Our Patchy Dress Sold

Well, our patchy dress sold. I'm almost sad, but Lily just doesn't need clothing. If/when we get to the point that she doesn't have a whole closet full of things given to her, I will sew for her. In the meantime, I'm happy that it is going to a little girl who maybe doesn't have so many dresses! :) I sure did enjoy making it, and that is really what is important. Some days now I do get a tiny bit tired of sewing, but then I back off a bit and the enthusiasm comes back. Also a trip to the fabric store usually brings back the enthusiasm as I look at all the gorgeous fabrics, touch the textures and dream what I could make with this fabric or that one. A trip to the fabric store is like going to the spa for me usually, unless the kids are with me that is, in which case it is get in there and get out as fast a possible! LOL

WeeBeaks has been featured

We are thrilled to be featured today on the blog of Lola and Ruby

Many thanks to them for featuring our patchy dress, and please take a look at the rest of their blog too. They have an assortment of fine handmade and vintage goods featured throughout their blog.

The wonders of IKEA aka my storage solution

So honestly I am trying very hard to have less plastic in my environment, such as less plastic toy items for the kids, less plastic wrap, plastic bags, plastic baggies, plastic dishes, on and on. However, I have to admit that this new plastic gizmo from IKEA is PERFECT for my new set of 1000 plastic snaps. So there we go again with plastic, true, but I would rather have a plastic snap on a bib than velcro that sticks all over to everything. So I have here 1000 various color plastic snaps. And now I have the absolutely perfect size container to store said plastic snaps. Woot!

The pocket bib!

The pocket bib!, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

So I was poking around my recycled fabric bin today and cutting out jean squares for the quilt I'm working on when I pause to look at the pockets left over. They don't make good quilt squares, and I hate to throw them out, when I decided to try this. I trimmed out the pocket, left a little at the top, attached a ribbon and snaps and voila -- baby bib.

After posting a picture and asking some people what they thought, I have decided to offer it for sale in my Etsy shop, with a matching little size wipe/napkin to coordinate. It is the dinner to go pocket bib.

I have been feeling a little burned out lately, but this was fun to make and I have plenty more pockets should I want to make more!

Pirate skull and crossbones T-shirt

Pirate skull and crossbones T-shirt, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

This is Zach's new shirt I made for him. In light of my recent post on Etsy custom made, I decided to list a custom listing for this shirt, meaning that the buyer chooses the size and I make it custom for the child. That is a little bit harder for me as it disrupts my flow of work honestly, but we will see if that would be a hit. Kids are a lot easier to fit than adults, especially women, but certainly there are fitting challenges for children too so I'm offering custom work with photos of one already completed.

The fabric by the way is a reversible knit. The sleeves with the black and white print are the backside of the skull/crossbones. What a fun fabric to work with. I see Sewzanne has this fabric by the way if anyone is interested. I'll give her a plug as she has fantastic customer service: http://www.sewzannesfabrics.com/Sewzanne's Fabrics

A tardy "thank you" and show

Last month I entered a drawing on a blog for a gorgeous handmade purse as a prize from Armstrong Industries.



It arrived not only with the purse but filled with goodies! You see it below. I have received so many compliments since I started using this bag. Now, how can you too get one of these bags? Well, maybe not one identical, but she has some gorgeous things in her Etsy shop, so take a look:
Armstrong Industries

I can personally vouch for the fact that they are well made, and gorgeous! Happy shopping.

Lizard on my window

Lizard on my window, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

This weekend I was working in the and looked up to see this fellow on my window screen, the outside of the screen thank goodness. Rich and Zach ran to get the camera and go outside and have a look at him (or her I guess). They were able to get a good look at him and get this photograph. Very pretty huh?

No need to go to the zoo for homeschooling. There is enough right at your own window. haha.

Handmade? Why not go custom made?

I'm going to ruminate a bit about an interesting forum thread yesterday at Etsy. It was not unique as I have seen a couple other similar posts. The originator of the post was a plus sized lady who was lamenting that more shops don't offer plus sizing in their clothing. While that is a very valid concern, it is my strong belief that she should order custom, and in fact we all should! Buying handmade is fantastic in the general sense, but you are not really utilizing that to its fullest potential if you are buying standard sized clothing from a seamstress on Etsy. You have at your fingertips talented clothing designers and seamstresses that can customize the fit to your unique body! That is the real value of handmade clothing, and I don't see it proclaimed to the world when it should be. Yes, you can get regular standard sizing clothing on Etsy too, and it certainly has its place if you need it immediately obviously. But, aside from the handmade aspect (true, a big plus), you are getting the shape and size you can get in the mall anyway, which for most of us has it's problems. Consider it. You can get something sized to your measurements, guaranteed to fit pretty much. Next time you are buying clothing on Etsy, try out public alchemy, private alchemy from a seller whose clothing you admire or convo a few people and ask if they would do a custom listing and see what a wonderful fit you really can get with something sewn just for you.

Patchy fabric reversible baby dress

Patchy fabric reversible baby dress, originally uploaded by WeeBeaks.

Okay, so this is the new item in my shop and probably will become part of Lily's wardrobe in some form or another. I did some deconstructing and altering to create this pattern, and this dress is the first one. It is a completely reversible little dress and can be worn alone in the summer and with a turtleneck and leggings in the winter. As I look at Lily's closet and see things that don't match, etc., etc., the more reversible and versatile garments appeal to me. This particular one is in size 9-12 months and is up for grabs in my Etsy shop, with more sizes and colors to choose from in the months ahead, and also some other new stuff still in my head. :)