Spring sparkle on Day 2

Day 2 and I'm still going strong :o)

This skirt is covered with fun sparkles and will come with a pink tshirt or tank top with butterfly applique. It is 14 inches long so will fit a range of sizes from 3 or 4 up to 6. I will make the shirt in the size you choose. Check it out here in my etsy store!

Designer ADD and the April Challenge

I've been having a bit of designer ADD of late. I have tons of fabric and ideas, and every time I wander into my studio I seem to get overwhelmed. I'll pick up a random fabric and cut 3 pieces of a pattern before I get distracted and move on to something else. Obviously, this does not result in many finished projects. Add to that the fact that I just got back from a week and a half road trip with my boys and was rushing to finish up customer orders before that, and, well it's been a LONG time since I've added anything to my etsy stores.

The guilt set in today, and I cut out the rest of the pieces to go with 3 that I cut out 2 days ago, and found that in a matter of hours, I had a completed item. I was so pleased with my little jumper and embarassed at my laziness that I issued myself

THE APRIL CHALLENGE

For the month of April, I plan to list at least one new item in either my Monkey Doodle (kids clothing and costumes) or Bibidi (all things baby) stores on etsy. This is a HUGE challenge for me. I am optimistic, but not positive I will succeed. I'd love for you to cheer me on as I sew- leave comments if you have any ideas about what you'd like to see me work on! Also, since most of my listings will be OOAK's, I have to ask you to bear with my not-so-great photography skills. Believe me, all of my effort is poured into sewing your outfit, not photographing and photo editing :o)

So without futher ado, here is the entry for April 1 (no foolin!), a fun little dog and cat themed Farbenmix Vida jumper, size 3T. You can find it here.

One month later- status check

From last month's post:

I've also been sewing a custom Feliz dress for one of my favorite customers,


helping a 12 year old girl create a Regency era dress for an English Country dance she is attending (think Jane Austin!),

sewing costumes for 4 children who will be visiting Colonial Williamsburg in period attire {these are being worn in Williamsburg this week; I'll have pictures when they get home},

and working on my first eBook pattern. Here's a sneak peek of my finished item- book will be ready soon!

I'm taking a week off to head to Florida with my kids, but plan to list some great spring specials when I return!

Cole's stuffed "animal"

Going to the fabric store with 3 boys in tow is an unfortunate reality for me. Because we homeschool, I am rarely without them. Some fabric store trips are better than others; we've had some pretty good ones lately because I have learned that offering a Krispy Kreme donut as a reward for good behavior works wonders. Sometimes, they are happy to help me locate a fabric if I give them a swatch and say, "find me something this color." Pattern books are usually a big hit; I can usually get away with a good 10 or 15 minutes while they look at the Halloween costume section, and now I can give the older boys an assignment and ask them to find a particular pattern in the drawer for me.

During our time in pattern land this week, Cole discovered a pattern that he *had* to have. And when they're on sale for a dollar, I generally appease such a request. The last such request resulted in me making this parrot for Finn. So this time, Cole got his pattern and 1/2 yard of fabric-of-his-choosing. After 24 hours of unrelenting begging, I helped him make his creature last night. Here is the chronicle of his "animal."



Here are the fabric and pattern he chose.



The pattern gives several options for which body, ears, arms, and legs to combine; here is his combination after I addeed the felt mouth with hand-stitched teeth and button eyes.



After I stitched the body together, Cole dutifully stuffed his little guy for nearly 10 minutes before he got bored. I finished the stuffing & sewed him up, resulting in...


A happy Cole, and his "animal" named Crazy.

Spring flowers are blooming

It's been a while since I've created anything new, due to the CPSIA crisis that is now, thankfully, resolved. It's been pretty cold and gloomy around here (it is winter, after all), so I decided to make something nice and spring-y. Using the very last smidgens of this cute Michael Miller daisy print, I created this one of a kind set, size 3T. You can find it here in my etsy store.

I've also been sewing a custom Feliz dress for one of my favorite customers, helping a 12 year old girl create a Regency era dress for an English Country dance she is attending (think Jane Austin!), sewing costumes for 4 children who will be visiting Colonial Williamsburg in period attire, and working on my first eBook pattern. Whew! Guess I should be spending more time in the sewing room and less on the computer...

Call the cops...

'cause we're about to commit a felony!

Next week, over a hundred talented ladies (and possibly a few gentlemen!) who will be out of business as of February 10 due to the new CPSIA legislation are gathering for a final launch on eBay. We're hoping to draw even more attention to the cause of independent small-business crafters who will be impacted by this ill-advised legislation. So make sure you search boutique felony on both eBay and etsy next week- this could be your last chance to buy custom boutique for a long time... or ever!

Halloween... a whole lot late!

Life is finally settling back into a normal routine after all of our holiday celebrations & travel, and post-holiday clean up. With the CPSIA legislation becoming effective on February 9 and no loopholes in sight for Monkey Doodle Designs (or other homemade clothing & crafts), I've had to seriously consider what direction my business is heading in.

While I took a diversion for a few weeks of making bibs for my niece (for sale on my new etsy account, *bibidi*), I received several costume requests from local and online customers. And that made me remember- I love making costumes! Part of what is really important in the world of custom boutique sewing is creating your niche... something that I have not been very good at previously. I love to make EVERYTHING- new Euro patterns for girls, purses, boys tee and shorts sets, applique, jewelry, etc. So while I don't plan to stop dabbling in clothing altogether, I will be changing my focus for Monkey Doodle Designs to a stock of costumes that I can keep stocked in my store, and add special OOAK seasonal clothing as I have time and desire. I currently have 3 in my etsy store, with 2 amazing girls Narnia costumes underway.

With all of that out of the way, let's talk about Halloween, LOL! My new computer is set up and fully operational and the missing photo editing software has been returned and installed. So without further ado, I would like to share my very, very belated Halloween photos with you. Meet the Muppets (and a cute little tuxedo cat)!