BBC, Doctor Who and the great knitting scandal!

A Doctor Who fan is embroiled in a row with the BBC after she published knitting patterns for the sci-fi drama's monsters on the internet.

The patterns of Ood and Adipose were removed from her website after the BBC's commercial arm complained that they breached its trademark.

Mazzmatazz created knitting patterns for the Ood (the ones with their brains in their hands) and Adipose (the ones made from human fat), recent characters from Doctor Who, then distributed them for non-commercial use from her website. Unfortunately someone decided to make and sell them on e-bay which drew attention to Mazzmatazz who was subsequently contacted by the BBC who asked Mazzmatazz to remove the patterns and photos from her site. The open rights group are working with Mazzmatazz.

Apparently Mazzmatazz is in discussion with the BBC and I have read rumours of a book deal. I really hope this results in a happy medium that will support the fan base (without them Dr WHO would not be what it is), recognise how creative this community is and how the BBC can learn from it, encourage fans to continue to be creative and understand that new different licensing agreements are required in this day and age.

Lets not forget the BBC initiated the Creative Archive License Group - I believe the trail phase has now ended and I guess it may even have been ditched a a working group - but here is a bit of info:

The Creative Archive is a BBC led initiative to provide access to public service audio and video archives in such a way as to allow the British public to find, share, watch, listen and re-use the archive as a fuel for their own creative endeavours.

You can read about the rules for sharing here... lets hope we can all share Mazzmatazz's patterns.

fingers crossed...

Cushion recipe for my niece and her pink bedroom

cushions - reverse, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

cushions - front, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

I made these for Christmas 2007 for my niece whose bedroom was in the midst of being decorated by her creative mum!-) But I only took these photos of the front and back of the cushions when I visited this May. They look great with the quilt, don't you think? I think my sister bought that from Next or Laura Ashley.

ingredients:
The fabrics were purchased from John Lewis on Oxford Street, except Amy Butler, Lotus Flower, this is from Liberty (appliqued BIG HEART).

method:
I based the cover construction roughly on the cushion pattern from Amy Karol, bend-the-rules sewing, but I used a geometric pattern and quilted the face of the cushions and applique patterns on the reverse. It satisfied my urge to use my stash of rik rak.

curtains at last

curtains at last, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

I don't have a proper curtain rail as there isn't a wall to attach a traditional rail too, so I fitted a shower rail directly onto the ceiling in front of my bedroom window. I have to devise my own method of fixing the curtain to the static rail as the curtain MUST have maximum curtain coverage over the rail itself - this is a south facing window so if I don't the summer sunshine (when we have it) will blind me and Mr C in the morning. I used presstuds for my previous bedroom curtains, this time I am using metal hook and eyes. Yes - I had to sew 48 of them to the tabs!

To make up a basic lined curtain I worked to guidelines I found at alternative-windows
This site was really useful and there are lots of basic guidelines and tips for making cushions and blinds too.

I love the retro style pattern and mix of orange and pink - I bought the fabric in a John Lewis summer sale about 3 years ago, I bought the lining (standard weight) from there too. I think the fabric as about 5 quid a metre - a bargain I couldn't resist! Each curtain measures 170cm height and 134cm wide.

I have enough fabric left to make a couple of quilted pillow cases.

recently finished items

Dolly jacket- Jaeger (6-12 mnths), originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff

Handknits for Babies and Children by Martin Storey
4 ply Baby Merino Jaeger

Scalloped Baby Blanket for Isla, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

Pattern from Amy Karol - bend-the-rules sewing
Fabric from Liberty,

me and my clara, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

Clara from Hip Knit Hats - Cathy Carron
Brown Sheep Chunky
The sun was in my eyes - so please excuse the squinty look ;-)

PLEASE note you can find errata notes here for this book

Knitted Atari 2600 Console with CRT

Knitted Atari 2600 Console with CRT, originally uploaded by jm3.

How cool is THIS - I found it here Not sure how I get my hands on the pattern for this!

the pieces - Dolly Jacket

Dolly Jacket, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

Nearly there now - just got to sew it together.. 3mnths in the making.

bunny hop to Istanbul

wee wonderfuls bunny, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

I just love the wee wonderfuls - this little'un is now residing in Istanbul, safe in the care of a Lea. I made it in November 2007 but didn't get round to posting it until now. I am also behind schedule with my gardening projects - I only planted my daffodil bulbs today, hopefully they will be in flower by easter (fingers crossed). I choose a pastel variety for a change - I usually plump for the classic yellow. I have completed two other sewing projects this week that I will share with you soon.



Until then let me mention a children's book I added to my collection this week: A Child's Book of Poems by Gyo Fujkawa, first published 1969. My sister and I owned a board book by Fujkawa when we were children called Our Best Friends, published 1977. I loved this book because the illustrations were so vivid - I was amazed with the detail of the clothes and grass, yet the eyes were just black dots. The collection of poems in this book includes William Blake and Kate Greenaway - there are lots of colour illustrations but my favourite are the drawings.

Festive Production

Cushions, originally uploaded by louisemakesstuff.

Cushions in Amy Butler Fabric with pink satin trim. Cushion pads from John Lewis 30 x 40 cm. feather filling - think they cost about 3.95 each. Liberty have now started selling Amy Butler fabric at 8 quid a metre - the patterns are gorgeous, really distinctive. The green fabric here looks fairly traditional but the lovely green and pink give it a contemporary twist - combined with the spotty fabric on the reverse of the cushion the look is complete. These cushions were gifted to my nan and my boyfriends mum - both were pleased to receive handmade gifts - both were a former knitter and seamstress (sadly not possible now due to ill health).

NOTE: I noticed this on the Amy Butler selvage...
Lotus © by Amy Butler for Rowan fabrics for non commercial use only.
Fair enough I guess - we all have to earn money. This is the first time though that I have seen such a bold statement printed on a selvage - I am not sure how strictly the non commercial usage is enforced - but there must be loads of crafty bods out there making beautiful stuff for sale on Etsy, (for instance) who may consider that a wee trim of Amy Butler fabric here and there would make all the difference to their handmade goodies. That got me thinking to ways around using the fabric for non commercial use, such as exchange by barter/swap shop type enterprise. There may also be implications in the future for crafters who remix fabrics and garments such as Anti factory (my fav blog of 2007), especially if in the future more designers made use of these and rules and they were strictly enforced. I hope not...