collaboration

My obsession with applique on children's tops (ie. fast easy projects) continues. But now, I have a very special helper. Two-and-a-half year old Olive has progressed from random scribbles to drawing things. In order to preserve (and show off!) her best efforts I have been tracing then reproducing the drawings as applique. I give you ...

whale

person (with eyes and legs)


Baby Bear - He's sad. Who has broken my chair?

Goldilocks "asleeping in the bed". I'm not sure why she has pink hair, but the designer insisted.

We are so proud :)

apron dress tutorial

How to make a cute dress for a toddler in less than an hour.
Step 1: Purchase a half apron from your local op shop.
Step 2: Remove the ties from the sides.
Step 3: Re-sew the ties on as shoulder straps, removing any excess.
Step 4: Add a button and button hole at the back.

I even managed to do this while my toddler was awake. Amazing!

I'm sure there's a child somewhere under all that hair ...

new softies and dresses for sale

At long last, it is time for an obligatory shop update announcement.

I have re-stocked my etsy store with new corduroy baby dresses and softie rattle friends. Won't you please take a look?

sewing up a storm

I'm in the midst of a crafting overload at the moment. Perhaps the nesting instinct has hit me?

I've also been trying to improve on Christmas, when only about half the gifts I gave were handmade. Birthdays will be better!

So here are the latest toddler gifts I have made.

Pencil rolls.


Why do I have the urge to put names on everything I make? Is it the wanna-be librarian in me, putting labels on everyone?

Appliqued t-shirts.




And a matching hair clip.

Happy birthday, kids.

applique attack

How to revitalise hand-me-downs?

APPLIQUE!!

Bye bye butterflies!

Later, love hearts.







I went a little crazy with this idea (I have only shown a few of those completed) but how could I resist such a quick-fix sewing project?

flying turtles

I spent a couple of evenings this week preparing a custom order for a new baby living in Hong Kong. The specs were for a dress that was fairly plain on the outside but with an animal theme.

Voila! Green cotton dress with turtle lining, trim and buttons.

[Yes! I do custom orders! If you like my style but don't see anything suiting your needs on etsy, please contact me! :-) ]

mini model

My sister is studying digital photography at TAFE and was asked to complete a "model shoot". Forgetting the (very wise) advice to avoid working with animals and children, she decided to photograph some of the dresses that I am selling in my etsy store, using Olive as the model.

After two separate sessions with lots of bribery and chasing, these are some of the cutest photos.



These first two photos were rejected on the basis that the background is too distracting. I guess it's true - when I look at them I see the vintage lino in Olive's room and the old Snow White book she's reading.







See my etsy store for pictures that actually showcase the dresses!

return

Forgive me, reader, for I have sinned. It has been two months since my last post.

The good news is that I am back from my holiday with lots to catch up on. And to start things off, I have just restocked my etsy store with some brand new softies.


More items coming soon.

little lost land

I have been very busy! As a result, I am happy to be able to report that some of my wares are now available in a real live shop. Little Lost Land is a new store selling a mix of vintage, imported and handmade clothes and accessories, including loniemay dresses, bibs and onesies. Find Little Lost Land at 300 Carlisle street, Balaclava, here in Melbourne.

One of the appliqued onesies.

A selection of bibs. All are made with plastic coated fabric that I bought whilst in Japan and are great for starting solids because they wipe clean.


All of the dresses are made from corduroy with cotton lining. They feature coordinating buttons, applique or sashes.

This blue dress is lined with the same floral fabric that is featured on the front. It was originally a vintage pillowcase and is deliciously soft.

And in a lovely coincidence, a friend from high school is selling her baby blankets there too. They're handmade from gorgeous soft Japanese fabrics and can also be found online at her FunkyGrammy store.

Update: Little Lost Land is establishing itself well with lots of lovely clothing and accessories for adults but babywear is not its niche, so you will no longer find my wares there. Ah well, you will have to await news of my next outlet!

apron's away

As promised, here is the sassy apron that I made and have sent off (Only one day late. That's not bad, is it?)

Even though I left the construction to the last minute and I have never made an apron before, I decided to make do without a pattern. I also wanted to use this project to push myself to mix fabrics and add more embellishments than I normally would. And just to complicate things further, I thought that a double sided apron would be a good idea so that I could double my chances that my swap partner would like it.

Funnily enough, none of these factors were as troubling to me as the theme. With 4 degree mornings and days of endless fog, I had real difficulty making anything fit for summer. Ah well, while I'm not entirely happy with the end result I do think that it turned out better than it might have! I was also amused that while I was busy sewing the apron, my partner was watching The Stepford Wives.

This was my first swap and will probably be my only swap for a little while, but only because the end of semester is looming and assignments are due. After that, watch out! You may just be partnered with me...

Oh. And while I'm on the topic, I thought I may as well show you some of my favourite aprons. The orange one is thrifted but the other two are hand-me-downs from great aunties. They make me happy :)

this is ...my way of recycling

Finally, a nice easy "this is" whose answer immediately sprang to mind.
I have a bit of a thing for old bedding. I am currently lining some little girls' dresses with vintage sheets and pillow cases. They are so pretty and soft.
But what really makes me excited is a good bedspread, which becomes a skirt once I get my hands on it.

pint-sized parties

After a very shaky beginning last weekend when I came down with gastro on Olive's first birthday and had to postpone her party (I didn't even remember to sing her happy birthday, poor poppet), we finally got our act together this weekend. So on Saturday we went to our nephew's third birthday party in a play centre - very noisy but fun. I gave him a pencil roll, which I really enjoyed making. Maybe because of the anal-retentive suggestion that you always have to line your pencils up according to the colour wheel.



And today was the grand event, an afternoon tea party for Olive in our back yard. She has no idea that the fuss was all for her but did enjoy having so many people and so much food around. Now, where to store all of her new toys?

I heart ... elephants

I didn't even realise that I had a thing for elephants until recently, when I started to notice that I seemed to be collecting them. Like these:

From the very sweet Sometimes by Emma Dodd.


Fabric bought at Patchwork on Central Park. It was my first visit and I was very restrained, only buying two pieces of fabric. There were many, many more that I loved but my fabric stash seems to be growing much faster than I can sew with it at the moment.

Then my sister mentioned that she wanted to make an elephant softie and I was like a woman possessed. I suddenly became obsessed with making elephant softies, even though I had no real need for them.

Attempt number one has a good trunk for hanging onto but does not have much character.


Attempt number two. His name is Albertus and he is curently residing in my shop.


This is attempt number four, already on his way to a new home in Norway.

And there are others. Soon we will be a house overun by marauding elephants ...

first softies

While I am still working on my UFOs, I couldn't resist the urge to try something new. So here they are, my first attempts at designing my own sewn softies. Each contains a vitamin bottle with grains to double up as a rattle.

Lion. It is a worry that I had so little trouble finding a ready-made "jungle" in the back yard.

Sad little bunny.

Pear. Actually, he's the second attempt - the first was a dud whose face is not fit to be seen.

I'm itching to make more!

finished objects 3 & 4

It's TAFE holidays and I'm catching up, both with blogging and with crafting. So I am very pleased to be able to show you the next installment in the mission to rid myself of UFOs.


This is a pencil case that I put aside about six weeks ago when I realised that hand sewing was required. How slack!


Now it is finished and I am using it to carry around some little bits of embroidery that I'm working on.


This is a hat that I knitted before Olive was born. That was over eleven months ago! I had originally planned on making it look like a baby chicken, to be worn at Easter time. But I couldn't figure out a way of making the features that I thought wouild look alright.


So now it is an egg hat instead!
I have to admit that this wasn't the best photo of the hat that I took today, but it was the cutest picture of Olive. And I'd much rather show her off than my knitting ;)