tiny happy

  • hello, welcome to my blog. my name is melissa and i like to make things.

contact

  • you can email me at tinyhappyATgmail.com



fabric shop


things to make and do

  • lined market bag
  • small envelopes project (with template)
  • hot water bottle cover tutorial
  • homemade hot chocolate
  • handmade turkish delight
  • peace dove ornaments
  • hand applique
  • any-kind-of-fruit cake
  • recycled t-shirt skirts
  • paper globe decorations
  • beach dress tutorial
  • dress up wings
  • embroidered brooch tutorial
  • housewife needlecase tutorial
  • homemade crackers
  • pepperkake recipe
  • french press cosy tutorial
  • all about gocco
  • patchwork ball tutorial
  • wrap dress (2-3T, sewn)
  • shoulder bag tutorial
  • simple fingerless gloves pattern
  • 'blossom' knitted baby dress

join us for soul craft online!

SoulCraftInstaTile1
SoulCraftOnline2020Program

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I'm really honoured to be part of the line up for the brand new Soul Craft Online Festival, which starts on the 14th - this Saturday! I have two pieces in the festival: an embroidery demo/tutorial video and a chat about making gifts. As you can see in the programme above, there are many wonderful presentations and talks to enjoy!

Following on from the in-person event in Melbourne in 2018, Soul Craft's online edition is a very special interactive gathering designed to bring the craft community together with lots of space and time to share ideas.

Running from Nov 14th to Dec 14th 2020, this event is really a community, a presentation and interview series with creative people, a conversation about things that matter, a make-along (with giveaways!), a series of demos, and an online craft group rolled into one!

Soul Craft Online is a place to explore a diverse range of perspectives on what making is and how it elevates our lives. Taking part will inspire you to make with more connection, more meaning and more joy. Please note that while the festival goes for a month you get to keep the content till May of 2021 so you can watch and listen as your energy and time allows. There's even a beautiful journal to download to keep track of your creative process over the month.

Tickets are on sale now!

There are also scholarship places available for anyone who would like to come but is going through financial stress. Click here to grab one of those places.

Lots more information including a detailed programme, links and videos can be found here.

I would love to see you there, friends!

November 12, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (1)

macrame and moomins

Plants
Cardigan
Moomins

Wild honey

Hello friends! It feels like a while since I was last here. 

We went to visit family and friends down South for a week during the October school holidays, which now, of course, feels like a different month altogether, but we're still in October for a bit! Time is taking on new forms this year. I hope you're doing very well and managing ok, wherever you happen to be in this world.

Since I last wrote here, I celebrated my 40th birthday. I have to admit to feeling a bit of trepidation about getting older but also gratitude and excitement for what's to come. This decade feels great so far, and the other good thing about a birthday is the chance it brings to catch up with friends and clink a glass or two together. 

I was also very spoiled and want to tell you about the amazing gifts and treats I received but I feel I must space them out a bit! Blog content for a month, at least...! In the photos above you can see the little morning tea I had with Keira on my actual birthday. She was home from school and it was my day off from the office, so we drank black coffee and ate the Moomin biscuits she'd bought for that very purpose. 

I've also included a picture of our two happy kitchen plants (they are currently nameless but the varieties are Scindapsus trebi and Tradescantia zebrina. Keira's very keen on propagating plants these days and takes good care of this pair - they have grown a lot in recent weeks!

I finished my reunion cardigan that I showed in my last post - it's knitted up in Zealana Kauri possum-merino yarn. It's already had quite a bit of wear but I know it will be a staple next autumn and winter. You can find a link to the pattern (by Brienne Moody) and other details  here on my Ravelry page.

Also, cause why not, I included a photo of a tiny embroidered sprig of flowers for you. This was stitched specifically for my friend Miriam.

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As far as non-craft-related news goes: I was given a copy of the big and beautiful Wild Honey: Reading NZ Women's Poetry by my workmates on my birthday. I love local poetry and have been enjoying dipping into this comprehensive book every day. It really is a beauty and I recommend it to anyone interested in NZ writers.

Through my headphones, I've discovered and fallen completely in love with the band Talk Talk's later albums, especially Laughing Stock. This piece, in particular, has become an everyday listen/meditation for me: New Grass. 

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October 22, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (5)

more plants + stitches

Rose 1
Rose 3
Rose 4
Rose 2
It's spring, and the days are getting lighter all the time. I know life is getting colder, and harder, in many other places in the world. I hope this finds you well, dear reader.

I'm doing my usual spring thing, which is to find blossoms, petals and leaves in my embroidery work without realising it... there's something subliminal happening in Wellington at this time of the year, I think.

Above you can see some photos of things I've been working on lately: some embroidery (the stitching is finished but the making-up-into-project-bags is on hold for a bit) and a cardigan I've been knitting.

I'm using the Reunion pattern by Brienne Moody for the cardigan, which is a simple raglan shape and slightly cropped body. I'm making mine with a bit more ease than suggested in the pattern, and I think it's going to be very cosy! More details on my Ravelry page here.

In book news, I'm just finishing a novel called This Happy by Niamh Campbell, which I think has gorgeous style, and a memoir by a poet who grew up on a tobacco farm near Motueka in NZ's South Island: A Fish in the Swim of the World by Ben Brown.

I'd love to hear what you're ready, and what you're making, if you fancy leaving a comment below? 

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Here are two songs I'm listening to through the headphones these days:  Woman, by Cat Power

... and a bit of Perfume Genius.

See you again soon!

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October 01, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (9)

felix pullover + other makes

Felix 2
Felix 1
Pins
Salmon
Bag group


Flowers by amy merrick
Kia ora, hello! It feels like a wee while since I was last here. I hope you're doing well. 
Spring is beginning to, well, spring in these parts, which is to say that just as the blossoms bravely appear on branches, they're whipped off again by the wind! That's Wellington life in September and October. It's lovely to have more light though, which makes it easier to get up and out the door on time.

I finished knitting my Felix pullover - I think I showed you an in-progress shot in my last post. Felix is a pattern by Amy Christoffers, worked in aran-weight yarn. It's quite a boxy shape, with eyelet detailing on the armhole shaping seams. I used some beautiful earthy-pink DK yarn from Wild Earth Yarns (it's super affordable - you can find it here) and to make it aran-weight (and add a bit of luxe) I held that together with a strand of silk-mohair yarn (hand-dyed a creamy colour by Miro Yarns). 

The finished garment is lovely - super warm and cosy and I know I'll get a lot of wear out of it next winter. It looks even better on Keira so part of me secretly hopes she'll get wear out of it too (she never wants me to knit her anything 'to order' these days, but quite often wears things I've made for myself...)

Last week I made a few things for my etsy shop - some botanical-embroidered pins and a few project bags. These were all made from vintage and other recycled fabrics - most of them featuring lush floral and botanical prints, paired with corduroy, linen or velveteen! Thank you very much to everyone who supported my shop and bought one! I've had a few queries about when I'll update the shop next. I am working on some things, but they take me a long time! I hope to have some new project bags and perhaps a few pins listed in there by next week.

I recently came across a beautiful Instagram account: Willow Crossley Creates. Do you know it? Willow is a florist/gardener/designer who specialises in beautiful and slightly wild arrangements. You can find little video demos on her page, here. Hope you enjoy!

Finally, and also on the botanical/spring theme, I wanted to share a beautiful and uplifting book I found at the library: On Flowers, by Amy Merrick.  It's just a beautiful collection of images and words about one of my favourite subjects: flowers! I recommend it if you're after some beauty. 

Have a lovely week, dear friends.

M

September 13, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (5)

green triangles + leaves

Vertices 2
Vertices 1
Winter flowers
Outfit
Felix
A soft and spacious wrap with green and grey triangles. That's what I was going for with my sister's birthday present. I made her a Vertices Unite shawl - the design is by Stephen West. It's one of my favourite designs - I'm tentatively thinking about casting on a third one day soon.

My sister looks beautiful in her new shawl - you can see a photo of her with it on my Ravelry page. And all the other details about the yarns I used, etc are over there too.

You can also see above the little set I recently made for my new nephew. It was such a lovely project to work on while we waited for news of his arrival. The socks are from this pattern (and made using scraps left over from some I knitted Arlo - his very big cousin!) and I found the garter stitch cross-over cardigan pattern here. It's free and very simple to knit up in a DK yarn. I adapted it a little to close with wooden buttons instead of ties. 

And the hat is another baby bear bonnet (like these ones) to match some I made for his cousins.

In the last photo you can see what I've been working on most recently - a jumper from some tweedy pink yarn and mohair held together. It's now finished and being worn! I'll take photos for my next blog post.

A new song I've fallen in love with lately: Spells by Norwegian artist Jenny Hval. I'm not sure I quite understand what's happening in the video though - I first discovered the music through my headphones. I think the first lyrics are: You are your own disco ball hovering above you like / a comforting reminder that not even you belong to you...

I hope this finds you well, dear reader. Thank you as always for visiting me here from wherever you are in the world.

X M

August 30, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (4)

freshly pressed

Pressed
Pressed 3
Pressed 1
Pressed 4
Sun catcher

I'm a keen flower enthusiast, and while my gardening skills leave a lot to be desired I've loved pressing flowers and leaves since I was very young. The other day on Instagram I posted a snap of my flower press and some cards I made, and a few people asked me to share how I go about that. So here is that post.

First of all, you don't need any special materials or equipment to get started. I have a wooden flower press made by Ashford - I was lucky enough to find it in a second hand shop, but I don't think they produce them anymore. There are lots of others on the market, or you could make your own - you just need two strong pieces of wood and some screws. There's a simple tutorial here.

But actually I think flowers press just as well in a heavy book - the only thing is that you might forget which book is holding your precious plants, and discover them when you open the book much later. Which is not necessarily a bad thing - it's a lovely surprise to find summer flowers from the past, preserved and waiting for you.

Here is my method, which couldn't be simpler:

- First, gather your plants. It's best to press them when they're freshly picked, but not damp or wet, so I think sometime in the afternoon is a good gathering time. Some flowers work best if you deconstruct them - hydrangeas being an obvious example. I have tried pressing whole (small) rose buds but have much better results when I separate the petals and leaves. 

You don't need to have a fabulous garden to press flowers - grasses, ferns and leaves are fun to experiment with and often have excellent graphic shapes and colours. Many wildflowers and weeds, gathered from the side of road or a park, are also beautiful when pressed. The golden rule is to ask permission before gathering plants from a public place or someone else's garden (obviously) and not to take too many cuttings - especially if the plants are rare ones.

Some flowers press better - retaining their colour and shape - than others. The results might surprise you, so experiment with things that grow in your community.

- Pick your plant specimens when they're dry and bring them inside. If there is a little dew on them, you can lay them on a paper towel in a warm place to dry out for a short time. Also check they are free from little bugs and insects.

- Place them, with a little space around each cutting, on a piece of paper (waxed or baking paper is best) and lay another piece of paper on top. Place these in your wooden press or between the pages of your book (note that some plants can stain the pages of your book if you're not placing them between thick paper.) I've found it works best when I group together plants of a similar thickness or type, i.e. a page with only ferns, and another with petals, etc).

If you're using a purpose-built press, you can add layers of cardboard (corrugated card works well) between the paper and plant layers. When you've stacked all your plants, screw down the top of your press tightly and place somewhere cool and dark for at least a couple of weeks, but a month is best. If your book you're using is not a super heavy one, stack more books on top and leave somewhere for at least two weeks.

Making cards

I usually use my pressed flowers, ferns and leaves to make notecards and tags. To do this, I arrange the plants on pieces of card (usually black, brown or white) in pleasing arrangements. You might find it helpful to use tweezers to adjust the petals and leaves just so, before covering.

I carefully cover the arrangements with clear book seal (cut a little bigger than needed to make the whole process easier). At first, you might capture some air bubbles but you can usually carefully peel the plastic back and try again, or smooth the bubbles out with your fingernail.

You can also use a glue stick to secure the plants onto the card before you cover them. They have a tendency to lift off the card and stick to the seal as you are lowering it on, which can be annoying! 

Trim the excess seal from around the card, and punch a hole in the top if you are making a gift tag.

You can also use this method for envelopes, small artworks, postcards, placeholder cards, bookmarks, and anything else you can think of!

Other ideas

You can also microwave your flowers to dry them and I've heard of an ironing method too, but I've not tried either of these. There's more info about both those methods here.

Mod-podge, or another type of clear glue seal, can be brushed over your pressed flowers to decorate candles, glass votive holders or lanterns.

In this sweet Instagram video, florist Willow Crossley talks about pressing flowers and shares inspiration for what to do with them (including spelling out someone's name or initials - I love that idea!)

For some serious inspiration, this book is a bit amazing: The Art of Pressed Flowers, by Jenny Ashmore.

There are lots of other ways to use and display your pressed flowers, of course. I've included a picture of some decorative Easter eggs I made a few years back (read more here) and sun-catchers I've made (inspired by Extra Curricular magazine and Isabella from Hydrangea Ranger - read more here.) Next on my list is a botanical phone case for my battered mobile!

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I hope you'll give it a go and join me in my never ending love of gathering and preserving flowers. 🌿🌿🌿

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August 20, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (9)

hellebore pink + red

Virginia 2
Virginia 1

Hellebore 1
Lemon shortcake
Books
Is there anything nicer than a fresh stack of library books waiting on the bedside table? As if i needed an excuse to go to bed early with a cup of tea. 

I spent last Sunday afternoon at the library, and when I got home I realised all the books I'd borrowed featured plants, trees and flowers of some sort. It must nearly be spring! I've started reading Sleeping Letters and Losing Eden: Why Our Minds Need the Wild - both good reads so far!

I'm lucky enough to have four beautiful hellebore plants in our small flower bed. This is their month to shine! Unlike most plants, they seem to enjoy living our garden - perhaps they can tolerate the wind better than most, and they don't seem to mind benign neglect either! 

I wanted to show you my Virginia sweater - a project I finished a couple of months ago but realised I never wrote about here. Virginia is a pattern from an older issue of Laine magazine, and I knitted my version from some yarn I hand-dyed with my Mum over the summer holiday. We were just playing with colour, really, and ended up with this beautiful mottled plum juice/earthy colour with lots of variegation. 

I like my finished jumper but regret not making a slightly larger size - I didn't want to run out of yarn so picked the smallest size I thought I could fit - and the boat neckline is not my absolute favourite. But it's a nice light layer and I enjoy wearing the rich colour. There are some more details about it on my Ravelry project page here.

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Do you like lemon shortcake? I love it. Recently, my boss, who is very generous and a wonderful baker, brought in a batch of her lemon shortcake for morning tea. I asked her for the recipe and had to make it immediately! It's an Alison Holst recipe, with a soft shortcake base, lemony custard and then a sort of crumble topping made from the base mixture baked on top. You can find it online here, if you fancy making some too.

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Something else you might like (while eating lemon cake and sipping coffee, perhaps?) is this online exhibition of 'craftivist' art, taken from a recent Australian exhibition. From the intro:

Craft is often dismissed as low art, a hobby or women’s work. But across the centuries, even before the term craftivism was given in 2003 to the practice of using traditional handicrafts for political purposes, the assumptions about its benign and gendered nature have been subverted and challenged by makers in all mediums. Craftivism is just one element of She Persists, the National Gallery of Victoria’s new project exploring the intersections of art, gender and protest. A book and online audiovisual experience, She Persists showcases women’s contribution to art and design from the 17th to 21st centuries.

I hope you have a lovely week ahead. See you again soon,
M

August 09, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (9)

handmade clothes + seasonal offerings

Top
Pants
Fortune
Beret
Spring
I have some handmade clothes to share with you this week. In truth, most of these things were finished a little while ago, but I don't think I recorded them here at the time.

I do love to make my own clothes. Over the lockdown period, I became aware of how many clothes I really own, almost without realising it. When you can't leave the house except for a daily walk, you don't need clothing for different occasions - just comfortable layers and a raincoat, really.

I made a simple top and a pair of pants at the end of lockdown, when I knew I'd be going back to work in the city. I think the act of cutting and sewing them together helped me prepare for the change of lifestyle (until then I'd been working from the kitchen table, like so many others, and like I know my overseas friends still are!)

The top was cut from the most beautiful hand block-printed Indian cotton. I ordered it from Miss Maude, an excellent craft supply store in Wairarapa). I just drafted a simple pattern myself - it's nothing fancy or complicated. To finish the neckline, I used a narrow green bias tape and hand stitched it in place.

The pants are also really simple - they're medium-weight black linen (from The Fabric Store) and made using the Merchant & Mills Eve Trousers pattern. They're quite loose fitting, 7/8ths length, with a folded cuff and a side zip. Super comfy and nice for wearing to work!

I also knitted a beret using some leftover merino and mohair yarn held together. The Bisbis Beret pattern is by Sari Nordland and is a lovely shape - I recommend it! Here are my project notes on Ravelry.

I have lots of other sewing projects and ideas waiting in the wings but I haven't felt very inspired lately to get all my sewing gear unpacked. I think it's a wintry thing - it's just much cosier to be knitting by the fire in the evenings! Some things I'd like to make when the weather warms up include this dress from Papercut Patterns and this haori jacket for spring.

I thought you might smile when you see the fortune tucked inside our latest pack of Good Fortune Coffee beans - kind of appropriate for renovating but also for sewing, don't you think?
I've also included a photo of a little shrine for spring - candles in glass holders, dried summer strawflowers and the all important sprigs of daphne are currently in pride of place on the kitchen table. Welcome in, spring! 

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Over the past week, I read Written on the Body, an older novel by Jeanette Winterson. I think I read it as a student because it was vaguely familiar, but totally worth the re-read.

Tom and I just finished watching Stateless, an Australian miniseries produced by Cate Blanchett and focused on four strangers in a detention centre in the desert. I found it really compelling. And heartbreaking. 

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I hope you are keeping well and warm, wherever you are in this world. X X

July 30, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (4)

peace, justice, flowers

No justice
No justice 2
Window
Vertices in progress
Marigold

I worked on this free-form embroidery slowly, over the past couple of weeks. I'd not done any stitching in ages, but listening to podcasts and radio news and finding some moments for thinking gave me the chance to make something from my heart, like this.

The phrase no justice no peace can be traced back to the 1986 murder of Michael Griffith in NYC but it's still equally relevant in Aotearoa as much as anywhere else. I'm not sure what I'll do with this piece of embroidery - maybe put it up on the kitchen wall.

You can also see, in the fourth picture above, I'm nearly finished making that second Vertice Unite shawl I wrote about in my previous post. It's one for my sister Tamsin, and she said she'd love it in shades of green and grey. It feels like it's been a long, cold winter (and we're only halfway through, truth be told), but working on this project before going to bed has been a daily bright spot for me. 

In less happy news, I lost my own Vertices Unite (you can see it on Ravelry here) one afternoon last week and have unfortunately been unable to track it down. I think it dropped out of my bag or the car near the Dowse Art Museum in Lower Hutt. I'm still holding out hope that it finds its way back to me, because I loved that shawl. 

I've found comfort in some familiar things, lately: re-reading I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, re-watching The Flight of the Conchords with the kids and listening to Bill Callahan's Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle, this song, in particular.

And because I just love marigolds, I've included a photo of one in a ferny damp corner of our garden. I think this variety is called 'French Vanilla' or something like that.

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Last week Tom, Keira and I went out on a stormy night to hear the NZ Symphony Orchestra play a Beethoven piano concerto ('The Emperor'), which was a beautiful experience. Towards the end I looked across at some of the strangers in our row of seats and saw a middle-aged man with tears quietly streaming down his face. The concert was streamed live to the world, you can listen to it here if you need a bit of epic pastoral music in your life right now.

Things are really hard in nearly every place on earth right now. I wish you all the very best, wherever you are,
M

July 18, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (9)

more persistence

Gift 2
Maya
Arlo
Sign
Greens
Hello from deepest winter! As I type, cold rain is tapping on the glass of the windows and what is probably a wind straight from Antarctica is whistling through. I hope this finds you well and warm.

Thought I'd share some of the things I've been doing this week. Snuggling under the new quilt reading, late at night. I've also been watching the miniseries Olive Kitteridge which I love. I know I'm terribly slow to both the book and adaptation. As usual! I'll get stuck into the book, which is by Elizabeth Strout, next.

My eldest, Arlo, turned 17! How can this be. We had a lovely midwinter celebration with family and he'll have a party with his friends soon. He was nearly born on the shortest day of the year, so even though I'm not keen on winter, Matariki will always be a very special time of the year for me.

It was also my sister's birthday and I've had a grand plan of knitting her a nice cosy shawl. Dreaming about it, even! But in the meantime, I made her a hat and posted it along with some ceramic earrings (from this lovely Golden Bay maker).

The hat was knitted from some soft blue Katia Concept yarn and this pattern from Espace Tricot which is free, quick and easy! I definitely recommend it. There's even a matching cowl - one day I might make a set. Both patterns can be downloaded here, (along with a good selection of others!) and my Ravelry notes are here. 

In the last photo above you can see the yarns I've chosen for the aforementioned shawl. I want to make another Vertices Unite design because I love wearing my first one so much. It might be one of my favourite projects ever. I checked in with my sister and she said yes please, and that greys and greens would be her colour preference. I just happened to have these colours in my stash, so it's obviously meant to be. I hope to report back with some progress in my next post.

The blackboard you can see above was one I walked past the other day outside this lovely homewares shop. I decided to take it as a sign that i should just keep knitting, and not get discouraged by how long my dream projects take to complete. But ''more persistence'' is meaningful in many other ways, of course.

Lastly, if you fancy something thought-provoking to read, I liked this recent piece by my friend Felicia Semple: Choosing Better Projects in Tricky Times. Felicia writes about how when we work on our craft with intention and consideration, we can help boost our wellbeing and connection with others. 

I also loved this piece on Vox: an interview with an author I deeply admire: Ta-Nehisi Coates. “I can’t believe I’m gonna say this,” he says, “but I see hope. I see progress right now.” In the piece, he asks the question: what would it mean to build the state around principles of nonviolence, rather than reserving that exacting standard for those harmed by the state?

It's a good read, and i'm still thinking about it.

Take care friends, and see you soon. 

X X X

June 25, 2020 | Permalink | Comments (2)

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