Fabrics to Inspire......

2011-12-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

Fun Xmas Ideas with Jersey!

2011-11-02T05:04:00.000-07:00

Nani IRO 2011 Anniversary Fabric Collection

2011-07-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

This beautiful quilt was made by Jade in two of the new Nani IRO double gauze fabrics, Japanese Fuccra Blush and Colorful POCHO Pink Shimmer Double Gauze. Both of these fabrics are from the Nani IRO 2011 Anniversary Collection which celebrates the 10th Anniversary of Naomi Ito's exquisite japanese designs. I love how Jade has used the lighter Japanese Fuccra double gauze for the exterior of her quilt and the inside the thicker 'new' medium weight Pocho double gauze for added warmth. These two fabrics also team up beautifully for a quilt! Stop by Jade's lovely blog thejadeleaf for some wonderful inspiration!

Over the weekend we have uploaded the majority of the Nani IRO 2011 Collection but are still anxiously awaiting just a couple more pieces. It always seems like such a long wait for Nani IRO fabrics but we are never disappointed when they arrive on the doorstep and we all enjoy touching and grabbing a little for our own sewing projects. I have plans for a dress and a skirt with a couple of beautiful designs from this collection. This new range is a rather large one and includes some of the softest knits you have ever felt as well as stunning designs on double gauze and lovely linen blends. There is even a couple of beautiful textured cottons here and here.

I will finish this post with a couple of our favourite designs in this collection, which I assure you was a hard task to pick!

Colorful POCHO Knit Dusty Pink

Fuccra Rakuen Rose on Caramel Double Gauze

Fuccra Rakuen Ink Blue Linen Blend

Fuwari Fuwari Soft Jade Double Gauze

Japanese Fuccra Deep Green Double Gauze

SAAAA SAAA Stripe Grey Double Gauze

Painting MUJI Deep Sea Linen Blend

This is such a wonderful collection that we do plan to take a few of these designs to the Melbourne Craft & Quilt Fair which begins on the 27th July but they will be available all this week in our store and of course we will bring back what we do not sell at the show.

We hope you enjoy sewing with Nani IRO fabrics as much as we do and dare to share your creations with us!

Tara Davy Textiles

2011-07-08T06:56:00.000-07:00

Partridge Chilli Hand Screen Printed on 100% Linen

This week we introduced a brand new Australian Designer range of textile designs to our store - Tara Davy Textiles!

Tara and I have had an online friendship for a number of years now and throughout this time have often discussed her designing a range of hand screen printed fabrics exclusively for Kelani. We have been working on this project for a number of months and it has been great fun being involved in choosing colourways, basecloths to print on and the most difficult part..deciding on which of Tara's gorgeous designs to run with first. Tara's background is one of design, design and yes, more design! Tara has spent years designing and illustrating in the magazine industry and in her words is "thrilled to apply her work to a new surface".

Tara's designs have a lovely touch of whimsy and a dose of bright retro and are printed with water based inks on a range of 100% linen, 100% cotton and Australian Made 100% Organic Jersey. We have a little bit of wonderful inspiration to share with you below, illustrating Tara Davy Textiles made into cushions, lamps, bedding, wall art and of course clothing but we are really looking forward most to see what some of our customers make with this range.

Hot Air in Blush and Lagoon Hand Screen Printed on 100% Cotton

'Hot Air' hand screen printed on 100% cotton makes lovely quilts and bedding, curtains and blinds, cushions and lampshades as well as children's clothing (refer below clothes line image).

'Hot Air Blush'

Hot Air Cherry on Frosting Organic Jersey

The 100% organic australian jersey is incredibly soft and will make lovely cozy jackets like the make it perfect uptown girl jacket above or pj's, dresses and tops below. Other ideas for the organic jersey is tees, onesies, bibs, baby wraps as well as bedding. The 'Partridge' design is also available in jersey in two beautiful colourways, chilli and chai latte.

Partridge Chai Latte 100% Linen

'Partridge' on wide width 100% linen is extremely versatile for both soft furnishings and apparel.

Winner of the Alexander Henry Surprise Pack is 'Cat from Raspberry Rainbow'. Cat please email us your delivery details and we will arrange for your pack to be sent asap.

The Miz Mozelle Dress & The Mission Maxi

2011-06-08T05:49:00.000-07:00

Two NEW stunning Jamie Christina dress patterns!

The Miz Mozelle Dress is a vintage inspired dress featuring a peter pan collar, elastic waist, and a keyhole neckline buttoned at the top.

The Mission Maxi is a soft, free flowing maxi dress sewing pattern with plenty of options to choose from: tank top maxi, halter top maxi, and godet back maxi. Can even be made into tank tops too!

Stretch fabrics with drape are recommended for both of these patterns; however, you can use woven fabrics too. Just go up one size for the Bodice, Collar, and Sleeves. For best results, choose a fabric with a lot of drape. e.g. jersey, silk and knit cotton blends.

Both patterns are in a booklet format including full size pattern pieces, glossary of terms, and illustrated instructions in color.

The Daily Telegraph, Sydney

2011-06-03T06:10:00.000-07:00

The Daily Telegraph, Home Insert, May 28, 2011

One of our fabrics, 'trailing leaves yellow' enjoyed a debut as part of the 'Get the Look' column in the Home Magazine in The Daily Telegraph, Sydney last weekend. Love everything about this compilation from the vintage, retro vibe down to the amazing furniture and inspiring decorating ideas! The main image is a great example of the way fabrics can be used to enhance the overall look of a room to create your own 'unique space'.

NEW Alexander Henry Fabrics

2011-05-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

Lovely new selections of Alexander Henry fabrics now available in store. Four small collections of coordinating designs Griffith, Barclay, Larkspur and Harajuku. Our extensive range of Alexander Henry fabrics are becoming increasingly popular for curtains and decor, in particular childrens bedroom decor but many designs are also popular for clothing. The great thing about Alexander Henry fabrics is there is something for everyone and many fabrics will suit a wide array of projects.

Griffith Park Pink and Blue

Griffith Song Pink and Blue

Rolling Hills Pink

Griffith Floral Pink and Blue

There is a funky 70's vibe to the Griffith collection in two wonderful colour ways, pink and blue shown above and a red, blue and yellow also available in store.

Barclay Snail Pink and Mustard

Barclay Flower Pink and Mustard

Barclay Snail Latte, Mauve and Duckegg Blue

Barclay Flower Mauve and Grey

We are loving the Barclay Snails... who would have thought a snail could be so adorable!!

Larkspur Birds Verbena

Larkspur Circles Verbena

Larkspur Meadown Verbena

Larkspur is a stunning collection of designs featuring beautiful watercolour birds, circles and florals. This one is the soft muted colour palette but a stunning multi-coloured brighter version is also available.

Harajuku Peony

Harajuku Lady

Harajuku Lady is a stunning, quite detailed, large-scale contemporary asian-inspired fabric with a lovely watercolour look. This fabric would make lovely wall art to compliment an asian-inspired interior.

What is your favourite design and what would you create with it? Leave your comment and we will select a winner to receive a 'surprise' Alexander Henry fat quarter pack.

Shop til you drop!

2011-05-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

Kelani Custom Made Cushions have featured in the latest SHOP til you drop magazine. I love this mag, always many things I would love to buy and it is such a great 'online shopping' reference! My children have fallen in love with the havaiana thong magnets in this spread!

Sherbet Pips Childrens Fabric

2011-04-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

Sherbet Pips by Aneela Hoey for Moda is an irresistible children's fabric collection perfect for any number of projects from nursery and bedroom decor to sweet children's apparel and accessories. A clever collection including whimsical designs of swinging girls and children scooting as well as the most delightful scarf stripe and fun play dot coordinate.

This is Aneela Hoey's first fabric collection for Moda and we suggest that if you love it as much as we do you purchase soon before it literally 'scoots out the door'! My girls are particularly taken with this sweet collection as their scooters and swing are the two things they enjoy the most and both have requested a scooter skirt to pair with their tights in winter, and a scarf of course!

Image courtesy of Aneela Hoey

Head over here for some wonderful inspiration and a free tutorial for a beautiful 'Girl on a Tree Swing Mini Quilt' tutorial shown above.

Echino Winter Collection 2011

2011-04-07T05:21:00.000-07:00

Another superb echino collection by Etsuko Furuya. This time the Echino Winter Collection 2011 is printed on an extra wide width 'sheeting' making it ideal for quilt covers and bed linen. It is also a little lighter and softer than the usual echino cotton/linen blend as its composition is 85% cotton / 15% linen. This weight still works well for cushions and homewares and also has a beautiful drape for skirts. An extra wide spot makes a great coordinate or quilt backing to accompany these stunning designs.

One of the great things about echino is that the colourways between collections match back with each other making for some beautiful unique design combinations for your projects.

Gypsy Caravan - Kristen Doran

2011-03-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Kristen Doran has done it again with this amazingly detailed whimisical gypsy caravan design! Hand screen printed in three colours on an eco-friendly hemp/organic cotton this decorator fabric is a knock-out when framed or sewn into cushions. See further inspiration from Kristen below.

I have also framed a gypsy panel in an IKEA 50 x 40cm RIBBA frame and this design has come up a treat! In fact, many of Kristen Doran's designs look amazing framed or stretched over a canvas or you might like to try our custom made features and we will create a gorgeous cushion or 6" cylinder table lamp just for you.

Custom Made Lamp Shade Launch!

2011-03-22T06:58:00.000-07:00

Well after months of hard work and planning we are excited to launch the Kelani Fabric NEW Custom Made Lamp Shade service! We are particularly proud of the way we have designed this feature alongside our Custom Made Cushion Service.

Simply browse any of our extensive fabric collections, select your fabric choice and click on the 'create a lamp shade' icon to view further details and pricing. Your own unique lamp shade or table lamp designed by you in the comfort of your own home will be directly delivered to your door in no time!

The fabric ranges Kelani offer are perfect for lamp shades as their light to medium weight compositions allow for generous transparency through the material bringing to life the colours of the textiles and designs. We offer 3 popular sizes online but are more than happy to work with you on a particular size you may be looking for.

Lamp Shades and Kelani custom made cushions is an easy way to decorate a living space instantly giving your room a personalised style and enhancing your interior environment.

Now, where to next... many other ideas we are hoping to introduce this year to maintain the Kelani 'innovative' shopping experience that our customers have grown to love! But first... back to uploading many, many more new and exciting fabric ranges to the store. Pop in for a visit soon and please keep your feedback coming as we always love to hear from our inspiring customers!

Jungle Bedroom Decor

2011-02-15T03:27:00.000-08:00

I am excited to share with you one of the creations one of my lovely customers shared with me! I felt so inspired when I received this pic in my inbox. Fabrics were purchased from our store and stunning bed linen custom made by 'Made by Cecily' a fabulous facebook business. The gorgeous canvases are from 'ideaplusink' which I definately recommend a visit. The TeePee is from Banana J Creations. I think you will all agree that together each of these three businesses have created a stunning space for a child!

NEW Echino Fall 2010

2011-01-21T19:01:00.000-08:00

Echino Perch

Echino Fall 2010 has just arrived and is available in store now! This collection has a large focus on birds along with a gorgeous animal themed design called 'Woodland' which is very similar to its echino predecessors Quiet Ground and Grassy Plains. In keeping with all the former Echino collections, this range has all the bold and striking colourways that we have come to love in Etsuko Furuya's designs.

Below and above are each of the designs along with fabulous 'Echino' inspiration! Visit our store for the full range of colourways available. Popular uses for this fabric range from clothing and bags to home decor pieces such as cushions, lampshades, quilts, tablecloths and napery, wall art, blinds, curtains and even upholstery.

Echino Flap

Echino Flap has a gorgeous larger scale bird in wreath design on one half of the fabric width and a smaller scale bird design on the other half of the fabric width. The spots on the solid colour run down the middle separating these two stunning designs. This fabric would look stunning made into a cushion or tablecloth or dress like Etsuko's above.

Echino Story

Echino Story features a beautiful 'cheater' print. This design would look magical made into a quilt cover or cot set for a child's bedroom or nursery.

Echino Woodland

Echino Bonbon

We look forward to adding many inspirational creations made up in these fabrics by our talented customers to our gallery in the coming months. Happy Sewing and Decorating!

Sprout Design in New Colourways

2010-11-24T17:14:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago we received the full collection of the NEW Sprout Design fabrics in gorgeous new fresh and modern colourways. These have proven very popular in store and include many of the original Pamela Walker designs as well as a variety of talented Australian designer prints. Sprout Design fabrics in this category are printed on a wide width 'natural' 100% cotton drill. This new range would suit childrens' bedroom and nursery decor but are also widely used by many of our customers for children's clothing and bags.

Enjoy sewing with Sprout and please email us any of your creations for our inspiration gallery as we would love to see your fabulous handmade items.

Amy Butler Soul Blossoms

2010-11-18T17:14:00.000-08:00

Introducing Amy Butler's NEW stunning fabric collection Soul Blossoms - In Store Now!

Amy Butler shares with us her personal travels to India with this exquisite collection. Dreamy jewel toned prints in multi-hued flowers and designs - uplifting and passionate - weave together Amy's ethnic inspired story. Three truly amazing saturated color collections; Passion, Joy and Bliss, work in a harmonious treasure box palette for endless exotic combinations. As with all of Amy's collections, these fabrics look fabulous made into both adult and children's clothing, bags and cushions.

And what better way to show off the Soul Blossoms designs in all its glory than with loads of inspiration from Amy Butler...

One of my personal favourites, this spectacular Sari Blossom design has a beautiful intricate border running along both selvedges and would look lovely at the base of a wrap skirt or kaftan or as a feaure on a bag. .

Soul Blossoms Disco Flower

Soul Blossoms Peacock Feathers

Soul Blossoms Temple Doors

The gorgeous Soul Blossoms Home Decorating fabrics will be available soon. Please pop over here for a visit this weekend to see all our inspiring new fabric arrivals!

Happy sewing & summer decorating!

Elissa x

Vegie Smugglers

2010-10-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

A fabulous NEW book arrived on my doorstep the other day! The author Wendy Blume has magically taken away the frustration of finding new menu items our kids will enjoy that are healthy too with this beautifully presented cookbook called Vegie Smugglers.

The kids and I have been enjoying cooking from this book over the past week and I highly recommend it, particularly as it takes the guesswork out of 'what to cook tonite' for a busy mum & more than anything puts the 'fun' back into mealtimes for kids. I was pleasantly surprised and a little excited to see that Wendy had had her gorgeous meals attractively photographed on many of the beautiful fabrics she has purchased from our store.

Soooo, if these gorgeous pics have made you a little hungry and you think this book will assist in adding some interest to your 'feeding time at the zoo' too then head over here to purchase a book...

Kelani Inspiration Gallery Winners!

2010-09-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

After a fairly long delay due to a number of new store and gallery updates, I am delighted to announce the winners of our inspiration gallery competition..

Louise has shared her lovely creative projects with us and has created some wonderfully unique items!

I absolutely loved Melanie's choice of what many of us would consider a traditional boy's fabric for a girl's sundress. The same dress in Sandi Henderson 'strawberry fields' is also very sweet!

Jenny has made these beautiful lamps and lampshade from our lovely Australian Designer fabrics.

Tamika has created this beautiful linen set from the Good Train japanese fabric for her son.

Katie has designed and sewn her own sleeping bags which have come up a treat, along with a number of Nicole Mallalieu Chunky Purse and Spec Cases. See more in our gallery.

Claire has not only tackled her very first quilt using the 'bumblebub quilt' from the Melly & Me Kaleidoscope book (beautiful!) but she has also sewn these stunning clutches using the Anna Maria Horner Ruthie Clutch pattern as well as this sweet Make It Perfect Uptown Girl Jacket.

Thank you to all our truly talented customers for inspiring so many with your gorgeous handmade creations and for taking the time to email us such fabulous images. I am always blown away by all our entries and we have such a tough time choosing winners!!! Be sure to check out our gallery for more customer creations and details of their fabulous blogs and handmade businesses. I feel like I am now finally back on track and will upload September entries into our gallery next week.

Balloons Over Paris

2010-09-14T05:51:00.000-07:00

If you can't visit Paris bring Paris to you with these NEW gorgeous whimsical Paris fabrics! 'Balloons over Paris' is a lovely collection of fabrics with beautiful Paris scenes and hot air balloons on a medium weight natural cotton/linen blend. The design is mirrored on both selvedges with the balloons floating in between.

Also a part of this lovely collection is French Balloons! Our house is set up high and we are fortunate enough to see hot air balloons floating in the distance always bringing much excitement from my daughters in the early hours of the morning! There is something about hot air balloons and the magic feeling of floating above the world!

Enjoy xx

Far Far Away II Now Available

2010-09-01T18:06:00.000-07:00

The much anticipated Far Far Away II fabric collection by Heather Ross has arrived and it is absolutely exquisite. An exceptional children's fabric collection featuring wonderful illustrations from well known fairytales Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and The Owl & The Pussycat. Printed on a gorgeous textured linen this collection has three superb colour palettes of meadow, plum and aqua. It is very difficult to choose a favourite from this collection as all the designs and their colourways are incredible. This collection is perfect for children's bedroom decor and clothing and I will be very excited to see what some of our customers create with it.

And isn't the above contemporary quilt made from the Far Far Away II fabrics just beautiful!! This quilt pattern by talented modern quilt designer Rebecca Johnson is on its way to us and will be available in our store for purchase early next week.

We have been receiving many emails from customers requesting notification of the arrival of this collection. I realise it sounds a little like a sales pitch but we do have disappointed customers who sometimes miss out on a popular collection because they sell quickly so if you LOVE Far Far Away II get in quick and order your favourites today.

Keep in touch also with our new arrivals as we will be uploading many new japanese fabrics + more in the coming days!

Fabric Love!

2010-08-11T06:20:00.000-07:00

Certainly one of my favourite japanese fabrics this year! I have already cut into a couple of colourways for some new barcelona skirts. Forest is a batik-style scattering of trees & apples with the odd bird perched in a tree, in flight or standing beneath these gorgeous trees. Printed on a 100% light weight cotton makes it the perfect dress fabric but any of these colourways would look fabulous made into anything really.

Stylish NEW Sewing Patterns by Jamie Christina

2010-08-09T04:56:00.000-07:00

So many of us sew for our children and forget about ourselves and how good it feels to make something for yourself that is a little different to the stock-standard me-too clothing available from many department and chain stores.

I have great pleasure in introducing to our store and Australia the beautiful stylish contemporary sewing patterns by Jamie Christina. I continue to search for ladies patterns that allow the beautiful unique fabrics available today to 'shine' and Jamie Christina sewing patterns certainly 'fit the bill'!

Jamie's latest pattern above, the 'Sunny Day Dress & Skirt' looks divine made up in Nani Iro as on the cover but would look fabulous in any unique light - medium weight fabric for summer. If you are looking for a lovely fabric for a dress or top why not shop our newly created 'dress category'.

The 'Honey Girl Sundress & Top' would make another fabulous addition to the summer wardrobe and there are some great variations with this pattern like sleeveless or adding shoulder straps, with or without ruffle, big buttons or small buttons, and of course your choice of either a dress or top.

Take a look at some of the gorgeous pieces Jamie Christina has sewn from her exquisite patterns using Echino & Nani Iro fabrics below for a little more summer inspiration!

Jamie also has a beautiful 'Pretty Ditty Apron' pattern that you may just want to wear to pick the kids up from school!

not to mention an awesome hooded scarf to brave those cold mornings...

Jamie's patterns present great value for money as they are beautifully presented and written with concise instructions as well as detailed illustrations for you to easily follow.

I hope that you are inspired to create something for yourself very soon and I await the next addition to Jamie Christina's sewing patterns in anticipation.

November Books Childrens Fabrics

2010-08-05T08:01:00.000-07:00

November Books is a quaint and charming NEW Japanese collection of fabrics with german writing and is available in a lovely range of muted colourways. The word 'Geschichte' featured within these fabrics is german for 'story' or 'history', making November Books a gorgeous fable on fabric. The popular Red Riding Hood, Little Boy Blue & Thumbelina characters appear on some of these. This versatile collection would be lovely for children's bedroom & nursery decor, clothing and general craft. Please check our new arrivals for other recent additons to our store.

Boys Fabrics!

2010-07-12T06:06:00.000-07:00

Last week I uploaded a lovely new girly fabric collection 'Hopscotch'. This week I would like to highlight some of the fantastic boys fabrics we have on offer. We have many requests to stock more boys fabrics and to be honest it is a little more difficult finding 'great' boys fabrics - why is that?

I hope there are some fabrics here that some mums will enjoy for their boys, be it for a backpack, pencil case, belt, clothing, bedroom or nursery decor....

Hoffman Beep Bots and A is for Alligator

Truck Stop

Fabrics above are a mix of some of the amazing Japanese fabric collections, Trefle, Kiyohara and Nani Iro.

Alexander Henry 2D Zoo and Bauhas.

Of course, there are more and they can be found here. There are also some fabulous spots and stripes for boys here and here.

Hopscotch!

2010-07-06T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hopscotch is a fabulous NEW collection for the little girls and cetainly makes me reminisce my carefree childhood days with special friends! Printed on a light weight 100% cotton and each design available in four fantastic colourways these would look gorgeous in a child's bedroom or for applique, book/library bags, chair bags, quilts, clothing or even sweet gift cards... the possibilities are endless!

Yes, I do remember the skipping song games we used to play, hopping on our bikes and meeting at the park, catching tadpoles in our nets at the creek.. oh to be a kid again... what fun!

Small Scale Japanese FQ Competition Winners!

Congratulations to the winners of our FQ Japanese Fabric Competition... Kelly, Melinda, Kate, Yvonne, Kim, Sarah, Kris & Brianna. Please email your fabric choice from those listed on the below post and an address you would like your FQ mailed to.

Lovely NEW Small Scale Japanese Fabric Arrivals

2010-06-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

A selection of some of our NEW small-scale Japanese fabrics perfect for that 'little' project! I can see some lovely hair accessories, buttons, wee shoes, jewellery and bag linings made from a few of these.

Leave us a weee comment with what you would like to make using just one fat quarter of one of your favourites here and we will select eight responses and mail one fat quarter of their choice of the above Japanese fabrics to play with! If you are a mum like me you may just find a wee amount of time these school holidays to make something from it!

Hello Sydney!

2010-06-16T07:19:00.000-07:00

It was a great first day at the Craft & Quilt Fair at the Sydney Exhibiton and Convention Centre in Darling Harbour today and we were delighted to meet so many of our NSW customers for the very first time. Thanks for dropping by and for your fantastic feedback regarding our stand. The photo above is an old show image as unfortunately I forgot my USB cable so cannot provide a current stand image. Our stand for this show is filled to the brim with NEW fabrics that have not yet even made it to our website and we have had some very happy customers and are excited to meet many more over the remaining four show days. To our regular customers in other states, we look forward to uploading many more NEW fabrics to our store in the next couple of weeks after the show.

A BIG hello and thankyou to Janine back at the office who is doing a tremendous job servicing our regular customers online while we are away! Also we are really missing the wit and charm of Shannon who was unfortunately unable to travel with us to this show. George is a little sad without you!

Please stop by and visit us at Stand D17 as we would love to meet you!

NEW Nani IRO Fabrics

2010-06-12T17:48:00.000-07:00

We have recently added the NEW gorgeous NANI IRO fabric collection to our store. Oooh I can see some beautiful dresses, blouses, tunics, lounge pants and skirts made from these lovely light weight cottons and double gauzes!

A few images below from Nani Iro to inspire are below:

Custom Made Cushion Launch!

2010-06-10T05:17:00.000-07:00

We are all very excited this week to launch our Kelani Custom Made Cushion Service! Available on most of our fabrics we now offer a large, small and breakfast cushion with a choice of same fabric front and back or pattern front with a plain back from our solid collections. Look out for the 'create a cushion' image in our fabric descriptions. We pride ourselves on a good quality, durable cushion and look forward to sewing our first orders of beautiful cushion covers for our customers.

Children's Bed Linen Inspiration

2010-06-08T08:52:00.000-07:00

We have many customer enquiries regarding making childrens bed linen from our fabric collections. Tamika, one of our talented customers purchased Good Travel and has sewn this fantastic quilt cover for her son.

Many of our fabric widths for children's novelty fabrics have a 110-112cm width, however Tamika has shown perfectly here, how magnificently bed linen can come up when choosing something like a spot, stripe or solid and combining with a children's print. This not only looks effective but is often more cost effective as well. When deciding upon a suitable fabric for linen or curtains for that matter it is important to pay attention to the direction the design runs. Some designs may not be suitable for example if the design runs in only one direction from selvedge to selvedge. This information on the direction the design runs is often noted in our fabric descriptions.

Thankyou Tamika for the lovely inspiration! This along with many more customer handmade items will be displayed in our NEW gallery soon. Our gallery upgrade is taking a little longer than expected but should be available for complete viewing soon!

NEW Whimsical Double Gauze Japanese Designs

2010-05-20T08:09:00.000-07:00

Bound to be a crowd pleaser with the girls!!

These Japanese double gauze keep getting better & better as well as more versatile! This NEW batch of double gauze is a gorgeous medium weight that is incredibly soft. I can see this lot made into beautiful winter skirts, pinnies or tunics for the girls. Cute as when paired with a long sleeve tee and a pair of winter tights! Or 'set the theme' for a stunning girl's bedroom or nursery.

I would love to see what some of our talented customers come up with for these exquisite designs. There are many NEW japanese fabrics to be added to our store in the coming days and it is great to see many of these are being printed on double gauze which is becoming increasingly popular with so many of our customers.

NOTE: Our sincere apologies for the continued delay with uploading customer handmade items to our gallery. We are currently working on our gallery as well as our NEW custom made area and hope to bring both of these to you soon. We also look forward to meeting many of our Sydney customers at the up & coming Craft & Quilt Fair on at the Sydney Exhibition Centre in Darling Harbour from June 16-20!

Birdsong & a Cup of Tea!

2010-04-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

My daughter loves this fabric and I have been meaning to cover this very sweet, little old chair that was her Great Gran's for some time now. Now finally complete in the lovely Alexander Henry 'Birdsong' it is a beautiful heirloom for her bedroom and maybe a tea party or two outside in lovely weather!

There are also some lovely co-ordinates here and here that are perfect to accompany the birdsong design for many a decor or craft project.

I may even bring it along to the Stitches and Craft Show at Caulfield Racecourse, Melbourne next week. Visit us on Stand 142, between May 5-9 at Caulfield Racecourse in Melbourne for some amazing off the bolt fabrics as well as patterns, panels and our ever popular over-flowing basket of remnants. Shannon aka Aunty Cookie will also be selling her ACE fabrics and wares from our stand and I hear she has some lovely wintery colourways to tempt us all! Should be a very busy but FUN week ahead...

Gallery Note: Apologies again to our customers for the delay with announcing our handmade gallery competition winner. Winners will be announced after the show and we hope to bring an updated and easier to view gallery format soon.

Visit Us In Sydney This Saturday!

2010-04-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

We are very excited to be a part of the 30 Days of Home and Entertaining traders market this Saturday 24th April! On all reports so far I have heard the 'live house' is amazing and it has been the stunning home where fantastic workshops have been run across the 30 day event. Head over for a ton of inspiration for your home and garden with fantastic entertaining ideas as well. Don Burke will be there on the day along with celebrity chefs cooking up a storm. It is located at 2-14 Amelia Street, Waterloo and is apparently just like stepping into a magazine with the stunning decor being changed nightly. We will have many of our fabrics on offer and we are delighted to be launching our 'custom made cushions' soon to be available via our online store.

Come and say hello and mention this blog post for a 10% discount on any goodies you purchase from us on the day... we look forward to seeing you there!

Anna Maria Horner Little Folks Voile

2010-03-28T05:13:00.000-07:00

Image courtesy of Anna Maria Horner

One of our recent collections to our store is 'Little Folks' by Anna Maria Horner. I am so excited about this new collection as it is printed on a new substrate for our store 'voile'. When these fabrics arrived, I could not stop touching them as they are so soft and silky and the brilliant colours, a signature for Anna Maria Horner fabrics are just exquisite. I often find it difficult to describe the colours of Anna Maria Horner fabrics as they are just so unique.

Little Folks voile can be beautifully sewn into childrenswear, womenswear, quilts, and soft furnishings so is in fact very versatile. While slightly dearer in price, it is very reasonable when you look at its quality and that it is printed on an extra wide width of 54/55" which actually reduces the length of fabric required to complete a pattern.

I really could go on about these fabrics forever but instead I will direct you to a fantastic post Anna Maria has written here, which covers her experiences with voile, its uses, washing, sewing and durability. This really is a great post and I am sure will inspire many to sew with voile for the first time!

Here are some pics of Lani in her new dress made from just one of the beautiful designs in this collection Diamond Mine Pomegranite with Little Folks River Rock for the hem. This is just one of the fantastic custom made pieces we will be offering in our 'new look' store very soon. (More on that one very soon!)

The latest Anna Maria Horner sewing patterns have also arrived.

Evening Empire dress with four different options.

Roundabout Dress & Cami with three different options.

Fabulous NEW bag pattern the Sidewalk Satchel.

Also a quick note to let you know we will be popping many more NEW fabrics in the shop this week!

Creative Customer January/February Gallery Winners

2010-03-10T21:20:00.000-08:00

My apologies for the delay in posting the winning entries for our creative customer gallery competition. We have been working hard behind the scenes on a few things we look forward to sharing with you in the coming months as well as uploading sooo many new arrivals into our shop.

The gorgeous images above are of a chair Katie picked up from the side of the road and recovered in Hoffman Petal Punch. Katie was looking for something contemporary and bright to go with the natural wood style of the danish looking chair which she sanded and oiled as part of this revamp. Congratulations Katie, you are the 1st winner of a $25 Kelani Voucher.

Julia has sewn this gorgeous boys top and pant set using the fabulous Oliver + S Sailboat top, skirt and pants pattern. I love the simple fabrics Julia chose for both pieces to give such a classic look. The light weight denim is available in our store and works really well for all clothing. Congratulations Julia for being our 2nd $25 gift voucher winner!

Julia's Pink Fig Stripwork Skirt also came up a treat!

We had such a difficult decision choosing the winners this month as well as being a 'tad' late with this post that we are offering all other entries a 10% discount on their next order with us. I have pics of these entries below as they are all amazing and sooo inspirational!

Erika has transformed her bedroom beautifully with the addition of this bed head she covered in Japanese Cosmo flower fabric.

Fantastic handmade boys wallet using Japanese Kokka fabric! Carolyn has been extremely clever and made this wallet that opens out into a racing track and handy carry all for her sons matchbox cars. Carolyn tells me that she got this fabulous idea from The Princess and the Monkey. Be sure to pop over to this fantastic blog!

Claire made the most beautiful dresses from the gorgeous Oliver + S Birthday Party dress pattern. Claire also made a lovely clip holder and bloomers and clips that can be viewed in our gallery.

Speaking of the Birthday Party Dress, Rebekah has sewn this gorgeous dress also from the same pattern using Tanya Whelan, Darla fabrics.

Naomi has made this eye catching tote from the latest gorgeous japanese Echino Birdsong fabric.

I just love Kirsten's beautiful tunic using Nani Iro Pocho. Kirsten has an amazing blog here and a lovely etsy store here.

Adriana has made this A-line skirt with another of the latest gorgeous Echino fabrics, Quiet Ground and...

This ADORABLE magoo!

Carmel has made this lovely girls tunic using the oliver + s puppet show tunic dress and shorts pattern. I love Carmels coordinating Heather Ross Far Far Away fabric choices and her placement of the sweet unicorn in the middle!

Thanks again to all our customers for their FANTASTIC handmade creations! Please get in touch with us regarding the discount for your next order with us. Any creations emailed in March will be uploaded into our gallery shortly.

Echino! Echino! Echino!

2010-02-10T23:05:00.000-08:00

What more can I say, the NEW Echino 2010 fabric collection has arrived and it is STUNNING, STUNNING, STUNNING!!

Be sure not to miss out as it is bound to be a HOT seller here at Kelani!

Have you seen the Shearwater Kaftan?

2010-02-06T08:49:00.000-08:00

Toni Coward has done it again with this gorgeous Shearwater Kaftan pattern release!! Here it is made up in the gorgeous Nani IRO and is beautifully photographed on the lovely beaches of Tasmania!

The Shearwater Kaftan oozes comfort along with style and is not only the perfect beach cover up, but could be dressed up or down with a pair of jeans, pants or summer skirt.

I only wish we could all look like this beautiful model in it!!

Includes a lovely sleeve detail, providing the option of a long or adjustable length.

Nani Iro 'Antique Label' Reproduction Florals

2010-02-01T22:12:00.000-08:00

This is one of the latest Nani IRO 'Antique Label' fabrics by Japanese designer Naomi Ito. This particular fabric design Hana Yura is a lovely medium weight 100% cotton and is the perfect choice for homewares such as cushions, lampshades and wall art, but would also make gorgeous bags and skirts.

Below are the three colourways now available in our store. A difficult choice you might say!

'Antique Label' is a series of gorgeous reproduction florals from the 1920's - 1940's. There are some beautiful light weight small scale all-over floral designs to follow shortly which would make gorgeous blouses, dresses & skirts for both adults or children. Browse more Nani IRO 'Antique Label' designs along with other Nani IRO collections here. I would love to hear your feedback on this collection and cannot wait to see what you may make!

Here are a couple of AMAZING clothing pieces from a couple of our extremely talented customers. Thanks ladies!

Kirsten is incredibly talented with her amazing sewing and knitting and has a gorgeous style that I would describe as a gift!

Adriana continues to enjoy Nani IRO with her gorgeous handmade tunics & tops!

Thumbelina!

2010-01-28T04:26:00.000-08:00

Thumbelina would have to be one of my all-time favourite classic fairytales and now Japanese novelty fabric designs!! Based on the literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a thumb-sized girl and her many adventures before falling in love with a flower-fairy prince just her size, this exquisite, whimsical, new fabric is bound to delight the children!

It is printed on the softest 100% cotton double gauze making it perfect for pretty little dresses, skirts and blouses but would also look exquisite if chosen for nursery decor. Available in a gorgeous blue on mocca above and dusty pink & brown on a flecked cream below with another two colourways due to arrive soon. We also have some beautiful spot double gauze fabrics here and here that would coordinate well with these designs.

If this fabric is not your cup of tea then pop over here to our new arrivals as we have just uploaded "40" new novelty Japanese fabrics, along with many more designer fabrics and gorgeous patterns for you to browse through.

Creative Customer October/November Gallery Winners

2009-12-22T23:27:00.000-08:00

Another AMAZING couple of months of customer creation entries for our online gallery! Thank you to everyone who emailed us their gorgeous creations! I know I said two $40 gift voucher winners but it is Christmas isn't it so we have made our difficult decision and chosen three. And the winners are...

Joy has done such a superb job with her son's kindy backpack above! Backpack made with japanese Kokka Toyland fabric.

ITS A DOLLS LIFE!

I always love seeing what has been made by our customers with fabric purchased from us but I was impressed with this gorgeous dolls house revamp or "reno" by Sarah using Kelani Fabrics. Sarah sanded and painted her original dolls house, used interfacing to stiffen the fabrics and then applied fabrics to walls with spray adhesive. I think Sarah's idea will inspire many others to renovate their old or second-hand dolls houses rather than spend money on a new one. Well done Sarah!

Adriana has sewn this fabulous tunic top with Nani IRO. This tunic has shirred sleeves providing two options of wearing as seen in above pics. Adriana has also made this lovely sling bag using the Amy Butler Birdie Sling pattern with the beautiful Dandi 'Bloom' laminate and an adorable smock from My Folklore oilcloth.

Thankyou to all our customers for inspiring so many others in 2009 and I look forward to receiving more of your beautiful gallery entries in 2010! More details on entering our monthly handmade gallery competition here and I will announce our next winning entry early February.

NEW Sew Liberated Patterns

2009-12-22T22:10:00.000-08:00

GORGEOUS new stylish & chic sewing patterns by Sew Liberated. What I love about this particular range of patterns is their simple style and design - I am a big fan of an 'understated' but lovely modern-look that Sew Liberated have achieved so well with her pattern cover examples. Of course you can jazz them up if that is your preference! There is something for everyone in this range, childrenswear for girls & boys, patterns for women, and the Mei Tai - a gorgeous and very practical and cozy baby carrier!

More patterns & info here..

Sweet Babushka & Rose Knickers

2009-12-10T04:34:00.000-08:00

Talented staff member Janine has whipped up these adorable knickers using our Babushka & Rose incredibly soft 100% cotton interlock. What child wouldn't want to say 'bye-bye' to nappies and begin toilet training with a pair of these! This sweet Japanese design is also available in 100% quilters cotton in a range of colours here.

Nicey Jane Competition Winner!

2009-12-07T03:56:00.000-08:00

Thankyou to all who left comments for our recent competition. The number selected by the random number generator was '12' which means we will be sending Kris a half metre of each of her above favourite fabric selections from the fantastic 'NEW' Heather Bailey 'Nicey Jane' collection. Congratulations Kris and if you could please email us your mailing address we will mail your fabrics to you asap. Enjoy!

Contemporary Australian Xmas Fabrics!

2009-12-04T10:11:00.000-08:00

Kristen Doran has just released this sensational limited edition Christmas Tree craft panel. Hand screen printed in the loveliest shade of red on a gorgeous natural cotton/linen blend basecloth. Turn into Xmas wall art, cushions, tea towels, stockings, table runner, placemats, napery, advent calendar or any other festive craft project!

We have just added a brand new shopping category "Contemporary Australian Christmas Fabrics" to showcase some of the amazing Australian designs for this festive season. Pop over and grab a little inspiration and celebrate this Xmas in true Aussie style!

Below are more gorgeous Australian designer fabrics perfect for decorating your Xmas table or home this year.

Shannon Lamden's 'Oh Deers' in raspberry on birch above and duckegg blue on hessian below. I think these would make great Xmas stockings, napery, cushions and kids Xmas clothing. (a hem on a linen skirt for the girls or a hem or pocket on shorts for the boys)

'Papercuts' raspberry on birch by Shannon Lamden.

Pippijoe's red 'Orchard' would make the perfect 'partridge in a pear tree'!

A little belated but elated welcome to 'Dandi' fabrics into our store! Dandi is made up of a four-women team of Industrial Designers who share a passion for beautiful and functional objects for the home. Drawing inspiration from Mother Nature the Dandi team weaves whimsical, beautiful and functional elements into its designs.

Dandi Blooms oilcloth above makes the perfect tablecloth for the festive season and beyond and it wipes clean in a jiffy. The Dandi team have done a magnificent job at decorating this table! The key is keep it 'simple' and the Dandi Blooms really speaks for itself.

Dandi Olive Branch Pistachio sets the scene with a real Australian vibe above.

and here are a couple of fantastic ideas by the Dandi girls using the gorgeous Dandi Holly Berry!

Whatever you may choose.. Happy Xmas Decorating everyone!

Summer Sewing with Nicey Jane

2009-11-29T09:16:00.000-08:00

Heather Bailey's latest collection 'Nicey Jane' is HOT in our store! May I just say that this new full collection is bursting at the seams with inspiration!!

Dresses & skirts for women and children, bags, quilts... the sky is the limit with this gorgeous collection in fresh summery colourways that have become a signature for Heather Bailey.

See below for more inspirational images from Heather Bailey..

We also have her latest adorable 'Henrietta' turtle sewing pattern..

Enough inspiration... Leave a comment on your top 3 picks from this full collection of 40 and we will randomly select one winner to receive a half metre of your favourite three. Winner posted here in a weeks time. In the meantime Happy Christmas Sewing!

Kristen Doran Hummingbird Inspiration

2009-11-27T20:39:00.000-08:00

Kristen Doran has made this gorgeous dress from her latest Hummingbird hand screen printed fabric in our Kelani Exclusive fabulous colourway of Chocolate & Raspberry printed on a lovely cotton/linen blend. Hummingbird is also available in mustard & grey. I just love the exquisite detail in each of Kristen's textile designs!

Craft Schmaft

2009-11-17T05:50:00.000-08:00

NEAT name... EVEN Neater designs by Claire Waring..

We all know the 'sock monkey' well, but incredibly talented fellow Aussie Claire Waring has taken sock softies to a new level and designed her own beautifully presented and packaged patterns and kits, each as adorable as the next! How cool is "Woof Woof" above made from a pair of plaid brown mens socks and coordinating designer fabric OR

"Mini Owl"

"Mummy Owl"

"Owl Mobile" (What a Hoot!)

and my favourite due to my youngest daughter being an absolute giraffe freak (maybe I can finally put away her giraffe security toy) - G-RAF!

Available for purchase here as kits including absolutely everything required to make these cuties (even the stuffing, needle & thread!) or as patterns for you to make your own sock and fabric choices. These would make a fabulous Xmas gift idea for the avid crafter or a gorgeous handmade children's or newborn gift certain to be treasured for years to come...

WARNING: Very addictive.. Once you start.. You won't want to stop!

Creative Customer September Competition Winner

2009-10-27T06:59:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Andi our gallery winner for September! Andi has used the gorgeous range of Echino fabrics to make these fabulous bags.

A special mention to our youngest gallery entrant Jemima who is 11 years old and handmade a lovely doll. Well done Jemima and I will be sending a surprise parcel to you shortly in the mail.

I would also like to wish one of our talented customers Jennifer all the very best with her new business making beautiful bags and reversible wrap skirts photographed above and below. Jennifer's business is called 'Bella Regazza' which in Italian means beautiful girl. Jennifer loves using unique and quirky fabrics such as Echino! View more of Jennifer's handmade items in our gallery and let me know if you would like me to pass on Jennifer's details if you are interested in having a fabulous bag or skirt custom made.

I will be posting our October creative customer entries in the gallery soon. Visit our gallery for further details on how to enter this competition and please note that we will be announcing both October and November gallery winners this time around in December with a special $40 Kelani Gift Voucher for the winning entries.

New Echino Patterns & Trims

2009-10-05T07:00:00.000-07:00

Beautiful NEW Echino lace-look 100% cotton trims now available in store to compliment Echino fabric collections. Trims are sold on a card in a 2mtrs continuous length. Use as an additional feature for all your Echino sewing and craft projects.

Fabulous NEW stylish Echino bag patterns! Recommended for customers who enjoy and are confident sewing from Japanese patterns as sewing patterns are not printed in English. Included in these patterns are paper pattern pieces and diagrams to follow.

Too Cool For School!

2009-09-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

Hot off the press are these adorable craft panels by Australian textile designer Shannon Lamden aka Aunty Cookie. Who said learning can't be fun! Limited edition, fun and funky alphacookie craft panels are an extension of Shannon's creativity using her adorable and quirky 'cookies' characters!

Creative opportunities for this unique panel are endless! Frame and hang or make a cushion like Shannon's above, use as a feature panel in a funky quilt, aprons, bags, pin boards, library bags, applique tees, clothing etc etc....

Available in black, fire engine red and our Kelani Exclusive Raspberry almost hot pink shown below. I decided on this exclusive colourway for those who have girls like me who no matter how hard you try just keep going back to pink!

NEW Audrey & Maude Sewing Patterns

2009-09-17T05:49:00.000-07:00

We are now stocking a lovely collection of sewing patterns from Audrey and Maude designed by two lovely Melbournians Cathy and Louise. There are some adorable softies that would make the perfect one-of-a-kind handmade gift for a newborn, simply personalise with your own unique choice of fabrics. The stunning apron pattern above, along with a bunting/cushion pattern, and quilts are also available. These patterns are perfect for a beginner sewer with easy to follow directions. For more inspiration from these gorgeous Melbourne designers visit here.

Lodge Chic!

2009-09-14T09:49:00.000-07:00

'Deer Valley' is a fabulous new eclectic modern fabric collection by Joel Dewberry in gorgeous colour palettes of Azure, Tarragon and Persimmon.

A skirt made from Antler Damask would be a gorgeous addition to your summer/spring wardrobe while the Rustic Dots I think are a perfect choice for cushions. Small and large scale designs and colours coordinate extremely well and would also make an amazing contemporary modern quilt.

Creative Customer August Competition Winner

2009-09-11T06:01:00.000-07:00

As always their were so many fantastic entries in this months creative customer competition! Be sure to have a look at our customers amazing talents showcased in our handmade inspiration gallery.

Congrats to Rebekah who made this fabulous and funky laptop bag using a combination of Amy Butler, Kokka Yugyoku Floral Purple and Kokka Croquant Brown Stripe fabrics.

I chose Rebekah's laptop bag this month as I loved how she pulled off such an amazing and eye-catching bag using three very different fabrics that came together so well! Notice how the croquant stripe is the same tone as in the outline of Amy Butler's design and also came together well with the white within both of these fabrics and the Yugyoku floral also picked up and complimented a couple of colour's in the Amy Butler fabric while at the same time introducing new colours to the mix contributing to the funkiness of this bag. The basic stripe also broke up and worked really well with the two patterned fabrics. Great eye Rebekah and what an inspiration! Rebekah has been inspired by Amy Butler patterns but also managed to put this bag together based on things she has seen over the years. I also love the chair the bag is hanging from.... where can I get myself one of these?

Thanks to all customers who were a part of our competition last month and I look forward to receiving this month's entries of customer creativeness! Further details on entering are available here.

Kristen Doran Hummingbird

2009-08-31T03:34:00.000-07:00

Kristen Doran is well known for her beautifully detailed hand screen printed textiles both here in Australia and overseas. Her latest unique and contemporary 'hummingbird' is stunning in design and features a gorgeous soft mustard and grey colour palette.

I am a huge fan of Kristen's versatile craft panels most commonly used for cushions, bag making, wall art, and childrens interiors but I am delighted to see her recently print on yardage, broadening its applications for larger home decorating and furnishing projects!

Available in two lovely basecloths! A cotton/linen blend which is a great all-rounder for homewares such as lampshades, cushions, drapery, and light upholstery whilst still a lovely weight for skirts and bags as well as 100% cotton, perfect for summer skirts, blouses, linen, as well as lighter home decorating projects.

Photos courtesy of Kristen Doran.

Kristen's latest 'Cuckoo' craft panels are gorgeously unique and reflect another fabulous aspect of Kristen's designs being continuously appropriate for all ages! Fun for a child's decor as well as sophisticated enough for a ladies bag, or contemporary cushion in the living room!

Gorgeous deep red, chocolate and avocado green on stone.

and deep red, charcoal and dusty blue on stone..

SULTANchic Upholstery

2009-08-09T05:03:00.000-07:00

I have many customers asking whether the medium-weight Japanese fabrics such as Kokka and Echino, are suitable for upholstery purposes. My answer to this question is "yes", however a fabulous example is the above chairs upholstered by Albert, owner of SULTANchic a fantastic and very unique business running out of New York. Albert sources unique and vintage furniture from all over the world and lovingly restores and transforms them into 'one of a kind' works of art! Albert purchased 'Kokka Blooms Aqua' from us and the results above are exquisite!

Thankyou so much for sharing your wonderful images Albert and I can't wait to see what you come up with next for the Echino!

Creative Customer June & July Competition Winners

2009-08-08T22:58:00.000-07:00

JUNE GALLERY WINNER!

Laura has done a fantastic job re-upholstering a complete set of worn Parker chairs with Amy Butler 'Dream Poppies Tangerine'. Laura also covered the fabric with PVC to act as an oilcloth and prevent spills from toddlers damaging the fabric surface. See the before and after shots below. What a fabulous difference this has made!

JULY GALLERY WINNERS!

Well done Michelle! You are one of our chosen July gallery winners for submitting three lovely handmade skirts using the fantastic Make It Perfect 'Flipsy' pattern. View Michelle's other fabulous flipsy skirts and appliqued tee in our online gallery.

Congratulations to Margaret who has been busy making so many handmade items from this gorgeous shopping bag and quilt using predominantly Sandi Henderson fabrics from the 'Farmers Market' collection to adorable 'Magoo' below made up in Anna Maria Horner 'Cathedral Peony'. View more of Margaret's wonderful creations in our gallery.

Thanks to all our customers who so generously contributed to our gallery over the last two months. If you are interested in submitting your handmade creation to our online inspirational gallery please visit here for more details.

Don't forget to visit our 'new arrivals' page as there have been loads of new fabric and pattern ranges added to the store in the past few weeks with many more to come!

Show Pics

2009-08-08T22:19:00.001-07:00

Here are some belated pics from our stand at the Craft & Quilt Fair in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago. It was great to meet so many of our customers and my apologies to those I missed meeting who emailed me and gave such wonderful feedback after the show. Thanks to Dave for taking time off his day job to help out at the show and to Amy, Sarah and Shannon who worked tirelessly before, during and after the show!! Shannon, thankyou ever so much for joining us again, you are certainly amazing for working sooo hard for four long days selling our wares as well as your own!

VISIT US AT THE MELBOURNE CRAFT & QUILT FAIR

2009-07-16T07:58:00.000-07:00

We're excited about next week's Craft & Quilt Fair at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre from Thursday 23rd - Sunday 26th July.

Come and say hi to us at Stand G28. We look forward to meeting some of our regular and new customers!

I have been working hard to upload many "NEW" fabrics into our shop and there are loads more Japanese fabrics and designer collections still to come! We have a large stand at the fair and will have many of our fabric collections and pattern ranges available. If in Melbourne, take this wonderful opportunity to see and touch the fabrics, view made up pattern samples and brand NEW fabric ranges and pick up a few sale items. Yes, we will also be filling our popular remnant baskets full of old and new goodies!

Shannon Lamden aka Aunty Cookie will be joining us again with many of her lush hand printed fabrics available for purchase!

Well done Kristen on your rockin matryoshkas making it on the front cover of 'The Craft Fair Friend' here!

Feel free to email me if you are after any particular fabrics from our store and I will do my best to have them available on our stand.

1st five comments get a $10 gift voucher to spend at our stand during the show. First five commentees please email me so I can return email your vouchers to you! Hope to see you there!

NEW Heather Ross Far Far Away

2009-07-11T06:57:00.000-07:00

Above image courtesy of Heather Ross

The much anticipated Heather Ross, Far Far Away collection is in store now and it really is exquisite! Printed on the softest double gauze, this collection will look amazing for adult and children's apparel such as skirts and blouses or make a stunning quilt, doona cover or cushions!

If you love this collection do not delay as it is deemed to be extremely popular and there have been many queries as to when it will arrive.

My appologies for the delay in announcing the June Handmade Inspiration Gallery winner! We have recently had large volumes of new arrivals and more to upload onto our website over the next couple of weeks. Winner for the month of June and July will be announced early August! Customer entries for both months will be uploaded into our gallery soon.

Creative Customer May Competition Winners

2009-06-18T04:02:00.000-07:00

And the winners are......

Melinda sent me this pic of her fabulous fabric covered boxes that were a gift for her mum. I immediately loved them and I think it shows perfectly how stunning fabric can make anything just like an ordinary box beautiful. Boxes, lamps, buttons, tin cans...... the skies the limit!

Pop over to Melinda's new shops here and here. Way to go Melinda!

It is always exciting to see what our customer's make with our fabrics on the other side of the world! I just love this Japanese fabric I call 'Animal Tea Party' and thought Nicole from Texas did a marvellous job with her funky kids palazzo style pants! Visit Nicole's lovely store here.

Thank you to our customers for their inspiring entries last month and I look forward to receiving more competition entries for our June gallery comp.

We have also recently added loads of new fabrics to our store with more to come in the next few weeks so keep an eye on our 'new arrivals'.

NEW Japanese Fabric Imports - Nina's Sewing Factory & Nani IRO 2009

2009-06-09T06:08:00.000-07:00

A HUGE long weekend and 15 large boxes later I have finally stocked our shelves with Japanese Goodness!! Here are some of the gorgeous double gauze and linen cotton blends which I hope you enjoy as much as I have been! I would love to find out your favourites in this bunch.

I just love this unique design 'Girly & Bitter' by japanese textile designer Asuka as part of the Nina's Sewing Factory collection. An amazing watercolour design running along one selvedge with a bird on chain design running upwards on a lovely soft double gauze. This would be perfect for unique fashion pieces such as dresses, skirts and blouses for both children and adults.

Here is not a particularly good shot, but a shot none-the-less of Girly & Bitter from selvedge to selvedge.

I can't tell you how excited I was to receive the NEW Nani IRO 2009 fabrics... it was like Xmas opening these boxes! Fuccra Rakuen (above) is a gorgeous design on a linen / cotton blend perfect for home decorating items such as cushions, bags, and would even make a stunning skirt.

My absolute favourite is the same design but in a beautiful aqua. My plans for this beauty is to run the full width of this one down the centre of a king size doona cover with either white, latte or lemon on either side... mmm decisions?? Fuccra Rakeun is also available in white. Love it, Love it, Love it!

Another of my favourites is Fuukei in a colourway I like to call 'earth' for obvious reasons. Another great all-rounder but particularly well suited to homewares. Here is a shot from the Nani IRO website as a tablecloth providing a great shot of the overall design... very nice!

Below is Fuwari, which having little girls I think would be amazing made up into little quite simple style dresses.

Fuwari, Pocho, Muji and a couple of the colourways in Fuukei are a beautiful 100% cotton double gauze which is incredibly soft to the touch. For those not familiar, double gauze is simply two layers of gauze joined together providing a fabric that is not too sheer. Its open weave properties make it lovely and light to wear with the bonus ability to breathe.

Many designers I think are heading in the direction of double gauze fabric due to its versatility for clothing as well as some light homewares such as linen, cushions etc. Designers such as Etsuko Furuya and Heather Ross whose NEW fabric collections are also a double gauze are considered along with Nani IRO to be a work of art on fabric and I believe will also be popular as wall art either behind a frame or over a canvas. I cannot wait to receive the Echino and Far, Far Away double gauze collections in store soon!

Rounding up, if you are feeling inspired by the fabrics above why not pop over here for some fabulous free online patterns - only drawback is they are in Japanese but can be worked out if you are a master at following drawings! I hear there is also a fantastic pattern by Liesel that appears in the current issue of Sew Hip proving that gorgeous fabrics like Nani IRO and amazing patterns like Oliver + S = Stunning Result!

Aunty Cookie "NEW" Papercuts Design

2009-05-13T08:09:00.000-07:00

Shannon's latest gorgeous 'papercut blooms' and coordinating 'papercuts' design was Hot! Hot! Hot! at the Stitches & Craft Show and I am so pleased to have it in the store.

Available in raspberry on birch and grey on black (divine!) 'papercuts' is a great all-rounder for craft, sewing and light home decorating projects. I also think this design would lend itself to lovely applique as the papercuts range in size from large to small and would suit either adult or children's apparel.

'Uptown Girl' - NEW Make it Perfect Pattern

2009-05-11T21:09:00.000-07:00

Toni Coward for Make it Perfect has outdone herself with her latest sewing pattern NEW release Uptown Girl!

This gorgeous, reversible hooded jacket is a must have for your children to wear this winter and uses a light weight pellon between your two fabric choices for added comfort and warmth. This very stylish jacket is bound to turn heads down the street!

*NEW PATTERN SPECIAL* - We are offering 10% off this fantastic pattern for the first week only and can be purchased here for $15.75 until 10.30pm 19th May.

Happy Sewing!

Creative Customer April Competition Winners

2009-05-11T07:54:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your April submissons to our Handmade Inspiration Gallery!

All submissions were fantastic as usual, but there was something I just loved about the sweet little clutch that Megan made above. I am particularly fond of the japanese 'my folklore' fabric collections and just loved the style, design, gorgeous button and size of this clutch purse.

Please visit our gallery regularly for wonderful inspiration from our customers, find out about some of their businesses and to read further info on how you too can enter our monthly competition.

NEW Anna Maria Horner Sewing Patterns

2009-05-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

NEW fresh and funky bag and clothing patterns by Anna Maria Horner now available in the shop! I am looking for some time to make a couple of these up myself and particularly like the Socialite Dress and Ruthie Clutch.

NEW Pippijoe Sling & Mini Sling Bag + Exclusive Fabric Colourways

2009-05-05T07:15:00.000-07:00

One of Caitlin's (Pippijoe) beautiful sling bags hung at the front of our stand at the Stitches & Craft show and I lost count of how many customers asked for a pattern to make this 'gem' of a bag!

Well the wait is over and it is now available in the shop with the pattern including pieces and instructions to make both a standard and mini size perfect for light travelling or the 'mini-mees' in your life!

A great feature of this bag is that the strap can be adjusted for comfort!

Even better, if you wish to whip one up in one of Pippijoe's fabulous hand printed textiles, fabric requirements are only a 50 x 70cm piece - great value for a beautiful bag don't you think?

Also available are two Kelani exclusive colourways of Pippijoe Orchard & Daisies. Lovely neutral colourways of charcoal grey and milk chocolate, perfect for bag making, homewares, wall art etc.

Don't forget to check here for more NEW fabric and pattern updates.

Creative Customer March Competition Winners

2009-04-22T21:00:00.000-07:00

Each of the creative customer competition entries were fabulous last month so I am sending 4 customers (Carrie, Yvonne, Adrianna and Sue) each a $25 Kelani Gift Voucher.

Here are a few of the customer pics and be sure to visit our gallery and click on each image for details of fabrics and patterns used under the main enlarged gallery image.

Beautiful dresses handmade by Carrie. Congratulations Carrie for also taking out 1st prize for the pink dress on the left in her local Agricultural show sewing competition.

Lovely smock dress and bag handmade by Adrianna.

Appliqued Tee and cute girls pants handmade by Sue.

Gorgeous birthday party dress and pj's made from the Oliver + S Bedtime Story pattern handmade by Yvonne.

Don't forget to view our handmade inspiration gallery for competition details and loads of fabulous customer creations as well as our new arrivals as MORE & MORE fabrics and patterns continue to roll on in.

NEW oliver + s patterns - Come sail with me!

2009-04-01T05:32:00.000-07:00

Fit for a party princess or a sailor, feast your eyes on these adorable NEW 'oliver + s' patterns!

Not only up to oliver + s usual excellent standards but what a very clever idea - what child doesn't like parties and sailing.... well maybe a small few, however we can all pretend!

What I particularly like about the sailor pattern is that they have both the boys and girls (top, skirt and pants) covered in the one pattern giving the customer more value for money!

Pop over here for even more NEW fabric and pattern arrivals with still MORE on its way!

SHOW PICS

2009-03-22T03:36:00.000-07:00

Well it has been a week today since the Stitches & Craft Show finished and it has taken me this long to catch my breath! I was very pleased at how our stand came together and here are the pics and some thank yous of course.

Firstly thanks to all our online customers who dropped by and said hello. It was so good to put faces to the names. It was also great to chat to the extremely talented crafting community and designers in the Incubator who are a lovely bunch of really down to earth people.

A HUGE thanks to Tara the extremely talented designer who designed those beautiful banners you can see. Tara, you did an amazing job which far exceeded what I had imagined! Anyone requiring graphic design should definately take a look over here.

Shannon, what can I say you have been an awesome friend to me, always make me smile and your textiles are ACE! Thanks for all your help leading up to and during the show and particularly for putting up with me in my deliriously tired state. Love, Love, Love the new design!

Customers could not get enough of Shannon's fabulous hand screen printed textiles and she even received a couple of requests for her autograph on her fab drawings!

A big thanks to both Amy (above) and Sarah (no pic I am afraid) who did a fantastic job over the 5 days. You guys have kind of saved my life of late and I much appreciate your efforts.

Shannon's badges ran out the door and Kate from 'Please Eloise' made some fantastic hair accessories and buttons which were also very popular.

Thanks to Beth & Jeff for doing a GRAND job minding the girls and to Dave you are amazing and my rock.

Well done to Living Creatively for pulling off a very cool 'new look' show and we look forward to next year!

Stay tuned over the coming weeks as we do our best to upload many new fabrics and patterns into the store.

Kelani is off to the Show!

2009-03-08T06:09:00.000-07:00

Come and visit us at Stand No.70 at the 'new look' Stitches & Craft Show Melbourne. We were very excited several months ago to be invited to participate by Living Creatively the fabulous hosts of this hip and happening show and can't wait to meet in person many of our customers and the fabulous craft blogging community. This year the show is part of the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival so their will be loads of stylish fashion going on as well as many craft market stalls on the outside to visit.

Shannon Lamden or Aunty Cookie as we all know and love her will also be selling her amazing fabrics and wares as part of our stand so be sure to pop by and say hello to us both.

Take a look over here from Tuesday, to print a 10% off discount voucher for purchases from Kelani Fabric at the show.

Between 11-15th March some fabrics will be marked out of stock on our site, as they will be with us at the show. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to our interstate and overseas customers but new and exciting fabric ranges will be available in our store at the conclusion to the show.

Please note: All orders placed between 11th - 15th March will be mailed on the 17th March.

Creative Customer Feb Competition Winners

2009-03-08T04:22:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Anna and Renee for winning our Creative Customer competition for February.

Anna is an inspiration to others wishing to try their hand at bag making with her very first bag using the Grand Revival Flea Market bag pattern using Echino fabric and lined with Tula Pinks ladybugs from the Flutterby fabric collection. Anna found the pattern to be "easy to follow and not too tricky." Well Done Anna!

Renee designed and made this beautiful, apron. Her use of crochet lacework and choice of fabrics make this a particularly stunning and individual piece. Well Done Renee!

Thankyou to all customers who contributed to our gallery and inspired others for the month of Feb!

2009-02-24T04:42:00.000-08:00

Victorian Bushfire Devastation

2009-02-08T03:16:00.000-08:00

Our hearts and thoughts go out to all Victorians who have lost their homes, loved ones, friends or are still awaiting news on those who are missing due to the devastating bushfires over this weekend.

Kinglake & St Andrews are only 10-15mins from where we live and our daughter will return to school in the morning and is likely to hear at her assembly about the loss of life and property of people known to the school and our local community.

We are also very proud of our two daughters who willingly donated some of their toys & books to the local appeal. Although still young they are also sad for the children & families affected.

We also praise the heroic acts of our CFA, St Johns, Red Cross and other selfless volunteers who have risked their lives to protect others.

We would like to donate 10% of sales this week to the Victorian Bushfire appeal, and in some way help those who have lost so much (if that is at all possible).