Cyborg Sewing and Robot Ragtrade

It's safe to say, despite my modest achievements, I'm not the best seamstress in the world.  The tailors on Saville Row, the masters of cloth like Vera Wang and Louis Vitton have one over on me there.  But one thing's for sure, my old eyes and wrinkled hands are not half bad at lining up fabrics accurately, can spot a slight pucker here or a missed stitch there, and can hem a frock capably in no time.  But it seems (seams?) that soon I will have even more competition, this time in the shape of a one-armed blind robot tailor!  Oh my battered pride!

The Leapfrog Project is trying to build an automated sewing 'robot' that will be able to create made-to-measure clothes at a fraction of the cost of conventional bespoke tailors.  They clearly think there's money in it, as they've invested 23 million Euros in the project and even companies like Hugo Boss are involved.  You can watch the robot in action here:
Robot Tailor created by the Leapfrog project

But there is hope... the robot tailor's achievements are so far fairly modest.  It can align and join two pieces of fabric with a seam, but can't yet insert sleeves or attach a cuff or collar, let alone add on a jaunty pocket...   And I very much doubt that even when it's finished and operational, it can compete with the handmade love, care and customer service we are lucky to enjoy here in little old New Zealand from our wonderful crafting community... so maybe my wee MooAndFlo empire is safe for a wee while yet.

Competition time over at MooAndFlo

So, I'm feeling generous right now and thought I'd run a little competition, so if anyone would like to enter, just click here!

Entry is FREE

The prize is one garment of your choice from my albums, made to order, up to size 6.

Project Runway?

Maybe I've been watching too much TV (again), but after getting more and more frustrated with the trouser patterns I have (too wide, too baggy, random sizing, etc) it suddenly occurred to me that I should get a little bit Project Runway and make my own patterns.  I've only ever made stuff from pre-made patterns and not ventured down this crazy route before, so it was a wee bit of a leap, but hey ho, I'm nothing if not up for a challenge.  So I designed and made a pair of jeans for my 2 year old...

Now, they were not too bad, and the back was fabulous if I say so myself, but there was something about the front that reminded one of an old man wearing a catheter and bag.  It wasn't the look I'd been aiming for.  I could imagine Tim Gunn eyeing them up, tilting his head, putting on the frown and saying "Dianne, I'm worried.  Make it work!"

So I took them off my poor wee model, unpicked my front seam, and trimmed where I thought trimming was needed, then I got Doris The Overlocker back on the job and went for take 2.  And you know what, it worked!  On the second try!  And they looked good.  No, great!  I quickly altered the pattern I'd made, and got it ready to go into proper production for MooAndFlo 

This is the wee fella in said trousers - back view because he's not even slightly co-operative when modeling my wares.  He'd not stand a chance in Top Model (yes I watch that, too)

It may not sound like much - but to see children in clothes I make is exciting enough, but to see them in trousers I have also designed is Very Exciting Indeed :)

Now I've got to do the patten in other sizes and see how I go, but you know what, I'm inspired, I'm giddy, and can't wait to give it a go!

To keep you in stitches...

A woman got a new job at the Tickle Me Elmo factory. The boss quickly explained that she would be on the assembly line just before the dolls were packed into boxes and she'd have a very important job. They started up the line and within twenty minutes had to shut it down because the new lady couldn't keep up, so the boss went to find out the problem. The woman had a heap of dolls waiting and was getting into quite a flap.  "I'm going as fast as I can!" she cried. The boss looked and saw that she was sewing little cloth bags containing two walnuts onto each doll. The boss looked at her and it dawned..."Noooo" he laughed "I said to give each doll Two--Test--Tickles."

MooAndFlo's first market day - woot

Titirangi Mums' Craft Market

at Kaurilands Primary School, Titirangi

When:

Saturday 28 May, 9:30am – 1:00pm

Saturday 9 July, 9:30am – 1:00pm

Saturday 13 August, 9:30am – 1:00pm

Saturday 10 September, 9:30am – 1:00pm

Admission: Free 

A monthly market run by mums selling all things handmade for mother and child, the Titirangi Mums' Craft Market is the place to come to buy goodies for littlies. Be it a gift for a baby shower, birthday, something you need or want as a new mum, room decorations or children's clothing, you'll find it here.  Everything on sale will be made and designed by the person selling it. 

We hope to see you there. Spread the word to help make the inaugural market totally fabulous!

Titirangi Mums' Craft Market

Girls love monsters too

When looking at girls' clothes in the stores, I see lots of pink, lots of bows, butterflies, ribbons and lace, but I don't see nearly enough monsters, but I know for a fact that girls love monsters, too!  So look what I've rustled up today at MooAndFlo

When is sewing not sewing?

You'd think that a stay-at-home mum with a wee sewing venture would mainly spend her time sewing, wouldn't you?  Or at the very least, she'd be at the fabric store picking out new material and buttons and lace and other jollies.  Or maybe at the post office posting garments out to her customers?  But no - I spend about 30-50% of my MooAndFlo time doing non-craft tasks, like invoicing, reconciling the accounts, replying to customer queries, and all manner of things that don't involve needle and thread.  But my time's not just taken up by admin, which, let's face it, has been around forever and isn't likely to change in essence anytime soon.  What takes up a lot of my MooAndFlo time is updating social media like this.

I blog.  I Tweet.  I update Facebook.  Why?   Why not spend more time sewing and less time in front of the computer?  Well, to put it simply, the Internet is my shop - it's my wee village store.  And rather than put an advert in the local rag or fliers in letter boxes, I publicise through social media.  Even the customers that know me personally almost always buy from me through the web, having seen something on MooAndFlo's Facebook page and taken a shine to it.  And despite being in a little treehouse in the middle of the bush in New Zealand, Internet promotion has lead to orders from as far away as the UK.

So when is sewing not sewing?  When it's putting on my media and sales hats and getting the garments out there for the world to see.  I'd love to tell you more, but I must dash - I've Tweets to make...