I’m so excited!  I am starting to plan markets and pop-up shops for the Autumn and Winter, and I’m delighted to have been accepted for a stall at the Dandy Lion Market in Highgate.  This new market was inspired by the  Dandelion Market in Dublin, which started in the 70s with one guy selling coats, and evolved into a real cultural hub. With goods of all kinds on sale and street performances by musicians and poets, the original Dandelion Market became THE place to be.

Having looked at the kinds of goods offered at the new Dandy Lion Market, I think it also has the potential to develop into a really interesting destination.  Set in the famous Boogaloo it also has live music, and Leslie, the organiser, ensures an interesting and original range of high-quality goods at affordable prices. And if you dress yourself up beautifully you might win a badge!  I’m very much looking forward to setting up my stall there and meeting the other designer/makers and, hopefully, lots of customers.

Unfortunately, I can’t make it to the August Market, but you might like to go along – its on August 13^th, 12.30-5.30, with live music and lots of wonderful designer/makers  The September Market is on 10^th September, and I hope to see you there – come and say hello.

I’ve been having terrible problems with my sewing machine.  To be fair, I have had it for quite a while, and the poor thing has been having trouble getting through the layers of felt that I want to sew.  It’s a modern electric machine, fairly basic, and great for general purpose sewing and dressmaking – but two layers of handmade felt, plus a velvet lining, is just asking too much.  Lately, despite new needles, tension and pressure adjustments, cleaning, frantic readings of the manual, pleading and swearing, it has been refusing to co-operate altogether. This is a real problem, as I am currently preparing for a lot of Autumn and Winter markets, and I just can’t delay production. And I wanted to make a top for my holiday, dammit!

I had reluctantly come to the conclusion that I would have to shell out for a heavy-duty or industrial machine, and started looking through the sewing forums for recommendations from machine users. I always like to hear the real experiences of real users, rather than relying on the blurb from the manufacturers. There were some very useful suggestions, and all the suggested machines looked capable of doing the job, but all were around £200-00 and up. Then, I came across one chance comment from a sewing enthusiast, to the effect that older machines were often more robust and could sometimes cope better with heavy fabrics.

Aha! I thought.  For my 21^st birthday (and I don’t want to tell you how long ago that was) I had been given a beautiful  black and gold Singer manual sewing machine.

I think its about 75 years old, cast iron, and has a solid wooden base and extension table, and a tin of mysterious gadgets and attachments.

Could this be the answer? I dragged it out, cleaned and oiled it and fitted it with a special wedge-tipped leather needle (only £1-80 for 5 from the wonderful Green Street Market) – and it works perfectly!

Now, not only can I now sew my felt again, but I am finding sewing with the old machine so pleasurable – sure, it isn’t as fast as the electric machine, but to be honest I’d always found the speed a bit disconcerting and had a tendency to let the machine ‘run away with me’!  With the manual machine I feel more in control, and I also enjoy the gentle, satisfying noise it makes.  And it looks lovely, which my electric machine certainly didn’t.  And I can’t help wondering what might have been made on this old machine during its long life – curtains and cushions for a new home, baby clothes, holiday clothes, making do and mending, dresses for dancing…..

So I will be leaving the electric machine to its extended sulk, and using the manual for everything from now on.  Now to find out what all those attachments do….

ummmmm.....?

As a feltmaker I am always trying to find a way to store my materials.  I have big boxes full of merino, blue-faced Leicester and Norwegian wools, packed with lavender for moth protection, and more boxes full of wool and mohair yarns.  I have crates of fabrics, divided into silks, cottons, wool and velvet, vintage and stuff I really like which doesn’t seem to have a category (like a pair of old linen curtains that I am sure will come in handy one day).  I have shoeboxes full of lace, ribbons, threads, silk tops. I have jam jars full of jewellery findings and beads. I have a suitcase full of buttons and another of knitting needles.  I have two sewing boxes full of sewing paraphernalia.  And don’t get me started on the templates, felting mats, soap, bubble wrap, old towels, hat forms, foot lasts ….I don’t yet have a studio, so my stuff is all over the house.  It can be hard to find things.

I have been making a large wrap/scarf in a beautiful natural linen and I wanted to finish the ends with felt and silk circles.  I made the felt in charcoal grey, and I remembered a small piece of silk that I bought ages ago which would work very well with it – a piece of an old Japanese kimono in a graphic pattern of mid grey and black.  Could I find it?  I could not.

I searched through every box, bag, case, trunk, cupboard – and under the bed – and to my intense frustration, failed to find that perfect piece of silk.   I vowed to mend my ways and get a proper system of storage.  I found lots of ingenious and helpful practical advice on www.Craftypod.com  about how to get well and truly organised. Then I sadly began to put back everything I had hauled out in my frantic search.

And then I saw it.  Not the grey kimono silk but a bit of flame-coloured, hand-dyed silk chiffon.  It spoke to me.  I held it against the linen and felt.  It sang!  I used it to finish my scarf, and the effect was to lift the piece from a tasteful but rather safe accessory to something that made a real statement.  Truly a happy accident.

If I had had all my fabrics perfectly folded and filed, I would not have wasted time looking for the right piece.  I would have located the grey silk, finished the scarf and probably been perfectly satisfied with it. But I would have missed the happy accident of the orange chiffon.

So… to organise or not to organise? That is the question!

Today I spent an enjoyable morning with Bo of Bo Bangles Brides.  Bo is a talented jewellery maker who specialises in gorgeous accessories for brides and bridesmaids, and we are working together to develop a new range of bridal bricolage which will use her trademark tangled silver hearts alongside soft felt, silk and lace.  Its exciting to work with someone as creative as Bo, and great to see our ideas coming together.

Yesterday I paid my first visit to the StourSpace Designer’s Market in Hackney Wick. This market is pretty close to where I live, but for some reason I had managed to miss it.  I am so glad that I visited today.  StourSpace is in an amazing location, just behind the main Olympic Stadium, and the place has a  relaxed, friendly vibe.  This market also benefits from being undercover (very welcome when skies are grey) and from having a great café, The Counter Café, onsite.  My friend Amanda and I can vouch for their tea!

I love jewellery, so was delighted to see a great variety of jewellery at StourSpace.  Stall 21 was very beautifully set out, prettily styled like a dressing table to display a wide selection of handmade hematite jewellery.  Hematite has an understated lustre which I very much like, and it works well with both bright and sober colours.  I really like the way this piece (right) looks against the glass jar.

I got quite a shock looking at the jewellery displayed by More Brains Vicar.  I was admiring some floral 50s-style earrings when I suddenly realised that the centres were made of….eyeballs! Or spiders!  Or brains!! Described as ‘kitsch handmade accessories from beyond the grave’, these pieces are delightfully humorous, subversive and original.

Los Parcheros were showing wonderful South American-influenced jewellery with a modern slant.  I loved their coin bracelets, and the way in which they combine silver, copper, semi-precious  stones and wire-wrapping techniques to make really unusual organic shapes.  Each piece is different .  I eventually succumbed to a copper and silver pendant!

KhD Health Jewellery claims to promote, through the use of magnetic hematite, a therapeutic ‘molecular massage’, which aids the body’s repair processes and can ease painful joints.  The pieces look beautiful too, and the range is not limited to hematite – I also loved the chunky stones in these necklaces (right).

Kiah Jewellery has an array of imaginative jewellery which reuses and recycles a wide variety of everyday objects. I was very taken with the wide and narrow copper and silver rings made from old coins– the original markings of the coins giving each ring an intriguing surface design.  See the website for more detailed pictures.

Margot Patrick, of Peace and Joy designs a wide range of jewellery, her aim being, she explained, always to add something a little bit different.  The resulting interesting combinations – for example crackled glass with sparkly Swarowski crystal beads – are pretty and striking. I especially liked her elegant long earrings.

For a completely different look, you must see the fabric jewellery of urte karalaite.This designer uses recycled fabrics, densely gathered or pleated, to produce accessories of  delicacy and originality.  The edges of the fabric are left unfinished and this lends a pleasing organic softness to the shapes.  As well as the jewellery, I especially liked the pretty pleated collars and cuffs.

And finally, Krzysztof Szymanski was offering stylish, contemporary silver jewellery, incorporating semi-precious stones, including some covetable chunky rings in strong, graphic designs, and some great skull jewellery with an array of different expressions!

As a felt-maker myself, I  am always particularly interested to see what textiles are on offer. Animaux Circus offer a novel range of printed textiles. There are great tee-shirts with quirky animal prints, often accompanied by witty comments, and printed cotton bags.  This maker tells me she is currently developing some cushion designs, which will be a great addition to the range.

Miwary makes a range of whimsical and pretty hand-sewn items.  She has little collars in different prints and plains – I thought the black and white gingham collar would add an Audrey Hepburn touch to a plain black top or dress.  I have never seen fabric tea-cups and saucers before – these were so sweet and pretty and would make a great present.

Manuelita Mathurin transfers her versatile and colourful designs, many featuring sinuous and funky ladies, onto a range of textile items – they are beautifully embroidered onto towels and cushions and printed or painted onto handy hessian lunch bags.  But they can also appear on tiles, plates and crockery, and even clocks.

Umut Ozmindik also ticked my textiles box with her knitted blankets and cute crocheted flower brooches embellished with sparkly centres. She also makes very pretty and special concertina notebooks, using lovely heavy paper.  Some of these are covered in embroidered fabrics and reveal colourful cut-out shapes when opened – very innovative and attractive.

There were several printmakers at StourSpace this month. I’ve been admiring catcronin at Folksy.com for some time now, so it was a real pleasure to see her work at StourSpace.  I very much like her style – she uses organic shapes and saturated colours, natural images with an edge. My knowledge of the technical processes used is sadly lacking, but there’s more information on her website – go take a look.  Her prints are available to frame, produced as cards and used to cover artists sketchbooks – lovely.

Spookernox had bright, poster-sized prints, as well as small prints and cards in single zingy colours – orange, turquoise, green, pink red.  The use of a single colour really allows the graphic strength of the designs to shine.  I particularly liked the prints of fantasy creatures and the turquoise fish.

Greg Abbott had a wide variety of screenprints, showcasing his versatility as a designer. But my favourite piece of work was undoubtedly this extraordinary piece of printed glass (below) – this is a technique I’d love to learn more about, and I’d love to have this piece in my home.

One of the stalls was selling what I thought were painted boxes, but actually they proved to be decoupage.  The boxes were most skilfully done, pretty, with lovely soft colours and varied designs, and would make great jewellery boxes, keepsake boxes or just decorative pieces for the home.  There were cute napkin rings and egg cups too, as well as other homewares. For more information email here.

Amongst all this creativity was a man surrounded by fresh veggies and organic tinned goods!  Organic Wick are at StourSpace every week – you can order your organics from them online, and then drop in on a Saturday and pick up your stuff.  This is an innovative way to provide fresh, organic food produced locally, and the veg looked great.

Phew!  That was a long haul – but I didn’t want to leave anyone out!  Do check out the links, and if you’re local, why not go along?  Markets are held on the last Saturday of every month. The next market will be on July 30, and coincides with the Hackney Wicked Festival, when the whole area will be jumping with things to do.  Unfortunately I can’t get there myself then, but hope to bag a stall for August or September.

I’d like to give a very warm welcome to the latest member of the starjumpARTS  team.  She looks great, is totally reliable, and does exactly as she’s told.  Unfortunately, she’s a bit, well, wooden.  Introducing Florrie, my new display mannequin!

Since she arrived, I’ve had huge fun dressing her up in all my felt and silk pieces.

Its a great help to me, as a designer, to see how my ideas work on a three-dimensional body (albeit a headless one), and to understand how pieces sit or drape.

Of course, she’s also great for showing my things clearly, so that customers can see them properly.  So she’ll be coming with me to all my pop-up shops and markets this Autumn and Winter (of which more later), as well as modelling my pieces for my forthcoming Folksy shop.  Although the darned shop will never open if I don’t stop messing about with the mannequin and get back to making!

P.S. As you can see, not all members of the starjumpARTS team are as biddable as Florrie – Sid the cat was determined to get in on the act!

I’m keen to start my own podcast about craft and textile-related stuff, so, in the interests of research, I’ve been looking around to see what other podcasters are doing.  I must admit, I didn’t realise how much good stuff there was out there.  There are so many different kinds of podcast too.  Some are very personal, and speak in detail about a particular craft or the projects the podcaster is currently working on.  Others are like radio magazine programmes, with a series of features organised around a theme.  Some review patterns, books, materials and shows.  And there is a lot of useful business advice.

One of my favourites so far is Craftypod.  Unforutnately, no new Craftypod episodes are planned as their maker is now editing an online craft magazine, but there is a fantastic and varied archive to explore.  I especially like the wide range of advice for the designer maker on business matters, blogging and social networking – I’ve found this invaluable.  I also enjoy the interviews with successful designer-makers who generously share their experience with us.  And there are fun episodes about making for the holidays, gift-giving and craft ideas.  This is a fantastic resource of information and inspiration – check it out.

The other podcast which really stood out for me was The Electic Sheep (great name!), the podcast of Hoxton Handmade.  Alongside detailed and helpful information about knitting, including problem-solving suggestions and pattern reviews, are musings about more general topics such as The Eurovision Song Contest,  and there is a lot here to appeal to non-knitters.  Like Craftypod, this is well-made, assured, intelligent and entertaining.  It is also very funny, and I would recommend you have a listen.

I still don’t know exactly what format I will adopt for my podcast – it might end up being different each week.  But I do now have a name.  It will be called starjumpARACHNE.  I’m not sure why, but I really like it!  I’ve always had a soft spot for Arachne, the girl who boasted that she could weave better than the goddess Minerva,  and who had the nerve to portray the gods looking foolish and fallible.  Minerva, in her wrath, turned her into a spider!

So sang the Manic Street Preachers, and I couldn’t agree more! As well as a store of knowledge, I find that my local library is the most wonderful source of ideas and inspiration, and I really couldn’t live without it.

Thursday is library day for me, and I always look forward to my visits – to me its like getting an armful of presents every week. My library gives me access to so much more stuff than I could ever afford to buy, and it doesn’t cost me anything (provided that I can remember to return things on time.) My local library is very well-used, and is always busy, so it is obviously a very valuable community resource.

I am primarily a feltmaker, and so I have avidly read every volume in my library’s very small stash of feltmaking books. I thought that my library didn’t have anything more to offer me. But then I discovered two wonderful things by talking to one of the very knowledgable library staff.

Firstly, I’ve finally learned how to manage my library account online. So now I can search, reserve and renew my borrowed items from home – I’ve racked up far fewer fines since I found this out! And secondly, I’ve discovered that my borough is part of the London Library Consortium, a collection of 10 London Boroughs whose library catalogues have been combined to give borrowers access to their complete loan stock. So now I can borrow books from all over London for no cost, which seems like such a miracle in these straightened times. I almost can’t believe that we still have this wonderful service, and live in fear of it being reduced or removed because of public spending cuts.

Since I gained access to this vast store of books, I have greatly extended the range of my borrowing and reading, and its had a very beneficial effect on my feltmaking, I think, and has opened me up to a much wider set of influences. I love feltmaking books (here are a few of my treasured favourites) for what they can teach me about technique and method,but I rarely follow their project instructions, preferring to develop my own felt creations. To this end I have been looking at lots of books about textile design for ideas and inspiration – I am currently using one about French design, which has introduced me to a whole new world of motifs and colour palettes from Art Deco porcelain (for example, the work of Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann).  I have two books about bridal accessories which I am using to research a new line of products called ‘Bride and Boudoir’ (watch this space). And vintage fashion books are inspiring a new line of felted garments for Autumn (also watch this space!). I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of a book about lace in dress through the ages. I’ve reserved Podcasting for Dummies to help me to begin my craft-based podcast (for which I STILL don’t have a name). And I’m reading a wonderful book by Richard Sennett called The Craftsman which discusses the changing understanding of craft and craft skills in modern society. And I do also read the odd novel from time to time!

I am so fortunate to have ready access to all these stimulating resources, and my mind is humming with ideas all day long.

If you are fortunate enough to live near a library, can I urge you to use it, lest some bureaucrat decides that its not really needed any more? As I have discovered, there’s so much more than just the books you can see on the shelves, and you might just find something that really fires your imagination.