Tomorrow night sees the launch of One Thimble, (www.onethimble.com.au) the brainchild of the amazing Jen Kennedy of Ainslee Fox fame. This is going to be an e-zine (online magazine for you old school people!) with a difference. Different because it will be based around the world of handmade, and will feature PDF patterns by a number of Australian creators and designers including Jen herself. And can I just say I haven't been so excited about a magazine launch in a long time,
Over the weekend, an opportunity came up for me to test the pattern for the talented Lana Schijvens who is creator and designer of Oh Baby! fame. Oh Baby! specialise in the most gorgeous hair accessories and Lana's bows are one of her signature designs which are absolutely amazing. I have made bows myself over the years but mine just can't compare to her beauties! They are of course just one of the things she makes and now I am thrilled to say that one of the patterns included in One thimble will be her Starflower pattern. If you have been around Izzy B for awhile, you will know I started off making hair accessories. And although I ended up moving more into clothing, I have continued to make my daughters' hair accessories. This was the perfect pattern to get my creative juices flowing again for hair accessories. Although I have been making hair accessories for awhile I learnt some great new techniques which is always good. The pattern is sufficiently challenging to get someone like me excited, but also simple enough that a beginner could pick it up by carefully following the pattern to a T.
Some of my favourite things about the pattern was that it used a sewing machine as well as hand stitching. Too many hair accessories these day claim to be handmade when in fact all the person has done is glued part A to part B. To me, the fact that they are sewn by hand and machine means that the hair accessory will have durability and survive the toughest little kid and won't be a 5 minute pretty. The pattern is well illustrated and worded. My first Starflower, although pretty, wasn't quite what I wanted and that spurred me on to want to make a few more.
Lana has created something really gorgeous and unique in the world of hair accessories which I know it is going to be a hit!
Not only has Lana been working on this pattern, but she has also been preparing for her Christmas market. She has her own website www.ohbabyaustralia.bigcartel.com, so keep an eye on her
Facebook page www.facebook.com/ohbabyaustralia for further details.
In the meantime, I want to take the opportunity to thank Lana for the opportunity to test, wish her, Jen and all of the contributors of One Thimble the best of luck with what I know is going to be a massive success,
Here are some photos from my testing.
Test piece 1 using Veranda by Verna Mosquera and a Circa by Jennifer Paganelli
Test piece 2 using Yellow Valentina and Rosetta by Jennifer Paganelli
Final test piece using Little Yellow Bicycle and some cute red/white polka dot. Necklace made by IsAvA Designs
