Working from Home

 I've had an epiphany about working from home. Last year it nearly did for my sanity, but now I have a lovely little desk, a comfy chair, a big monitor and a window with decent light, in a room I love and it's a game changer.

My own laptop and a whiteboard are on a chair just to the left (I'm left handed) so I have music playing on that one while I work on my teeny work one. Thank goodness for big monitors at reasonable prices! And on my beloved whiteboard I can plan and brainstorm and organise things

When we went into proper lockdown in April last year, I was caught completely short. I immediately took leave because I needed to be at the shop looking after locking it down too, and so got no time to collect furniture or equipment. It was dire with a broken chair and no decent screen or keyboard!

Anyway that was a long time ago in a flat and job far away. Most of us work from home at least one day a week to alleviate the space issues in the office. And I find I do really get a lot of work done in my happy place!

You've got to Move it, Move it!

 Finally moving day is here for Made Marion Craft, our little but thriving business in Wellington.
Assisted by a small but perfectly formed army of volunteers, everything got packed up by close of business Sunday and all we had to do today (Monday) was get the furniture coded for the movers who arrived at lunch time. It was weird being sort of open but not really. And there being nothing to do for a few hours.

And now just about half of the stuff is over there; through friends with big cars or vans on Sunday taking the odd shaped things like mannequins, spinning wheels and racks, and the movers arriving today at lunchtime and whipping out most of the furniture.
The photos below show the incredible back room that will be our storage and staff area. It has a mezzanine and graffiti!! For some reason these two elements combined seem incredibly edgy to me!

It's scary but also exciting to be growing, sort of (much, MUCH busier part of town, more rent, more classes etc) when other shops are folding. We're holding our own which is a good feeling.
Tomorrow, more moving, more unpacking, rinse and repeat for the rest of the week. I will take some pics of the new space as it develops. Today I was too comatose!
P.S. Cuba St is very edgy. We're all deciding how to rise to the occasion. I feel I should get more tattoos, there may be dreadlocks and pyjamas or leather studded wrist bands. Curly moustaches, it's all here! 

I'm pooped- and Merry Christmas!

Pooped here in NZ means really tired, done in, knackered etc. We closed the shop at 5pm this evening after a full on fortnight.
The shop is moving, well if only it would move itself - we are moving it with the assistance of many amazing volunteers and a big van of ripped young men (we live in hope) in a couple of weeks.
Why, after two mere years? Because the greed of our recently acquired corporate landlord who thinks that he can get 90k MORE than we pay now.
So, his loss is our short term pain, long term gain, because we have scored an incredible space on the most charming street in the CBD - Cuba St. A street of little eclectic shops, amazing cafes - it is the street I made a beeline for as a teenager.
Sadly as in every city in the world, this once eclectic street has been gentrified a lot, and my favourite second hand record shop, Silvios, is now a posh cafe, the precursor to today's $2 shops, Crazy Ricks is also a posh cafe...you get the idea. the charming workmen's cottages up the top where dreadlocked arty types set up a wee clothes shop in their front room were all swept away for the motorway bypass.
So, we are returning there, about 60m down the road from where the original shop was opened in the early 70s. Which is now a posh icecream shop.
It feels really good. How my recalcitrant knee and I are going to get through I don't know.
But them's the breaks! Or the pulled tendons...
Anyway here are a few interior shots. 

 Yes, these are skylights of natural light. Such a lovely thing!

 Looking from front to back, loving the mural from when it was Matchbox studios.

 From back to front - about 25m deep

A genuine real display window at the front!!!

And so, Merry Christmas to you all. Tomorrow we are doing nothing, going nowhere and enjoying every minute xo

Getting to the UK one Frida at a time

Hi all, I am on a plane in 14 sleeps and the big old whiteboard is covered in things to do! I arrive at Heathrow on 24 October and will be back in New Zealand by 16 November.
I am broke, cassé, skint, and in order to be able to eat, travel and have somewhere to stay while I am there, I've been fundraising. The gigs I have do pay, and for that I am grateful, but to raise the balance I have been making and selling Frida and Mary jacket patches. Frida outsells Mary by about 10 to one but that's to be expected!
It's actually really satisfying to be able to raise money by making things myself. And with these sales, sales of false drag lashes and performance fees I've raised enough to get by without having to rely on my credit card too much!
Other than that, I'm doing some free lance work, sewing for myself and others, and dealing with three massive things going totally wrong in my life all at once.  Two of them could be sorted by me getting a full time job or a longer term contract, and the third will probably come right faster if I did as well, because the stress of the situation would diminish a lot.
I don't want to go into details about any of them here, sorry to be vague but I'm in that weird place where pretending everything is OK is just not possible because it isn't, yet sharing the details is not a thing I can do right now either. Suffice to say that corporate greed and earthquakes are behind the troubles. One day I'll tell all.
In the meantime, I am blown away by the kindness of people!!! Friends and family who through small and huge acts of kindness just keep reminding me that life is worth persisting with.
On my to-do list is Fabricabrac this Saturday. The bi annual huge destash market that started in Wellington and is now happening all over NZ. I decided to use it as  chance to clear out my ridiculous stash of fabric in the shop store room and today Penny and I hauled out boxes and bins full of it!

This is a FRACTION of what we unearthed. It was crazy. I found stuff I forgot I had, had bought again, and generally realised that I am a HOARDER.
Anyway it's sorted more or less, scraps in colour themed bags, size and value sorted, everything. And I tell you I am not bringing stuff back. I kept back about a binful at most, the rest if it doesn't sell is going to a charity. But I think I'll be seeing lots of happy people walk out with it.
And thus will I make just a little bit more for my trip. :) In full knowledge of the money wasted on buying it in the first place. But to be honest I've not really added to my hoards much in the past few years, I've just dragged the stuff around after me. So by getting rid of it, it is an end of yet another era!
If you are in Wellington and love fabric, come to Fabricabrac - at St Anne's Hall, Emmett Street, Newtown 10am-2pm this Saturday 13 October. There's a huge car park and the church collects a gold coin donation for it. You can do your fruit and vege shopping next door too! https://fabricabrac.wordpress.com/wgtn/
Update after Fabricabrac: I went with five boxes and came back with one small box! WIN!

47 pairs of warm Pyjamas!

Sung to the tune of 47 Ginger Headed Sailors! Which is a very silly song Bertie Wooster sings in the famous TV series. Video clip below.

ANYWAY, local charity Foster Hope put a call out for winter pyjamas for children being placed in foster care. Any excuse for some selfless sewing, the Wellington Sewing Bloggers Network members jump to it!
Laura and I staged a flannel raid at the local Voldemart, which was the cheapest option for good quality flannel, and bought as much as we could on our budget of donated coupons and cash. I reckoned we were going to get 25 pairs out which seemed pretty impressive!

These are all but one of the fabrics we bought. It was tricky as we wanted to get gender neutral options, but they were few and far between, whereas some of the girlier ones were on super special, so we probably ended up with more pretty ones than plain. Oh well. (the plain flannel was rubbish quality compared with the prints - what is that all about?) We (Made Marion Craft) contributed the only two flannels I had in stock - the grey with pink butterflies and the second from right top row.
On Thursday I put three loads of flannel through the wash, and dried it and pressed them dry over the next couple of nights. All 40+m of it.
I actually thought I had killed my iron at one point, and bought a new one, but it was the plug. BUT I love my new Tefal iron so all good!
ANYWAY, on Sunday a group of us gathered together to cut out, eat scones and laugh.

Left to right, Laura, Kirsten and Me. Gemma was taking the pic. Aly had been and gone with a stack to sew. I swear I did more than just eat scones ;-)

And I guess I've given the game away - we managed to get 47 pairs of pyjama bottoms out of our haul! Now we have to solve the tops problem. Knit tops, warm enough for winter with good coverage. Sourcing enough knit fabric of the right type and weight is going to be interesting!

Happy Days!

Good Friday Catch Up!

Ah, Easter is upon us. I've been rather busy for the past however-many weeks, with new staff, new projects and chasing up evidence of past ones to share.
Finally, a result! Remember in February I had a show in the NZ Fringe Festival with my delightful friend Hans - it seems an eternity ago now. But finally I've had time to go over the videos of each night, choose the one I like best and start uploading them to YouTube. as you dotube.
Our show is Clever and Constance Sing Songs for Grownups. It is thus titled because we sing about things that young people don't really have to deal with.
Of all the songs we butchered in the show, this one is the one everyone keeps talking about. It is very long, but there's a reason for that. The actual song starts about 2:50.
Apologies to my overseas readers, as my accent can sound rather like a chicken clucking I feel. Happily the singing is a bit easier to follow!

If you enjoy this and want to see more, follow the video to YouTube - this song is in a playlist of other songs from the show.
More on weddings and other things soon xo

Je Suis une Rockstar

More show photos!  I am actually making a real dress for me and have several other projects on the sideline but it may be a couple of weeks before there's anything to show you. So, in the meantime, sequins it is.
At the March Burlesque Baby show, I was emcee again (did the March show last year) and I decided to get down with the cool kids and be a bit of a pop diva.
I love this look - hot pink fall and strapless dress - but the song really wasn't me (Get the party started). This show is a bit like an open mike though and the place to try new things. So, good choice eh!

 This dress is RTW!!! I stuck rhinestones all over the bodice to give it some more glitz. I love it though - the same cut as the LBD. 

 A Dusty Springfield moment.

 The skirt is draped at the sides and comes in at the bottom. This shape does wonders for me.

 Also wearing the black sequin bolero, because I like the line.

 Also breaking out the long gloves for a bit of audience participation

 Peeling gloves like a big ham to the delight of the audience.

 In the second half, I wore the dress that won the internet. And different hair.

 The curtain call - me, Miss Phoenix Rising, Courtney l'Amour our producer, Visha Vulpe, Penny Scott our stage momma, Amber de Luze, Victor Victorious and Kapi.
All photos were by Paradox Photography

The Spring Wedding Show

A few months ago I had a sudden urge to do a wedding show, as you do. We sell and hire lots of the kinds of stuff used at weddings - cake tins and stands, bunting, ribbons, cake decorating stuff - and hessian, or burlap as it is known in N.A. Plenty of couples want to D.I.Y. some aspects of their wedding and so often when they do come in they remark that if only they had known we had all the stuff that we have, they would have come to us for it. So why not get out there and show them.
The show was on Sunday 18th October, at Macs Function Centre which is a converted dockside warehouse and quite funky.

 Cupcakes - wrapped in hessian ribbon, lace or both. Fruit leather daisies make a lovely topper for a rustic look.

 Of course I had to show off my butterflies too. The cupcakes are there to show off the tiered stand that we have for hire, and also to promote private workshops in decorating them.

 Cake toppers - I was chuffed to find one with two guys. None with two women seem to be available...

 more stuff

 The whole muddle.

I HAD to get these wicker hampers - they are so great for displaying stuff. Back at the shop it is filled with rolls of Christmas wrap. Here, it is showing off all the things out of which you can make table runners.

It was a pretty quiet show really, but we had some lovely chats with lovely people, and got to know some of the venue people and hire people etc so we can all help point people to each other. 

At some level I find it odd that people would pay $18 to get into a show like this and then act like the people with stalls are trying to ensnare them. Most of the attendees were relaxed, happy types interested to find out what we had to show them, but about 1 in 5 groups didn't even bother to come over and see what we were about. So stupid - how do they think they can tell what it is we are offering by a quick glance at our stand. And us. It's these types that really put me off getting in too deep with wedding related stuff. To me it is such a sacred act, so much more important than the colour of the serviettes, and I find all this superficial nonsense really disheartening.

Oh well. That's what happens when you go to the people instead of waiting for them to find you, I guess.

Flaming Nora's Cavalcade of Tomfoolery

It's a thing! It happens in Wellington to celebrate Spring arriving in the Capital of Dressing Up! A costume parade and competition that happens along the vibrant waterfront of our city.
We sponsored the Most Joyful category of the competition. And sure enough, after a week of the most rubbish weather you can imagine, the day was stunning!! The World of Wearable Arts aka WOW is on for the next two weeks but it is a coincidence that this fun event has happened at the same time as the Council made them move it from the original date which was not. It's a happy coincidence though.

 Some gorgeoous goldfish, Thing 1 and Thing 2.

 Some of Capital Steampunk, with Mrs Hudson (The Younger) in her wonderfully patriotic gown.

Two gorgeous "ladies" (not really ladies!) visiting the Colonies.

 Wally, or Waldo, who spent the whole parade hiding behind people. She was so sweet!

 A couple of fab costumes originally made as WOW entries

 A  Steampunker in a Blueprint jacket. So clever!

 I loved this entry - Mum, Dad and their son playing Nemo. The anenomes are just throw rugs safety pinned on and a bunch of skinny ballons around their necks. SO CLEVER!! And so lovely to see a family together.

 Another shot of Nemo as he is so gorgeous!

 Me presenting a prize to these two clever sculptures.

 Cavalcading along the waterfront!

Cavalcading. My gosh it was one beautiful day!

In life as in Shakespeare

Shakespeare's plays often feature someone running onto the stage and telling everyone about the exciting thing happening where they just came from. Some of my posts are a bit like that!

So in the past three weeks, this happened:

 Sauron strikes again! Nerdlesque, at The Fringe Bar 22 August 2015

 The "Eye" just needed new batteries after being in storage since December last year. 

And then on the 29th, this happened:

Yes that is Constance and Me staring adoringly at the FABULOUS Pollyfilla. In her Helen Reddy Tribute costume. Polly was over from Melbourne and OMG, he (Colin) did his makeup at my house and showed me all the secrets!!!!! It takes three hours. One of the most generous and warm people I've met, both in and out of drag. The gorgeous young blonde with us is Martin, who is also lovely. But at 20 something, he had no idea who this Helen Reddy person is. He was given homework ;-)
People we walked out my front door at 11.15pm and I got home around 3am. This is how drag shows operate. I was quite proud of my tenacity actually. Not so proud of my makeup job. But then, it wasn't about me :)
On the 23rd, I had another photo shoot and I love the photos but I wish I had had Polly's makeup tutorial beforehand because I think the makeup is a little flat. Ah well!

We had fun and it's nice to have some promo shots with updated costumes!

We won!!!

My shop Made on Marion, won the Top Shop Award for Small/Single Store. How cool is that?!

This is me accepting the award and having a lot to say as per usual -behind me from left, Melisa, Karen, MrC (pretty much hidden) Ben, and Mark the CEO of Retail NZ.

It was an awesome evening - lovely company at our table from an online beauty products shop, a lovely dinner and the excitement of winning!! Yay!!!

For a laugh, this is me on the left, up until 4.30pm. Right is me after an hour of serious interventioning at the mirror ;-)

Melissa, me and Karyn all glammed up in red and orange goodness. I am wearing the silk and velvet evening cape The Dreamstress made for me last year. So pretty!

Now to my top. It is made from a strange silk fabric, like a really coarsely woven organza but it is still beautiful quality. It behaves like organza - floating and billowing instead of draping. I fell hard to the print, which reminded me of inlaid wooden tables, but with a slightly tapa cloth vibe too.

The top is a standard MrsC empire line, A-line skirt with uneven hem jobbie, with rather odd split sleeves.

It was a mare to sew however. I tried to narrow hem the bottom and sleeves on the overlocker but the fabric kept pulling away from the stitching for inches at a time. Grrr. I tried overlocking it and it did the same thing. This is all the night before of course.

In the end I got a grip, reminded myself that I have Mad Skills, and worked it out. Firstly I stay stitched the raw edges about 5mm in, to help the warp and weft to settle. Then I changed the way I was drawing it through the overlocker - putting some tension behind it as well as in front. This really helped. I also lifted the cutting blade so it really did roll - I don't usually do this but sometimes it is the best.

FINALLY, I got a nice rolled edge. It held together for the evening, looked nice on stage, looked good as we danced our way UP to the stage to the Happy Song (everyone had great boogie music but we were the only team that danced!) and I didn't slop gravy down it so win!

I am so ridonculously proud of my people and of us :)

Full Circle, almost.

Well, we got interesting news last week. Our landlords from our little shop in the CBD came in to ask us if we would be interested in getting out of our lease early. Hmm. Business has not been fabulous and while we're not losing money, we're not really making any either, but with only a couple weeks to act, this was very left field.
Why? Well, The Golden Mile, as Lambton Quay is known, is the street in Wellington where all the High St shops are - the overseas ones that sell fast fashion and high turnover stuff that if you are reading this blog probably leave you about as unmoved as they do me. And they need somewhere to go, right?
So, over the past year as the small, independent businesses in our area of the mall's leases came up, no one was renewing, until less than half of us were left. We knew something was up, and when rumours of Top Shop coming to the Golden Mile started appearing in the papers, we weren't all that surprised. Not that anyone has confirmed this to us, but it is pretty obvious anyway.
This post is not about the despicability of those involved in flicking us out, or why, however. It is a mixed blessing as business had been slow down that end of town. Lack of signage meant we were the best kept secret on the Quay. Bringing the whole business back into the one big shop means more staff there (because I am not about to let anyone go!)  more stock, and more TIME.
More time to grow our online sales, tutorial support and social media presence. More time to develop product. More time to do those things I was moaning about in my last post I only had about 4 hours a week to do. Having that extra person working in the shop several days a week while I am not trying to order and manage for two shops is like having four hours a day instead. I am in Heaven!
So all in all, it has been a horrible week, but now the decisions have been made and paperwork signed, I am well happy to be out of it.The one very large regret is letting down all of our wonderful regular customers who supported us. Knowing it is not US who has let them down but circumstances beyond out control is no consolation to them I am sure.
Once we are moved out, which happens on Thursday, we'll have the excitement/chaos of massaging all the extra bits of furniture and shop fittings into our already fairly full space. Mel, our manager from Lambton Quay, is the most amazingly organised person I've ever met, and I know she is itching to get into it - Melping as we call it! I am so excited to have her back in Marion St as I know I can just let her get on with it :)

Yes indeed, every cloud has a silver lining and I am looking forward to a much expanded empire involving more internet and less bricks, mortar, landlord problems, leaky ceilings, signage drama etc etc.

Wellington gets its shimmy on

Oh dear the shakes are back. We were just getting to the point of thinking life was back to normal when this afternoon around 2.30pm, a 6.5 hit. The shop rocked like it was on board an ocean liner. I dived under one of the big tables in the studio. It lasted a long time. That's the worst bit, when they go on and on.
Amazingly, noone else in the shop joined me. Mostly young students, they went outside for a bit then came back in and continued their purchases. Design students are tough!
Knowing there would be no customers, we rang the small shop and told Mel to lock up and go home. That part of town is full of government and corporations in high rise buildings, who get sent home on such occasions. With the trains and buses cancelled, town soon got gridlocked with cars. I had the car at work and managed to get home quite fast as it is not far.
David got sent home from his 24th floor office, so he took over the shop from Bruce. I was meant to be cutting out shirt samples at home (my leaving early was because of this not the quakes) but I was too freaked out to concentrate.
That was 8 hours ago. Since then we have been jolted, swayed, rocked and shaken almost constantly, from gentle tiny, barely perceptible shocks that make one wonder whether they happened or are just shaky legs, to deep, hard jolts and long deep rumbles that put my heart in my mouth and had me running for the doorway.

 From this website, I think we can all see that it's been a bumpy ride today!

Our beloved old factory apartment is perfectly fine. I know this, but I cannot rationalise away the fear. I wish for once we were in a nice one level wooden house built on rock!
I am a tough Wellingtonian born and bred. I grew up with earthquakes and they have never bothered me. But this, with the spectre of Christchurch still vivid, feels really bloody scary.
I have cut out one shirt now, even pattern matched the pocket, and I feel calmer. I hope that we are not awoken by a shake as sleep deprivation does not help at all!
I am eyeing the dining room table, and wondering if I could make a little nest under it to sleep in.....