And one for the boys…

December 19, 2011February 8, 2025 Julie Gardner1 Comment

Union jack pocket beanbag — One for the boys

My last post before Christmas – another order for beanbags, but this time for two boys. They have chosen union jack pockets which were fiddly to make but look really good. Again, it’s made from indigo blue denim and the stitching is a pale blue (the other one is red so that they can tell them apart). The photo isn’t brilliant I’m afraid; I should’ve asked my boys to be models but they’re out at the moment. I’ll have to get some better ones and put them on my folksy shop in the New Year.

Well, merry Christmas everyone! Thanks for stopping by and thank you to anyone who has ordered from me over the last few months since I started gilhoolie. I’ve got a really good feeling about 2012 and nine screen-printed lampshades to make already for a gallery in Leeds, more on that another time… For now all I want to do is turn on the Christmas tree lights, make mince pies and drink mulled wine… ho ho ho!

Sewing projects

Beanbags for the girls…

December 16, 2011February 8, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

Pretty flowery girly fabric — It's nice to be girly!

Well, I’ve been so busy these last two weeks, almost too busy to write blog posts, but not quite… These are two beanbags I made for a mum at school who ordered them as Christmas presents for her girls. The fabric on the pockets is a gorgeous floral pattern, one in blue and one in white. It was so nice to make something a bit girly. I really hope they get a nice surprise on Christmas day and spend many happy hours lazing on them!

Not long until Christmas and I’m so relieved I have finished all my orders…. (that was me taking a deep breath and sighing!) I’m looking forward to slowing down, and spending a lovely festive break with the family. All things gilhoolie will be a bit quiet for the next few weeks but I have so many ideas for the new year, can’t wait!

gilhoolie has set up shop!

November 3, 2011February 8, 2025 Julie Gardner2 Comments

I have finally set up my gilhoolie shop on folksy! HOORAY!

You’ll find a few gilhoolie things on there so far but I’m still working on adding some more including my bags, bunting and the rest of my lampshades. So please come back in a week or so and have another look (don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll put another update on here anyway to remind you!)

You just need to search for gilhoolie on folksy or click on this link: gilhoolie shop.

Here is a screenshot of my shop, please come and have a peek! Then you have my permission to browse all the other lovely things on folksy!!

gilhoolie shop on folksy - go and have a look!

Interior Design · Sewing projects · Soft Furnishings

Promises, promises…

November 1, 2011February 8, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

I had lots of fun a couple of weeks ago taking photos of my friend’s beautiful little girl sitting on a gilhoolie beanbag and pouffe (with some bunting in the background). Thank you so much Sandi, I may ask again if that’s okay!

I know the model looks gorgeous but I’m also hoping these photos show my products well enough to start selling on-line now. I must admit I did get a bit carried away and didn’t always manage to get the whole of the beanbag in shot, oops! Ah well, I still have lots to learn. Thank you also to James for playing around with the photos in Photoshop; I think they are very professional and just the look and feel I was going for.

It’s taken a bit longer than I expected to set up my folksy shop but I think the photos are incredibly important. I’m going to take some more of my lampshades this week too as I’m not happy with the ones I already have. When you work for yourself it’s easy to not set deadlines and just go with the flow but I promise these will be on folksy by the end of the week, cross my heart and watch this space for details!

Events

Models required!

October 17, 2011February 8, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

This week I’m putting the finishing touches to things and I thought I’d practice arranging all my creations ready for Thursday evening. I put this display together in half an hour before I rushed off on the school run, but you get the idea! As you can see, I got the bunting bug last week and made some more out of scraps of fabric from our bedroom (Romo Quadra Dahlia and John Lewis chevron in sulphur).

I guess it isn’t a coincidence as I’ve made lots of things from the same fabrics, but it does feel like gilhoolie has some kind of identity now don’t you think?

My next task is to take some more professional looking photos so that I can sell gilhoolie things on-line; I might need some little models to pose on the beanbags and pouffe!

Interior Design · Sewing projects · Soft Furnishings

‘a’ is for…

September 28, 2011February 8, 2025 Julie Gardner2 Comments

Alice, Amiee, Asha, Amelia..

Matching gilhoolie beanbag and lampshade

I made a beanbag yesterday in indigo denim fabric with a personalised pocket. The idea is you can choose a fabric and your letter to have sewn onto the beanbag. The beanbag itself is a pyramid shape with a square base and a handle at the top (plus a zip in the bottom for refilling and the seams are all top-stitched for extra strength). I made them for my boys earlier in the year and they (and the cat) are always on them so they must be okay!

I’m pleased with the result but in the middle of stitching on the ‘a‘ and struggling to go round the corners, I did think it would have been much easier to start with an ‘l‘!

Ah well, it was good practice and I think the pocket goes nicely with the adorable lampshade I made at the weekend…

Interior Design · Sewing projects · Soft Furnishings

A quick update…

September 20, 2011February 8, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

Just thought I should put a quick update on gilhoolie as I haven’t blogged for ages, I’m still here! The last couple of weeks have been spent doing lots of screen-printing (some prints more successful than others, arghhh) as well as lots of behind the scenes preparation for getting started on selling things. I’m hoping to have a stall at a shopping evening at school next month so I’ve been concentrating on that by putting together some marketing materials and thinking about how to display everything. I also want to start selling on-line on folksy before then, so I’ve been writing a biography to set up a gilhoolie shop. So you see I have been quite busy really!

I’ve made some lampshades from my own designs (shown below) but also just ordered some pretty fabric to make some more. I’ve decided to not just make things exclusively from my own hand-printed fabric but instead to experiment with any other fabric that catches my eye. I’ve also ordered more denim fabric for making beanbags and bags. The designs will be made to order with a choice of fabrics for bag linings, beanbag pockets, pouffes and accessories (buttons and bows on bags). I’m really looking forward to receiving the fabric I’ve ordered as I’ve missed sewing and I’m getting impatient to start selling soon!

I’ll let you know as soon as my folksy shop is set up, watch this space…

Busy, busy!

Decorating Projects · Interior Design

Did you know John Lewis sell disco balls?!

July 13, 2011February 8, 2025 Julie Gardner1 Comment

Walls, ceiling and woodwork painted, fire surround painted, fireplace tiles painted, shelves put up, wallpapering done, mirror put back, new light put up… not a quick job this one but worth it in the end! I can’t believe how much lighter the room feels now that it’s a cool duck egg rather than a dark red.

The floral wallpaper is called Hudson Mohair from Laura Ashley and has a pearlescent sheen (not available any more though so the pressure was on when we were trying to wallpaper round the fireplace!)

The Dante chandelier is from John Lewis and has already been described as a disco ball by my five year old but I’m hoping it adds a bit of glamour and impact to the room.

My last task is to frame some pictures I’ve been collecting for the wall behind the sofa which is looking very empty – more photos of the rest of the room to follow, I just thought I’d do a quick update now.

Even the beanbags I made back in March match the scheme…

Interior Design · Soft Furnishings

Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside!

May 13, 2011February 8, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

I’ve just finished making a beanbag for a friend. It’s still blue denim but with a colourful stripy pocket and bright pink stitching. I really need to borrow a studio so that I can take some decent photos of these when they’re filled but you get the idea. Mind you, I think the pebbles go well with the deckchair stripes; it could almost be at the beach, not in our back garden! (fabric from http://www.deckchairstripes.com/)

I’m thinking about making smaller ones for pets as our cat seems to find them very cosy… I might also have a go at more sophisticated big floor cushions for the grown-ups but these will be in my own printed fabrics, eventually….

Decorating Projects · Interior Design

Interior Design in Reverse!

May 12, 2011February 8, 2025 Julie GardnerLeave a comment

Well, this was all done a bit backwards seeing as I finished decorating a month ago, but I still wanted to publish the sample board and floorplan I put together for our bedroom. Gilhoolie Designs is working out to be a great place for me to keep track of my ‘work’ and build up my portfolio.

Enough of interior design though, I’ve just received more fabric to make a beanbag so I need to get out the sewing machine. Watch this space for photos of a more girly beanbag with pink stitching!