Very, Very Dangerous...

Have you seen what Spoonflower have gone and done? Make your own wallpaper and decals - removable wallpaper that is! Removable, just think of all those people in rented accommodation that have no say on the vile 70's brown flowery wallpaper that classes with the purple carpet (ahem, drudging up memories of my student digs there!)

Image: Spoonflower

I can't wait to try this out, I went to bed with my brain buzzing last night but I really don't have the time this week to start this must-do-right-now project!

unless....I quit sleeping and eating.....

New Skills Festival - designing fabric with Monda

I first stumbled across Monda's blog a long time ago when following a link for monster softies and ended up staying, it has been great watching her grow as it were and delve more seriously into the world of surface design, today Monda is going to take us through the process from sketch through to fabric printed at Spoonflower.

Creating a design for fabric by Monda 

In this post I'm going to walk you through a very basic version of the design process used in creating a simple surface pattern design, which can then be printed onto fabric.

Every design I create starts out as a pencil sketch in my sketch book. I usually have a idea in my head of what I want to create, but having reference material is also crucial to the process.

The design above is based on a drawing of a dried poppy seed head which I collected from my garden. I also cross referenced this with images of poppy seed heads which I found on the internet.

Once I have enough sketches, I then pick the ones that I think might work well in a pattern and I draw them digitally in illustrator.

At this stage, I also chose the colours for my designs. Once I'm happy with my digital drawings I lay them out and duplicate them to form a pattern. There can be lots of moving around of different elements within the design at this stage, but that's the beauty of digital design - it really gives a lot of flexibility and scope for creating multiple design layouts, until you find one that works well for you. I've chosen to go for a simple linear design. It's important to think about spacing and how the design might look when it repeats. You'll see that this design is currently in a square format, so imagine what it would look like if you placed another identical design next to the original one.

Once the design is complete it is then ready to be printed onto a fabric. There are various printers out there who print onto fabrics but I can definitely recommend www.spoonflower.com Spoonflower is a US website which can be used by anyone who wants to create (and sell) their own designs on fabric - no minimum yardage is required, so you can order swatches, fat quarters or yards of your design onto various different fabrics. I've uploaded my fabric design to spoonflower so all I need to do now is buy a swatch and wait for delivery:

Spoonflower is not only great for printing your own designs. You can also purchase fabric by other designers too, and unlike many fabric shops and stores, you can choose the fabric you'd like to have the design printed onto. Quilting weight cotton, Jersey cotton, Canvas/Linen cotton, and Silk are just a few of the options available.

You can check out Monda's Spoonflower designs here (and mine are here) and she also has an Etsy shop selling all kinds of monstery goodness.

A new hat...

Tomorrow is Ebi-kun's yochien matsuri day, all the kids carry a portable shrine through the streets, well last year it was really hot and I got sun-stroke (being a fair skinned summer wuss that I am) so I decided a bigger, floppier hat would be required this year. I drafted a pattern following Cal's instructions here, the first was waaay to long, the second too bulbous, the third I thought was OK but then turned out a wee bit big, it is OK if I have my hair tied up! I used the ice-cream flowers fabric I printed on Spoonflower for one side...

The other side I decided to go for something a bit more grown-up and used this lovely ink and spindle fabric.

My initial plan was to use two of the summer lovin' fabrics from my collection but the quilting weight cotton wasn't really stiff enough, I could have used interfacing but decided to go with the ink and spindle fabric instead since it has a bit of extra weight. Hopefully it won't be too hot tomorrow when I give the hat it's first test run!

If you would like any of the summer lovin' fabric it is available here. 

Ice-cream flowers, green dots

beach huts, teeny beach balls

An interview with a new fabric designer...

I noticed that Spoonflower were having a design comp for kids under 12 so I told Ebi-kun and asked him if he was interested in designing something. Of course he was and off he went. When he finished I asked him a few questions about his design.

Jo: So, Ebi-kun what is the theme for your fabric design?

Ebi-Kun : Dinosaurs, I thought about robots too but dinosaurs are cooler.

Jo: Can you tell me about your design?

Ebi-Kun: All the boys in my class like T-rex the best but I like saichania because he has armour and a cool tail and if he had a fight with T-rex he would win. Unless a meteorite fell down then they would both die. When saichania lived there were lots of volcanoes so I drew lots of red dots for exploding lava, the green is for leaves and plants, saichania was a herbivore.

Jo: Very inspiring, if people buy your fabric, what do you think would be good to make with it?

Ebi-kun: I would make a bag, that would be very cool and now it is getting very hot so shorts would be good too and a nice sun hat.

Jo: Thank you for your time, do you have anything else to add for the blog readers?

Ebi-kun: Vote for me pleeeeaaaaaaasssssssseeeeee *collapsed into a a fit of giggles*

If you would like to vote for Ebi-kun's fabric click HERE. About 8 designs are shown per page, when you click on the design you like it will have a green box around it, at the bottom of the page click through to the next page until you get to the end, the final page will tell you which fabrics you voted for. The rules for this competition is that the image is hand drawn then scanned and has minimal adult intervention, I could have had a field day 'improving' Ebi-kun's design but we stuck to the rules and other than scaling it to make it into a repeat I didn't do anything else to it.

Shhh don't tell anyone but I ordered some fabric so I can make him something for his birthday, it's a secret.

New hat

finally the sun has started to make an appearance and I realised that Ebi-kun needed a new sun hat so I whipped up a simple bucket hat. One side I used the last bit of this great blue and white fabric, we both love this fabric and of course I am kicking myself for not buying more at the time!

On the other side I used some of the knight fabric, Ebi-kun has got to that stage where you can only get a decent photo is he doesn't realise you have a camera in your hand, this is the reaction to 'give me a smile'!

Do you have a minute?

This is my latest fabric design for Spoonflower and I entered it into this weeks contest, so if you have a spare minute would you mind voting for me?

You need to click on THIS link, it will take you to the contest page just above the list of entries is a link that says VOTE FOR ICE CREAM FABRICS click that, scroll through the fabrics, when you see the one above, click on the image, it will get a green box around it, go to the bottom of the page and click through t the next page, you have to go through all the pages to get to the end, when you have finished it will tell you which fabrics you voted for. The images are put up at random so you never know which page it will appear on.

There are a lot of entries this week!

I have already been asked, the fabric will be for sale soon, I am just working on some complimentary prints to go with it, I'll let you know when they are done.

Thank you xxx

April Challenge projects 17 and 18

Ebi-kun has homework this year and so he needs a bag for his homework book, surprise!

I made him a pencil case to go with it too, I'm not sure if he needs one but he has got one anyway.

 I lined it with the stripy fabric, I really like the pencil case done with the jousting print, if you want any of this fabric it is some that I designed and you can buy it here.

Pants in brown

Quick arm update - just got back from the doctor and he has to keep in in the cast for another week - Booo.

Sunday we went to Saitama Children's Zoo, which we are big fans of, they have added some new exhibits since last time we went including a capybara onsen! No photo's I am afraid, they weren't in the onsen when we got there. It did give me chance to take some photos on the new pants.

Remember the Full Pocket pants from the Spoonflower comp, well, you can now get them in brown and orange, Ebi-kun says that he likes the brown ones more than the blue! I was quite difficult trying to get a decent shot without his sling in view! I think we might have to try again once his arm is better.

So, if you want to get a pair, you can order them HERE and there is a tutorial HERE the instructions are also printed on the fabric.

Random shot of a dinosaur going for a walk.

Just a reminder, all boys fabric in the shop is on sale and there is still time to sign up for the fabric swap.

A Special Gift

Looking at the blog it doesn't look like there has been much in the way of crafting going on but that is because I have been sewing presents and couldn't show you until they had been received.

This one, has to be one of my favourite projects yet! As soon as I found out my best friend was going to have a baby I have ben planning this one but I had to wait until Baby Coke was born before I could actually get cracking on it.

I wanted it to be practical but also a keepsake and so it needed to be personalised, I wanted it to be something he could use as a baby and then something he could use as he got older and I also wanted it to be practical and useful for mom and dad too. They are both designers so it had to be cool too! So, as you can imagine, it too a while to figure out exactly what it was going to be.

For the practical aspect, I made it so it would fold up and fit easily into this rather stylish, yet casual bag, easy to throw in the car when going visiting.

The play rug has batting inside to make it padded and comfy for baby Coke to lie on. The blue square is a pocket with an eye-spy toy inside and it has all his birth details printed on it, the round one is a taggy, one is sewn to the mat the other is a toy and the triangle is a flap to do peek-a-boo with and also has a matching toy with a string of elephants inside. The fabric I used for the mat is SO soft, it is like velvet, you might recognise it from this.
Then, when he gets a bit bigger, flip the mat over and you have a play scene, I personalised the road signs for a bit of fun and I had Ebi-kun test it out.
Ebi-kun loves it and wants one for himself! I designed the mat on photoshop which is a royal pain in the ... but is the only software I have and then printed it all out at Spoonflower. It all turned out far better than I expected and I hope baby Coke loves it just as much as I do :o)
If you would like to make your own, I have changed the names and the mat is available to buy now, directly from Spoonflower. If you would like a personalised mat, cross my palm with silver and I will happily do it for you.

Do you remember those cool boys pants?

The ones I designed for the Spoonflower competition just before Christmas? Well, the fabric arrived and the pants are made, Ebi-kun loves them to the point I had to bribe him to put them in the wash!

Although the fabric comes with the instructions printed on them I wanted to do a tutorial to go with it for the people, like me, who like pretty pictures to look at when following instructions.

The piece shown below is 1 yard of upholstery weight twill, I designed it specifically for this fabric since boys tend to give their pants a good beating.

Before you start you should wash and press your fabric. Use a post it note and stick one on each of the legs with the name of each piece written on it, this will save confusion later. Now cut out all the pieces, the seam allowance has been included.
Take the pocket and fold the top over 1/4", press then repeat so the raw edge is hidden. Hem the top then fold over the other three sides 1/4" and press. Repeat for all the pockets.
Place leg piece 1 and leg piece 4 on top of each other, right sides together, make sure the pocket patches are aligned. Pin, then with a straight stitch sew along the edge with 5/8" allowance.
Go over the seam again with an overlock stitch or zig-zag. Repeat with the other leg pieces.
Place the pockets over the patches, the two smaller ones are for the back pockets, the larger ones for the side. Pin in place then stitch, leave the top open! Lay the two pieces right sides together, pin the curved edges together.
Sew along the seams with 5/8" allowance and then over lock the seam.
Pull the outside leg seam open and then lay the fabric flat, they should be looking more like a pair of pants now.
Pin along the inside legs.
Follow the red line, start about 3 inches from the crotch, sew up and down the other leg. Then repeat but from the other direction, the green line. This will give the crotch area extra strength.
Fold the top edge over 1/4" and press, fold again just over an inch, press then stitch all the way around to make casing for the elastic, remember to leave a small gap for threading your elastic through. I personally prefer to leave the gap open in case I need to adjust the elastic at a later date but you can always sew it up if you prefer.
Turn and press then try them on the lucky boy who is going to get them as a new addition to his wardrobe, check the length and hem the bottom of the legs. Give them to the small boy then figure out a bribe so you can get them off him again!
I decided the back pockets were a bit too big, so they have been resized otherwise the pants will look just like this!
According to my wee tester the side pockets are the perfect size.
If you want to order the fabric to make your own, it is available here, direct from Spoonflower. The pants are for a 4-5 year old, 110cm. I do plan to try and resize them but it might take me a while to figure out how to do it.

You can also use this tutorial to make a plain pair of pants, find a pair of pants that you child likes, lay them flat on a piece of paper, draw round one leg with 5/8 added for the side seams and 2" on the top and 2" on the bottom, this will be your pattern piece. It will be rough and you might have to tinker with it a bit but should work well for easy joggers etc.

Last Chance....

To get your vote in, voting closes today (22nd), so if you haven't voted yet and you are full of Christmas cheer and good will then pop over and vote for my fun, cool and stylish boys pants, the coolest kids pants on the block!

If you get a 'you already voted' message but you haven't, try a different browser.

For those who have voted, thank you again for your support, I promise this is the last voting post!

It's my birthday....a favour....and a giveaway....

Yes, it is true, I am one year older and one year closer to the that big 40 EEk! Now, a few weeks back Spoonflower announced that an up-coming contest was to design an item of kids clothing which only used 1 yard of fabric and included sewing instructions, when I saw it, I though great, the push I needed to get some of those hair-brained ideas made into real clothes. For those who don't know, Spoonflower is a company that allows you to upload your designs and print them onto fabric, I have used their services several times and have been very impressed, in fact that is where the Organic Space Cadets get printed.

So, with no further ado, this is my design...

It is for a pair of boys (or tomboy like girls) pants, and we all know how much boys like to keep very important things in their pockets, screwdrivers, pens, bolts, pieces of string, emergency chocolate, all essential items, just ask Macgyver or The A-Team. These pants have all the essentials already in the pockets plus the pocket patches have a walkie-talkie, turbo boost and hyper power controls, seriously, what more could a boy want? They are super easy to make and the instructions are printed on the fabric.

Although I have ordered the fabric, it hasn't arrived yet, but here are the photos of the proto-type pattern, I used denim and some space cadets for the patches on the pockets....
They are so easy to sew, three seams then hem the waist, insert the elastic and hem the legs and you are done! Ebi-kun says they are very comfortable, he doesn't like jeans, he says that they are too hard so I wasn't sure he would want to wear these but he does actually love them
The pattern entered is for age 4-5 years (110cm) but I think I will be able to scale it down for smaller kids. So.......the birthday favour... please vote for me! It is simple, just pop over, via here and click on the cool boys pants (which ever patterns you click on will have a green box around them and remember to click on the final button at the bottom of the list). It isn't hard to miss mine since all the other designs are very much cutesy-pretty-girlie-girlie. Which is fine but boys get such a raw deal. Just think about when you go to a kids clothes store, usually 75% of the store is made up of pretty and cute girls clothes and then there is one corner with the same-ole same-ole boys stuff, think diggers, dino's and camouflage print *yawn* Boys need cool clothes too!

I was feeling pretty good about the design until I saw all the other entries, I was expecting lots of girlie designs but I didn't expect to be the only boys design, I would like there to be more cool things for boys but I suddenly felt disheartened and having serious second thoughts - what was I thinking? It is too late now for me too pull out!

So, please, (I am not below begging) vote for me! and IF I win, I will pick a random winner and make them a pair of the pants or something more suitable if they don't have kids or whatever. When you vote, let me know, one way or the other, leaving a comment here, twitter DM, a FB message, email (jojoebi.designs at gmail dot com), carrier pigeon etc. and I will put your name in the hat. To up the chance of their being a giveaway, get all your friends, family, neighbours and any random people you might bump into to vote too.

Does this sound like a plea of a desperate woman? I don't care, I have more things to worry about, like turning 40 next year! Is that a grey hair......?