Refabricated Salon Show...

We'd like to share some pics of last Tuesday's 'Refabricated' Salon Show & Exhibition. The exhibition is on until the 22nd of March, don't miss out on seeing heaps of lovely textile based artworks and fashion.


Lara, Teegs & Bee - having a well deserved drink at the 'Refabricated' salon show & exhibition

Seeds in Plum & silk blend 50's style skirt - designed by Teegs


Wrens in Plum & denim skirt - designed by Lara


Ginkgo 50's style skirt - designed by Teegs


Acacia in Inky Blue & Grey denim skirt - designed by Lara


Bonsai in Robins egg & natural linen skirt - designed by Bianca


Sumor & denim skirt - designed by Bianca


Ink & Spindle wall art

Photography by Marcel Lee

In case anyone's interested... we will get our skirt patterns graded so you'll be able to make them at home :) They're super easy!

Open Studio...

We've had so many requests from people about where we sell our products, whether we have a brick & mortar shop, or if they can come by the studio to see our range, that we decided to open our studio to the public. Yay!

We've only scheduled one date so far but we plan to setup a small section of our studio for retail purposes and have an open studio about once a month. The rest of the time we'll still be open by appointment, but we figure this is a good way to setup some sort of shop without being taken away from our work during the week. (especially now we're so busy... getting ready for the Brisbane Stitches & Craft show) (edit: We'll also be coming to the Sydney show)

Our first open studio will be on:

Saturday the 28th of March 2009, 10am - 1pm

Please come and visit our 'shop'. We're at Suite 206/10 Elizabeth Street, Kensington.



Cash, eftpos & credit card facilities available.

We're Back

But exhausted... also, our brains are functioning at a much lower level than usual, so we can't make with the funny's or the pretty's! More later in the week....

xx Teegs

We'll see you at the Stitches & Craft show...

Just a quick post to let you know that our shop will remain open whilst we're away. Your order will be posted on the 27th of March.

See you at (or after) the show!

tree-mendously awesome to the max

I came in to work this morning and as I walked around the corner to our entrance I was greeted with this amazing, spectacular, fantabulous sight at our front door:


Come to the Stitches & Craft show and look for Ink & Spindle beneath the big tree!

Somewhere between us leaving the studio at 10:30pm last night and arriving early this morning, the lovely and talented Jem from Like Butter delivered and set up our tree. We'd commissioned this tree for the upcoming show, the prerequisites being that it could stand on it's own, and also be dismantled into pieces that would fit in our car.

I had the honour of getting to actually design the thing (with some great art direction from Teegs) and it's amazing to see it come to life.

Thanks Jem!!!!! (in chorus from the three of us)

Book yourself a spot...

Bookings are now open for the Stitches and Craft - Craft Labs.

To book a Craft Lab, please visit the Learning Centre Booking Desk, at the entrance to the centre, or book through Ticketek Telephone Bookings or any Ticketek Outlet. Bookings must be made at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the session and you should arrive five minutes before your session starts. Please note tickets are limited, so the earlier you can book, the more chance you have of attending all the Craft Labs you desire!

So if you're interested in any of our workshops, book yourself a spot today. Don't miss out, because spots and workshops are limited.

We'll see you next week!

earth quake

we just had an earth quake and it felt like our quadruple brick building was made of jelly!

a quick Facebook check told us that it was felt all the way from Frankston to Ascot Vale (and maybe more!!)

... update: from Bundoora to Cranbourne too!

2nd update: s'ok, it only went for a few seconds, we're fine, nothing even fell off any of the expedits!

Toile-y Thursday

So, as I'm sure you know by now (coz it's all we've been talking about) we're all 'Stitches & Craft' atm, BUT we have also got this rather exciting exhibition opening/salon show on Tuesday the 17th of March.

The deal is that we've gotta make some real-live, actual clothes to show off our totally awesome prints, pretty much by tomorrow! EEP!! There'll be a whole bunch of other awesome, local, indy, No Sweatshop designers gear there, so if you're in the vicinity come to NMBQ @ 57 Smith St before 7pm to catch the show!!

Saying that, we've known about this for months, but y'know how time just slips away and all of a sudden - BAM! - it's March and oh crap, there's those two big shows within two days of each other...

Anyhoo, so we've been having fun designing skirts and playing with toiles and I thought you'd like a peek at the craziness!


Lara's toile in Acacia - white on natural


Teegs's toile on ladder with finished Seeds skirt (about version 4) on mannequin


A close up of the fancy linen/silk blend skirt with Bee's Seeds print


Larz kickin' that zips butt for me! (I really suck at zips, Lara has the skillz)


Speaking of butt's, here's Bee wondering if hers looks big in my poofy toile, version 2 (no Bee, it doesn't)

xx Teegs

Pretty promo picture

It dawned on us last week that we better get some flyers printed for the show, quick smart.

But what photo to put on them??

Inspired a little by the front cover of this book, and with the aid of some books of varying thicknesses (I know, clever huh), here's the result:



It could definitely look more pro, but not bad for an hour or so's work.

P.S. - big thanks to scoutie girl for this really lovely post about us :)

Crafty learnings shall be had by all!!

Ok, people - we have the finalised details!

For the WHOLE FIVE DAYS of the Stitches & Craft Show Bee, Larz and I will be dividing our time between manning (womanning?) our stall at numbers 228 & 229 in the Incubator section, and running daily workshops and seminars.
Yes, I know - we're insane!! So if you come say hi to us and we only communicate in caveman-esque grunts, or alternatively, babble incoherently, then you'll understand why.

It'll be funsies as, tho!

Bianca will be presenting:
A Home Based Craft Business [Module 25]
Tips and advice on starting a home based craft business. Covering blogging, photography, marketing, online sales, pricing, wholesaling & approaching retailers.
45 minutes. Wednesday 12.30-1.15pm in Studio 1. Friday 1.00-1.45pm in Studio 1.

Lara will be presenting:
Glass Etching [Module 26]
Learn how to etch a simple design onto a glass or jar – recycle your jars to create something cute / modern / stylish ... and useful!

You can draw your own design in class or choose from some modern & cute designs we’ll have available on the day. You can also bring your own readymade artwork - it just needs to be simple enough to turn into a stencil which you will be cutting by hand (and around 10cm x 10cm in size or smaller).
Kit $27.00. 1 hour. Beginner. Adults/Teens.
Wednesday, Friday 9.30-10.30am in Craft Lab 6
Thursday, Saturday 11.30am-12.30pm in Craft Lab 6
Sunday 9.30-10.30am in Craft Lab 6

I will be presenting:
Acetate Etching [Module 27]
How to etch a hand drawn image to create multiple prints onto paper.
Kit $32.00. 1.5 hours. Beginner. Adults/Teens.
Wednesday 2.30-4.00pm in Craft Lab 6
Thursday & Saturday 1.00-2.30pm in Craft Lab 6
Friday & Sunday 11.00am-12.30pm in Craft Lab 6

And:
Screen Printing [Module 75]
Straight from the Ink & Spindle studio, create a one-off, hand screen-printed hemp tea towel or carry bag [or bring an item of clothing or accessory from home!] using your own design. The printing technique and skills you will learn allow you to easily replicate the process on your own kitchen or dining room table.
Kit $47. 1.5 hours. Adults/Teens
Friday 300-4.30pm in Craft Lab 6

Get in quick, coz there are only about 15 places for each workshop!!

Hope to see you there! :)

xx Teegs

Note: booking for the workshops must be done through the Stitches & Craft Show, not through us :)

Sneak Peak for Stiches and Craft Show!

Just a short one to say we've been printing madly, doing our very best to get a whole bunch of fabrics ready for the awesome new Stitches & Craft Show beginning on the 11th of March!

We decided to print some very short runs of brand-spankin'-never-seen-before colourways to be launched as Show Specials! We're not sure which, if any, we'll reprint post-S&C Show so you'll just have to come along to our stand in the Incubator section, to be sure of getting your hot little hands on some! :)


The camera was on some kinda weird setting, and the fabrics seem all speckly - but they're not really :) We'll replace it with a proper pic when the fabrics come back, next week.
Pictured are: Bloem in Dusty Pink, Blue Wrens in Chocolate, Ginkgo in Plum & Chocolate

There are going to be heaps and heaps of other ace fabric-related folk there too and we're really excited to be a part of it! Particularly as it's under new management, and is all keen to support indy desgners and small labels!! Yay for Living Creatively!

Ooh, I nearly forgot to mention the most exciting bit - all three of us will be running daily workshops and seminars in the Craft Labs! We'll post some more about the workshops and seminars next week...

An unexpected guest

GUESS what!?

Lara found a little dead bat at the back of our building yesterday, and asked me to come and check it out, so we went to have a closer look and it was a cute little native Australian Goulds Wattled Bat (we Googled it) almost the size of my finger. It had obviously got in over the weekend and hadn't been able to find it's way out again, and I was sad we hadn't found it sooner. So I went to get some paper towel to pick it up.

Then Larz said "I think it's breathing!" and lo, it was! Though he (once we discovered it was alive, it ceased being 'it' and became 'he') wasn't in a very good way. Who knew how long he'd been stuck inside with no water!!

I picked him up (Larz followed at a bit of a distance) and took him to the studio where I very carefully gave him a drink from a plastic lid. He was so thirsty and drank what seemed to be heaps for a tiny bat.

We found a wildlife rescue number online and gave them a call but they just said to take it to the nearest Vet. I'd done this for an injured bird once before and they put it to sleep, so I wasn't very keen on that idea. That didn't matter because very shortly after this, he perked right up and started looking around and blinking at us! Hooray!


He had the cutest lil face

We thought we should get a pic for the blog, Larz got the camera and I uncovered him a little and - duh! - he took off flying around the office!! Poor Larz squealed and hit the deck, I told her to get under her desk while we waited for him to land, but he flew out the office door and in to the printing room and did laps around and around while I opened windows and waited for him to fly away or land.

He did finally land, so I picked him up and put him in a box with some fabric to hide in and some more water - they poor little guy was terrified. We were going to let him outside, but it was the middle of the day, so we ended up leaving him safe and sound in the box until evening. They're nocturnal, after all.


And the sharpest lil teeth!

By six, we were wanting to go home and so I took our little friend out to the balcony so he could fly away, but he must have decided he liked it at I&S and wouldn't go! I ended up leaving him snuggled into his bit of fabric, so he could head off when he felt like it - and he was gone the next morning :)

I love a happy ending. And Larz loves having a bat-free environment again. It's just lucky Bee wasn't there - both girls are scared of moths, imagine them with a bat loose in the studio!!

Clutchy Skills

We are so totally impressed. And I am thrilled to bits!

Penny of Pocket Carnival has made a cute little clutch from some of my Charcoal Antique Keys, what amazing skills!



Thanks Penny! :)

Talented customers

We thought it would be great to share some of the awesome products our customers have made with the textiles we've printed for them:


Knuffle Kid reversible dress in red.
Pattern designed by Emma Strybosch.


Knuffle Kid reversible dress - in blue!
Pattern designed by Emma Strybosch.


Keec small leather hOP-scotch bag
Feature panel designed by Melbourne duo Pandarosa.

Gorgeous stuff - nice work and it was a pleasure working with you :)

Next Batch

Our latest batch of fabric has arrived back at I&S studio's - woots!

We're currently in the process of putting it all up in the shop - tho there's a whole bunch of it this time, so please be a little patient with us :)

This batch includes the reappearance of Birch in Chocolate and Robin's Egg:


Wrens in the new (controversially named) Nathan's Blue and the very popular Charcoal:


And Sumor in a whole bunch of new colours!!

Lights, Camera, Action

At the weekend we did a professional photoshoot for an interview we had last week, and for our website. We had heaps of fun, lots of giggles, and a suitable lunch including yummy things from the local deli.

We think the photos turned out fantastic! Thanks to Marcel for his camera skills and Brendan for his flash holding skills!


The prettiest corner!


Teegs mixing Pale Charcoal ink.


Lara putting the aforementioned ink on the screen.


Bianca mid-print.


Teegs, B and Larz upstairs in the funky loft.

For more photos, visit our flickr page.

Copyright Marcel Lee 2009
Please do not copy or use these photos without written permission from Ink & Spindle.

Yay for new stuff!

Lara and I just popped a few spanky, new mix packs in the shop AND there's some new (much awaited!) tote kits, AND we printed a very limited, offset edition of Briar in two colourways! Oooh, it's fun to have your own printing studio - you should totally get one! Or at least share in ours ;) As always check the new stuff out in our shop.





So on to the latest news - we have just sent off a big ol' sack of fabric to be heat set so you will be seeing some new colourways (and some old favourites, back by popular demand) mid to late next week. Woots! No pics tho, soz.

We had a day of visits today - Caroline, a.k.a Poppy's Mum (and friend Trude) came to chat about an awesome idea she has for some hanging fabric lampshades for her new kitchen... and then a lovely Cintia from My Poppet dropped by with - get this - homemade banana muffiny-cakey goodness that-was-still-warm-from-the-oven!!!!



omg. Talk about delicious...

And then we vacuumed. Oh, the glamourous life of I&S!




The boy's girl-dog, being cute & helpful. We love having her in the studio & I think she prefer's it to staying in Ry's backyard all day.. she just loves being around people so much!

xxT

Naming colours? Too hard.

You may imagine, as we are three headstrong women running a business together, we'd encounter frequent butting of heads, however this just isn't the case! We get on extremely well, have heaps of fun and rarely disagree on anything... that is until it comes to the naming of our colour's - geez, what a headache!!

At times we seem almost incapable of agreeing on appropriate names, (though some are much easier than others) and have spent stupidly large amounts of time trying to convince each other that our idea for a name is the better one for this, this and this reason!

Lara is the romantic one, she likes names that sound pretty but aren't too abstract; Bee is the prudent one, wanting non fussy names that explain the exact colour (the most recent in-house controversy has been over a greenish yellowy gold kind of colour - which could end up being named after the plant, "honeysuckle" but the jury is still out); and me the kooky one, I like names that are accurate but descriptive and easy enough to remember!!

So when my dear friend Nathan came up to visit us just before Chrissy, and we of course headed up to the studio to play with some inks! We printed some t-shirts for funs (and no, we're not going to do this commercially) and he chose to mix a rather beautiful colour, referred to around the studio as Nathan's Blue, and made this:

Love the print, Nay!

but of course once we decided to print with it, the unavoidable colour naming 'discussions' ensued...

Anyway, so here's a couple of this weeks latest prints - Wrens and Sumor in Nathan's Blue /Deep Sea/..? on cotton/linen blendWill be up in the shop in a week or so!

Stitches & Craft Show

We're back in the studio (after the hot weather last week)... and we're printing... a lot.

Ink & Spindle will be at the stitches & craft show from the 11th till the 15th of March and we have two stalls to fill :) We'll have some new colour ways for the show together with lots of fabric packs, fabric by the metre, sewing kits and other bits and bobs.

We hope you'll come and visit us and perhaps enrol in one of the classes and seminars we'll be presenting. Looking forward to meeting you!

a new look for I&S

Ink & Spindle has a new website! And not only that - a matching blog and shop to complete the ensemble!

This is how the new design looks, for you feed readers out there:



Simple, clean, friendly & modern (we hope).

I had to force the web designer in me to make a reappearance to get this baby off the ground, so I'm very glad it's done and dusted and looking a lot more like 'us' than the previous design. Yay!