Organising, Exhibiting and Selling Online

Well, it really has been ages since I posted on here - I have been trying; a few months ago I thought I didn't have enough to say and then over the past couple of months I have been so busy I haven't had time, so I feel as if I have plunged right into work at the deep end.  So what have I been up to?


Trying to get organised

I am now back working at home and as Joseph is 14 months, walking and into everything, I have had to rearrange the house so I can work safely and out of reach......

I have cordoned off an area in the kitchen for a desk, my sewing machine, die cutter and other things, but the rest is spread around the house.....

 

Scarves are in the bedroom amongst cuddly toys and books.....

 

 

Mr Smith donated several of these screw boxes he wasn't using for all the felt shapes I use to make my brooches and hairslides. I don't know why I didn't think of that before, it keeps all the pieces in one place and I carry the box to another table if I want to work somewhere else. I suppose he got fed up with finding bits of felt stuck to his socks.

 

 

 Exhibition at Bonhoga Gallery

I currently have an installation at the Bonhoga exhbition, "Swap Box" as part of a joint show by the group Text-Isles, which is on until 4th November.  I took up a massive amount of my time, but I really enjoyed working on it and it has inspired me to knit more Shetland lace.  I will write more details about the show in the next post.


Selling Online

I am now selling a few products on Not On The High Street, you can see these on my pages:
 www.notonthehighstreet.com/donnasmithdesigns

 

 

I have decided not to sell through my own website, at the moment anyhow, as Not On The High Street is so easy to manage, a few clicks of the mouse and the customer receives all the right information. 

 

I also even have my own stickers with my name on it - makes me feel a bit professional!

 

 

 

Anyway, must dash - I have lots to do tonight as I am busy making stock for The Christmas Craft Fair in the Clickimin Centre on 9th-11th November and that will be here very quickly!

 

 

Keeping in Touch

I have been badly neglecting my blog over the past months, I am working on getting back to making and designing and reorganising my entire working life around a little boy who is now 10 months old and moving around!  I will blog very soon (I promise!) with details of plans for selling my work and new products so keep tuned.

In the meantime you can keep in touch by following my Facebook page, I find it easier to pop in and out there and upload the odd photo or two  ww.facebook.com/donnasmithdesigns or by following me on twitter at https://twitter.com/DonnaSmith02.

Hope to see you there and more details to follow very soon!

Shoormal

A few years ago I sang with the band Shoormal.  The music doesn't really fit neatly into any genre, it tends to go under "contemporary folk", but has many influences including from folk, country and jazz with harmony vocals being a major part in each song.  You can hear the music on Shoormal's myspace page.

Shoormal
Gregg Arthur (keyboard, accordian, hammond organ, bascially anything with keys); Jonathan Ritch (bass); Freda Leask (vocals); Archer Kemp (drums); Trevor Smith (guitar); Me (vocals); Gordon Tulloch (guitar); Joyce Wark (vocals)
Photo: Heidi Pearson

We recorded 3 CDs, Indigo Skies, Migrant and Turning Tide.  The first, Indigo Skies was nominated for best newcomer in Mike Harding's Radio 2 Folk Awards in 2001.  You can buy Migrant and Turning Tide from various places including Amazon, and you can download various tracks from there too - it sems strange to think when we first started we used tapes to record new songs and ideas!  The first album Indigo Skies sold out but is due to be rereleased soon.

We travelled a little bit during our time as a band, the photo below shows us in the Hilton Hotel in Austin, Texas.

                                          Photo: Davie Gardner

We had many band practices and many laughs along the way.  Here are some of us at Gregg's before he revamped his sitting room.

Due to pressures of business combined with the fact I am not a bit fan of performing (not a good trait if you are in a band) I "retired".  The band has continued to play in a scaled down format and with one or two different members, and played at events this summer under the name of "Freda Leask and the Shoormal Band".  A facebook page has been set up so you can find out where they are playing, updates on re-releases and other music related news.  Hop over there and have a look! 

Shoormal: A Shetland dialect word meaning where the shore meets the sea.

Project - Peerie Breeks for Peerie Breeks

While England is baking in sun, in Shetland we are experiencing wind and rain (it is October after all), what better way to spend an afternoon like that than doing a bit of sewing while staying cosy inside.

A few days ago I made a peerie pair of breeks (a little pair of trousers) for Joseph. To explain the title in Shetland we would affectionately call a little person "Peerie Breeks" (little trousers).

I had a scrap of light denim left over from a coat I cut out but never got around to sewing (one of my UFOs, I must look for it) and used a pattern I downloaded from Make Baby Stuff.com.  The pattern is free and can be printed on 2 sheets of A4 paper.

I added a couple of inches at the bottom of the pattern and straightened out the bottom so I could create turnups which could be turned down as Joseph grows.  Only 2 pieces are needed as the pattern is placed on the fold:

To add a bit of interest I added fabric stars to the knees by ironing some bondaweb onto a piece of scrap grey fabric, cutting out two stars then ironing them onto the denim.  I stitched around the edges of the stars with a zig zag sttich to finish them off and to stop the edges peeling off.

I thought I would attempt to sew the trousers with french seams, I have never tried this before but it worked out very well.

Firstly you place the wrong sides of the fabric together, stitch along the seam half the width of the seam allowance, turn the pieces outside in then stitch the seam again the width of half the seam allowance.  I found I needed to trim the first seam.  I turned up about a centimetre along the bottom then stitched them, once the rest of the trousers were finished I turned up about an inch and handstitched along the edge to create the turnups.

I wasn't sure what to do between the legs but it was obvious once I got there (although too difficult to explain!)

Once the seams were all sewn together I turned the waistband over twice and stitched along both folded edges leaving a gap of a couple of cm so the elastic could be threaded through using a safety pin.

Once the bottom hems were done I needed a lttle model.

He seems quite happy with them.  Altogether they only took a couple of hours, sometimes the planning and gathering the sewing equipment together takes the longest, so I hope to make a few more pairs during the rainy afternoons.  I hope I have inspired you to do a bit of sewing.

It is still lashing rain and howling a gale out there, so I am off to look out that cashmerino yarn I ordered to start the next project while drinking copious amounts of tea and I might just have to eat that bit of millionaire shortbread that has been staring me out all afternoon. 

Well, it is one of those nights!

Joseph William: the reason I haven't been blogging

He's here at last!  Joseph William was born just over 4 weeks ago now, so there hasn't been much time for blogging or anything else really!

He is lying on a beautiful hap (shawl) handknitted by my 90 year old Grandaunt from Shetland yarn.

I am planning to take time off from work until at least the new year, my head is brimming with new ideas so hopefully I will have some new products when I come back and reopen the online shop.

In the meantime, I am planning several projects for myself, I went a bit mad buying yarn to knit Joseph some cardigans, socks, hats....... so I will keep to posted with how that goes depending on how the time goes!

Pay it Forward with a Brooch

Earlier this year I signed up to a "game" on facebook and twitter, someone promised to send the first 5 people to comment on their post something handmade.  In turn you then had to do the same - a great way to receive some lovely handmade items!

I played the game on twitter with Anne Murray, an artist who works in ceramics.  She sent me this gorgeous brooch, which is very "me", she seems to have worked out my style well even though we have never met.

You can see more of her work on her website www.anne-murray.com , I particularly like her design journal on the "my work" page, it's a really novel and quirky way to show off her products and ideas.

In the meantime, anyone who is waiting for something handmade from me - it is coming, sometime in 2011!

My work and my Mam

You might have noticed that I haven't been online for a few weeks now.  Lately my personal life has overtaken and there has been little time for blogging, twittering and the like.
My dear Mam, Betty, passed away a few weeks ago after a long battle with cancer and I took time off work to be with her both at home and at the hospital.  She was a big inspiration in my work, and worked for me occassionally a few years ago before she became ill.  She spent many hour herself designing and making her own clothes.

Here she is a couple of years ago, standing in my stall at the Shetland Arts and Craft Christmas Fair, wearing a jacket she had designed and knitted.  Many people asked her if I had made it, much to her annoyance and my amusement!

When I made my first felt bag Mam told me what she would like, so we designed it together. 

I named the bag the "Ursula Bag" which was her middle name.  When I came up with a new design I would usually ask her what she thought and would take it from there - she would very often even "aquire" many of the pieces!

 She will be a huge miss but I have to concentrate on the good memories and there are many of them. 

On a more positive note I am expecting my first baby, due on the 6th August.  I am on maternity leave now so my website is now closed and the last couple of orders for galleries will be sent out on Monday.  I am hoping to have some time to relax, get things ready, cook meals for the freezer etc.

I also have so many projects (for myself for a change!) going round in my head that I would like to do so I will see if I can get them fitted in.....

I will be back making and selling soon, but not sure when, I will keep in touch with news of new designs, I hope to have a new range of work when I get back into making.