Spoonflower

We got a very exciting package in the mail this week – our order from Spoonflower.

For those of you who haven't yet heard of Spoonflower, it's a company that prints your own designs and images onto a range of different fabrics. It can all be done online, and ours arrived from when we submmitted our design (from America to Australia) in just over 3 weeks.

The prices are quite good for what you're getting, I actually worked out that it was actually cheaper than some cool fabric (you will see this in a few weeks ... ) I picked up here in Melbourne. You can also submit your designs for others to buy, and you get commission on any that are bought, which is definitely something I'm encouraging my graphic design husband to do!

OK, now that I'm done "selling" it to you, I will show off our fabric:

We set it up in a way that we can cut it up and use them as embellishments, and the circles for fabric covered buttons. So keep an eye out for future Etsy items that will feature these cute little guys.

Personalised Child's Library Bag on Etsy

A couple of weeks ago, a good friend of mine had her Little Man start Kindergarten. So she approached me about making him a bag that he could use for their library visits.

Being a Librarian, and also keen to make things, I jumped at the chance! The other great thing is that the Kindergarten Teacher had suggested I make up a flyer in case any other Mum's were interested in having one made for their child as well.

Well, after having a bit of a think about what would look really cute, and also be practical for the many Library visits, I came up with this:

What do you think?

Tyson had requested "Blue with spots" and also to have the Dinosaur (as you'll see from the picture below, we took the liberty of changing Dudley the Dinosaur to Blue for this special occasion).

Dudley the Dinosaur is one of Ash's creations from a year or two ago that I've been busting to use, and this seemed like the best way to introduce them. So let me introduce you to Dudley's friends - Florence, Geoffrey, Katie and Harry. Harry the Horse is only 1 week old, but has been accepted very kindly into the group by the rest of the animal bunch.

Aren't they just so cute?!

I have added this to my items on Etsy, so if you're reading this and thinking "Oh my, I wish I could have one!" then this is your golden opportunity. Just click on my Etsy link, or go straight to Personalised Library Bag by Spot of Colour.

By the way, Tyson was delighted with his new bag and I believe he will be using it today at Kinder.

I'm on Etsy!

I'm a bit excited, because I now have an Etsy shop and some cute skirts for sale on it!

It's been something I've been considering for a little while, and I've got lots more ideas for the future that I'm currently sorting out. Hopefully you'll see some of them at the beginning of the year, if not before.

Thanks to the two cute little princesses who helped to model my skirts, and to their Mum's for letting their little girls get dressed up for the camera. And a massive thanks to my husband Ash for the wonderful photos, and of course my wonderful shop logo!

I'll add a link to my Etsy shop on my Blog page, but you can check it out here: Spot of Colour

Spot of Colour Labels + My Hooded Tunic Top Design

Can you tell it's been busy in our house lately? I can't believe I actually finished all of my sewing projects before we head overseas tomorrow!

The first thing I am really excited about is that, a few weeks ago, Ash designed some clothing labels for me so that I can get cracking on making things and selling them on Etsy. I'd heard really good things about World Sale Label on Etsy, so I decided to order some labels through them. I bought the standard type (see the pic below) and also some folded over labels that can be sewn into a side seam. They arrived in the mail last Friday, just as I was finishing off some items for a friend of mine, so I just had to sew in a label. And I can't believe how great it looks, it really finishes it all off I reckon.

The second thing I'm a bit excited about - proud even - is the hooded tunic top that I've made. A few weeks ago, I made the rash decision that I would design and make a top for myself - probably not the smartest idea, when I had a list of projects to finish and an overseas trip just weeks away.

So I sketched out what I would like in a top, found a tank top in my wardrobe that fitted me well, and started drawing a design out on tracing paper from that. I'm not sure what my Mother in Law thought when I turned up that night to sewing class with my design and a couple of pictures off the internet as inspiration, but she helped me along those few weeks and now I have an awesome top to take overseas with me!

Here it is:

I actually didn't have quite enough black fabric for the hood, so I used some leftover red and used that for the tie as well. I'm so glad I did, I think it really makes it.

(P.S. Sorry about the pasty white skin - I'll try and remedy that in the next 6 weeks! Also, don't look at the messy bookshelf - I've run out of room!)

See you in a couple of months everyone :)

Travel Wallet

As the countdown to our holiday continues, I've been busy sewing and trying to finish off projects before we leave.

This week, I made us a personalised travel wallet which I drew up a design for. I was going to buy one - there's so many cute ones on Etsy - but, as a result of having dual citizenship, I have two passports, so I wanted to have space to store all three (Ash's as well) and have them easily accessible.

As well as the passport pockets, I included a side pocket for tickets/e-tickets etc, a couple of velcro fastening pockets (yes, I went with the easier - and cheaper - velcro option as opposed to my original zip plan) for foreign currency. We're visiting 4 seperate countries so I'm expecting we'll accumulate some leftover change along the way. And, two pen slots - the most annoying thing I find on a plane is filling out the customs form, only to realise you don't have a pen in your backpack and trying to borrow one off someone else on the plane.

So here it is:

By the way, the fabric I used was "All Star" by Riley Blake. I got 6 half-yard lots of the different styles in this collection, and they are all super cute. Made it hard picking which ones to use!

Little Girl Dress

A little while ago, I had a good friend visit and I showed off some of my sewing projects that I was in the middle of to her. One of my projects is to make some of these gorgeous dresses, among other things, to sell on Etsy in a few months' time. Well, I hadn't even starting sewing yet - I'd cut out the fabric only - and I'd made my first sale. Hooray! It was a great boost to my confidence, because I wasn't sure if I was being too optimistic.

Here it is.

It's made of corduroy, and the facings and pocket of cotton (Riley Blake's Rainy Days and Mondays line). Perfect for winter!

Super Simple Stretch Skirt

I'm really excited about this one. To give some background, I ordered this skirt from Etsy, made by Teclur, a few months ago ...

but

It didn't fit.

I thought I'd wait a few months until I'd lost weight, but when I tried it on again the other night I realised that it was just not the right shape for my body, no matter how much I worked out.



So. I decided that I would make one myself, as the way it was made is similar to the skirts I'd just made. Using the above skirt, I drew up a new pattern, making some changes to it, and then cut out my fabric (hoping my calculations were right!) and sewed it up and had it finished all in the same night.



Waistband can be folded, or unfolded to make the skirt longer.

And? I LOVE it!

I wore it to work the next day and it is the comfiest skirt I have ever owned, and one that I can either dress up or down. And. No ironing required. Hooray!

So the first thing I'm going to do on my return from holidays is see what other colours the fabric comes in, and make some more. And eventually play around with some applique, and be the owner of the

 

Coolest. Skirts. EVER.