Iramoo day 1
It was a brilliantly sunny autumn Melbourne day and I packed up some kids, a picnic lunch and some weaving materials and hit the road south. It’s a short half hour trip from our place to Iramoo and most of that is spent on the Princes Freeway. So aside from the odd crazy van wielding driver, it’s quite the nice drive. My drive coincides with the 3RRR Smart Arts show which is a most appropriate way to get me in the right space for a great days making! I was really interested to hear a review of the new Miso show ‘Les Lumieres’ which is on at the No Vacancy project space at Fed Square.
I was so jealous to hear that Miso and her partner and equally well known artist Ghost Patrol have a studio space in the City of Melbourne Buildings which is my absolute favourite building in Melbourne! But what I never knew is that this building is full of bees! Yip there’s a giant bee colony living within the walls of the building. There’s a guy who comes and collects the honey and sometimes the honey leaks right through the walls into their studio. Isn’t that incredible! Not surprisingly, bees and honey does inform Miso’s work. I’m hoping to get into town to see the show, sounds amazing.
I digress!
I arrived at the Wyndham EcoLiving Centre which is to be my new studio space to fins a wee welcoming committee headed by Gail Price who is the Community Strengthening Officer for the Council. After a wee look around in the centre we set up camp next to the playground outside to share some food and chat about potential project ideas. It was so nice to just sit outside and familiarise myself with the sounds and smells of the area. There was plenty of birdlife and I was surprised to see some inch ants! Gee, keep an eye on them, nasty buggers!
After lunch I was shown around my new studio space by Linda , the Centre Manager from Iramoo. It’s the basement of the EcoLiving Centre and it’s been used for lots of things over the years including a childcare centre so it’s all nicely kid friendly. Outside the studio is a lovely overgrown garden with a great seed raising area a compost and a small kids playground. I’m planning to take the chooks down so they can have a scratch around. They’ll literally have a field day!
I also got to hear about Shoestring Gardens who work to transform local residential gardens into food bearing gardens. Right up my alley obviously! I’m looking forward to working with them to introduce creative aspects into the various garden design projects they’ll be doing while I’m around.
There was a fortuitous moment of good timing with the decision to start that day. There’s a local quilting group that meets weekly in each others homes and this week, it was the turn of a woman Rae who lives just across the street! So I popped over and said hi and gave her a quick run down of what I’m up to. And got a short history of her group and what they get up to. I’ve promised to keep her in the loop with my activities and I look forward to meeting the group properly sometime soon.
Then it was time to pack up the car and go on a bit more of an explore. Part of Wyndham Vale is the Manor Lakes development (Dennis Family) and I was keen to check it out. Wyndham Vale is such a diverse suburb and it literally feels like driving into a different town when you cross some major roads. So heading into Manor Lakes was a real eye opener. In contrast to the modest dwellings surrounding the community centre and in the new developments to the west, Manor Lakes is where the BIG houses are. The difference in architecture and landscape design was immediately obvious. And I could understand where some community tensions would arise from. One thing that was glaringly obvious was the lack of sustainability measures. Despite an obvious high level of wealth by residents I saw no solar panels or water tanks, no sign of vegetable gardens or fruit trees and the vehicles I saw were very large. I really hope I can find some workshop participants out of this part of town.
I don’t know about you but whenever I pass through new subdivisions on the edge of cities, I always feel like I’m cruising through Lyon Estates in Back to the Future. The edges of Wyndham Vale do feel a lot like it, there’s just really beautiful grasslands where the houses haven’t taken over yet.
So finally, I’m getting psyched up to start proper next week. The studio space will be ready by then so I can start moving some stuff in. And I’ve been making some excellent contacts at the council about tapping into different resources. I’m planning on making this a resource positive residency so I’ll be using mostly found materials from around the local environment, the tip shop and I’m starting to connect in with local businesses that might have offcuts I’ll be able to use. And that’s what I’ll be spending next week doing. If any readers know any local businesses that might be good to make contact with please let me know.
Til then, don’t forget to tell any of your Wyndham Vale/Werribee and surrounds friends what I’m up to so they can keep in the loop with upcoming workshops and public crafting events.
See you next week!
Iramoo!
Tomorrow is the first day of my exciting new adventure, a three month artist residency at the Iramoo Community Centre in Wyndham Vale. For those of you not terribly familiar with Wyndham Vale it’s right next to Werribee on Melbourne’s South-Western most border. In fact the community centre looks right out over some classic western basalt plains.
It’s an interesting little suburb. Some parts old and some parts new, both in houses and in people. It’s a quiet wee spot but has a really interesting and engaged little community. It’s very much like my suburb. One of those spots surrounded in busy bustlingness so often gets overlooked and as a result has a little village feel.
For my residency I’m going to be based in the local environment centre which is tucked away in a quiet street overlooking the delightfully tranquil Lollipop Creek. I’m going to be up to all sorts of lovely mischief involving different groups within the community and using all sorts of materials from local natural materials through to industrial offcuts from local businesses. And whatever else I stumble across along the way.
Alongside the environment centre is a giant heavily laden apple tree. So to kick start the residency I’m going to host a apple sauce making day with locals and anyone else interested in coming. Details about that soon.
In the meantime, I’d love to ear if any of my readers are out that way. Or if you know anyone who lives nearby who’d be interested in some craft workshops or just plain ol play time, please pass this on. I’ll be sending out email newsletters about this project so if you want to be on it, drop me a line.
Bra Bug Gardens – the tutorial you’ve all been waiting for!
Our household just held a massive cleanse. We decided we just had FAR TOO MUCH STUFF! So we’ve been through every cupboard, drawer and shelf cleansing out the excess stuff. The pile is immense and I’m very much looking forward to our Garage Sale this weekend to help raise funds for the Christchurch Women’s Refuge. I’m also donating 100% of pattern sales, so please pop over to the shop and pick one up.
But there’s some stuff you can’t sell too easily. And I’ve managed to filter a whole big bag of old knickers socks and bras out of the drawer (which I can now close! hurrah!). Rather than biff them in the bin, since textile production is one of the most wasteful industries on the planet, I’ve been seeking out ideas for reusing.
I’ve also set myself a wee mission this year to see how many different ways I can come up with the grow plants on fences. Long time readers will know I’m not the worlds biggest fence fan. But while it’s not possible to completely do away with them, I’m interested in finding ways to make the ones we have to have more functional. Canvases and gardens have been my two areas of experimentation.
So with that in mind I had a cheeky yet cunning idea to reuse my old bras. I’ve recently finished breastfeeding and I’m certainly not planning on doing that again so I’ve got a heap of maternity bras. They’re pretty solid so I thought they might make awesome plant pots!
PRESENTING: Possibly the worlds first Bra Bug fence pot tutorial!!
Materials:
old bras
scissors
needle and thread
stuff to decorate with (buttons, glitter, embroidery thread etc)
dirt
sand
little plants – succulent cuttings are ideal
STEP ONE
Grab a big pile of bras
STEP TWO
Cut off the back strap and shoulder straps
STEP THREE
Decorate!! There is absolutely no instruction here. Go nuts. Make your bras whatever you can possibly imagine them to be. I made bugs because these were heading for the fence at our community garden where our Permaculture Playgroup is held. Each week we have a theme and bugs was it this week.
Don’t laugh at my dorky bugs!
STEP FOUR
Fence time! This is of course the most fun bit. Find yourself a chain link fence and slip one half of the bra through and fold it back on itself so the two cups are joined. Then stitch along the side and the bottom so it holds together. You can stitch however you like just try not to leave gaps or the dirt will just fall through.
TIP 1: Use a fat long needle. It’s quite tricky pushing the needle through since the fabric is usually quite thick. Especially if you have a padded bra.
TIP 2: Get a friend to help with this bit and have a person on each side. It’s a wee bit tricky to push the needle through from the opposite side of the fence you’re standing on. It’s possible but annoying. Also, it’s more fun making stuff with friends 
STEP FIVE:
Gardening time! Fill your bug up with dirt and then plant. I was planting succulents and put 3/4 dirt and 1/4 sand so it looked pretty.
TIP: when you’re putting in the first bit of dirt make sure you stuff it in to fill the cups out, especially if you aren’t using padded bras. It’ll help it hold its shape.
And that’s it!
These ones were very much an experiment and I am quite sure I will perfect the art of upcycling old bras into spectacular mini fence gardens and I’ll try and update this post with any great lessons learned. In the meantime, have a go! I for one think the world is finally ready for the next great thing in organic, sustainable street art.
xox
Permablitz! part 2 – how does your garden grow?
Now following on from my previous post about our permablitz…
Four weeks and buckets of rain and sunshine later, our garden has completely transformed!
Firstly and most importantly, presenting our fabulous new chickens! This is Susan.
And this is Patti (who refuses to sit still for a photo..)
They’re both very happy hens and were laying less than 12 hours after moving in. We are loving the fresh eggs! Needless to say, Tara is pretty stoked about her new friends, or as she calls them ‘our two mums’.
Post blitz, we’ve done quite a bit of work to their space. We had to move the house and construct a chook fence to keep them away from our neighbours (bless them..). And we’ve put in the beginnings of an orchard.
Their wee garden is coming along nicely!
I’ve started stitching on the fence – the ladies approve! Hoping to do more on it over the summer.
And the rest of the garden is coming along amazingly
our new garden beds are going crazy, and as you can see we’ll be harvesting out of them very soon
We’ve had our first potato harvest and they were super yummy. Even made some potato bread. It was so delicious there wasn’t even time to take a photo of it…
Everything is growing so green and luscious. We’ve been eating fresh spinach every day and the tomatoes, beans and capsicums are all flowering and starting to produce fruit. There’s some seriously awesome salads coming up.
So finally we have a wonderful kitchen garden and outdoor dining area. We had our first proper test drive this week when some of our good friends came over for a BBQ
And everyone approves!
Finally – and I’m not even showing you everything, there is SO MUCH going on in our garden – I made a little hanging strawberry garden out of some old formula tins and some jute string.
Plant pots are a great way to reuse formula tins. Just whack some spraypaint on the sides to cover the ugliness and away you go. Hanging them is a great way to fill up underutilised spaces. They’re the perfect size for strawberries. Can’t wait til these babies take off!
So our medium sized Melbourne block is currently growing: potatoes, garlic, countless varieties of tomato, chillies, capsicums, spinach, zucchini, beans, eggplants, carrots, spring onions, kale, strawberries, chives, rosemary, basil, lemon thyme, sage, pineapple sage, oregano, cress, lemon balm, parsley, chamomile, liquorice, comfrey, figs, plums, lemons and nectarines. Plus of course the chickens. And we have HEAPS more space to use. And we probably spend about 5-10 hours a week pottering around attending to weeding, pruning, staking, harvesting etc.
The increased value of our quality of life? Priceless.
Permablitz!
So a few months back we attended our first Permablitz at our friends’ house. A Permablitz is basically a backyard blitz with a permaculture design. And we had such an amazing time! So wonderful to join in with a bunch of awesome people to descend on someone’s house and transform their space into a highly functional, productive working garden. Not only did we get to meet heaps of interesting people, we got to learn a lot too.
Watching our friends’ garden grow since has been so exciting to watch so when we were offered the opportunity to have our own garden blitzed, we couldn’t be more thrilled!
As readers and friends will know, 2010 has not been the easiest for us. So we couldn’t have been happier to learn something amazingly GOOD was going to happen to us!
We had the amazing design help of Angela, Amanda and Mara, who worked with us to come up with a great plan to transform our garden. And one slightly boggy Sunday in November about 50 people rocked up to our place and made our dreams a reality. We had a pretty strict policy of buying as little new stuff as possible. In the end the new stuff we bought was dirt, sand, gravel, some chicken wire, screws, nails and a gate latch. Everything else was dug out of our shed, brought by people on the day or scavenged from around our neighbourhood. I’ll let the pictures tell the story.
BEFORE:
DURING
Pre-gardening stretches led by the awesome Lex. Coupled with the chi kung session after lunch, we cemented our role as the neighbourhood freaks
SERIOUS mud. We had a clear day but we’d had a months rain the day before and this area was already pretty thick with clay. MASSIVE respect to the people who worked on this area!
Chook house construction. Utilising our old outdoor table, a few wooden pallets and an old cabinet unit.
Garden bed construction, featuring the old top of the outdoor table.
Planting! It’s always the highlight of a blitz, putting in the seedlings everyone brought at the end of the day.
Halfway through the morning we decided that since we had such an awesome turnout we’d do the nature strip too. Fully planted out with indigenous grasses, small shrubs and ground covers.
And at the end of the day, everyone was EXHAUSTED!!
AFTER
My favourite recycled material was the inside of an old screen door. We knocked it out of the frame, turned it sideways and attached it to the side of our courtyard frame. Perfect climbing frame for our happy wanderer!
Arguably the world’s coolest chook house!
Little window sill gardens for the chooks, drip watered from the chook house roof. Now planted out with marigolds, cress and strawberries.
And arguably the worlds first pallet chook gate with a nice mesh on the actual gate – a perfect cross stitch canvas! I’ve already stitched a small heart on it and planning a lot more. I’ve also planted beans on the right side to grow up the timber. And I just noticed the first one has sprouted today!
Well I reckon that’s enough pictures for one post. The blitz was just over a month ago and the place has grown so much. I’ll do another post with updated photos so you can see the transformation. EDIT: it’s here.
But before I wind this one up I just want to say how amazing the permablitz community is. The Melbourne Permablitz organisation just had it’s 100th blitz (we were #98). So that means 100 gardens at peoples houses, community centres and gardens and school gardens have been transformed into food producing spaces all thanks to the voluntary hard work of people who truly believe it is possible to turn this world around if we just roll up our sleeves and just bloody get on with it. And no one got paid, and everyone had yummy food and great times and learnt lots and met new people.
And if that’s not revolutionary then I just bloody don’t know what is.
Our biggest love, thanks and eternal gratitude to everyone who turned up and mucked in. Can’t wait to repay the favour at your house!
Craft Cartel takes on Sydney
Image: Cecilie Knowles
Yep still catching up on blog posts..
A few weeks ago the Craft Cartel cruised up to Object Gallery in Sydney for We Craft This City.
And we had a riot!
The opening was delicious with a lovely turnout of people on a sunny Saturday morning. Might have had something to do with the champagne and yummy treats from the Frankie books on hand. Thanks so much to all the wonderful people who made the treats, seriously nom!
The highlight of the day was the workshops. Sadly I missed the first one as I had to sneak out for some breakfast. The second workshop was the Craft Cartel one and we initiated the locals into the joys of handmade ammunition. It was such fun. I just adored the intense looks of concentration as everyone negotiated the wool, hooks and loo paper rolls.
The next workshop was the Knitty, Gritty, Loopy plarning workshop. As a recent crochet convert I was pretty keen to get into this one and had fun making my own little crochet bowl. And I must confess to a couple of little sneaky goes since I’ve got back. It’s addictive!
And of course we had a bunch of stuff exhibited in the gallery. The Craft Cartel had a stockpile of knitted and crocheted ammunition.
And Casey and Ann had their rad embroideries
And I had the Sampler, the Oh Sorry, Was that your Land? piece, the QR code time series (which I still haven’t really blogged about properly, but you can get the feel for the project by reading these posts) and a new piece, Make Revolution
Some readers may recognise this piece as a Groundswell design. When I saw the original poster design a couple of years back I just knew I had to stitch it! It was stitched direct on linen and took me months and months (and almost my eye sight!) to complete but I’m so happy with it. I was super proud to get some great feedback about this piece during the show. Massive thanks to David Morgan for giving me permission to use the design!
After the opening day, there was a screening of Making it Handmade at the Mu Meson Archives. Wow! What an amazing venue! I highly recommend all you Sydney types out there check it out if you haven’t already. There was a full house and quite an interesting conversation took place at the end of the screening. The film is certainly provoking debate and I’m planning a Craft Cartel podcast interview with the director, Anna Brownfield real soon so we can get into some of the issues in more depth.
If you still haven’t seen the film, it is available for purchase now on DVD! Perfect present for that crafter in your life. Especially if YOU’RE that crafter in your life.
And yes, Sydney was fabulous to visit. The highlight for me was definitely checking out the Oh Alfred! fence installation at Alfred Park. I took far too many photos to post up here so check out the whole gallery on our Facebook Page (may as well Like us while you’re there 
). Do check them all out – such phenomenal work! The installation was on a temporary fence surrounding the park upgrade and was based on the community’s memories and experiences within the park. Truly stunning and overwhelmingly inspirational!!
Thanks for having us Sydney I hope to be back soon!
For the love of craft,
Rayna
Making it Handmade
I’m sorry folks, I’ve not really been quite up with the play with the blogging thing recently. But I’m trying to get better I promise! One really super important thing that I let slip was the fact that I’M IN A FILM! And so is Casey, and Gemma and Pip! And even better, Anna made it (mostly) all by herself!
Anna in Frankie Magazine
Making it Handmade is a documentary about:
A seditious and subversive subculture is gaining momentum in Melbourne. But rather than wielding megaphones and placards, they’re cross-stitching slogans on hurricane wire and constructing plush female genitalia from craft supplies.
Following four local women who’ve taken a seemingly staid past-time and injected it with a youthful, modern aesthetic, filmmaker Anna Brownfield shows a side of craft more closely aligned with punk DIY culture than with Martha Stewart and ‘home sweet home’ tapestries.
“I wanted to show that craft was no longer daggy but had moved into a new era and was being reclaimed by women who had been brought up as feminists.” – filmmaker Anna Brownfield
And it’s AWESOME! Making it Handmade just had its premiere screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival and was insanely popular. There was only one screening and it was one of the first to sell out. And there was so many people sad they missed out. But don’t fret, there are more screenings being planned as I type. There’s also plans afoot to take the film to other centres so those of you in far off places can see the awesomeness too.
After the screening there was a short panel with Anna, Casey, Pip, Gemma and myself and there was some nice interesting questions asked. I’ve had some amazing feedback from people since the screening. Friends have told me they had their horizons shifted once again and strangers have got in touch with overwhelming levels of inspiration bubbling out of them!
So were you there? What did you think? What was your favourite bit? My favourite bit was watching all the happy people making stuff and seeing my now three and a half year old looking little and cute as a one year old! It was exciting for her too. It was the first time Tara had ever been to the movies and she was in it! Not many kids can say THAT.
For more information and to keep up with future screening news check out Anna’s blog http://www.annabrownfield.blogspot.com I’ll try let you know too. But yeah, bit slack on the blogging..
xox
Love Is…
2010.
Such a futuristic sounding year isn’t it? Brings to mind images of spaceship looking cars, whiz bang robots, intergalactic councils of funny looking folk with tentacles sticking out of their cheeks. Possibly not? How bout a time where people use renewable energy, recycle and reuse materials as much as possible, public transport is quick, clean and efficient, our food is organically grown by local producers, and all peoples are free from oppression and discrimination. One would think that sounds more likely, but sadly it doesn’t seem to be the case.
The upcoming Australian elections seem to be about the least important things. Politicians looks and appearances, shady backroom dealings, gimmicks and media trickery. Anyone who saw the leaders debate will be astutely aware that vision is sorely lacking in this election and rather than striving to demonstrate who might be the better leader, both major party leaders seem to be stuck in the great race to the ideological bottom.
I’ve always been a firm believer in the politics of love. Elections should be a chance for the community to declare their aspirations, visions and ideals. Rather than spend time dwelling on what makes us afraid and angry. Our elected representatives make daily decisions on an amazing range of issues. They take the time to think about the stuff most of us would never be bothered to think about. And our lives flow so much more smoothly because behind the scenes our politicians work very hard on what can sometimes be insanely mundane matters.
When we chose who we want to represent us, it’s not just about where they stand on one or two issues. Just as important, it’s about how they see the future of our world and how they approach decision making as a skill.
Sadly I can’t vote in this election, but if I could, the main factor I would use for my decision making would be the candidates’ commitment to basic levels of social and environmental justice. This election is about far more than tax breaks and ‘border’ ‘security’. This election we need to elect a group of people adequately prepared to put aside the silly tricks and take responsibility for some true leadership. If we don’t, it’s our grandchildren we need to answer to.
What qualities do you look for in a leader?
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On that note, how frickin ridiculous is it that we still have to have conversations about legal equality? When we look for candidates who have sound decision making practice, a very easy indicator is if they believe it’s ok to withold basic legal rights based on a persons sexuality. And even more importantly, are prepared to stand up, be a leader, and help change the laws that discriminate. Sadly it seems too many of our ‘leaders’ have decided it’s politically safer to pander to fear and hate than to take the just path and stand up for what is right.
So when the gorgeous Ali got hold of me last year and said ‘hey I found some old patterns that need subverting and you’re just the person to do it’, I took one look at what she sent and knew exactly what needed to be done.
I had such a lovely time stitching what became affectionately known as ‘my boys’. And you can too. The pattern is for sale in our store and 50% of all sales will go to the equallove.info campaign. Because after all, love knows no borders, no religions, and most importantly, no discrimination.
xox
Rayna
p.s. you might notice things look a bit different round here. Yip, in the middle of redecorating. Click on one of the images in this post. See that? Clever huh? I got that going all by myself There’s more to come, keep an eye out. And please let me know if you have any feedback, I’d love to hear it.
Extreme refashioning
In other news, the Craft Cartel has been a bit blimmin busy.
Last weekend kicked off the Anti-Gentrification Festy Fest in Fitzroy. We got together with Earthsharing Australia and started talking about the crazy state of our economy and what impact it’s having on creative peoples, and young people. And we thought it was a bit mad that this boom bust system which seems to be all about property speculators totally cashing in everytime a community starts making things a bit more blimmin interesting. It seems to us that the world would be a much radder place if we could all afford to make and grow things and hang out in our communities. looking after each other more. Instead we’re all stuck working stupid hours in boring ass jobs trying to pay the rent which never seems to stop going up. And don’t even think about buying a house ’cause the baby boomers have got all the land locked up and are quite content charging younger generations whatever they can to fund their retirement.
SO
Rather than sit around bitching and moaning about it or throwing our arms up in dispair that we can’t do anything about it we thought let’s get some creative people with creative brains together to try come up with some SOLUTIONS.
The festival has started brilliantly with a giant gory craft session with the old Tote hotel carpet as our chief material. Casey donned a ballgown made out of the stuff by the stupidly talented Kathryn Jamieson and thanks to some hardcore stinky branding, festivalgoers got to take home their own Tote souvenier doormat. Also on hand was a mad fun Lagerphone making workshop.
Best of all the bar was aflush with wonderful conversations about potential models for change and plenty of stories were told about histories of creative resistance against the landed gentry.
The festival continues with an exhibition in the windows of the Workers Club with the Ballgown and other crafty carpety stinky artifacts. And finishes off on the 27th at the Workers Club with the DIE YUPPY, DIE! concert and festy fashion jam.
We’re also putting together a zine of IDEAS and THINGS YOU CAN DO to smash the property monopoly that has our beautiful creative selves captive. If you missed out submitting your idea at the Festival in the weekend, you can submit an idea via our website. And we’ll pop it in.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Also,
Craft Cartel presents:
Vogue – Bike Fashion Jam
DIY BICYCLE GEAR WORKSHOP TO KEEP THE COPS & THE FASHION POLICE HAPPY
11:00 – 13:00
Saturday 19 June 2010
Coburg Library
Cnr Victoria & Louisa Streets, Coburg
Craft Cartel, alarmed by sights of fluoro lycra clad cyclists and equally aghast at the thought of coming a cropper while partaking in our favourite form of transport, are proud to present a solution: High Viz Vogue, a DIY bike fashion workshop.
The event, which is part of the Moreland City Council Coburg Carnivale, invites members of the public to adapt helmets and other clothing bits they’d like to make roadway and catwalk friendly, or to start from scratch using supplied materials. Local designers Miss Viz will be on hand to provide guidance and there will be displays of innovative bike fashion solutions such as designer Ann Maher’s ‘biker bustle’.
The event will culminate in a fashion parade with prizes supplied by Crumpler and will be followed by a celebratory ride through Moreland to parade the new hip gear led by Sugar Spokes all female bike crew.
“We don’t think riders should have to choose between having a sore body and being an eyesore,” says Cartel co-founder Casey Jenkins, “You can look hot while you’re cycling and still keep yourself safe, we’re going to show you how.”
Free! No experience necessary! All materials supplied. Ace prizes from Crumpler to be won.
Raaaar
I’m super pleased to present the latest RCS collaboration, this time I got together with Katherine Beefheart who designs some super awesome pieces. I said ‘go on, make one for our shop!’ and awesomely, she said ‘for sure!’. So everyone, say Hi Katherine!
Helloooo,
I’m Katherine Beefheart and this is my design. I’ve been embroidering for what feels like forever, mainly for my own pleasure. But in the last few months I have been encouraged to put my stitchings out there which meant taking it a lot more seriously and consequently producing some huge pieces which have taken me months to complete. My inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere….overheard conversations, music lyrics, my beautiful family and friends, literature and my constantly twittering inner monologue. To me, there is an enormous sense of creating when many hours, days, weeks and sometimes even months go into a piece along with a sizeable chunk of my heart and soul. It’s ridiculously therapeutic for me which relates to this particular pattern. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it
You can buy the pattern in our store (AUD) or in our etsy shop (USD) and you should grab it now while it’s at our special introductory price.
