experimented with three types of batting, wool, bamboo and polyester. Polyester is nice and light. I also made a few with no batting which I quilted on the machine in parallel (ish) lines. The place-mats with no batting I like best.

Finally I whipped up some serviettes which are simply 30cm squares of fabric, ironed under and stitched to give them a nice edge.

Presto, within a couple of hours you have a whole new table setting for any occasion.

Now someone please make me some food...

Anne Stanley commented on 19-Sep-2011 02:55 PM

Looks lovely and matches you bowls perfectly!

Roslyn Henley commented on 19-Sep-2011 03:31 PM

Can sew relate to the need to do everyone differently. I did that recently for our table and my hubby had a look of horror that they were all different. I told him I couldn't help myself. So much more exciting for the maker and the user! I like the unusual
colour combo too.

Kate Conklin commented on 19-Sep-2011 09:05 PM

It's good to know that you like the one without batting the best. I never thought of not adding batting, but I might try this now. Your look lovely!

 I've enjoyed rediscovering Beth Orton this week, with lyrics like this:

Now you're sitting on a Paris train
Laughin' at your own jokes again
Sun splits the trees into beautiful broken light

Roslyn Henley commented on 19-Sep-2011 03:34 PM

How funny. Wasn't many weeks ago that I was actually on a train from London to Paris with stunning views and villages and then the Paris underground (which didn't give great views of course).

Lampshade Line-up quilt is designed and made by the fabulous Kate Conklin. I really appreciate what Kate has done with my Imaginary Flowers range, I think they look wonderful against the lavender solid.The geometric feel of the quilt softened by the curves of the Lampshades is fresh and clever. 

Kate was inspired by the lampshades we made from the Imaginary flowers for the release of the Imaginary flowers range. Yep that's all she needed to get her creative juices flowing.

I have made Kate's quilts before and they are always such a treat, I enjoy not having to think maths as it's all there! Don't you agree? The pattern has step-by-step instructions and a template to make the lampshade blocks. It also features informative pictures that will give you a lot of guidance.

Kate's Nana bought this quilt once finished. Lucky her. So if you want one for you or a friend then you can get the Quilt kit here, which includes all the fabric and instructions and you can choose a backing fabric from the Imaginary Flowers range. Yippee.

If you would like to buy Kate's Patterns wholesale to sell through your shop or even run a workshop with them you can contact Kate here through her website. And make sure you have a read through her inspiring blog. I sure will. :)

A new project is always inspiring don't you think?

I have been spending a lot of time in my head, creating, drawing, designing. I am still very much in the Bali mode without the warm weather. That calm feeling I had on holiday is still close by, which is so nice.

I've been reading blogs on fashion, shoes, interiors, even bags as I've been researching the colour blue in its varying hues and shades. There are a few images below, with thanks to Bernard, Inside Out Elle, Ermie and—always an inspiration—Matisse. 

You can see my pinterest board here if you fancy.

I've even felt a bit blue and reflective lately. But I'm grateful for a lot of things in my life and the designs are slowly being made tangible. They are indeed blue. No lazying around for me. That is for sure. My my, I am inspired.

Yesterday NSW teachers had an industrial dispute, I thought I would take Sequoia in to see the action, we recognized teachers while we were sitting on the Ferry, then saw them on the street. I would love to see schools improve, a designated art/craft room for a start, a music room and I would love to see schools with gardens, all of which were part of my education in the 80's.

The funding just isn't there. It's sad! School is not as fun as I remember it. I sit in the class room weekly to help the teacher who is awesome but I can't help wonder how school became so uninspiring. I leave my daughter in tears, while I used to skip with joy to school. Funding would surely help?

As a surprise I wanted to show her the David Jones Spring flowers in the windows and on the ground floor. She loved them and wandered through the huge bouquets with utter joy.  Saying "come on Mum look at this, this is amazing"! And it was.

I just loved this bunch. The colours are just my colours.

These are the loveliest Banksias, they were in the windows so you can sort of see a bit of me reflected. There were so many people gazing it was hard to get a moment with this bunch.

Have you seen the Spring Flowers? Do you have an Art or Music room in your school?

Cass Ward commented on 09-Sep-2011 09:32 PM

We are lucky at our school the kids do music once a week with s dedicated music teacher. They do lots of art in the classes. They also have band from year 3. Schools definitely need more funding though

Frockfarie commented on 10-Sep-2011 10:23 AM

My daughter has just moved schools and is now going to a P-12 school so we are lucky it has all the facilities that you see in a secondary school but they are available to the primary students as well. Music rooms, art studios, theatre, kitchen gardens,
everything you could want. She does dancing, cooking, gardening, violin, class Orchestra, Chinese, movement program, craft and then all the regular stuff. We have to travel across town (about 20 - 30mins) for her to go there but it is so worth it. While I
think funding is part of the problem a big part of the problem is this push to 'get results' rather than creating a love and wonder for learning. If teachers have to make their students perform well on national test then the more inspiring part of teaching
and learning takes a back seat. In Victoria the government has just cut funding for VCAL in secondary schools which will see the less academic students either struggling in VCE or leaving school all together. I think the only way things will change is if parents
start speaking up and demanding change. I am so lucky that my daughter is getting the education she is and that she has a wonderful inspiring teacher.

Rhonda Galloway commented on 10-Sep-2011 07:46 PM

My Grand-daughters school has a garden, they have flowers and grow vegies for the Canteen and the students all get to help out in the area - it is really lovely to see. Old cutlery is strung across the garden to keep the birds at bay and I have yet to
find out how they keep the possums out during the night.

Kirstin Bokor commented on 13-Sep-2011 12:56 PM

Oh Rhonda, if you find the possum answer let me know. Great pictures Saffron, and you are so spot on about education - every child deserves to access fair, excellent and inspiring education. An education system that prioritises the wealthy at the expense
of everyone else can change a society in just one generation. What a frightening thought. Anyway, what a great thing to do with your daughter, I feel like popping out now myself.