Yay and Boo

There I was minding my own business yesterday, cutting out dozens of tunics to sew for Treefest. I was on a self-enforced ban from the computer so I could get as much as possible done before the kids were back. On the way to get another coffee I thought, 'I'll just have a little look...' And I saw that my views on Etsy had jumped up by hundreds. 'Front Page, Front Page!' I thought. But it was already gone....

There's my little Fushia and Lime Matryoshka top at the top left of this gorgeous Raspberry treasury by the very talented Jane from TheDoghouse! You can still check it out for the rest of the day to see her other gorgeous picks featuring McEtsy sellers (that's where she found me), Handmade4Hounds and Etsy for Animals.

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Winners a go-go

Sorry I'm a day late with announcing this, I've been very busy surfing the net and procrastinating preparing for Treefest. It was a bit tricky to count how many entries there were for each because of the people who tweeted but didn't return to say so (that means you, Nic and AmyLane!), but I have included your duplicate entry if I saw it...

So without further ado, the Puff sleeve smocky pattern is going to... Nickynackynoo!

And the reversible smocky top pattern is going to... Sarah!
Congratulations, and send me an email with your details if I don't get you first :)

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The Coolest Gene pool in the World *TM

I hope I'm not disqualified for putting my very own gene pool forward for this award, but beyond my own progeny there are some other very cool kids that share the Kitschy Coo genes (and in some cases 'The Bothering Gene'). You've seen my gorgeous niece Isla before, but here are my other brother's children making their modelling / blog debut:

Liam sporting his five year old birthday t-shirt

And Conor sporting his Third Birthday t-shirt

The only remaining little one in my family not to make his modelling debut yet is my tiny nephew Calvin, because I have been a horrible auntie and haven't sent him anything to wear yet. Hoping to rectify that soon!

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Going experimental. Or maybe just mental.

I've been playing around with my new pattern some more. As is always the way, I've gotten 'too close' to have perspective.

The fishbowl dress:


This is a lovely sky blue linen, with Alexander Henry fish fabric and deep blue silk shatung buttons.


I really went to town on this one! It's Kokka's Scandinavian Girls fabric in the middle...


With lots of green and white polkadot binding...


Around the armholes and neck, but also on either side of the central panel.


This was my first successful project with bias binding, so if nothing else I'm a better sewer than I was last time I tried!

So... experimental or just mental?

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Linen lovelies

I managed to track down some linen the other day for some more box pleat dresses. Man oh man, it's hard to find linen in nice bright colours... Anyone know of some online retailers?!


So technically this one isn't linen, it's cotton slub. I'd never even heard of that before, but it looks a lot like linen but with a slightly stiffer feel.


It's got a polkadot panel for the box pleat. I scaled down my pattern so this is the 18m/2T (rather than the 3T/4T that the other ones were) and it's a perfect fit. I feel so smug proud that I don't have to do a revision for once.


And this one is proper linen in a nice soft green. I do like the box pleat dresses, but I feel slightly aggrieved that you can't necessarily see the contrasting fabric unless she's running or doing the splits or something... So, I used the pattern as a block to make this one.


I loves it, there's no avoiding the contrasting panel and I can use a lot of my larger pieces of scrap fabrics for the inserts.


Now that I have a workable block I've got a couple more cut out that are completely different! I think this pattern is going to be fun to play around with... What do you think?

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They're not just a myth

I'm sure some of you didn't believe me when I regaled you with tales of The Coolest Family in the World* TM. But it's true, I have pictures to prove it. Not blurry, grainy pictures like those of other mythical creatures a la Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. These are proper, glorious, luscious-coloured photos of The Coolest Family in the World* TM in their natural habitat...





I might just add that he is playing rock air guitar in this picture. Can everyone join me in a round of applause for Helen's stellar photography (not to mention breeding) skillz?

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Giveaways a go-go

Both my square neck smocky tops made it through testing this weekend, an order has been put in at the printers and they'll shortly be in my Etsy shop. But first, giveaway time....

First, the puffed sleeved variety. To remind you what it looks like, here's my version. Don't worry, the tutorial doesn't tell you to sew your body fabric in upside-down. That's my own fail innovation.


And here's the top made by my tester, the lovely Louiz:


The second pattern giveaway is for the reversible sleeveless smocky top:


And the creation made by my tester, the talented Sew Scrumptious:


Ignore the triumphant Roger Federer in the background, because Andy Roddick should have won.


You should visit both their blogs (here and here) to read about their testing journeys. If nothing else, to confirm what I you have always suspected: I'm a genius. They both say so, and that makes it Fact.

Both tops are in sizes 18m/2T and 3T/4T. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment on which pattern you would like as your prize. You can comment more than once if you mention this giveaway on Twitter, your blog, as a link in your Facebook, or any other internet magic you can perform. I'll pick two winners on Friday!

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