therapeutic sewing...

I've been absent from blogland for a while now and of course it's all to do with ink & spindle...which is coming along great :)
It's a lot of hard work, but it's oh so worth it. Our floor looks just stunning and with that done, we're onto the horrid blue window sills and doors. We'll be painting them a beautiful green (we've already done one door).

Coming home after many exhausting days and nights of DIY has left me with little energy to do anything else, so it has been very quiet on the design side of things. I've managed to do some sewing...therapeutic sewing so to speak. I just love sitting in front of the tv making things...at my pace that is.



I made some fabric baskets of the new fabric that arrived last week...my last ever run of floating :( The colours I've printed are a beautiful warm red, a sand and a black on creamy linen. I haven't had the time to take any photos of it yet as it's always dark when I get home from work and DIY but I'm planning to take some pictures this weekend.



Till then...take care and keep an eye on the ink & spindle blog...that's where I seem to be spending lots of time now ;)

stocked up...

The shop has been stocked with hottie covers and scarves...

the big reveal...

After keeping my lips tightly sealed for months, I am very excited to finally share what the three of us (Lara, Tegan & I) have been working on.



It all started in April, when I talked to Tegan (my neighbour and a high school arts teacher) about setting up a screen printing studio. Lara and I had talked about it many times before...we've always dreamed about being able to have full control over the printing process. Mixing our own colours, printing quantities we want, experiment with multiple colours and multiple screens. They were just dreams then...

Both Lara and I found it extremely hard to find a screen printer who prints by the metre on a larger scale, but still not too large, and although we are quite happy with our printer we had a desire for more...and from the many enquiries we know we were not the only ones.

Soon after that chat in April we all met and Ink & Spindle was born...



Ink & Spindle will offer screen printing by the metre to Australian pattern designers and everyone who's interested in having their own designs printed on textiles. So for all of you who have always wanted to print their own fabric…we will be able to do it for you.

We aim to be a studio that focuses on customers needs and we want to constantly improve our services by listening to and acting on your feedback. Our first step will be a website that makes it easy for you to order and design your fabric…



The hunt for properties was fun. Lara and Tegan found our lovely Kensington studio, set in the old Younghusband wool store building, while I was overseas. On my return I visited the space and loved it...it's so cosy. We signed the lease only weeks ago and are very busy to make the space ours.

We're inviting you to follow us on our journey and hope you'll enjoy it as much as we do.

Melbourne Design Market...

The lovely Bamakko stall @ the Melbourne Design Market









Thanks everyone for visiting!

If you saw one of my products at the market and somehow missed out...check my shop for stock...or drop me an email at info[at]hollabee[dot]com and I might be able to custom make it for you!

new goodies...

available in my shop now...


white floating reversible bag


icy blue swirl reversible bag


chocolate autumn leaves pencil case


orange clay bricks pencil case

pencil cases...

Wow, it's been a very hectic and busy week. I've been sewing for the last two weeks to get everything ready for the Melbourne Design market, which is on this Sunday. And just as I thought that I'd have some quiet time, the orders are coming in again. I really shouldn't complain because this is what I love doing. Even though I'm working part-time now, it is still a juggle getting everything organised and ready but I'm getting there.

I came up with a personal theme for the Design market as I wanted to do something 'different' and because it is winter I have been sewing warm and snuggly things such as hot water bottle covers and scarves. I hope people will like them.
Both Marcel & I sleep with hot water bottles because electric blankets are expensive to buy and to run. Our hotties only take 1 litre of water each per day and we recycle the water in the morning. We don't have a garden so we figured out that we could also recycle water by keeping it in a bucket and fill up the toilet to flush it. I reckon it works because our water bills are always super low. Of course this is not the only thing we do to save water, but I just wanted to justify using hot water bottles vs. electric blankets. I really love my hot water bottle...it's always so cold in our bedroom because there is no heater :(

Here's a picture of what I've been doing the last two days...for a wholesale order.



I might sew some more and put them in my etsy shop.

shop update...

I just updated the shop with some mini packs and mix packs. Enjoy!


white and chocolate floating


rusty red and icy blue floating


olive autumn leaves

Sydney shopping...

We're back from Sydney and although I promised to take pictures...I didn't take that many. We went shopping on Thursday to buy Marcel's brother a birthday present, so I only saw Bondi Junction on that day. They have some lovely shops there. We visited:


Miljo


Papaya

and lost my way.

On Friday we went to the city to meet Marcel's friends for lunch and in the afternoon we made a quick visit the Camper store in Chatswood. Yay, I got myself a pair of Camper boots at a bargain price (50% off). In the evening we went to a fancy restaurant for a birthday.

Then on Saturday we went to Publisher Textiles, which was absolutely like going to heaven. I got to see their printing studio and amazing shop which is full of their fabrics, wallpaper and products such as cushions and lampshades. I also went to the bird textile store and David met Nicole...this was the best day of the weekend...amazing!

off to Sydney...

We're off to Sydney for a few days...back on Saturday.

Looking forward to:

- the better weather (just add a few degrees)
- a walk along the beach
- visiting nice shops
- visiting a screen printer
- spending time with Marcel's family (anyone need a photographer?)
- eating yummie food
- taking pictures

...and some exciting news as well...

- my fabric is now available on Moose
- my mini tote tutorial can be found on the Living Creatively website

because I promised...

Yesterday I said I'd be back with more sewing pictures...here they are...warm winter scarves.





I bought this beautiful pink wool from the remnant bin at Darn Cheap fabrics and I've been waiting to use it for a special project. Well, even though scarves aren't all that special they're definitely cosy and warm. Perfect for Melbourne's winter weather.

The dusty pink and lavender work really well for these scarves I think. I'm not really a person that wears dusty pink or lavender because my skin is too pale, but I think they'd be really nice for little girls.

and of course...I'll be back with more pictures later...more sewing to finish.

Melbourne Design Festival...

I'm still sewing for the Melbourne Design Market...



The Melbourne International Design Festival will be on from the 17th till the 27th of July and the Design Market is a part of it. Together with some other very talented Melburnians I will be participating in the Bamakko stall - Thanks Ben! I've never been to the festival and am very excited to be part of it.

Come check out the Bamakko stall on the 20th of July. Hope to see you there!

Back to sewing...I still have a lot to sew...more pics tomorrow when the light is back ;)

Dutch twist...

I've been tagged by Pina to do a random meme with a Dutch twist. I wasn't quite sure what I had to do...but it says random...so I'm posting a list of the things I miss. I love my life in Australia, but there are a few things from Holland that I miss.


1. Automatiek (frikandel, kroket, kaassouflé, hamburger, kipcorn, loempia), 2. Stokstraat, Maastricht, The Netherlands, 3. Lambs, 4. Marco & Ali B., 5. Frozen Fountain, 6. Fietsen aan de Amsterdamse gracht, 7. Kreta 4, 8. Winter fun in Holland., 9. 2 presents, 10. coffee & the city, 11. HEMA, 12. Schuilen voor de regen

1. Frikandel (which you can get 'from the wall')
2. Pretty cities (such as Maastricht, Den Bosch, Nijmegen, Arnhem, Amsterdam)
3. Green (like grass)
4. Music
5. Design
6. Bikes
7. Everything is so close...Europe
8. Snow & Ice skating
9. The language
10. Cheap holidays (to Greece, Spain, France, Italy)
11. HEMA
12. Rain (ok, just because we really need it here)

I'd now like to tag Irene @ Bloesem, Nina @ Nina in vorm and Tiel @ tsk tsk.