Tree Fall

New Clothes..

Have you seen Boot's new children's clothing line, Molly and Jack?
I popped in the other day in the hopes of buying a few basics for both the girls and left 20 minutes later with a hefty sized bag and an even heftier bill.
The new clothes are all based on vintage designs, using vintage inspired prints and colourways and are absolutely gorgeous.
Lily has lived in this cardigan since the day I bought it. It goes with everything and is the perfect summer weight.  And it's so nice to be able to buy something for a baby that is practical and stylish, without making her look like a dress up doll or a mini me.

The range isn't as cheap as their other clothes, but I really think it's worth it to be able to dress both Bella and Lily in something other than clothes from Next or Mothercare. And I just love the fact that they don't look straight off the peg , but handmade.

I got this cream top for Bella and am just waiting for the best, chocolate, icecream, spaghetti free moment for her to wear it!
And she's just waiting for it to grow by 6 inches and become a dress, before she'll wear it!

The only problem with this collection is that it isn't handmade and these days I'm feeling the pressure to at least try and make as many of the girls clothes as possible. I'm not succeeding, but I'm at least feeling the pressure.

Remember me?

I've been promising these for a while now, but I kept holding off in the hopes of finishing a few more before putting them in the shop. Actually I did finish a few more, but they've been shipped off on their own little adventure, not to be seen again for a good few months. But I'll tell you more about that nearer the time.

I'm finding it a little harder than normal to blog at the moment. It's not so much that I'm not getting any work done, because I pretty much am. It's obviously not as much as I usually manage, but I'm certainly happy enough to spend a good few hours working when ever I can. And I've certainly been stocking up on fabric! But things don't really feel consistent enough to be blogging on a daily basis.

Which I think is a shame because I'm missing it and I'm missing hearing from everyone. So I'm going to try and make more of an effort to blog again. And I have a feeling that that in turn may also get me to focus more on work. Which is always a good thing.

But all of that aside, we're doing well. Lily is a source of true pleasure every day. She's got just about the biggest smile ever and uses it constantly. I remember that I always said that Bella would always rather smile than cry when she was a baby and I worried what I would do if I had a crier this time around. But there's no worries about that here. If it's possible, she smiles more than Bella did. She's also just started chatting and her sweet, sweet voice is enough to break your heart. I'm telling you, she's an absolute star and we all adore having her here. And Bella of course is loving being an older sister and is wonderful with her.

And on a completely different note, my driving lessons are going swimmingly and I'm absolutely loving it. Oh and I passed my theory test the other week, so I'm well on my way.
And Bella's ballet lessons are going really well and she's just about to start Tap too!
So we're all busy and happy and taking it all in our stride. 

Of course, some of us are also 3. But only for another 9 months. Right?

Marie Claire Idees

The very kind Valerie  heard my pitiful cries regarding the new Marie Claire Idees baby issue and popped one in the post to me.

And yes, of course it's everything that I thought it would be. Boy do these people know how to put together a magazine.

First though, I have to make a confession about this photo. I absolutely love the colour of the crib. Even though it's purple/lilac/plummy.   Which is a little strange, because I hate purple. Really hate it. Not like I hated orange or yellow (neither of which I hate now of course) but so much more.
Of course I heard the warning bell when I saw this post . I tried to deny it though. I mean just because Hillary liked it suddenly, it didn't mean that my opinion was going to change. After all, I'm a strong person with my own views, aren't I?
No, apparently not. Apparently I'm just about to cave when it comes to my purple hatred. Apparently all these years of knowing that purple is the suckiest of colours is about to be washed down the drain. And even worse than that, it' s not just restricted to cribs, because today I admired a plum coloured jacket for Lily. For the love of Pete, what the hell is going on?
Frankly I blame Hillary .

I still love the crib though. So much so that I'm thinking that Bella's bed would look very nice painted that colour.

Amy's been working on a baby kimono pattern that I'm waiting for her to post (no pressure or anything), but in the mean time, I'm thinking that I might make one of these. Maybe even in the same (purple!) Liberty print.

I love all the florals and the Liberty prints.

But this is my favourite photo. It would be wonderful to be able to do the girls room like this. But unfortunately I have a three year old that would be a hell of a lot more interested in a Disney Princess room (never gonna happen)  than something cool like this. Bahh, kids!

And this is just gorgeous. I'm definitely making this outfit for Lily. Definitely. And not in purple. Because purple sucks. Ok?

And since we're on the subject of babies. Here's mine...

 

Tag a Onesie

Lily has already outgrown my favorites of her onesies, which I find both sad and a little shocking. Time is going so fast these days. It's almost impossible to believe that the little gnome is 3 months old next week. How did that happen?
So any way, I wanted to find a way of keeping the onesies for posterity, without just stuffing them out of the way in an old box. And since I also didn't want to frame them, I decided to design something completely different.
Which is where the 'Tag A Onesie Pillow' comes in.

The good thing about using new born clothes is that they get worn for such a short length of time that they're still in really good condition. So the three jersey onesies that I wanted to use were still good and bright and not  too stretched out of shape.

Because these are Lily's clothes I didn't want to make something that was purely decorative , that she couldn't use or enjoy. I wanted to design something that she could get some pleasure out of as she continues to grow.
So instead of using a basic pillow design, I decided to incorporate different textures as well as numbers, letters and of course tags.

I started by cutting the clothes up in to strips (it's only the first cut that hurts) and then, using the correct foot and stitch for stretch fabric, I sewed them together, along with some bright red chenille.
I already had the linen tape with numbers on it, but didn't have any with the alphabet.

So I cut a couple of strips of natural linen and using a decorative stitch, created a border. I then hand embroidered the alphabet in thick red thread.
For the tags I used some more of the numbered tape as well as some gingham ribbon and some polka dot ribbon.
Once it was all pieced, I made a mini quilt sandwich with some wool batting and muslin, so that it wouldn't stretch further out of shape through use.

I used a bleached linen for the simple envelope back. But because I didn't want it to be dull, I used the same decorative stitch as on the front. I then cut closely to the stitch, to create a scalloped edge (this is going to be appearing all over my work from now on).

To finish the pillow off, I used my favourite ever Liberty print to bind it. I will never tire of finishing the pillows this way. It just gives them such a nice, crisp edge.

The great thing about this pillow is that Lily can use it for years to come, instead of her onesies just being put away out of sight. And every time I see it it will remind me of just how tiny she was and how gorgeous she looked in the onesies.
I will of course be making a quilt out of some of Lily's other baby clothes. But with onesies you're limited by the small amount of fabric and the fact that it's stretchy and not necessarily hard wearing. So I think this is the perfect answer.

From this....

To this....

I think I'm going to offer to make some custom made Tag a Onesie pillows through the Shop. So if you're interested in me doing this for you, keep your eyes open for the listing or just email me directly.

Have puppies, will travel.

Meet  the four pups, Louie, Maggie, Milton and Ned.
These poor guys have been sitting around for ages now, just waiting for a couple of finishing touches and for me to try and pull together some other stuffies etc for the shop. But I had to give in this morning and just accept that these pups will probably be old and grey before I manage to get anything else in the shop.
Anyway, I think they're sweet enough to carry the show all by themselves (at least for a day or two).

I'd forgotten how much I enjoy making the puppies. They're the only thing I sew entirely by hand and so they allow me to work a little slower. And of course they're great for making whilst sitting in front of the tv.

And they're perfect for carrying around with you, for those times when you're suddenly stuck in a children's soft play center (happens to me a lot) and you need to do something to try and block out the sound of one hundred children running around screaming having fun. Or for those moments when you suddenly find yourself being admitted in to hospital in suspected early labour and the woman in the bed next to you keeps you up all night with her snoring (happened to me a lot).

The only problem with them though, is that they're seasonal. It's pretty hard to come by mohair socks in summertime.
There's still a few pairs in the stock stash though. But only a few.

They're  here by the way.