Wild Little Things

Stephanie is my husband's ex-boss, but she feels more like a family friend. When she asked for a pair of shoes she described herself as plain. Of all the adjectives there are in the world, that's the last one I would pick to describe her. She asked for black or gray, with a lime green accent, but other than that gave me free reign.

Plain Janes?

I think not.

These shoes have a bold and assertive personality, with a sweet and friendly little bow. Very Steph, and anything but plain.

For My Girl

I have been running full speed and then some at my budding business. Very late nights and a little bit of stress left me prey to something that knocked me off my feet Friday. For that reason I determined it would be a good idea to take the weekend off of work. To give myself a break of sorts.

I say of sorts, because I still ended up sewing nearly all weekend. But, since it was fun sewing, sewing without a deadline or someone other than myself to please, it was still a break. There were so many things I've been wanting to make for Em it was nice to take the weekend to get to some of them without trying to squeeze them in between other projects.

Kelly from Sewing In No Man's Land makes so many adorable things for her 18 month old, that my list of to make items grows just because of her. This week she was on one of my other favorite blogs sharing a free pattern. Kelly makes all of her patterns available for free. This one was too adorable. I just couldn't put it off. See her versions, find the pattern and her tutorial here. I didn't attempt to make the top yet. I just had to make her some pants though.

I love her in white.

But, then I love her in any color...

'cause I just plain love her.

I had to do some futzing around with the pattern and I felt they needed some added trim. But, I love the finished product. And she has plenty of room to move and room to grow. She wore them Sunday and got compliments, so I call it a success.

I also have been wanting to make Kelly's Button Up Bloomers. I have this beautiful cotton print I have been dying to do something with, so the two came together this weekend. (Please do not look too closely at my buttons. It's been something like a decade since I have been called upon to make one. Thank you.)

Look at those tiny legs!

And other than the shirt turned skirt that I showed you on Friday, there was only one other project. Betcha can't guess what. Shoes? Of course!

Sweet peeps

I ventured into making her a pair of peep toes. They are more labor intensive with the soling material, but the outcome's worth it I think. Here's the thing though. I need your help deciding how to embellish them. I know I want to use my fat black and white striped ribbon from McMaster and Storm, but how to best utilize it? I have some options:

Pretty little bow?

Or sweet side flower?

The side by side.

Help me please. I can't make up my mind, but she really needs these to round out her shoe wardrobe, don't you think?

So to recap, over my weekend "off" I made my daughter a skirt, pants, shorts and a pair of shoes. Do I know how to relax or what?

Something New from Something Old

Yesterday, we went from this:

To this:

I am taking this weekend off of "work" to do some sewing for my girl and maybe for myself. It's important for my sanity and my health. Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day weekend.

What a Week

Man, I did nothing halfway this week. There were some major highs, and some major lows. Let's start with the lows shall we?

Have you ever had one of those weeks when everything you do you end up having to do twice because nothing goes right the first time? Or one of those weeks where everything takes twice as long as usual and nothing goes the way it should? Well, I had both of those kinds of weeks this week. Suffice it to say though, those little hiccups did, in a roundabout way led to the good things, so I'm trying to see it all as a silver lining kind of thing.

So, the result of all of this taciturn bad luck was that I had two extra pairs of little shoes on hand. What to do with them? Etsy of course. I finally listed my first (and second and third) item on Etsy. It was terrifying, but I am so glad I finally "opened shop". And I made my first sale there too! Thankfully it was to my sister, because, when she purchased it I realized I had no idea what to do next. So glad that it was someone who knew and loved me to help me walk through the process.

 


And yesterday, I met friends at Busy Bees, an upscale consignment boutique. I brought the shoes I had made for my friend as well as the "extras". This store sells locally made products and I had e-mailed back and forth with one of the owners about the possibility of selling my items there way back when all of this started. I thought I would let them see up close and personal my little shoes. They were very complimentary. The owner who usually deals with the "local talent" wasn't in yet so they asked if they could hold on to them to show her, and then they displayed them on a shelf with my card. That was quite a feeling. I left more cards with them and went on to lunch. When I got home I had a extremely excited e-mail waiting for me. Seems she liked them.  She also invited me to sell my items at their store on the 21st during Arts In Ada. Now if only I had more items to sell!

I did get a couple of things right though. This pair of shoes now belong to a lovely little almost three year old, the daughter of a good friend. They turned out impeccably. Black linen with a pale pink silk flower. And while I was making them I improved on my technique again. I can now fuse all of my layers together, including the lining layer for a more cohesive, more shoe-like shoe. There are now seven layers in my shoe uppers!

Happy Birthday, Ella!

So there you have it, the highs and lows. The good, the bad and the lovely I hope.

Dress Up Shoes

Phyllis works with my mom. She's an incredibly kind woman and she has a little girl in her life who calls her Aunt Phee. This lucky little girl has a very pink and purple tutu and matching ensemble given to her by her grandmother. Aunt Phee thought a pair of shoes would complete the outfit perfectly and commissioned me. Talk about fun! Let's get very girly, shall we?

I wasn't sure what I was going to do at all. I picked up two different kinds and shades of purple and couldn't decide so I got both. But, the pink, I wasn't sure what direction to take. Hot pink, sweet pink? Print, solid? And then I saw this fabric, for a buck, and it was so perfect I absolutely bought it and brought it home.

With the delicate silver and pink fabric it reminds me of tulle. It's a little sparkle and very confectionery. It truly couldn't have been more perfect. Makes me almost want to be little again.

And as for the flowers, I ended up using both purples and I like the effect. Neither one of them was up for the job alone, but together they were just right. My mom says she likes that they aren't so wild that she can't wear them for things other than dress up. I hope she's right. I know they don't go with everything, but I am sure she has another purple or pink item in her wardrobe.

Happy birthday, Miss A! Love Aunt Phee.

A Little Something to Top It Off

So it was inevitable, really, that while making all of these pretty embellishments for my shoes and wrists and neck that they would find their way all the way to the top of my head. Come on admit it, you saw it coming didn't you? So in the last couple of days I squeezed in here and there, the time to make these three little items for hair adornment.

A la Billie Holiday

This one I love for its simplicity. It feels Southern. It feels feminine. It can be worn as a corsage!

A dual duty accessory, gotta love that.

Then there's this one:

Please ignore the orange vest on the couch.

It feels very vintage. And of course I love the color scheme. How can you go wrong with black and white? It's grosgrain ribbon attached to vintage velvet ribbon with just a little elastic at the back for comfort.

And then I made these little lovelies and sent them to the sisters as a little extra. I hope they like them. When Em gets more hair, she'll get a pair of them.

The ribbons in the center have a subtle and romantic pink and cream stripe. Lovely.

So there you have it, a little something for the top. What do you think?

A Mom and Her Girls

I just finished my biggest order yet this week. A lovely woman named Kelly, whom I have never met, trusted me to craft three pairs of shoes for her and her daughters. She chose the very popular Cozette for her girls and she allowed me to be creative for her shoes by asking for a bow in stead of a flower. I was so thrilled with that. And I love how they turned out.

I went just left of traditional with the bow and I absolutely love the results of it. It's so sophisticated and lovely. I had a tougher time finding red in my fabric stash than I thought I would, since it is one of my favorite colors. But, I did manage to find the absolute perfect shade of red to match this black pinstripe fabric.

I hope she likes them. I hope they help her to feel a little more beautiful when she slips them on her feet. And I hope that her girls feel equally special when the don their own.

Mom and her girls