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Hip? Young? Feisty? Yes? Then Young Lovers will be the perfect fit. Whether you're hanging out in Newtown or New York, you're sure to stand out from the crowd in one of these spunky screen printed tees. Pictured top left is "Pirate King" (AUD $59) with the "Young Lovers" signature print (AUD $59) right next door.

The Sydney label has recently released its highly anticipated third collection, titled "Midnight Twilight". The bold new prints "celebrate the madness of midnight love and all that surrounds it. It is for the sleepless ones who dare to not follow. It is the Young Lovers who will take over the city by night." A few neon colours should help out there - pictured above are "Guns&Arms" (left AUD $59) and "Murdermouse" (right, AUD $59).

I'm wondering which of these two tees is the scariest? The title of the daytime soap "Young & Restless" (left, AUD $59) or the razor sharp teeth of "Vampire Hounds" (right, AUD $59)? (I must admit now to having purchased the Young & Restless cookbook... and I was rather dissappointed to find that it lacked the drama of both the TV show and the t-shirt.)

This design has to be my favourite from the new range - a highly decorative traditional frame borders an image depicting a black cat eating licorice at midnight... (AUD $59) Below are "Lovers" (left, AUD $50) and "Dancing Shoes" (right, AUD $59). You'll be looking sharp in those!

Young Lovers tees are produced in strictly limited editions of 100. They are available in both guys & girls styles but you'd better be getting a move on as a couple of styles (not shown here) have already sold out. You can purchase tees directly from the Young Lovers web site at www.younglovers.com.au, or seek them out at the following stockists:

NSW: Beautiful on the Inside (Surry Hills), Roof on Fire (Paddington), Mint (Manly).
VIC: Kids in Berlin
QLD: Violent Green

I thought I'd continue the creative fabric theme with a feature on Duckcloth, a Melbourne-based online store full of fresh fabrics for print & pattern lovers! The cute name is from the Dutch "doek", (linen canvas) and refers to heavy cotton fabric. Duckcloth's founder, Lisa Edwards, offers cotton fabric by the metre in all sorts of gorgeous prints and patterns. These cottons are ideal for heaps of craft projects - whether you're making toys or table runners, cushions or clothing, bags or board shorts. I've chosen a selection of fabrics by Australian designers to feature here... all currently in stock at Duckcloth, of course!

The beautiful work of Melbourne designer Lara Cameron is pictured above with her limited edition "Gingko" prints in Olive Green (left) and Robins Egg (right) on natural linen. This is a medium weight fabric which is AUD $40/m from Duckcloth. I love the colours in both of these prints - though I'm not sure I could choose between them!

Kristen Doran is a Sydney-based textile designer whose gorgeous fabrics are hand printed right here in Sydney. Pictured above left is the limited edition "Mollybirds in Chocolate & Aqua on Stone". This is a light to midweight cotton fabric which sells for AUD $26/m. On the right is "Lily Pads in Red on White", another limited edition print, this time on a lightweight cotton for AUD $33/m from Duckcloth.

Another Kristen Doran design in stock at Duckcloth is "Owls" (above) which is available in two colourways - Chocolate on White or Red on White. Both are printed on lightweight cotton fabric and are AUD $33/m. Our curious readers will probably also want to check out Kristen's blog, Cheeky Beaks - "It's all about the craft and a tiny bit about life..."

These are friendly faces! Shannon Lamden's quirky designs are hand screen printed in Melbourne. "Cranes" (available in black or cherry red) is AUD $33/m and "Cookies" is AUD $38/m from Duckcloth.

I fell in love with Sprout Design after I received an orange giraffe card for my birthday & subsequently discovered their range of screen printed textiles! The label is a relatively new venture for Adelaide's One Small Room, a styling consultancy/retailer with a unique concept. The show room is in fact an installation where continually changing themes unfold for clients interested in 20th century style, retro groove & vintage flair. Sprout Design fabric is available off the roll in store, as well as in the form of soft furnishings - gorgeous bedlinen, cushions, lampshades and more.. The label brings together a collection of works by clever, creative women who design something a little different for the little (and not-so-little) people in your life. Their designs are hand screen printed onto 200gsm cotton fabric here in Australia.

The bright & bold animal prints pictured are "Caterpillars Grass Green" (above left, AUD $55/m), "Elephants Ink and Green" (above right, AUD $60/m), "Tortoises Red" (below left, AUD $55/m) and finally, "Hippos Ink and Light Blue" (below right, AUD $60) and are all available from www.duckcloth.com.au.

In a fun twist to this story, Sprout Design is currently working on a collaboration with a handful of Australian textile designers - including Lara Cameron whose work is pictured at the top of this post! The new fabrics are yet to be released, but Lara recently posted images of her design contributions on her blog, Kirin Notebook. The gorgeous print, "My Little World in Plum for Sproutdesign", is pictured below.

To keep up with the latest happenings at Duckcloth, you can sign up for the Duckcloth Newsletter, or check out the Duckcloth Blog at www.duckcloth.blogspot.com

Metremade - made purely for patterns. Graphic designers Liz & Tess, both from Melbourne, began the blog as an ongoing project to experiment with pattern design and regularly present new ideas without the restrictions of client briefs, deadlines & budgets.

As their ideas gathered momentum, the girls chose designs for the first range of Metremade yardages. The patterns are bold & contemporary and are printed onto white 100% cotton drill fabric. The two fabric designs on offer (pictured above and below) are Mr Mop and Take the Tube. The weight of the fabric is ideal for many uses - thick enough for homewares, quilts and handbags, but thin enough for a skirt or dress! The colours are great too - classic B&W and a lovely dark lime green.

Liz & Tess found the transition from paper & web-based projects to printing on fabric using a very hands-on technology a challenge, but one they are certainly enjoying. At the moment they're having fun exploring their new medium, and they would happily take custom orders or collaborate with people working in textiles or other mediums. They're also looking forward to future Metremade developments. As the business grows, they'd like to produce different multi-colour prints on a variety of fabrics for fashion & homewares. I'm looking forward to seeing what's next... In the meantime I may find some spare time to make a new Take the Tube tote in green.

You might also be surprised to find that the Metremade yardages are very reasonably priced. They are available for US $11 per half metre from www.metremade.etsy.com. (Fabric width is 65cm.) Not bad for small run original designs which have been professionally hand-screenprinted locally in Melbourne! Don't forget to check out the Metremade blog - full of colorful patterns including those scattered through this post.

Non-Fiction is hitting the road and travelling to Melbourne next week. We will be in town from Monday May 7 through to Thursday May 10. We're looking forward to meeting with retailers and showing off our t-shirts for Spring 2007 | Summer 2008 and our new range of gift cards, including the Green Grocer Cicada design pictured above. If you are interested in our product range, we'd love to meet you! Drop me a line at cp@non-fiction.com.au or call us on 02 9565 1997.

I discovered Studio Antic's unique range of hand screen printed greeting cards at Yoshi Jones in Newtown. The designs are gorgeous and the screen printing process has given them a wonderful tactile finish. Each card measures 120mm x 120mm and has been individually hand screen printed in Melbourne. The cards are created using 80% recycled, 320gsm card stock and the inks are all richly pigmented artists' inks. Pictured above are three designs from the "Black and White" range, the "Pheasant", "Magnolia" & "Swans", while below are "Mates", "Tweety Bird" & "Green Desert 1". They retail for AUD $5.50 and are also available from Pepe's Paperie in Bondi Junction. (For stockists in other states, contact Studio Antic.) Also available is a selection of acid-free notebooks with screen printed covers.

Sweet Papillon is Nicole Sharratt's Byron Bay boutique, from where she creates exquisite handmade jewellery pieces which she describes as "classic, detailed, timeless and very feminine". She began with market stalls in Sydney and now has stockists throughout Australia and internationally. I've pictured three pieces from her web site as I couldn't possibly choose just one favourite. Above are her Green Dragonfly Earrings with forest green diamontes (AUD $86). Pictured below is the gorgeous Bird Jewel Box (AUD $54) which I'm thinking would make a great gift for a friend I have in mind..., and the Oriental Charm Necklace (AUD $169.99) of which the reds are so sumptuous.