Fun Things on the Horizon

Since My last post here, I have:

Turned the "ripe old" age of 21,
Been promoted,
Begun perhaps my last summer vacation ever,
Crafted my crafty little heart out,
Visited Disneyland for the first time in what feels like a lifetime,
Participated in Harts Fabric's 1st Annual Craftacular Wonderfair,
And been roped into applying for San Francisco's winter Renegade Craft Fair by a colleague.

Whew! It's been an eventful (more than a) few months!

But I feel that I am in a position now to pay more attention to this blog, and my wonderful crafting hobbies and friends.

I've been stepping out of my crafting comfort zone by pushing myself to create new items out of new materials that i can hopefully market and sell (unfortunately, working in the fabric industry doesn't necessarily support my fabric addiction)

I've been working on these leather pouches:

I've ben making them in both coin purse sizes, and what I call "secrets" size, which I imagine to be perfect for ring boxes, tooth fairy pouches, or of course, small secrets.

I'm having fun choosing fabric to match with the leather. I get to use all of my favorite cottons that I don't necessarily desire to make a garment out of. It's also a great way to bust trough all of my cotton and leather scraps.


I also sold these knit tops that I screen printed. I like the style of top, but I think that If I make them again, I'll build a cleaner screen (although the grungy, distressed look of these tops is kind of fun!)

I'm adding items to my etsy this weekend, and I'll have new posts here this week, including a fun and easy top tutorial!

Hand-Sewn Small Things.

There is something just so satisfying about hand-sewing. It's meditative to focus on each little stitch being made, coming together to form the final result. 

I also love small things. Little decorations and embellishments are the icing on any project I work on.

From this is born my obsession with Clover Needlecraft's yo-yo and flower makers.

Small yo-yo in progress. Made from echino double-gauze.

Now, it's no secret yo-yo's and fabric flowers can be made without the aid of anything at all. Purists may even scoff at my addiction to these tools, and frankly, I cant really disagree with them. However, Clover's products make it so easy to create the perfect stitches and gathers for these projects making them easy and relaxing enough to do while watching a movie (I associate hand-sewing with Jane Austin movies) or even while in class (yes, yes, I admittedly do this more than maybe I should).

Clover also knows how to design an attractive product:

How could these not cheer you up? L to R: Large Sweetheart Rose maker, Large Shamrock yo-yo maker, and large and small yo-yo makers.

At first, I had no idea what I would possibly do with a bunch of fabric circles, but now I am enamored with the possibilities of these products. So far I have put yo-yo's on headbands, roses on hair ties and combs (What? I love hair accessories!!!), and am making some to put on cardigans and shirts. My boss at Hart's Fabric, who introduced me to this obsession, even features them on an amazing quilt with wonderful results.

L to R: Large shamrock yo-yo, large regular yo-yo's, and large sweetheart roses. 

So there is one of my latest obsessions. If you love hand-sewing and small things as much as I do, then you should check these products out! They have a bunch of cute shapes and sizes to play with: Clover's yo-yo page.

Stay Tuned for Alchemy Tea's next entry: Adventures in screen-printing!

Official First Post!

Welcome to Alchemy Tea!

I'm creating this blog to better organize my creative thoughts and to catalogue my creative endeavors. I hope you'll join me on my journey!

But who am I? Well, the basics, I guess, is that my name is Julia. I currently live in Santa Cruz, CA. I go to the University of California here in SC, and major in Plant Sciences. I sew, I draw, I make jewelry and I do a lot of homework.

My style and influences vary day to day. I can't say that I subscribe to one aesthetic particularly more than others, but I have been known to be active in the Bay Area Japanese Lolita fashion culture. Ive also been known to create and wear costumes for the few comic book/anime conventions that I can make it to in a year. My current obsession (along with much of the rest of the internet) is Steampunk.

So, I guess that that's me in a nutshell. I hope that through this blog I can share my love of fabric, design, crafts, fashion and nature with a larger community than that which immediately surrounds me.

I'm looking forward to posting content and sharing with everyone!

Happy reading!

Unofficial post no.1!

Hello Everyone! Lots of content to come once I get underway!