Craft and Quilt Fair 2013

Purchased from Dairing and Suzy Hausfrau

Yesterday I ventured into the Sydney craft and quilt fair for the second time in 20 years.  I was only 11 the first time I visited the show and remember thinking how naff the whole fair was… filled with old people who made things I dreaded getting for my birthday.  HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED! Crafting has evolved – or I’ve evolved into a nana!

Now Craft is Cool and yesterday I found myself falling in love with knitting, crocheting and quilting. There are a number of artisans who are bringing these handcrafts into modern times and inspiring people like me to take up crafts I would normally avoid. Considering myself a sewer I’m more comfortable with the sewing machine dressmaking but the ladies at BeBe Bold, Teresa Dair and Bernadette from the Knitters' Guild NSW have converted me to pick up needles and hooks.

I went a bit nuts with the Sashiko kits from BeBeBold as I have this vision of Sashiko napkins at my next dinner party.  I also fell in love with Teresa Dairings modern take on knitted garments and accessories and loved the unique fibers that Dairing use in their creations. My credit card also got a work out at Can Do Books (every craft book ever written) and I missed out on some beautiful double gauze Japanese fabric (perfect for a blouse) from Kelani fabric.

Wish me luck with my newfound crafts and if anyone knows how to accrue some extra time in the day for me to complete these projects please contact me and let me know!

 Book and Elathong and Conchiglia necklace by Teresa Dair

 Sashiko kits and Japanese linens from BeBe Bold

D.I.Y Pom Poms

Unfinished projects are one of my biggest frustrations, yet I have a habbit of collecting a lot of them! This scarf was one of those projects, started 18 months ago and finally finished last week. Before I could put it away I decided it needed something on the ends to make it pop so I made these DIY Pom Pom's (originally pinned by Etsy) using a fork. To make it easier for you to make the pom pom's, I've put together a short video.

Launch of STUDIO2103

Design Detective Diary has now launched a sister blog to house a collection of projects for the craft minx. I wanted to have a location that would catelogue a range of inspiring and contemporary creative projects in video and step-by-step format for people who like to create. Whether you have 1 hour, 1 day or 1 weekend I hope that STUDIO2103 will have a project to satisfy your creative hunger.

I heart the Finders Keepers market

I’ve got the biggest Market crush ever!!!

The Finders Keepers is well worth the visit. I bought stacks of handmade Christmas presents and picked up plenty of inspiration to fuel me for the next 100 weekends.

It’s on tomorrow (Sat 4th December) in Sydney – FINAL date for the year!!!

Have fun ox