27 February 2009

TEXTILES - castle

i love this bedlinen from castle, an australian company founded in 2008 by rachel castle. rachel has spent 20 years working in the homewear industry both in australia and abroad including conran and london-based and design agency, the nest, where she was co-founder. all of castle's bedlinen is hand-printed and made in australia. the patterns feature beautifully graphic dots and flowers in a lovely simple colour palette black, grey, and yellow. rachel also produces a collection of artworks in the shape of hand stitched embroidery or screen prints. im sure you will enjoy looking at the castle website here.

PRINT & PATTERN - for sew hip magazine

good news for pattern fans and fabric lovers, print & pattern can now be found in the UK magazine ''sew hip". my column will feature different fabric related topics each month, and the first one is out now - focusing on lovely tote bags. if you havent come across the magazine before its a look at the trendier side of fabrics and sewing, and covers topics such as etsy, and japanese crafts. you can subscribe via paypal here, even if you live outside of the UK.
if you would like to submit your creations, products, and designs for consideration to be featured on the P+P pages in sew hip magazine then you can drop me an email. there are only three things to consider, you must be able to provide high res 300dpi print quality images, your products must be available in the UK (or sent here at a reasonable shipping rate) and of course they should be fabric related in some way. look out for sew hip in wh smiths and newsagents.
above the P+P current feature in sew hip, below : sew hip features fabric prints and even has free paper patterns included.

FREE DOWNLOAD - lotta bruhn

lotta bruhn created these cute stickers as a free download for crafting, scrapbooking, etc. see here for more info. also i couldnt resist posting this little tray which is up for sale on lotta's blog.

26 February 2009

DESIGNER - rachel cave

a designer whose work i really admire rachel cave has just added fresh new work to her portfolio. there are some lovely graphic floral prints, which of course is just my cup of tea. see here for more designs and info. rachel is also an official designer at over at moo, where lots of her patterns are available as cards.

DESIGNER - xenia taler

xenia taler recently sent over some of her new designs, and by strange coincidence, i then saw them as cards on the woodmansterne stand at the spring fair. if your'e not familiar with xenia's distinctive work then check out my earlier post here, or this print i bought in urban outfitters.

ONLINE SHOPPING - fabrics etc

i spotted these two new japanese kokka fabric prints online at volksfaden this weekend. the 'bird garlands' design by etsuko furuya (above) looks stunning.
also from kokka fabrics, i love these handmade matryoshka softie ornaments from custom made. sold in a set of three here. if you dont sew yourself, or you dont have enough spare time then there are some great things over at custom made, and i can personally vouch for the quality. i have one of anna's totes and the weight ive put in there is incredible ! yet still it holds strong and looks perfect.

25 February 2009

DESIGNER - marie-claire bridges

i am really loving these patterns by uk based freelance designer marie-claire bridges. i know very little about marie-claire except that she is extremely talented and has a wonderful portfolio website online here. ive picked out some of my faves (of which there were many) and posted them below. contact@marie-clairebridges.co.uk