Interview: Roslyn Russell, Sewist and Sewing Writer

In this new blog series, Roslyn Russell will be interviewing member of the CWC to find out more about their work and creative practice. It's just one of the benefits of being a Full Member!  Hi, I'm Roslyn, and each month I will be doing a feature interview with a CWC Full Member. I really look forward to getting to know the members of the CWC and showcasing their work, but today I am using my first interview as an introduction to me.

What do you create? I mainly sew clothing for children and other small items like bags and purses. I use a mix of my own and other people's patterns, and I am am working on building up my skills and techniques as I still consider myself very new to sewing. I also write about sewing and share various projects, techniques and tutorials at my blog Sew Delicious.

Have you done training in your creative field or has it come about informally? At university I studied an Arts/International Studies degree, then a couple of years later I did a Diploma in Secondary School teaching. It has only since I've been on maternity leave that I have pursued creative outlets, and apart from a few informal lessons with a friend from my mothers group who is a beautiful sewist and quilter, I am completely self taught. There are so many great resources online, and I have taken advantage of those to teach myself new skills. My mother and grandmother are talented seamstresses, although they haven't done much sewing since I was a child.

What are your main creative inspirations? Having two small children and being in a circle of friends who also have small children has probably been the main influence on my projects. I like to make items for new baby gifts and I like to choose fabrics and colours that are different from the stereotypical pinks and blues. Since I started my blog, I have found a lot of inspiration and project ideas from other sewing bloggers, and I have really enjoyed using Pinterest as a way of finding projects and bookmarking them. Inspiration is everywhere - one of my most popular projects, the Peggy skirt, was designed for my daughter after I saw a particular outfit worn by the character Peggy on the TV show Mad Men.

How do you balance your creative projects with the administration aspect of creative work? When I feel overwhelmed after an evening in front of the computer, I try to remember that if I don't design or sew something, I will have nothing to showcase, write about or sell. At the moment, my routine is to work on large projects on a Monday or a Friday when my eldest child is in daycare, but apart from that I just chip away at each thing when I get a spare few minutes. I also write a lot of to-do lists.

What do you do when you experience a creative block? I usually go back and start from scratch. I don't have a studio or allocated space for my sewing, so I pack everything away and ignore the machine for a week or so. A clean and organised work space (or in my case, dining room table) helps clear my mind and allow new ideas to form.

What future goals do you have for your creative pursuits? I have recently started to design simple patterns for children's clothing and I would like to develop my skills in this area, especially projects for sewing for boys. Creating projects for beginner sewists is something I will continue to do, because I know the power of that sense of "I can do this!" and then the feeling of achievement when you are starting out in a creative hobby. My eventual goal is that my sewing and writing, and combination of the two, can result in a small income.

Roslyn Russell is a sewist, blogger and teacher. She has developed her sewing skills while on maternity leave with her two children and it has grown to encompass her blog, Sew Delicious, where she showcases her latest projects and designs. She also writes and photographs detailed sewing tutorials for beginner and intermediate sewists. Roslyn also enjoys cake baking and decorating, exploring Melbourne cafes and restaurants, and hunting through op-shops for vintage sewing and kitchen treasures.

Stress & Wellness: We sit but do we stretch?

By Emily Harrison There are times I feel like the only muscle I’m exercising is the spreading mass covering the desk chair I sit in. Hours can go by without a postural flinch and I know I’m not alone. Equally there are tasks and professions that require the same repetitive movement.

So how do we offset, restore and maintain balance?

Chances are you are reading this while sitting somewhere – a desk perhaps, maybe on the train, at the airport, or sighing into the couch (or God forbid, while driving).

The dilemma is we humans were designed to move, to roam and to be mostly upright. That force we call evolution is probably still scratching its head at the invention of ‘the chair.’

But we can’t just point the finger at ‘the chair’… rather it’s a whole of environment and lifestyle issue we face – a reality of our fabulously connected, modern world which doesn’t look set to change anytime soon. One recent workplace wellness study reported more than 67% of the working day is spent in sedentary activity. Yet we still have the same physical make up that is designed to move.

Dilemma.

It makes sense that we will only feel as good and function as effectively (and creatively) as the condition we find ourselves in. So before we all start requesting a standing workstation (yes they are taking off in some organisations) or have the team drop to the floor doing pushups Michelle Obama style, lets look at what you may realistically be able to incorporate into the everyday.

In my previous post we looked at the Power of the Breath and the role it can play in generating your creative potential. When you combine this with some simple movements to break up a semi-sedentary day, it helps get the oxygen circulating, energising your whole body and tuning up that vital creative capacity.

“Essence and energy, body and breath, are indivisible: when the body does not move, essence cannot flow, energy becomes stagnant." Sun Ssu-Mo

The good news is you don’t need to ditch ‘the chair’, but use the chair and your surrounding environment to stretch or break up the same movement that your task at hand may require. It can take just a few moments but done regularly the benefits to the body and brain, as well as productivity, can be immense.

For example, in writing this post I have:

• Procrastinated by getting up to make a pot of tea.
• Stretched up – circling the arms above the head, interlacing the fingers and turning the palms to face upwards. Then eased gently from side to side.
• Used the chair for side twists – sitting on the chair, moving first to the right by placing the right hand on the back of the chair to help turn to look over the right shoulder and the left hand for support on the right thigh or chair base. Then repeating for the left.
• Did gentle wrist/forearm stretches – placing palms face down on a table with the fingers point towards the body and easing the weight, very gently and slowly, backwards. A very small movement for an effective stretch.
• Did standing side swings – keeping the hips facing the front while easing the arms from side to side. Working them upwards and overhead really helps to get movement into the torso of the body.
• And then in further procrastination (or under the guise of fuelling creativity) took myself out for a walk in the fresh air.

So over the next month may your Essence flow and your Energy be anything but stagnant. And as always, work within your own abilities and consult your health professional if you are unsure of starting any new exercise.

Emily Harrison is a yoga teacher, writer and communications adviser with a passion for health and wellbeing.  She encourages people to discover the vast potential and possibility that lies within each and every one of us. In 2012 she takes a leap of faith out of the corporate world and further into her writing and teaching…which will mean a new website coming soon!

Organise Me: Backing up - don't invite trouble in

By Andy McArthur As a freelancer, being professional and productive is key to enjoying success. I must admit that as I write each post here, I am definitely writing from my own experiences. I along side you am going to strive to be more efficient and make this year a productive one by getting the basics sorted. In this month's post I'm looking at workflow by implementing a safe backing up system.

So I know that the subject of backing up is fairly dry and kudos that most people have this sorted, but it is fresh on my mind. I have recently started freelancing and I work from a main "work horse" computer. Unfortunately my work horse broke its back and passed away early last week. Panic struck as I fumbled around trying to continue working, RIP computer. On the positive side, hurray for shiny new iMacs and recoverable hard drives.

I heard a great analogy this week via '(Freelance) Tips Learned From Top Tennis Players'. One of the pieces of wisdom was in regard to backing up:

"Ever look at a tennis match and not see the players with at least five other racquets in their bags?… There is an easy answer to this, it’s because they always have to be prepared! Anything can happen on the court."

Take from this the need to always be prepared.

When things go wrong you need an emergency system already in place to get you out of trouble. I urge you to stop and think about what would happen if your computer was to have serious problems, or the App you are using crashed or your house was to have an unexpected fire (with no one hurt of course). Would you be able to continue working? Would you be able to continue invoicing or using your emails? It's time to make sure you backup everything that is NECESSARY, then backup, backup and backup some more.

Thankfully at the time my computer crashed I had already implemented a 1.5TB external drive with Mac's Time Machine running constantly in the background. This meant that when my main computer was out for repairs I could plug in my backup drive and use the files from my last backup on my laptop. Unfortunately I had recently installed new programs such as an invoicing system which I hadn't yet begun to backup or install on my laptop. Fail. To counteract this I would make sure you have all of you program licensing details in a safe location off your computer (and on email) so that you can reinstall programs if necessary. Also if a program you are using has an inbuilt automated backup system, use it. This also got me thinking about emails: are they safe? If you use POP (Post office protocol) to access your email, you can always access it with another mail program if you have it set up.

After a little bit of research and asking other designers how they tackle the challenge that is "Backup", I discovered that a large proportion of people are now using "Cloud" (online) storage services. With Cloud storage you are able to save your current local data in the Cloud (off-site) and access those files from other computers (with internet access). Too easy. There are many Cloud facilities available online.

So, this month, let's all resolve to backup and stay productive.

Andrea McArthur has a passion for all things visual. Type is her true love and goes weak over great design. After being a graphic designer for many years she has switched hats to become an educator of graphic design and enjoys watching others fall in love with design too. From January this year Andrea has switched hats again starting her solo freelance design business in Brisbane.

Book Review: Creative, Inc. by Meg Mateo Ilasco & Joy Deangdeelert Cho

By Jodi Wiley Thinking of taking the leap from employee to self-employed? Or just want to dip your toe in the freelance waters and see how you go? If you're unsure about where to start, how to promote yourself, the etiquette of working with clients, negotiating your fee or even just how to manage a work/life balance, this book covers it all.

Subtitled 'The Ultimate Guide to Running a Successful Freelance Business', Creative, Inc. covers the basics of setting up shop, networking, winning jobs and bookkeeping before addressing the more advanced topics of when to increase your fees, grow your business and the pros and cons of hiring staff.

Aimed at creatives of all stripes, this book is deliberately general in it's information and doesn't focus on any one creative profession. (As an aside, Craft, Inc., which came before it and is also written by Meg Mateo Ilasco, is aimed specifically at crafters wanting to turn their hobby into a business. I haven't read this book but might be worth checking out if your business is a crafty one).

Creative, Inc. aims to appeal to a range of professionals by including freelancer profiles under each chapter. Interviewees include illustrators and photographers, animators and graphic designers, as well as a prop stylist, industrial designer, an art director and an accountant specialising in the arts. I liked reading these interviews. It's always fascinating to hear about an individual's career trajectory and the obstacles and big breaks they've encountered along the way. It was interesting to read that working with a big-name client actually hurt one illustrator's freelance business. A photographer credits his blog as being 'the number one thing in helping me get work'. Another creative was forced into going it alone after being made redundant and is now a very successful freelance animator. These little snippets of real-life stories encourage, motivate and invigorate.

As for the 'how-to' information provided, it's thorough, very accessible and seems to address every possible question that might arise about freelancing. But it probably couldn't serve as the single go-to guide for setting up a business. More research would need to be undertaken into your field of interest as well the finer details of legalities, especially for readers outside the United States for whom the advice about registering your business and tax information would be quite different.

I was drawn to this book because of it's subject matter, yes, but attractively designed books also catch my eye. This is a funky little book with cute rounded page corners, line illustrations and a little colour. I do like the way it looks.

Creative, Inc. does cover a breadth of topics but if you already run a freelance business the early chapters may be a bit too basic for you. But information on pricing your work, on whether to get an agent and how to grow your business may consolidate or extend what you already know. This book is probably most useful if your business idea is still just that, or you are at the very beginning of start-up.

Creative, Inc. is published by Chronicle Books.

Jodi Wiley is an artist, writer, teacher and blogger. She has written freelance articles and book reviews for magazines and newspapers, as well as education curriculum. She has been a finalist for several art and illustration prizes and has won awards for her artwork. Jodi is currently on maternity leave from high school teaching and is on a (quite frankly deranged) quest to update her blog daily: artbywiley.com

Women in the world: An introduction...

By Joanna Francis

Afghan weaving woman

In East Timor, women gather together and weave colourful blankets called Tais. In London, an artist puts her messy bed on display in an art gallery. In Afghanistan, a woman gathers thrown away drink packets and sews them together to make a shopping bag. In Melbourne, I make quilts.

All over the world, in villages and cities, large scale or small, women are creating. We are creative beings us ladies. Despite hearing regular protestations that “oh but I don’t have a creative bone in my body”, I am a firm believer that all of us have an innate desire to build and make and grow.

Perhaps it is just that as we get older, we have this desire educated out of us (if you haven’t seen Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk on this, please make yourself a cup of coffee, put your feet up and spend 20 minutes doing yourself a favour.) Or perhaps it is that we are not given the opportunities we need to nurture our creativity, because of poverty, religion, isolation or the fact that we have ten children.

I am fascinated by this topic. Wherever I have traveled around the world, I have been struck by what seems to be a universal desire or need to create. I am fascinated to see the traditions passed down through generations, fascinated by the resourcefulness of women, by the ability to create beauty out of so little and the urge to make some kind of statement through creativity.

So in this little space here over the coming year, I am going to share with you some of these stories. I want to introduce you to some women I have met who have made creativity a big part of their lives, despite facing huge obstacles. We will meet women from Australia who are working with women in other countries to create products and also income and empowerment. We will explore stories from countries as varied as East Timor and North Korea (yes, I did say North).

I also want to explore some of the politics behind creativity in developing countries and pose some questions. For example, do women’s creative enterprises really bring empowerment and positive change? Or do they just add another burden to a woman’s already overwhelming number of roles? And how can we – those of us living in industrialized countries like Australia – actually have some positive impact on the lives of others, either through things we create ourselves, or through the things we buy?

Stay tuned for all this and more! And if you have ideas you’d like to explore or learn more about, or stories you'd like to share, I'd love to hear from you.

Joanna Francis spends most of her time hanging out with her one year old son. But she also works for a children’s foundation and has recently started her own little business making baby quilts. Her house is a mess. In the past, Joanna has worked as an aid worker in several developing countries, and is passionate about the rights of women and children. You can visit her and her blog at www.miettehandmade.com

Scenes from Sydney

By Jaclyn Carlson I never really understood the Sydney vs. Melbourne rivalry. Perhaps this is because I wasn’t born here and to me any city where you don’t have to shovel your car out from under a snow bank just to get to work seems like paradise; but I still don’t get it. Both cities have their strong points. Sydney is sunny and lush, with a beautiful harbour and pristine beaches while Melbourne oozes European charm with it’s cafes, laneways and dare I say it – culture.

After living here for the past four and a half years I fully admit to being a Sydney girl and love the fact that each and every day I’m still discovering new places in this vastly spread out city. Despite this admiration I have for Sydney, there has always been one small problem area for me, something that has nagged me since moving here and a constant source of envy – Melbourne blogs. Now I’m being a bit dramatic of course but every event I read about, class I wanted to take, new shop to open up, etc has always been based in Melbourne and written about by some really talented, clever (and Melbourne-based) blog. It wasn’t fair, I was jealous. So thanks to my jealously and of course the lovely Tess for allowing me to write this post, I'm thrilled that Sydney will finally get to have it’s voice on the CWC. Each month I’ll be bringing you bits of information, upcoming events, new shop openings and of course profiles on some Sydney centred talent. It will be like one big happy Sydney/Melbourne family!

I was completely overwhelmed at where to start, I mean Sydney is literally bursting with creativity at every corner so I’ve decided to profile a few talented ladies and upcoming events that have personally impressed me. I’ve found the people and places below inspiring and motivating – I hope you will too.

Follow Okay, I’m sure you’ve heard that the talented duo behind The Finders Keepers markets have opened up a store called Follow, but only in Sydney can you actually go and check out the amazing selection of independent and locally made products. Although based here, the lovely ladies at Follow have offered CWC readers a special offer on all orders made through the end of March. Simply enter the code CWC10 and receive 10% off online orders.

Veggie Patch Melbourne has had them for a while but now Sydney is getting to experience the culinary adventure on wheels – food trucks. I’d say we’re a bit excited to finally have a few trucks to call our own but I’m even more excited about the vegetarian truck – Veggie Patch. The Veggie Patch is a collaboration between vegetarian restaurant, Yulli’s, and the talented Georgie and Milenka from design studio TMOD. The girls are certainly busy so watch their Facebook page for new updates.

ABCD Meet-Up If you’re a blogger/designer/artist/crafter in the Sydney area then make sure to check out the next ABCD Meet-Up event happening in March. An inspiration-filled night complete with cocktails and organized by Steph Bond-Hutkin of Bondville, this is one event you’ll want to make sure to blog about.

Life Instyle If you have a love for creatively designed products and a knack for discovering the next big thing then you’ll want to visit the upcoming Life Instyle trade show running from 23-25 February at the Royal Hall of Industries, Sydney. It’s trade only so make sure you register and if you stop by make sure to say hello… I’ll be there all weekend.

Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Jaclyn Carlson is the author behind the Sydney-based blog, Little Paper Trees. When not documenting her expat adventures, she can be found working for one of Australia's top design & homewares trade shows. Passionate and prone to wasting hours on Pinterest, she has years of experience in marketing, advertising and PR and aims to put Sydney's creative women in the spotlight with her monthly column.

PS - you may remember Jaclyn posted her tips for Trade Show success last year... revisit them here!

Tools of the Trade: For the love of machines…

By Brianna Read

‘Precision instruments are designed to achieve an idea where perfection is impossible. There is no perfectly shaped part of the motorcycle and never will be, but when you come as close as these instruments take you, remarkable things happen, and you go flying across the countryside under a power that would be called magic if it were not so completely rational in every way.’  Robert M. Pirsig Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance 

Firstly, welcome to the debut post of Tools of The Trade and thank you to the wonderful Tess of the Creative Women’s Circle for the opportunity to explore and share my own particular interests in the realm of women and their creative practices.  I chose the quote above as I feel it conveys, quite completely, why I chose tools as the thread connecting each of the forthcoming posts.

I picked up Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance quite a few years ago when my father revisited his love of motorcycles, his enthusiasm for these wondrous machines was contagious and I soon found myself coasting along highways on my very own. This re-acquaintance with motorcycles coincided with my introduction to a very different type of machine – the knitting machine.

These machines were popular in the sixties and early seventies with the more common models made by Singer and Brother – familiar names to those of you who sew a little…

I loved to knit before I set my hands upon one of these clever machines, but this discovery caused a cavalcade of creative possibilities to spring forth – the principles of the technology used in knitwear manufacture were here housed in a portable carry case and it was hand powered! Sketchbooks filled themselves and I could not wait to learn more of what these machines were capable of.

The parallel between the motorcycle and the knitting machine – though they may appear completely contradictory in nature – is that when a maker first places a hand on the instrument which makes their ideas seem possible it is very like the ‘flying across the countryside’ feeling Robert M. Pirsig mentions in the passage above.

Curiosity and possibilities…so began years of study through the formal teaching of Textile Design at RMIT and the informal and invaluable experience of production knitting for a Melbourne based textile design house. This leads me to introduce myself a little more formally…

My name is Brianna Read, a recent graduate from the RMIT School of Fashion & Textiles; I have recently shown a graduate collection of knitwear created on my favourite tool – the domestic knitting machine. Jack of Diamonds is the name I have given to my design practice which is primarily textile works for exhibitions and hand/machine made knitwear but soon to also include a series of machine knitting patterns and workshops.

In my own creative practice I find the rituals of the setting up and packing away of the tools wonderful bookends to a day in the studio. As any creative person knows the exploration of concepts and inspiration is quite unbounded and potentially limitless. For me the process of making acts as a counterbalance to these creative explorations, the ritual-like and methodical qualities grounding all those wonderful ideas and slowly aiding their materialisation!

Tools may seem to some an archaic term, conjuring images of heavy, rusted objects wielded by burly arms, but I cannot help but feel that the idea of a tool is as relevant today as it ever was. The Creative Women’s Circle celebrates women who have carved out delightful niches for themselves in the design world and I am certain each of these women have a tool (or a box full of them!) which made this carving possible.

In each of the forthcoming instalments of Tools of the Trade I intend to introduce you to the weird and wonderful implements, machines, appliances, gadgets and devices which help make material the ideas of many creative women. For now I will leave you with an image from the wonderful Museo Guatelli an historical homage to the tool in all its glory…

Knitwear designer/maker Brianna Read views fashion as a form of artistic expression. Under the label Jack of Diamonds she creates knitted garments and accessories. Using traditional hand-made techniques in combination with machine knit technologies her pieces travel from hand to machine and back again. Brianna’s multi-faceted creative practice encompasses design, production, styling, exhibition work and machine knit workshops.