Kelly Casanova Weaving Lessons

Kelly

From the print studio..

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… aka our dining room table! But who cares if we’re printing from the table and washing equipment in the bath, the main thing is that we’re printing at last!

We have thought, talked, thought more, talked more and saved money for this for many months and it is finally a reality, we have our first screen and today we printed some fantastic looking fabric!

Husband finally gets to see his designs being used and appreciated and we begin, in a small way, to work on our dream of building something together, making, designing and maybe even one day providing an income for us outside of a “regular” job.
In the meantime we’ll continue to hone our skills until we’re really satisfied with what we’re producing, but these sure are exciting times!

Little wool felt purse tutorial

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My 6 year old and I were designing a wool felt purse for a sewing machine project and she thought it would be a lovely idea to share a simple tutorial for any other young people who would like to give it a try. The template is at the end of the post.
Oh, and I apologise in advance for my less than perfect photos, but as time is of the essence I didn’t edit šŸ™‚
Cut out your 2 pattern pieces. We used some lovely hand dyed rainbow wool felt.

Pin them together like this.

You can machine or hand sew. If you’re machine sewing make sure you have an adult there to work with you (this is a photo shot, you need to actually look at what you’re doing!)

Sew down either side and across the bottom like this.

We used a snap press to apply a snap closure (a snap press should only be used by a grown up) but you can make whatever closure you like eg. a button, velcro.

Here is another idea for your purse – a ribbon handle! Just stick the ends of the ribbon in either side like this before you sew. You could also cut your pieces of felt out with pinking shears for another pretty effect.

My 4, nearly 5 year old made one too!
Hope you enjoy this tutorial and use your purse for coins, jewellery or any other special trinkets you need a safe place for.
Template. Cut 1 of each.

Lavender

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The Lavender beret from Tikki is my second knit off the needles for this year. I’m starting to think that by the time I’m a Grandma I could be pretty decent at this (and yes, it probably will take that long!)
There are mistakes but overall I’m pretty happy with the result and once again, I’ve learned a lot.
The yarn is from Woolganics in Kundalini, it’s really lovely and I was able to get it in a swap with Zofia – thank you Zof!
Now what’s next? I’ve got my eye on this and this – knitting is very addictive!

Growing outfits

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I’m amazed how quickly the children are growing which means sewing clothes requires larger amounts of fabric! Something I love about the Antonia pattern is you can use smaller pieces of feature fabrics teamed up to make the top look really unique.
It’s an easy top to make with a number of options and with some new stripey red and white leggings you have a whole new outfit!
All fabrics from Crafty Mamas.

New redwork pattern

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A happy collaboration between my artist husband and myself.

It’s lovely to combine talents!

My talented husband creates all his artwork from hand drawing from start to finish, no computer editing. His work is really awesome, but don’t worry, you will be seeing more of it in the very near future when I reveal what we’ve been hatching all these months šŸ™‚
This pattern, along with all my other embroidery patterns is available to purchase as a PDF in my Etsy shop now. Hope you like it!

Gossamer Dreams previews tonight

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So, you’re probably wonder when I’m going to stop talking about Gossamer Dreams, the answer is very soon as the previewing is tonight and it opens tomorrow night.

The previewing gives you a chance to “window shop” so you can check prices, measurements and other necessary details before you buy.

I hope you can stop by the website tonight (8pm Queensland time, I think that’s 9pm Vic time?) and check out all the wonderful handmade goodies on offer.

Another sneakity peek!

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This is the last sneak peek I’ll be giving before Gossamer Dreams opens on Friday evening. 
If you want to see the full pictures you will have to tune into the Gossamer Dreams website on Thursday evening for previews!
It looks like we’re in for a treat this month with a variety of beautiful items from the regular and guest artists. I can’t wait!
      Any guesses waht these might be? 

Rest is good

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I haven’t been well for a couple of days but in a few ways it’s been a good thing. My husband was able to stay home to care for the children. I was able to rest, like, actual bed rest! I even napped!
I knitted. I read. I dozed.

The children brought me flowers in bed. They climbed up and hugged me and told me stories and looked at me with smiling concern.

I’d almost forgotten how much I enjoy reading. I finished off Perelandra by C.S. Lewis and almost finished The Pilgrim’s Regress, also by Lewis (not to be confused with The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, which is also excellent).  Did you know C.S. Lewis was a total genius?
It’s been a good reminder to me. I can’t go flat out all the time. I can’t always care for everyone else. I need to rest. And my family really, really loves me šŸ™‚