About Liv and Jan

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We are Liv and Jan from Brisbane and Byron Bay, Australia. Our specialty is making functional art - art you can use. Many of our products are made using recycled or vintage materials, and all are handmade. Items are available at our Etsy site www.etsy.com/shop/janessundaybest (secure payments using Paypal). If you’d like a special one-off item made please contact us at janessundaybest@gmail.com and we’ll be happy to create something special just for you. Please leave us a comment – we love to hear from you!”

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The Jane's Sunday Best Story

As I sit on yet another plane, knitting my way to Townsville this time, I’m watching an in-flight show about family histories which prompted me to write a little note about how Jane’s Sunday Best came to be.
For me, creativity has always been linked with family (except of course when I was a teenager because then everything was about how to avoid family...). My grandmother taught me to knit and crochet, and was almost never seen without some sort of yarn in her hands. She would wear the most gorgeous 50s aprons (really - she had been wearing them since the 50s) and we used to sit for hours making knitted squares for blankets – which is coincidentally what I’ve been knitting today.
My mother (Jan, co-owner of Jane’s Sunday Best) taught me how to hand sew – although I fully admit that my skills were never even close to her standards, perhaps due to my lack of patience. My brother and I took art classes together for years learning classical drawing and oil painting – Jan joined us and discovered an incredible talent for portraiture and detailed painting.
As a teenager and young adult I put away much of my creativity as i spent most of my energy (socialising) studying and working (but really socialising). It wasn’t until my mid twenties that I rediscovered my love of handiwork. A friend and I packed up our car and took off around Australia and on our long drives we would knit and crochet presents for the people we stayed with – rugs and other treats. I started making eccentric beanies which I sold at winter festivals from the boot of my car.
Unfortunately, in time there were more and more beanies available in stores at prices that didn’t even cover the cost of materials (which I had to buy at retail prices) so I needed another project. Another friend bought me a book about tea cosies for a birthday present which started an obsession that has formed the basis for my half of JSB.
 
I find knitting and crochet very meditative and feel so much healthier and happier when I knit regularly. The process of design is also incredibly fulfilling – creating new and interesting tea cosies that are one-of-a-kind.
One Christmas Jan was wandering around a craft store and found some fabric with pictures of women with red curly hair (like mine). She decided to use it to make a bag for me as a present – however when she got it home Dad asked her why she had bought material that was covered in skulls. Turns out Jan hadn’t looked very closely at the fabric and didn’t want to give me a bag of skulls (not that I would have minded) so she cut out the pictures of women and attached them to some beautiful upholstery fabric to create her very first bag. The finished piece created so much attention she started making more and more – then branched out into making 50s style aprons just like Grandma used to wear.
 
As word started to get out amongst friends and family we realised our products were selling as fast as we could make them and decided to set up a business. The name Jane’s Sunday Best was suggested by a friend – we wanted something that indicated the beauty of rituals – the ritual of tea, the ritual of cooking, the rituals of cleaning (while looking gorgeous), the little rituals that make up life. We believe that family matters. We believe in the importance of community. We believe that tea and cooking bring people together. We believe in using age-old techniques to make modern designs. We believe that using our hands and minds to create beautiful products keeps us happy, healthy and connected.
 Jane is part of both our names and is one of those words that keeps coming up in our lives so we felt that it fit well. We love our business and we love having such a positive way to use our creative energies. We use vintage or reclaimed materials (like old, clean jumpers) wherever we can, and everything we make is one of a kind – although we do use the same patterns more than once. Each of our patterns is our own design and we are always open to new ideas and suggestions. We talk every week about our creative ideas and we are proud to have our work available at Handmade High Street in Annerley. This is still the beginning of our story.
Liv
 

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Peppermint is one of our favourite magazines.

Stylishly sustainable with a penchant for "slow fashion" Peppermint Magazine ticks all the boxes for us. Whilst its high-end inspirational reporting of cutting edge design is awesome, Pepperment manages to retain handcrafted old-fashioned appeal. Another thing we particularly love is that Peppermint's Sewing School has simple, stylish and vintage covered. This wonderful magazine has also introduced us to Veg Mates where we can swap and share, recycle and learn. Got to be happy with that.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

I made this fabulous bag and shawl for my friend's 60th birthday.

My best friend loves red and black. When I found this beautiful soft woolen fabric I knew it would be perfect for her. Using new and recycled materials I combined elements of various textures, shapes and materials to produce this functional day or night set.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Easy Circle Scarf Pattern


Today's free pattern is a very easy circular scarf - it's knitted using a "double knitting" technique which simply means you use two strands of  yarn at one. You can either buy two balls of the same (or different yarns, that can create a very interesting effect) or you can buy a ball of yarn like the Carnival brand acrylic yarns where you can knit from both ends of the ball at the same time.



You will need:
  1. 7mm knitting needles
  2. Yarn needle
  3. One 100g ball 8 ply yarn, double knitting style (knitting with both ends of the same ball of yarn)– or two 50g balls 8 ply yarn
Using 7mm needles and two strands of yarn cast on 12 stitches

Row 1 – knit 4, purl 4, knit 4
Row 2 – purl 4, knit 4, purl 4
Row 3 – knit 4, purl 4, knit 4
Row 4 – purl 4, knit 4, purl 4
Row 5 – purl 4, knit 4, purl 4
Row 6 – knit 4, purl 4, knit 4
Row 7 – purl 4, knit 4, purl 4
Row 8 – knit 4, purl 4, knit 4

Repeat these 8 rows until work measures 140cm
Cast off in pattern leaving a long tail which you can use to sew the ends together with the yarn needle.

Here's a close up view of the pattern

Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Free Easter Knitting Pattern!

We always like to give out free, easy patterns for special occasions, so here's a cute knitted egg cosy pattern to brighten up breakfast this Easter.

You will need:


• Scraps of 8 ply yarn in colour 1 (main colour) and colour 2
• 1 set 4mm knitting needles
• Yarn needle
• Crochet hook for tidying (optional)


Instructions:

Cast on 30 stitches in colour 2
Knit 4 rows
Row 5 - knit
Row 6 and each alternate row - purl
Row7 – knit
Row 9 – (knit 4, knit 2 together) – repeat to end
Row 11 – (knit 3, knit 2 together) – repeat to end
Row 13 – (knit 2, knit 2 together) – repeat to end
Row 15 – (knit 1, knit 2 together) – repeat to end
Row 17 – (knit 2 together) – repeat to end
Row 18 – purl


Finishing:

• Cut yarn, leaving a length of at least 30 cm for sewing. Thread this yarn through remaining 5 stitches, pull tight and secure firmly.
• Neaten loose ends – I like to use a crochet hook to thread loose ends back through the knitting so they’re hidden.
• Sew seam on wrong side
• Add tassels, pom poms, bows or buttons as decorations if you like.

If you use this free pattern we’d love you to send us a pic of your creations – email us at janessundaybest@gmail.com


Happy knitting!

Liv and Jan

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Having fun recycling and using offcuts.

I was looking at my vintage button collection and decided to do some experimenting. I thought these brooches might be a perfect catch for a scarf or belt.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Not raindrops on roses but dinosaurs on cosies. These are Ry of Handmade High Street's favourite things right now.

I was so excited when Liv rang to tell me she'd just discovered her Dinosaur Tea Cosies are featured on Handmade High Street's blog. Benjamin, Kath and Ry decided to do occasional posts of their own personal favourite things in their store. It seems Ry's nephew's obsession with dinsaurs has helped rekindle his love of prehistoric monsters. I think Liv's dinosaurs are pretty awsome too.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Donated this cute bag to Bollyfunk Dance Event to raise funds for Oxfam.



I had so much fun making this bag totally out of recycled materials (except the little clip for your keys). The flowers with vintage button centers were made out of the same material as the lining using an origami fold.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Check us out at Handmade High Street.

We're so excited to have scored a space at Annerley's coolest new store Handmade High Street. It's a special display marketplace for hand made artisans. I saw today on their Handmade High Street Blog that there's a Style Evening Thurs 23rd Feb at 6pm. With bubbly, nibbles and styling tips on offer I'm very tempted to zip up to Brisbane and make a night of it with Liv.
Liv made the rustic Roses Tea Cosy specially for our display.



Monday, August 8, 2011

We baked cup cakes for afternoon tea and lit the fire.  Really we were spoilt for choice of places to work.

Old St John's Church, Beechmont proved the perfect choice for a planning retreat.

In its renovation of Old Saint John's Church owners Wilson and Christine have made use of recycled materials even "re-incarnating" old pews as kitchen cupboard doors. We've decided that this eco friendly approach is right for our business also. 

Friday, August 5, 2011

Our planning retreat so far.

Our planning retreat's going well. We've created a wordle.