Winner of the 2013 Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition

There is something about this entry that has struck a chord with us and the judges. This photo captures a real moment of delight ... a child playing, the vibrant resounding colours against a grey day at the beach, with hair blowing in the breeze.

Congratulations Cate (Fabri'cate) on being chosen as the Winner of the 2013 Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition.

Some of the things the judges said were that they loved the Fish Puppet as it looks original, contemporary and useful and is beautifully shot and that Cate was really able to stretch her trimmings pack, sewing several pieces together in order to have enough fabric for the tail fin. The 3D fins are such a good way to show off all of the little pieces... Ashley from Film in the Fridge said a she would like one for her son.

Cate had this to say when she sent her entry in:  "I took your advice from the other day and just made something with my trimmings pack instead of agonising over what would be the best thing/s to make. Thanks for the opportunity to push/stretch myself creatively and to play with your lovely fabrics."

Cate made her Fish Puppet with an Umbrella Prints Super Girly Trimmings pack. It is amazing what you can do with such a sweet tiny packet of fabric, some broad cloth and your imagination!

Thank you to Lianne Rossler, Jodi Levine, Fiona Dalton and Ashley Newcombe for being our discerning judges this year... it is always such a treat to have a helping hand on the not so easy task of choosing a winner from all of the amazing projects that have been made.

Most importantly Umbrella Prints would like to give a big hug to everyone who entered, without your amazing support and creativity this would not be one of our favourite months of the year when we get the pleasure of having these sweet and amazing projects pop up in our inbox everyday.

We will follow up this post over the coming weeks with a few special mentions as it seems a shame to not take a closer look at the hard work that has gone into all of the projects you can see here on the Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition 2013 Pinterest board. We look forward to seeing you all back here next year for the 2014 Competition but remember you can grab some inspiration and Umbrella Prints fabric all year round.

Umbrella Prints People's Choice Prize

Before we announce the winner of the Judge's Award in this year's Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition we would like to congratulate Anja Brinkmann from MyMaki for being the most repinned entry this year and so winner of the People's Choice Prize!!!

Anja bought a packet of Super Girly fabric Trimmings from Umbrella Prints and created this colourful applique character Mac Book Pro cover with neon stitches to keep her 'shivering' computer warm (translations from German to English are very descriptive!). We loved the choice of natural wool felt to offset the brightest colours of our fabrics in her pack. Congratulations Anja!!! read more about Anja and her work on her blog MyMaki.

Coming up next- Judge's Award...

Hearts while we wait

Lots of excited waiting in the studio today... who is going to win the Special Judges prize in the 2013 Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition? ... I think we can all see who won the peoples choice! But we are also not so secretly waiting for our NEW collection Floating Worlds to arrive on our doorstep.We can not wait to share it with you ... in fact we are busting to share it so much that we decided to create a mini collection of Hearts while we all wait ... patiently. Two NEW colourways of hearts will be in Floating Worlds but we are releasing them a few weeks early. Whilst looking at the New colours Cherry Blossom and Smokey Balck we realised they looked so gorgeous with a few roll ends of Organic Hemp Cotton Hearts, so we packed a few bundles for you now... in the mean time.

We must warn you though there are only a few packs available as the StormBoy Blue, Silky Oak and Riverstone are very limited... so if you have a project in mind (did you see Anna's bag! you have to go and look, it is gorgeous) then snap up a I Heart Projects bundle before they are all gone.

Head over to Anna's blog Noodlehead to not only see her beautiful handy work but also order a copy of her Super Tote bag pattern as well as check out one of her latest posts on how to attach a snap closure... We think Anna is a bit amazing to say the least..

Choose from three different colour ways with each organic I Heart Projects pack containing enough fabric to make Anna's Super Tote, a couple of cushions or any project that needs a little over 100cm x70cm of feature fabric.

Buy I Heart Project packs here

Get pinning! Voting is open yah!

Voting is now open for the 2013 Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition - Get Pinning! 

Voting closes June 5 at 12am ACST... but don't wait till then get pinning now

Remember to:

Repin from the competition board

Repin as many as you like

But only repin each entry once

The entry with the most pins wins ... an awesome bundle of Umbrella Prints goodness and our specials guest judges, Liane Rossler, Jodi Levine, Fiona Dalton & Ashley Newcomb will be voting for their favourite too ... so stay tuned as we will be anouncing the winners on Friday June 7.

Go on!  head over to the competition board and pin your favourites... support these amazing makers who have put themselves out there to be pinned.

Liane Rossler

photo Adam Knott - courtesy of The Australian

We are so inspired by the work and philosophy of Australian designer/ curator/ environmental advocate Liane Rossler. We met Liane a few moons ago in our studio in Adelaide and are now proud to have her as a judge in Umbrella Prints' Trimmings Competition 2013.

Many will know of Liane's work as co-founder of internationally acclaimed Dinosaur Designs  and in the last few years Liane has broadened into some really exciting and innovative environmental art & craft based work and exhibitions that has us all a bit excited.

photo Ian McPherson – courtesy LMNOP via Design Files

Check out supercyclers Liane and Sarah K's journey transforming waste materials into beautiful and useful new objects & an ever-changing platform profiling artists and designers driving new experimental work based on sustainability.

Go to Liane's curated series of artist driven projects Here and Now on at Sydney's Carriageworks this year.

Thinking about, being open, creative and more conscious as an artist/designer and indeed thinking about, being open, creative and more conscious as a consumer is Liane's drive which is evident in her own works as well as in the discussions and exhibitions she inspires.

We asked Liane to be one of our special guest judges because the Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition is essentially a challenge- to make something from what would ordinarily be wasted.   Seeing value and potential in the remnants, offcuts, end of rolls of our fabrics is a metaphor for an approach that could encourage a more sustainable way of living  .. and we thought Liane to be the right contemporary DIY kinda gal for the task.

Plastic Fantastic vessels by Supercyclers; Sarah K and Liane Rossler

Read about our other Judges :
Jodi Levine
Fiona Dalton
Ashley Newcombe

Fiona Dalton

This week Carly and I went to visit our friend & colleague Fiona Dalton!
Fiona is of course one of our special judges in the Umbrella Prints Trimmings Competition 2013 and is mentally prepped to help choose this year's Judges Award prize in just over a week folks!

Fiona is a wonderful crafter and author of blog and book Hop Skip Jump & is now co-owner of a new fabric shop in Adelaide created with her lovely business partner Jane. The Drapery is a welcoming space where you can buy a range of beautiful fabrics including organic cotton knits, linens, cotton voiles, shot cottons; as well as printed fabrics by the likes of Nani Iro, Echino, Liberty and Umbrella Prints; it is also a space where you can learn how to sew and be inspired.

Fiona has sewn with our fabrics before (see below and in her book) and has the most incredible sense of texture and attention to detail.  If you own one of her handmade toys you are a very lucky person as they are soo beautiful.

We had a lot of fun catching up for a chat and checking out all the latest scissors, sewing patterns, threads and creations as well as taking a few snaps in the soft bright light.  We can't wait to see what Fiona chooses as her favourite Trimmings Competition entry on the 7th of June.

Jodi Levine

An order of Kimono Red Grand Hearts to the offices of Martha Stewart Living caught our attention and soon our fabrics were on their way to the office of Jodi Levine Kids Editorial Director/Designer in New York.  Carly had for years been collecting the now coveted set of Martha Stewart Kids magazines and knew of Jodi's impeccable skills as a crafter and editor.

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Jodi Levine has had an amazing career making and crafting a world of beautiful things for Martha Stewart- invitations, delicious children's party ideas, gifts and decorations in endlessly inspiring styles, flavours and themes.  Jodi's creative eye and her ability to source materials for her projects from unusual & often overlooked places is genius and even though at the top of her game we reckon her approach to sharing and tutorials is super friendly and accessible.

We know Jodi loves colour and pattern, encourages creative experimentation and likes to have fun with design; her ability to really look and find meaning through making is so inspiring- we were very excited to have her accept our invitation to be on our guest judging panel this year xxx

People's voting open here June 1 - 5, 2013 (Get Pinning!)
People's Choice & Judge's Winner announced June 7, 2013 (Good Luck to all of our wonderful entrants)