"Easy As" Fabric Roses

Do you like crafting at Christmas Time? 
Christmas is usually my favourite time of year to sit around the dining table, chatting and crafting with friends and family.
I've always loved easy - yet - Oh! so pretty crafts that add a vintage or handmade feel to your decorating - I think pretty fabric roses fit this brief perfectly and best of all they can be made at any time of year!

Easy As - Fabric Rose - Tutorial!
- Tear a strip of fabric / old scraps of cotton and/or linen fabrics are perfect for these pretty roses
(Note: changing the width and length of your fabric strips will create interesting variations in your roses
- Fray the edges of your fabric strip
- Tie a knot in one end of your fabric strip
- Wrap the remaining fabric strip around the knot (twisting as you go) 
- As you twist the fabric use a needle and thread to stitch (hold) fabric in place (or hold fabric in place with glue from a hot glue gun etc)
- When you have almost finished wrapping your rose, tuck the end of your fabric strip to the underside of your new rose
- Your new fabric rose can then be sewn onto ribbon to decorate presents etc
-Enjoy :)

NEW: 'Faded French' - Fabric Collection

Hello Friends,
Thank-you all so much for your thoughtful comments on my recent Spoonflower Blog Post - I really enjoyed reading your comments (and it was very reassuring to know my photography tips made some sense - lol :)

To-day I thought I'd share a sneak peek of my newly designed Fabric Collection: 'Faded French' : featuring simple 'mix and match' palettes in Blue, Green and Brown :)

I'm also expecting a fabric delivery from Spoonflower (any day now - fingers crossed) so I hope to post some fresh fabric photos, featuring my latest 'Linen Look' designs very soon - Yay :)

Daisy Dress in Dusty Pink!

As soon as my "Dusty Pink Daisy" fabric sample (above) arrived from Spoonflower, I knew my days - To Do - List would be out the window!
So instead of working, I searched the internet for a cute little toddler dress pattern and spent the day sewing instead ;)
This so cute (and so easy to sew) 'A' line sundress is based on a free downloadable pdf pattern by Oliver + S  called "popover sundress" ~ Thank-you ;)

Now that it's finished, I guess it's time to get back to work! 
... Although It could be 'milk and cookies' time first ;)

New Fabric Designs :)

Yay! it's the weekend ... !!! 
It may be raining again today, here on the Gold Coast but these beautiful Chrysanthemum daises never fail to make me smile.
I clicked a few extra photos of them, while taking photos of my new fabric designs, now available at Spoonflower... enjoy :)
Cheers, Kris

"Easy As" paper flowers :)

Happy Sunday ...

Today I've been making some fun paper flowers, that are not only an ideal way to dress up and decorate gifts but are oh so wonderfully - "Easy As" - to make.

I like to make them from recycled white tissue paper, (after carefully removing the wrap so often used by department stores on new purchases) - but vibrant colours work well for kids birthday parties, and restricted or limited mixed colour palettes help give a co-ordinated look to presents under a Christmas tree etc ....

.... If you'd like to try these out for yourself, see a wonderful tutorial for similar tissue paper flowers on the Feeling Fuzzy Blog <here>

But be warned ... try stopping after you've made just one :)

Revamped Vintage Chair

Fabric Design: Inky Floral - French Blue

I have been wanting a cute and comfy study chair for absolutely ages ... so I decided to remodel an old timber dining chair that had seen better days.

.... Using the chairs original, worn out fabric as a template and leaving the existing padding in place helped to make this (my first ever) attempt at reupholstery so much easier than I thought it would be - YAY !!!

For more fabulous Chair makeovers, see the Chair Party being hosted on the Drab to Fab blog 

... Oh the possibilities :)

Multi Dots Collection

Hello friends...
Here are some Multi Dots for a Marvellous Monday!
Colours from top left : 
Purple, Blue, Mint, Yellow, Green and Pink :)

It's summer school holiday time here in OZ - YAY!!!
(although with all the rain and flooding along the east coast, its quite easy to forget it's summer) .... 
Hope you have a fabulous week, and stay warm (for those of you caught in the snow) and dry (for those of you, like us here on the Gold Coast, listening to the sound of drumming rain ;)

Vintage Shabby Rose : Cushions

This month, I've really been enjoying pretty pink, green and neutral colour palettes.



So to bring some of these wonderful Springtime tones inside, I decided to make myself some new cushions, featuring designs from the Vintage Shabby Rose Collection.

Today the rain is pouring outside my window, but I'm enjoying listening to the steady sound it makes as it hits the roof :)
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Also this week Judi Hall from Gingezel, featured our designs on the Gingezel website ~ Thank-you so much Judi for the wonderful Kristopher K feature :)

I first became aware of Gingezel Fabrics on Flickr, when I saw this lovely Collection of fabrics called Ocean Villa 

... (I just love the muted blue and brown colour palette) 

See more beautiful Gingezel Fabrics @Spoonflower here

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I hope your week so far has been fabulous ... 
Time for me now to make a nice hot cup of coffee, while outside the rain continues to fall :)

Spring Blossoms on Silk!

... How exciting !!! 

I received my first sample of the new Silk Crepe de Chine fabric from Spoonflower today. 

See photos of this beautiful silk fabric, featuring my design Spring Blossoms below 

.... Now I'll really be able to practice some of my new "how to tie silk scarves" skills :)

Whooo hooo !!!!

Whoo hooo, I woke up early today, to see my Magnolia fabric design had placed 5th (out of 105 fabulous border fabric designs) in the Spoonflower Fabric of the Week contest : Thank-you sooooo much to all who voted :)

Miniature Marvels

... It's raining ... it's pouring today, but seeing these Miniature Marvels by JBM Miniatures has really brightened up my day - thanks Ken :)


Upholstered with Kristopher K fabric designs from the Shabby Chic Collection available at Spoonflower



See more amazing miniatures at Ken@JBM's flickr photostream here :)

Springtime!

Hello Spring!
I photographed these pretty springtime blossoms today, while walking through the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney. I thought they looked so pretty blooming against a brilliant blue sky!
Whatever the weather where you are in the world, I hope your having a Wonderful Weekend, Cheers Kris :)

Water Colour Weekend

It's lovely to be in Sydney BUT ... I'm so missing my studio at home on the Gold Coast !!! 

So on Friday afternoon, I decided to pop into an art shop (just for a look!) ... Well you know how it goes, I couldn't resist buying some new watercolours ... so this weekend I can now sit in the sunshine sketching and painting some new designs .. Yippee :)


Inky Floral: 
This is one of my latest vintage floral designs in an antique blue and taupe colour palette!
More fabric ... (and this weeks Night Owls Tweet :) photos soon :)


Whatever you plans for this weekend, I hope you have a fabulous time. 
Cheers, Kris.

New Quilt & New Chapter

After another busy week, I'm happy to be relaxing today, wrapped up in my new quilt ~ featuring fabric designs from my Marie's Garden collection (... inspired by the beautiful pink dahlias, blooming in the summer gardens of the Chateau de Versailles, France ~ home to Marie Antoinette.) 

Next week plans for the next chapter of Kristopher K will really start in earnest ... Whoo - hoo !!!
Did you manage to guess, from the sneek a peek last weekend ... ?

I have been busy organising new designs, fabrics, films, screens, printing tables & paints - etc as I will soon be hand screen printing a brand new collection of 'Kristopher K' textiles on yummy natural fabrics, to compliment the existing range of fabrics now available at Spoonflower.

It's still early days, but I couldn't wait to share this exciting news with you all.
I look forward to posting more updates and naturally lots of pictures soon ;)
Have a wonderful and relaxing Sunday .... Cheers Kris ;)


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Retro Summer

All wrapped up in my winter woolies .... lately I've been dreaming of Summer :)

Introducing the 'Retro Summer Collection' 
(available soon)


Making the most of the winter school holidays I've also started sewing a new quilt 
- to co-ordinate with my 'Easy As - Headboard Slipcover' 
I must admit however, as much as I long for Summer, it's great to be indoors sewing, with a mug of hot chocolate and the i-pod set to shuffle :)


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Calico Daisy

Calico Daisy: features rows of summer daisies in a soft calico "colour wash"
Shown with fabric design Vintage Shabby Taupe - on left 


Now it's winter (and freezing ...brrrr) here in Australia - I'm wanting to reupholster my lounge chairs with this fabric, as daisies always help to remind me of sunshine and summer ;) 


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Vintage Shabby Chic Collection

Vintage Shabby Roses are the blushing stars of the 'Vintage Shabby Chic' Collection: featuring a variety of designs inspired by classic Victorian colour palettes - bringing a relaxed timeless quality to this contemporary collection.

(click image to zoom)



1. The Carandini ladies, ca. 1875 / photographer Charles Hewitt (attributed)
2. William Henry Harrison Campaign Textile
3. Two women seated on bench, interior 
Vintage mood Photos above from The Commons on Flickr
(featuring hidden treasures in the world's public photography archives)


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Miniature Upholstered Furniture

How exciting to see Kristopher K fabrics on these Victorian Dollhouse chairs designed by:
JBM Miniatures  makers of handcrafted collectible miniature furniture.
See these photos (and more examples) on Ken@JBM's flickr photostream here
Thanks so much Ken for letting me know you posted these photos; I've so enjoyed taking a peek at your amazing work :)






... Oh how i'd like to walk around this dollhouse ;) 


Fabrics used are from the "Shabby Chic" collection and include:
Shabby Rose, 
Shabby Check Grande, 
and Shabby Stripe Grande.

So how do you reduce the scale of a fabric design at Spoonflower?
I find it as easy as adding a fabric to my cart, and clicking the blue "EDIT" link: then after Design Size, I again click the blue (EDIT THIS) link: Then I change the size of the design by clicking: SMALLER - until I have the required size: finally I click on the UPDATE ORDER ITEM button to update the print in my order to it's new custom size ;)

I hope to see the sun shining brightly again this weekend, so I can photograph the new fabric designs that have recently arrived - and I'm also planning to spend time this weekend sewing - as lately I have seen so many projects and tutorials that I'm keen to try.
Whatever your plans may be, have a fabulous weekend, 
Cheers Kris :)


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China Blue Collection

Presenting: The China Blue Collection ....
Inspired by faded french tapestries and old vintage china, in palettes of inky blue and brown;


Available now exclusively @Spoonflower

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Midweek Fabric Fix

New fabric samples have arrived!!!

Today, I managed to photograph a few of them, for a midweek fabric fix ... more soon ;)

Flower Bubbles:

Featuring Tiny Floral Bubbles in rows of, 

Sepia - Cola - or Mint coloured diamonds. 

Diamond Days:

Features rows of metallic coloured diamonds, to illustrate life's brilliant diamond days.


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