Sale time...

We are having a little 3 day Facebook sale to clear odds and ends.

Ti's a new thing for Olive Grove and considering there are 8 of us in one small space it makes perfect sense to have a FB sale once a month to keep things moving along.

Gives all our out of towners a chance to shop with us too.

Eventually...don't hold me to it though...we would like to get an online store up and running. But these things take time and we want to make sure it's done properly, so stay tuned for updates.

My little offering for the month is some men's tees. Were $48 now $25.

A perfect giftie for the hubby, brother or son.
More details here.....

I did have some jewelery up for grabs, but a lovely follower typed SOLD with the speed of lightening way before I even had a chance to tell you all about it. (Thanks lovely lady)

To keep posted on all things new at Olive Grove head over to our Facebook page and like us and whilst you're on the Facebook liking adventure,

be sure to pop on over to my Finki page and share some love there too.

I'm such a technical failure and really resisted the whole FB thing, but.... you know what they say...'The rolling stone gathers no moss'. So I had to roll with it too.

Jay xx

Giddyup!

Some new gigi skirts heading to the shop for summer.

Definitely made one of these for me too.

Jay xx

For the boys...

I have been working away at some screen printed goodies for the boys this week.

Hadn't planned on it, but after getting a custom order for a tee, I figured I may as well whip up some more considering I already had all the gear out.


I gave the city screen a whirl burl on the men's tee's and tried out some new colorways for the octopus.

In keeping it real, I thought I'd share my failures too. As it aint always smooth sailing in my production shop...what with being human and all.

More often then not what happens with printing and me, is an incomplete image being screened. So I get some areas that look faint or bits that lose there definition.

Out of today's 30 odd tee's, I stuffed up two of them.

I decided to treat the first print, the dodgy one, as a base color and screen a second color over top so that it had a shadow effect.

Sorta worked on one of them. I quite like the teal city one.

The Octopus....well I may have gone overboard on that one.

and just for fun, I introduced T-rex to the city of Melbourne. This ones a birthday pressie for a friend, but I do like the effect and shall explore a little more the two color thing.

Just have to decide whether to go, space invasion or gigantic lizard!

Only time will tell.

Jay xx

Hot air balloon...

I loved the way my last run of skirts with hot air balloons worked out, so I did some more.
This time in purple with a navy print...

and my favourite combo of Blue, red and white appears again, but this time with dragonfly's.

I should be working on tops, but I do love all the prints surrounding me at present that are just screaming out to be skirts. So skirt's it will be for a little bit longer, till I'm stocked up good and proper.

I'll be back tomorrow to post some pics of our zoo jaunt on sunny Saturday. Loving this bout of sun.

Jay xx

Spring skirts...

This little bit of sunshine has had me whipping out my spring fabrics for some new skirts,

and re-visiting the drawing board to create a new pattern for my A-line skirts.
The previous ones I did were too long, too wide and slipped over the head to put on.

Rather then re-work them I just started fresh and made a pattern that was shorter, but still long enough to cover knobbly or wobbly knees...
T'is also narrower, still an a-line but not hugely...
and has a more defined waist with a zip.

All very complicated for my little brain, which is why the pattern had been benched for a few months till now.

But like all things, once you sit down with you brain in the right head space, turns out it's not so hard after all.

I'm really happy with the way they've turned out, so will be sure to use this style for a few summer fabrics I have been itching to use.

Hope you're enjoying the sunshine.
Jay xx

Parcels in the post...

Who doesn't love parcels in the post, especially when they are filled with such crafty goodness as this.

I'm so excited to have received my original granny square fabric,
designed by the awesome Curlypops.

Now I just have to put my thinking cap on and come up with a fabulous thing or two to make out of it...hmmm.

You can buy your own piece of CP designer fabric too, over at the Curlypops shop.

Jay xx

Spring verse

Well, our little exhibition of bags inspired by Spring Verse has been set up today and looks mighty fine.

So much work has gone into each bag. From tapestry and screen printing to felting and applique and all that before someone sat down and sewed it all together.

Handmade just makes my heart sing, it really does.

All the bags will be on show for the next two weeks,

so if you're in the hood, do pop in for some close ups.

I'll also be posting pics and prices over on the Olive Grove blog tomorrow.

All bags are truly one of a kind, so if you see one you like, do drop them a line and make it your own, before someone else does.

Jay xx

Birds...the experimenting begins.

This months design challenge is all about birds. One of my favourite little creatures to include in projects.

I did put a birdy brooch on my exhibition bag the other day and contemplated calling that 'challenge complete' but nah...
There is too much fun to be had with crafty bird ideas, I can't stop there.

So after finishing said bird brooch and beginning my clean up to complete 'project bag', I admired the scrap freezer paper outline on the floor.

I quite liked the shape it left and had a play with making some really basic fabric shapes of a bird. Some with wings some with out.

Then I moved onto thinking about other shapes I like

and had a play with some hearts, clouds and tree's.

Not sure if they will eventuate in to anything yet, but I was having a low energy day and just needed to whip up something crafty and cute to make it feel as though I did actually do 'something' today.

Not entirely mad keen on the outcome. It needs more...

I dunno, some buttons or lace or a print.

Will play some more and see what evolves.

Hope your keeping well in your neck of the woods and don't forget you're all welcome to join in and create some birdy wonderfulness too.

Jay xx

Finished my bag.

Hooray, set up day for the exhibition is tomorrow and I've actually finished my bag today.
A whole day early. That's gotta be some sort of record for me.

All that was left to do last time I showed you was attach handles...which was all kinds of difficult...and make the birdy brooch.


I stupidly tried to stitch around a curvy solid object with a straight needle and fairly soon realised it was a recipe for disaster. Two snapped needles and many a swear word later, I finally went hunting for the curvy upholstery needle that I knew I had somewhere... and made light work of finishing the handles.

Then I moved on to the birdy brooch. I was going to trace a bird shape and maybe add a wing or two, but my prototype wasn't cutting the grade. So I started pulling out the fabric stash and uncovered one little fat quarter I had with a bird print on it. Perfect!

I tend to work more with imagery rather then silhouettes, so it suits my style, I think.

So here's the front,

the insides...

and the back.

Not the fabbest machine work and it took me far too long as an inexperienced bag maker, but I luv's it all the same.

Oh and my quote or poem that doth inspire my creation...

'The spring has sprung,
the grass is rizz,
I wonder where them birdies is?'
~ Winnie the Pooh

He he... I can thank my 3 y.o for that inspiration!

Jay xx

P.s Exhibition officially starts on Saturday, more details here:



and once we are set up I'll take pics of all the other designers bags too.

making a bag.

So we have an exhibition coming up at Olive Grove where we have to take a spring quote or poem and create a bag around it.

I haven't made a bag before and most definitely should have signed up to one of Nikki's classes to learn a thing or two before attempting anything too tricky, but as per usual I have left my self with only 3 days left to make it, so have just gone with my usual knack for wingin' it.

I had purchased some handles I loved a few weeks back and had a vague idea of what fabric I wanted to use, but beyond that it was a matter of letting something bloom.


I do love my new trees screen, so decided to use that, which was all I needed as my starting point to get the ball rolling.

We all donate the bags we make to our exhibition, so that money raised from sales can go toward shop fittings. So I figured I better put some extra time in, to create a bag with pockets, zips and magnetic closures.

The works!

Only two more steps to go...

The handles...

Which are just tacked on in this pic,

so I could double check it was all coming together o.k

Then I'll be making a birdie brooch to pin in the branches, to finish it off.

I was going to applique one on, but quite like the bag without anything else and wanted to give the buyer (well hopefully someone likes it) the option of taking the birdy off and having a more streamline look if they prefer.

Of course I do need the birdy to tie in with the quote I've chosen and it could double as meeting my birdy challenge for the month!

Could... but you know me, I'll be doing heaps more birdy stuff to fulfill that one.

Will post more picks when complete.
Jay xx

Flowers for spring.

I got the screens out again yesterday ...

and printed flowers onto some new skirts and tops.

Just what they needed to add a dash of spring to them.

Perfect weather for it too.
Jay xx

Up and away....

After a day of screen printing yesterday, I moved on to finishing some new skirts for spring.

'Up and away' uses one of my favorite prints of some hot air balloons. A screen I've had for ages but keep forgetting to bring out to play.

and 'Melbourne city skyline' is one I finished for my challenge last month.

Of course I had to do some for my lovely customers at the shop too.

Now I can move on too thinking some more about my bag design for the Olive Grove group exhibition...thinking..thinking...thinking...

Jay xx

All in a row...

A teeny tiny bit over deadline...but I finished my piece for Augusts challenge. 'All in a row'.

As I showed you previously, I'd decided to do 'buildings' ... all in a row and what better line of buildings then our own city skyline.

I was tossing up whether to do bag, cushion or skirt, three great options, but in the end I went with skirt.

Worn here with one of my new 3/4 stripe tee's ( yet to be printed on)
and a funky 'Found' scarf that I treated myself too on sale day.

I love the way the print turned out, so I've screened some up to be made into cushions too...

In this mix of prints, you'll see the start of my bag. A piece I'm working on for our next Olive Grove group exhibition. Can't tell you which one though! Secret squirrel business.

And seeing as how it's the beginning of a new month, first I must say...

A big welcome to spring.

I have been waiting for you to come warm my home and brighten up my life
with colors that seem to escape me in winter.

Secondly...time for a new 'monthly design challenge' theme.

For September I choose 'the Bird'.

Image via: Simply Claudia on Flickr

Our friendly feathered friend.

I do have a wee obsession with birdy stuff. Earrings, pendants, art, toys, clothes. Any genre or medium that includes a bird has me handing over the dosh to make it my own.

I know they were every where about 2 years ago, so I thought it may have just been a passing fad, but Nah! It's stayed with me and I'd like to explore it some more this month for the 'Monthly design challenge'.

Now knowing it is a wee obsession my little birdy love, it might be a month of many bird things. I'm thinking of getting out some clay, some paint, some paper and possibly some felt!
No clues there!

Do join in, if them birdies make you smile too.

No matter what you end up making, if it is anything to do with birds, it can most definitely be counted as a design piece worthy of joining my little monthly challenge.
I'd love you to jump on board and come play too.
Jay xx

P.S I have already collected some lovely inspiration on my Pinterest boards....my other wee obsession...so pop on over "here" to check it out.