All Tied Up: Father's Day Stash Solver

I'm HOPELESS at buying Father's Day presents. I mean, really terrible. I only ever buy my Dad books about war (I swear he thinks he was there) or, on a very rare occasion, power tools.

Somebody call the cliche police.

This year I trumped myself (and my bank account) getting Beach Boys tickets for Mum & Dad, and decided to brand them as combined "Mother's and Father's Day Presents" to cover all bases. But you gotta wrap them up right? Even tickets deserve a nice presentation.

Our Spotlight Pinterest has been a bit hyperactive in the lead up to Father's day, which makes things much easier for me in the gift wrapping department, because I discovered these:

Tie Gift Bags

How cool! It got me thinking, what a great way to use up some funky scraps in my stash (rather than paper). Cut out a tie shape and voila! Sew easy.

But then, I found this:

PaperCrave's DIY Tie Gift Boxes

BUT! This is a blog about the Fabric team, so, why not get out some cool scraps, iron on some of your favourite interfacing, and download PaperCrave's PDF pattern here.
These are seriously awesome. Also brilliant for birthdays, graduation presents or groomsman goodies!

Ties also make a great embellishment for jars of goodies:

Or on a card!

So much fun!

Haven't got something suitable in your stash? Why not pop into your local Spotlight store and pick up some awesome Prints Charming favourites?

 

Don't forget to send us a photo of what you've made - or post it to our Facebook!

Treasures By Shabby Chic

A big congrats to Leila Byrne for winning our great giveaway!

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 Anyone who's dabbled in a little (or a lot) of home decorating over the last 10 years will no doubt be familiar with the phenomenon that is Shabby Chic.

Shabby Chic style came to a fore with the publication of acclaimed interior designer Rachel Ashwell's book, "Shabby Chic" in 1996. She has since published numerous books, hosted a Shabby Chic TV show, and has a successful design business.

Rachel Ashwell

While our office at times is probably more shabby than chic, we do love Rachel's signature style and so of course jumped at the chance to stock her very own line of fabrics, Treasures by Shabby Chic.

Treasures by Shabby Chic is inspired by signature Shabby Chic prints and Ashwell's own vintage finds and evoke the romantic, feminine qualities of the brand - not to mention that they're absolutely GORGEOUS!

Selected designs from Treasures By Shabby Chic

Spotlight is now stocking a selection of the Treasures by Shabby Chic range in quilting fabrics across two gorgeous colour stories - pink/green (all stores) and blue/purple (selected stores).
Treasures by Shabby Chic "Garden Rose", 100% Cotton, 112cm wide. $22.99m. In stores now.

To celebrate the launch of the range, Spotlight are giving away a gorgeous quilt created from the fabrics, as well as a copy of Rachel Ashwell's book, "Shabby Chic Interiors".

Win this quilt! How beautiful!

To enter, simply head over to the Spotlight Facebook page and follow the instructions to enter. Good luck!

What's the Scoop?

What's black and white and re(a)d all over?

A NEWSPAPER!

I think that joke works much better when said aloud. But, something that does work on the page is our new range of Newspaper print quilting fabric!

Seriously, how cool are these? There are six designs in all, ranging from vintage newspaper ads to headlines to a few cheeky personals - maybe you can find your perfect match in our lonely hearts club?

Vintage Labels, White

Vintage Labels, Black

Textile Labels, White

Vintage Ads, Cream

Headlines, White

Personals, White

Newspaper Print Quilting Fabric, 100% Cotton, 112cm wide, $12.99m. In store now.

I've already got so many projects planned for these little beauties that they'll likey make headlines. But to get you started, who can read past the classic newspaper hat!

We found an awesome tutorial by Kaelin at the plaid scottie demonstrating how to make your very own newspaper hat - out of fabric!

 

Check out her tutorial here.

Now that's newsworthy.

Pattern of the Week: Top and Tail Dress

Top and Tail Dress

In this week’s Pattern of the Week we are featuring the lovely Vogue V8469. Our charming seamstress Jane Austen has used an alternate embroidered fabric for the bodice to add more colour and diversity to this very classic dress. The bow can be tied at either the back or the front and length of the skirt can be altered to suit your needs.

Product used:
Pattern: Vogue V8469
Bodice: Aruna Embroidery 100% Cotton 112cm $14.95
Skirt: Japanese Tana Lawn 100% Cotton 112cm wide $14.99
Notions: Zip & Elastic

Very Easy Vogue V8469

Visit your nearest Spotlight and get your own Pattern of the Week today!

Introducing Prints Charming: Part 2

Our Facebook is going absolutely gangbusters with responses to the launch of our Designer Collaboration with Prints Charming - it's awesome to see that all of our lovely readers are excited as we are about this project!

Now that we've told you a little bit about the story behind Prints Charming, we thought it high time to tell you about what we've got in store for you in your local Spotlight!

To get things started we have two fantastic ranges of Prints Charming designs: printed cotton drill and printed cotton poplin.

Cotton Drill

Prints Charming Printed Cotton Drill

 
Why we love it:
Drill is one of our favourite fabrics to work with as it is versatile, hard wearing and holds a print beautifully!

What to use it for:
Cushion covers, storage baskets, children's dresses, jackets and pants

Pattern Reccomendation:
Burda Kids 9546 

Burda Kids 9546 - How cute!

The Details
Prints Charming Printed Cotton Drill, 112cm wide, 100% Cotton. AU$14.99m

Prints Charming Printed Cotton Poplin

Cotton Poplin

Why we love it:

Poplin is great as it is light weight, easy to wear & care for and above all very easy to sew with!

What to use it for:
Tote bags, summer dresses and skirts, pyjamas.

The Details
Prints Charming Printed Cotton Poplin, 112cm wide, 100% Cotton. AU$14.99m

We can't wait to hear what ideas you have in store for these amazing fabrics - and stay tuned, there will be more ranges to come in the future!

Drop us a comment below or visit our Facebook to tell us about what your plans are for Prints Charming!

Introducing Prints Charming

We are hugely excited to be collaborating with design studio Prints Charming on a range of fabrics exclusive to Spotlight. The Prints Charming designs are absolutely stunning - bold, bright and beautiful, just in time for your summer sewing projects!

The Prints Charming team - Cath and Kirsten!

Cath and Kirsten started Prints Charming around 8 years ago after working together for respected fabric manufacturer John Kaldor. Combining their love of craft, textile and print, the ladies together have created a signature style that is vibrant and quirky and are championing modern contemporary craft and education.

When the Prints Charming ladies approached us about collaborating on some fabric ranges, we thought it too good to be true. But now as the stock begins to hit stores (this week!), we thought it might be a good time to get to know the talent behind these gorgeous designs.

Tomorrow on W&W: we'll show you the gorgeous Prints Charming range hitting Spotlight Stores!

 Click "read more" to see our mini-interview with Cath and Kirsten

Pattern of the Week: Cynthia Rowley Denim Dress

The Denim Dress

In this week’s Pattern of the Week, we’re featuring a Simplicity Cynthia Rowley 2215. Not only does it have a matching blouse but this pattern also includes skirt- with pockets! For the more experienced sewer, inserting the optional fringe trim will add a lovely textural feature.

 

This one was whipped up by the latest member of the W&W team - Jane Austen!

 

Adaptation

Instead of creating button holes on the front bodice, we have sewn in concealed press studs and placed a decorative button on top. The creator of this garment, Jane Austen, chose to do this as the bodice wasn’t tight fitting and the denim was getting bulky.

We LOVE Simplicity's Cynthia Rowley patterns!

We used
Pattern: Simplicity 2215
Fabric: Denim, 145cm wide, 100% Cotton, $14.99 per meter.
Notions: Zip, 4 buttons

Visit your nearest Spotlight and get your own Pattern of the Week today!

PANTONE Challenge - Copper

There is a nifty little stack of PANTONE colour swatches piled up on my desk which has been staring at me for the last few months. We had the priviledge of a forecasting agency supplying us with colour chips heralding the best and brightest colours of next season - Spring/Summer 2013.
Each of us here in the buying team have selected our favourite colour from the stack and we'll be telling showing you a snapshot of our favourite things in that PANTONE shade.

What is PANTONE? Find out more here. 

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Challenger 1: The Insider (that's me!)
PANTONE: 16-1325 TCX "Copper"

Being the olive-skinned demi god that I am, I can't really wear gold jewelery, and silver never really held my interest. So I went out and bought a copper-faced watch on a brown leather band. It was my favourite ever accessory, and long after it has gone to horological heaven, my affinity with the colour copper continues (as does my watch fetish).

Here are my picks for the best of the best.

How incredible are those shoes? And the copper homewares trend is huge going forward. Those beaten panels on a bedroom wall are really something.

Copper/Bronze eye makeup is nothing new but take it to a new level with a metallic lip. Or add a hint of luxe with a peep on a shoe heel! So cool.


Right...taking bets on which colour is up next week! Let us know what you think - send us a link or post a photo on our Facebook of your favourite challenge pieces each week!