Hello! Have been rather absent lately, apologies to those waiting for emails or parcels, it's been rather a week of unexpected personal things that I'll talk about soon.
I did want to share a little peek at some new fabrics - I'll be listing a few for sale by the end of the week I hope (including the owls on blue polka dots in the first photo), and you can also see a few new designs for sale on Spoonflower.
I started working on a new clutch design a few days ago. I've been thinking about it for awhile, I liked the shape of my old clutches but I kept getting feedback from customers that they wanted a zip & a pocket. (Yes that is out-of-print Lara Cameron fabric, thanks Lara!)
This new design has both zip & pocket, but it's still small & slim. Perfect! The flap on the front is a secret pocket for cards (or business cards). Excellent for a night on the town!
And the birds in blue fabric is new - this is a peek at my latest delivery of lovely fabric, which just arrived a couple of days ago!
When I started designing fabric to sell, I thought maybe some people would buy it, but I hadn't really got as far as thinking of what they'd make with it.How did you start making children's clothes & sewing?
As a small child I use to sew with my Grandmother. We use to sew tiny scraps of fabric together and I would make "incy" clothes for all my little dolls. I was not very good at sewing, but loved every aspect of it, especially getting to play with Grandma's button jars!
It wasn't until years later that I revisited sewing again, in high school. It was unfortunate that I had the worst possible textiles teacher, who put me right off sewing for many, many years (envisage a teacher known to throw hammers across the room at students in fits of rage; dirty, dirty fingernails in home economics, touching the food you are about to eat; and smelly breath, breathing on you, while having your bust measured. Gives me shivers just thinking of her! Do you get the picture?).
At the age of 25, I became a Mum to little Zac. During my pregnancy I had been experimenting with different forms of art, when the idea of sewing came to mind. I didn't own a sewing machine, however, I thought to myself that if my next child was a girl, I would love to learn to sew pretty clothes for her to wear. My next child, born two years later, was another boy, Tom! After a few months of realising that I would not be sewing for a daughter, I lashed out and bought a new sewing machine. My first projects were children's skirts, that I gifted.
A few months later, one of my best friends Jules, of Julieanne Perara Photography fame, had started a small business called Ashton & Ivy, selling gorgeous children's clothing, and was invited at the last minute to be a stall holder at a local market, which was to be held in two days time. Jules asked me if I would be interested in selling with her, along with another friend Jade (mamamadethat). We all quickly got sewing, and made enough stock to fill one stall. The market night was a success!
Since then I have branched out on my own, had my little labels and swing tags made up, become a registered business, sold at many markets, opened my madeit store ( madeit.com.au/madstitches ) and have had so much fun ! I love it all, apart from the fact that our dining room table is now the "sewing table". Ask Zac!
Another of Jessi's gorgeous creations!What's the best part about running your business?
As a primary school teacher, on family leave, I missed the interaction with different children. Selling my wares at markets gives me so much pleasure as I see children's faces light up when my items are purchased for them. I love making children smile. I particularly feel chuffed when I see gorgeous little girls prancing around in my headbands. They look so beautiful. I may not have my own daughter to dress, but I can now dress the little girls of Melbourne... if they allow me to?
Oh ...and ...I should add that making money from a hobby is so very special. Every time someone thinks that my items are worthy of their money, it makes me want to do a little happy dance!
This beautiful red onesie is available on Madeit!What's the last thing you made yourself?
The last thing that I made for myself was one of my favorite skirts. It is a holly hobby printed skirt, made from vintage fabric, bought off etsy. I finished it off with vintage white lace trim. I have had so many compliments. It is such a simple skirt, but so very sweet and feminine too! To tell the truth, I think that it is the only thing that I have made for myself! 2010, is the year of "Me", so I have many projects listed for myself, all from the meetmeatmikes book. I will keep you posted!
Detail on the dress - I love the pocket!
Hooray! Some will be for sale, some made into purses.
I'm very excited, my latest delivery of fabric has finally arrived, and in amongst the fabric for pencilcases & coinpurses is something that might be of special interest to you: super new Pocket Carnival fabric!
I'm so happy to finally be able to show you my new little line of love-inspired products! I've been sitting (not literally) on these for awhile, but as it's now 1 month until Valentine's Day, it's high time I released them to the world.
You can give them to your love, as well as your best friend, your mum, your darling little child, or anyone else you may love.
I've finished making the first batch of Beetle Friends purses, I am so happy with this fabric! I was inspired by the gorgeous striped book cover in this photo on decor8, and wanted to design something bright, colourful & happy.
I originally had in mind a simple floral design to go between the stripes, but I couldn't get the little beetles, which I had originally drawn in my sketchbook about a year ago, out of my head. So, Beetle Friends came to life!!!
You can purchase Beetle Life coinpurses & pencilcases:
The pencilcases are a great idea for a back-to-school or starting-school gift for any little people (or big people!) They're great for makeup or sunglasses too!
A little parcel of goodness arrived this morning (thanks lovely postman) - new fabric! Three new designs, and they all worked perfectly.
All work & no play makes this blog a tad devoid of new posts - sorry! I've been sewing and tag-punching and card-folding as fast as my little fingers can go, and thank you all so so much for buying my things and reading my blog and saying hello at markets and generally making this holiday season very happy & exciting (and a little mad).
Thread Den market yesterday was a lot of fun, it was very busy and I met lots of lovely people including Cloud, all the way from Brisbane! I got to hang out with my lovely crafty bloggy buddies Shannon, Susan and Sandra, and of course I sold lots of goodies, and launched some new little items. (I forgot to use my camera, so no pics. Oops.)
Today I received in the mail my much anticipated Spoonflower delivery, hooray! I was super happy with the two fabrics above - my little forest animals in orange & blue, and blue & green.
The bad
What the?
Today was a good fabric buying day! These are from Patchwork on Central Park... I never leave there empty handed. Today was no exception, little snippets of polka dots and strawberries were purchased. Pretty!
I also had a good op shopping day. Obviously some lovely person had donated a bunch of fabric since I was there last, I found this gorgeous brushed cotton with a vibrant floral pattern, sweet leafy blue cotton, and how pretty is that doily? Answer: very.
I also got these two super cute polka dot plates... I've been coveting Susan from SpinSpin's red polka dot market plate for awhile, and I know these green ones will work just as well at my stall! And how can you go wrong at 99c each! Underneath is a little preview of the fabric I was designing yesterday. (It's not going to be for sale though, sorry!)
