Wacky Foam Clothing by Croatian designer Matija Čop

Croatian designer Matija Čop laser-cuts shapes out of foam, interlocking the pieces to allow the construction of reversible garments without the need for sewing.  The idea was inspired by construction techniques and shapes found in gothic architecture.

Not so easy to pack for a holiday.

However no ironing required!

Photos from Dezeen magazine

Spots and circles - influences and ideas

Saw this as we were driving in NSW

Came up with this pattern for the new range of Jiniku spot shirts

 

Off to market - Setting up a market stall

Yesterday we had a stall at the Sister's Market in Northcote.  It was a fun day in spite of the cold.  I am new to markets but I thought I would share my experience.

Firstly, there is all preparation. Oh my, does it take a long time to get ready, or what!  Never underestimate this, I was exhausted before the day had even begun.  I had to label all the garments, find an appropriate table cloth, print off forms for mailing lists and sales, make sure all the displays were in order etc etc.  I know it doesn't sound like much, but when you do not do this every week it's more than you think.  For example I may have found the perfect table cloth, but it needed to be ironed, clearly! Not so quick you see.

I also needed a way to display my new bags and accessories, so ended up walking the aisles of Bunnings.  Fun!  Actually it was.   I ended up using a tomato plant climbing stand.  Unusual I know, but it worked out quite well in the end.  It had all the necessary requirements, tall, so people could see the products, light so I could carry it without getting grumpy, collapsible, sadly not.  Never mind you cant have everything.  But if it ever gives me trouble out to the garden it will go.

Clare, who makes gorgeous jewellery, shared the stall. Here she is looking glam in her new scarf that she had already bought before the market even began.  Big error, but at least she was warm. This is something I do not advise but do all the time, buying a lot of other stall holder's beautiful items. Clare lent me Zara, her lovely mannequin who has one leg longer than the other and can always be seen in sexy knickers.  I am not really sure why this is, but it is quirky, which I like. I am talking about the leg and not the underwear here.  Zara was very helpful in showing off my new range, but god she is heavy!  Now Zara could possibly push you over the edge.  I think I would ditch her next time for a much lighter model.  Sorry Zara, if you walked on your own it would be different.

I took some photos of two other stalls that I thought had lovely displays. Here are some beautiful ramekins by Adriana Christianson displayed in a lovely old rustic box.  They are totally gorgeous!  Just had to buy some.  Cute milk jug too.  Might get that next time.

Lucky for us, opposite was Cleanskins Natural Skin Care by Sophie,  giving off beautiful aromas and making our area very calm and inviting.  I am highly allergic so they have offered to make me a Janine special cream - all part of their service!

I have to say that I would highly recommend having someone with you.  This means you can go to the loo, have a break, have someone to laugh with, get help with packing and setting up and top of the list, you can go and get lunch.  I would say essential for a good day at the market!

Here is some useful info I have found: 
How to set up a market stall
some crafty tips on setting up a market stall
13 ideas to sell more at your market stall

What to do with your fabric remnants or offcuts

You know all those bits of fabric that are left over when you cut out a garment, well I can never throw them away, you never know when they will come in useful. I have had my offcuts piling up in the cupboard for over a year now. Rather than buy a new wardrobe I finally decided to get cracking and use them up.  It is amazing what you can get out of them!  Bags, ipad covers, sun glass cases, iphone covers, purses, pencil cases and on and on it goes. 
Left with extra storage space and some lovely fashion accessories - bonus!

Taking the leap – starting your own business in fashion?

my dad

The idea of starting up a new online fashion business had been swirling around in my head  for years. The seed was sown  after endless trips to the shops with my friend, returning items because the shape, shade, tint, stitching, you name it, was not quite right. We would  laugh and talk about running our own business so that we could make things just perfect – for us anyway.

What stopped me making it a reality? Why did it take 5 years before I took the plunge?  Well, firstly I needed a partner in crime, so that meant finding someone as crazy as me, into the same things, with skills in the appropriate areas, loving colour and patterns and in the right moment of their life.  You might be thinking 'what about your friend'?  Her name is Liz by the way, and yes she is perfect if not more than perfect, but she was not in the right moment - and you see that is pretty crucial!

Running my own business does not really scare me as I have grown up with that kind of thinking. I clearly inherited the entrepreneurial gene from my dad. He was Romanian and pretty much left to bring himself up from a very early  age.  He always had a million projects on the go. You could say it is in my blood. 

Well it took a  move from England to Australia to spur me into action.  When you are moving your family across  the world, changing schools, houses, climate, friends and accents why not add  one more thing to the mix and change careers!

So the journey  began, and my ideas sprung into life. I still have no partner in crime but have  been lucky to have found many new and supportive friends. Thank you all!  I’ve made the commitment, devoted the time, spent the money and taken the leap!    AAAH!

I highly recommend it.

A little splash of colour

Don't you just love clothes that have that tiny bit of detail.  It doesn't even have to show, it's just the fact that you know it is there.  I once had a pair of black boots, they had a bright pink inner lining.  I loved that.  Nobody else saw it.  It didn’t matter. I knew!

 

graffiti knitting (Knitiffi), Guerilla knitting, street art?

When I was small I used to design all sorts of wacky jumpers with lots of tricky patterns.  I was the worst knitter, all my scarves would end up twice as wide as when I began.  Funny that.  How does it happen?  Anyway I knew it was not my thing and so made my poor mum make them. She was after all brilliant at knitting.  Clearly I had not inherited the gene!

Hey mum you were lucky I never came up with these ideas!

Knitted bus via hustonpress via blue caravan

Knitted telephone box, London, Knit the City

Learn about the phonebox cosy story from Knit the City

Where did the Easter Bunny come from!

 

When you look into this little creature's connections to Easter many words come up: fertility, spring, pagan symbol, renewal of life,  but I love the link

to the Saxon's maiden goddess of fertility, Eastre or Eostre  and her fertile little bunnies. Interesting! 

I didn't quite realise when I designed these rabbit shirts that those little fellas would come to be so useful.  Hopping about for the Chinese new year, again at the end of year of the rabbit and now for Easter.

Cant wait for them to hop up again?

Jiniku stretch cotton rabbit shirts, also available in red, green, orange

Review of Jiniku Clothes in Weekend Notes, Melbourne

Great review of Jiniku Clothes in Weekend Notes, Melbourne, by Julie Mundy

If my domain name is taken I will scream!

Continued...

 

So I had finally come up with a business name.  You would think that was it, but now the nightmare began!

I rushed home, no I was not speeding - much. My heart was pounding. What if the domain name was taken.  It would be the end!  I looked it up in one of the web hosting sites.  It seemed to take a while to decide and then yes IT WAS FREE!   Yippeee, it had to be fate.  I bought .com .com.au and .co.uk  Maybe I should have bought more.  Not sure. 

If anyone can advise then please let me know.

What I didn’t know at the time was that I should have signed up jinuku with other main sites.  A year later when I finally got onto Twitter the username jiniku had been taken.  I was almost sick! I turned into a tortured soul much like the scream by Edvard Munch.  Well we do all have a degree in hindsight!

I did finally come to my senses (maybe after a week) when I realized that in the big scheme of life it was not the end of the world.  I would have to adapt and move on!  How many times have I told my kids this!  I looked up the owner of jiniku in twitter and it was a young girl.   I did email her to ask if she could be bribed to give it up.  She never even replied.  How very rude!

If there is anything else I can do to get jiniku back please someone let me know!