ALLISON DEY
MALACARIA
Did you have handmade toys when you were
a child? Acrylic stuff ed animals with the ‘new’
polyester fibrefill had recently been patented
when I was a child, so I can remember the
change from being given homemade toys and
dolls to packaged board games and store-
bought stuff ed animals. But I have older
siblings and I remember a lot of handmade
toys and accessories. Nearly all of the Barbie
clothing was handmade and hand crocheted.
Each of us had a sock monkey, and there were
peg dolls, rubber-band balls, wood-crafted
games, beanbag frogs and cloth dolls. But I
also made a lot of dollhouses out of shoeboxes,
complete with furniture and rugs and quilts.
Who made them for you? I came from a very
make-do family. My paternal grandmother
made the sock monkeys, and my maternal
grandfather loved woodcraft and using found
objects, so he made a lot of wooden toys and
even built me a playhouse in his backyard.
My stepmum made me a lot of dolls. I
remember much of the Barbie clothing came
from an ‘old’ lady who lived across the street
when I was quite small but I don’t remember
her well. The Barbies had been my older
sister’s, so I was given all of them when shefell in love with the Beatles and decided she
was way too old to bother with dolls.
Do you still have any of them? o my regret, T
I have not a single item. I’ve moved house
so much in my life, I have passed everything
on. And when my mother moved across the
country to care for my grandparents, in her
completely unsentimental attitude, she
donated everything that belonged to us
kids, as we were all on our own by that time.
Are children’s projects a favourite for you?
I confess I’m not really a kid person. I’m able
to teach them and encourage them well and
I think it’s a gift, but I don’t find a lot of joy in
it, as it brings up unpleasant memories of an
unhappy childhood. But there is something
about children’s literature and stories and
play that are a happy place for me, and I still
believe in the magic, even though it wasn’t me
that Peter Pan flew away with or for me that
the back of the cupboard opened to Narnia.
So, I’m still enormously drawn to the magic
that story and play brings to the heart. I
believe spending time being ‘little’ as a
grown up is just fun and maybe even healing.
And since I tend to move a lot, I get to give
everything away, which means I’m passing
on the toys I make and giving some other
children a place for their make believe.
Have you been stitching since you were a
child? My first needle-and-thread experience
was cross stitch at age seven or eight. When
I saw colourful threads turn into a picture, I
was hooked and inspired. How could something
as simple as needle and thread create a story?
Do you remember your very first craft
‘triumph’? My stamped cross-stitch potholder
was given to my dad, and I know it’s in a box
somewhere in his house, but I have yet to
find it. I am not deterred. My dad is highly
sentimental, and I know it’s there somewhere.
Do you have a new design completely
formulated in your head before committing
it to paper and fabric? I have a general idea
sketched and then I spend hours in my head
figuring out how to make that a reality, which
fabrics will work best and how to assemble
it. Should it be lined? Will that be too much
thickness in the edges? Should I use colourful
threads or something monochromatic? I playit all out in my head before I make the final
sketches and templates. It’s not until then that
I can actually start on the making process.
What is your least-favourite part of
designing and making a project? I’m always
terrified that what I’ve worked out in my head,
that should work, doesn’t actually work. And
because I work on deadlines for magazines,
I feel as though I may have to say, sorry, this
one just didn’t work out. Has that ever
happened? No. But it’s always a fear. So
standing there with all the sketches, all the
measurements and all the fabrics prepped –
that’s the moment I panic and send up a little
prayer that it’s not going to disappoint.
What’s your favourite time of day to sew?
Morning is my best time to start, because it’s a
mentally quiet time for me and I can work for
hours. If there is any embroidery to be done on
the project, that’s something I like to sit with in
the afternoon and evening and relax with. What I
don’t like is a day with errands mixed with work.
Once I’m out in the world, my mind is elsewhere.
Spending a day with my making is like a private
retreat, and it’s a kind of sacred space for me.
Do you have any sewing gadget you never
use? I’ve never used an overlocker or one
of those tools that makes bias tape or even
rotary cutters. I’m a simple gal. I prefer straws
and chopsticks for turning tubes, as the long
wire hook-at-the-end tool is just too flimsy
and can tear the end of the tube. I find a lot
of tools don’t perform as well as I would like.
How long can you spend browsing in a
patchwork store? This question makes no
sense. I’m pretty sure time stops the minute
I walk into this other dimension, because I
certainly have no sense of time passing. Now,
when I re-enter the world, I may find myself
well into the future, but IN the fabric store,
it’s another planet where the laws of Earth
physics simply don’t apply.
What products can’t you resist buying in
patchwork and haberdashery stores? Mainly
fabrics. But I am the most annoying buyer;
because I make such small items, I tend to buy
only quarter metres and sometimes less per
fabric. I’ll have a huge pile of fabric bolts and
leave with a small bag full of strips of fabrics.
I feel sorry for the cutters.Gett ing to know ...
matching thread to ladder stitch the
two edges together, starting near one
of the side pins. Stop before you get
to the pin on the opposite side.21
Cut two 30cm (12in) lengths of
cord or yarn. Fold each length in
half and knot the ends together to make
two loops. Insert the folded end of each
loop between the two disks at the side
edges exactly opposite each other and
halfway between the top and bottom
edges. Sew both cords in place very
securely as you continue to ladder stitch
the rest of the way around the edges.22
When the stitching is
complete, it’s ready for themagic to happen! Put a fi nger or
thumb through each loop and swing
the disk around numerous times to
twist the cord. Then pull your hands
apart gently to see the disk spin and
the two images appear to amazingly
combine into one. By moving your
hands apart rhythmically with less
and more tension, you will be able to
maintain the spinning action for a
while before needing to twist the
cords again.01
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