improving

I think I managed to get better photographs today (the ones in my last post seem very dark):



I really need either a model, or a tripod, or a photographer.... or preferably all three!

The first two are listed in the shop too!

to do and doing

TO DO

If I actually sat down and wrote a "to do" list of everything I have either on the go, or want/need to get down to, I think I'd probably disappear from sight for a good few days...

The most urgent at the moment are:
- List the white blouse from my last post in my Etsy shop... (others already listed, as well as the first shrug of the season!)
- Write-up about some of the super features Katsai has been getting lately on other friendly blogs... so watch this space ;P
- Post pictures of the "formal" dress - and the hiiiiigh-heel shoes I dared to wear - from the wedding down in Malaga.

Maybe tomorrow I'll find a bit more time to spend online :)


DOING


In the meantime, I've been fine-tuning the latest of my new patterns...

Here's the inspiration:


The Armadillo, or "little armoured one".

And here's the interpretation / application / next-big-thing ;)



Its just the neck-part... an orginial sculpted cowl, or much-needed-cozy-"armour" for when the cold weather hits!

So, what do you think?!

azul como el cielo // blue as the sky

newities

After quite a quiet time recently I've been updating my shop the last couple of days. Check out the pictures below...

And in the meantime I've been:

- working on new patterns and techniques (watch this space!)

- playing with crochet threads again making up hems and yokes (see halter below)

- shopping more fabric (mmmmm!)

- making a couple of much needed summer pieces for myself (including a super-dooper Katsai summer bag! ...I really SHOULD "treat" myself more ;P)

- and the best of all, doodling sketches and brainstorming ideas sat out at our new balcony table and chairs! Such luxury to have a space in the fresh air... must remember to get a picture to post!!

version dos

I just finished this afternoon another of my new Toile tunics in Blue.


I love the fact that with the toile each one is completley unique, as I never get the same positioning twice... this one is for the "hen enthusiasts"!















It'll be listed tomorrow and is a size medium :)

more to come...

Well my blog posts seem to becoming few and far between... sorry about that for anyone who may have wondered where I'd got to: I'm still here!

It's been a fairly busy week, what with family visits (which have been great!) and trips down to the post-office to send my goodies to their new homes, my shop is getting emptyier by the day (so much for my determined attempt to restock ;P).

But, I do just about have two new Militario tops ready to list (just need to hand-sew the strips and buttons onto the 2nd one and thats it!) in my Etsy shop, so hopefully visitors to the store in the next few days won't be too disapointed by the reduced stock?

This has been one of my most popular designs so far, with lots of enquiries and interest, which is really encouraging! I know I've said this before, bu at some point I just HAVE to make one for myself too.... I'd hate to be left without, as it really is one of my faves too ;P

this next

This is what i've been working on today. Its still just the front piece, and pinned together, but hopefully you get the idea?



Its another new pattern idea that I've been toying around with of late, mixing contrasting styles: military with the baby-doll, or harsh geometric with soft flowy, etc.

We'll see how it turns out!

Hmmm, may need to do some button-shopping in it's honour ... What d'ya think?

watching paint dry .... and inspiration

OK, not literally watching.... but waiting patiently ;P



I went on a little excursion yesterday to the serigraphers' supplier here in the city and so now am testing a new fabric paint for a new line I'm working on.



So far things seem to be going well, and it looks promising ... but it seems I must wait a WEEK before I can wash it! ... And so until I can see that it survives the multiple wash test on different fabrics, this is going to have to stay another "in-the-works" project...


I'm pretty excited about the new designs though. I'm developing new motifs that are inspired by the beautiful modernist architecture here in Barcelona.

Everywhere you look there are amazing and intricate design details on the seemingly most ordinary of buildings.

And since working for an architectural photographer for a long time, when I first moved out here, my gaze often drifts up to the skyline rather than where i'm going!

... These are a few of the snapshots I've taken of things that have caught my eye.

A little peek behind the scenes...

The latest addition to my shop is this "built from scratch" autumn/spring jacket. I'm extremely pleased with how it has turned out, and am already planning making more when the new season's fabrics are in the shops.

I'd actually made the pattern and done a first mock-up way back in the spring, but then the warm weather came and I couldn't get my head round doing "wrap-up" wear!

Now with the cooler weather last week I got to work again on perfecting the cut and the details, and making the final garment.












Here are some behind-the-scenes shots at varying stages of the construction :)











Lined tailored jackets have to be one of my favourite things to make ... although there are a number of nerve-racking moments that I could do without!
The point where I have to cut into the piece to construct the pockets, for example, which i imagine must be a bit like the feeling a knitter has when they have to cut at the "steeks"? Or, last of all, when I have to cut into the otherwise completley finished garment to make the buttonhole ;P Talk about scary!

.

More fabric printing

I've been making more stencils and printing fabrics for my new line of tote bags ... here are two of the latest laid out to dry.

I still have to make up the second one into a bag... and i'm think of making it with a longer strap, so that it can be worn like a sling across the body. You don't really seem to find many of this style of bag over at Etsy...

NEW funky fabric bangles

This week i sort of unveiled a "new product" in my Etsy shop that i've been working on for some time now.

I'm completley addicted to bangles, especially during the summer time with short sleeve tops ;P The thing is, although i love all my store bought-bangles aesthetically, they're not actually THAT comfortable to wear :( My favourite favourite one is made out of some sort of turquoise blue stone mounted on a metal base, it gorgeous, but gives me an awful and irritating rash if warn for longer than say an hour :(

And then i have wooden and plastic ones too, but as i like to wear them on my forearm and they're rigid, its not the most comfortable fit (my arm is NOT perfectly circular... don't know about yours?!) and when i rest my arm on a table the rigidness digging in and the knocking does get particularly irritating.

As i say, i'm addicted, however, and so none of these inconveniences were enough of a problem to stop me sporting my beloved bangles (i don't wear high-heeled shoes much at all, but just think of my fashion-victimness as far as bangles are concerned a bit like the torture we girlies put ourselves through with heels).... until now!

Well, the challenge had been set, how to come up with a process that would create an attractive, comfortable, non-allergenic, non-rigid bangle that i can wear in the hot weather without all those little downfalls...

Many hours of prototypes, tests with different interfacing, plastics, stretching, wrapping, handstitching and generally swearing at the frustration of not getting it quite right finally gave way to these!


I'm in love!

....and completley addicted to making them (although it is no piece-of-cake, each one takes over an hour and a half of labour!).

It has also breathed new life into my humungous fabric stash - i see so many possibilities and new combinations that i know i'm gonna have fun trying them all out :)

I'd love to hear all of your's thoughts on these accessories, as feedback is always extremely useful to refine a process or idea ... and sometimes familiarity clouds judgement, if you get what I mean?

Do you think there is a market for these types of "fabric jewellrey"?

mini-update... to get me back in the swing of things ;P

Wow.
Its been a while! I just don't seem to have got back into the swing of things since me internet connection at home was fixed... And then it got to the point that it was becoming quite a challenge to decide what to post after so long, so "mañana, mañana" i found myself convincing myself, and here we are.... more than just a couple of weeks later!

Its good to be back online though. How i've come to depend on internet for even the simplest things, nevermind running my Etsy shop. News, tv guide, recipes, street maps, the weirdest little niggle question like what WAS that actor's name or etc etc and of course contact with those that are far and not so far... don't know how i coped with just day to day life without internet!!

In the meantime i've been working on some new pieces, and most importantly new patterns!! I hope to get some decent pics in daylight tomorrow of the first finished top from the new patterns, and get to list it on Etsy :P

DIY stripes

I find it really hard to get hold of interesting fabrics locally, and as the fabric store nearest to home has been closed all week, i've had a go and printing my own...

Yesterday I cracked out the fabric paint left over from when i used to print t-shirts, and after a while of measuring, masking and painting, here are the results :)

As you can see, I started easy: stripes!

I'm really pleased how it turned out, although it did soak up a hell-of-alot of paint :( Going to have to get more supplies in for the next lot...



_____________________________


Ultimamente me he cansado un poco de lo dificil que lo encuentro comprar telas interesantes. Entonces, y como podéis ver, he decidido experimentar un poco con las pinturas textiles que me quedan de cuando estampaba camisetas! Aquí tienes los resultados ;P

Me encanta esta pintura, porque despues de lavarlo queda muy integrado a la tela... no como pintura acrílica mezclado con no-sé-que-líquido que se supone que lo hace más suave y resistente en telas (que fue lo primero que probé con las camisetas), pero que en la realidad deja la tela dura como un piedra y se agrieta al lavar :( Ésta es mucho mejor!

Me sorprenió la cantidad de pintura que chupó este retal por eso.... habrá que comprar más provisiones para la siguiente aventura ;P









I'm thinking of using this newly printed cotton to make a couple more tops like this one ...using the stripes for the top part, and either brown or black plain cotton for the rest.

I'll be sure to post a pic of the finished thing when its done ;P

more prototypes / otra diversificacion

Heres a quick sneak preview of what I'm working on at the moment...


Its a good couple of years since i've made a tailored shirt... so its slow going while a try and remember all the steps.

It is actually further along than in this picture: now just missing the cuffs, the hem, the buttons and the buttonholes -aaarghhhh the buttonholes!


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.... HAce ya muchos posts que quiero escribir en castellano también, pero soy una gandula. Sorry!. Bueno, ahí va... salta/ignora todas las faltas de ortografía y gramática ¿vale?... esto me será una buena práctica!!
***************************************

Aquí os dejo un adelanto de lo que estoy creando ahora :)

Hace ya un par de años desde que hice una camisa de vestir ... que quiere decir que estoy tardando un poco mucho, mientras intento recordarme de todos los pasos a seguir!

Realmente está ya más adelantado de lo que se ve en la foto... ahora sólo le faltan los puños, el bajos, los botones y los ojales (ODIO hacer ojales!!!).

Saturday Night Vintage

She's finished :)

I'm quite taken with this bag: a more elegant fabric purse that reminds me of those excellent vintage "Granny Bags" you can find with a bit of luck in a hidden away junk shop ;P

I repeated the piping detail around the edge of the flap and lined the bag with a gorgeous contrasting bright pink fabric..... i love the flash of colour when you delve inside!

I made the button myself too.... it's actually a five centimos euro coin, with wadding to give it a lovely domed shape and covered with the same vinyl/polipiel as the base of the bag ;P

This handbag and many more are available at my online shop over at Etsy.

figuring it out .... another bag in the making

I like bags with shape.
So, I've been working on alternatives that give a bag stability (other than interfacing and sandwiching sturdier materials between outer and lining) and that also become an original and interesting design feature,

I've also been trying my hand at "faux-leather" and I must say I'm quite liking the possiblities, mixing it with other more elegant and natural fabrics.

I'm quite taken to the texture on this base ... reminds me of tyre-tracks! and works unbelievably well as a shaping for this little handbag-in-the-making :)

What do you think?

more behind the scenes at Katsai (a.k.a. My Dream Jacket!)

Thought I'd give you all another peek behind the scenes over here at Katsai ;P
I posted about this jacket and got some lovely feedback over at Craftser (you can see the buzz here...).

It really was a labour of love, as I had such a strong image in my head of what I wanted, that many a pattern draft and alteration, followed by mock-ups and tweaks were the order of the day to get things just right.

So, this is what I wanted...


.... and this is what i ended up with...


...and, heres some of what i had to go through to get there!


My Dream Jacket is also available at my etsy shop, ... with details on sizing, materials, etc...

PS: I was accepted to the Etsy Seller Who Blog ring (see new link on sidebar).... thanks Ubercherry!

New bag in the making...

Well, while Etsy has been down this weekend, I've been spending my time trying to finally figure out an idea that i've been toying around with for well over a year. I wanted to make the front pocket the "feature" of a bag, and knew how i wanted it to turn out but just hadn't found the time to sit down and figure out the logics of it.

Its just actually pinned together in these pics, but as you can see, the front pocket is a cut-out circle, with contrasting ribbing so it stands out ;P
I'm really pleased with how this bag is turning out... hopefully I'll get it finished today and some decent photos taken.














Theres alot still to be done, eh?!