today I made a mermaid...

Rather than push myself to work on extra items for the market, I decided to take a day off and relax. I headed to Busselton to peruse the local op-shops. I found lots of cool stuff, including this sweet round vintage print!! Then headed home with my car full of loot for an indulgent afternoon of crafty pursuits. I have had the idea for this mermaid swimming around in my mind (haha, get it?) for a while now, and I am stoked with how she turned out. She was destined for the babes Christmas stocking, but I couldn't wait so she has already been gifted! The small person has named her Sam... This is my own design. I am planning on making a few as gifts, but probably not to sell. Feel free to make your own version if you fancy :)

The facebook market is tomorrow night!! Read all the info you need to get involved here...

Bec x

MORE market info...

I have worked hard all day to finish and photograph my market dresses. The album is now up on Facebook. You can find it here. You can find all of the info you need about participating/purchasing on the market night here. Phew. I had forgotten how exhausting this sort of thing can be. And exciting, of course...

I am so proud of these dresses!! There are a few of my all time favourites in this bunch. Yes, I say that a lot. I always mean it though! Please take a peek and let me know what you think. And if I am forgetting anything. Thanks.

Mwah!

getting merry

 

The Christmas branch is up! My lovely neighbour came over on Thursday afternoon to drill holes in my ceiling so that I could suspend my branch above the dining table. On Friday morning I hung and decorated it with twinkling fairy lights, floral bunting and a few store - bought baubles and a very special hand / father christmas, made by my small person at daycare. Too cute. I sat under my branch feeling happy and festive and sewed all day.

Yesterday I invited a few girlfriends over for afternoon drinks. It was so lovely to relax and enjoy the sun after such a busy week. Everyone had headed home by 8.30, and the small person was asleep on the couch so I decided to play dress-ups for a while, as you do when you have had a few drinks and are stuck at home by yourself. After 20 minutes in the mirror I was looking a bit like Amy Winehouse. I still had lots of energy so I got to work on my market dresses - and proceeded to sew straight through my finger!! I am always buying bandaids but they do not last long in this house if the small person gets hold of them. I had to fashion a bandage from toilet paper and washi tape to stop the bleeding...

I inspected my sewing this morning and I am happy to report that despite my obvious mild intoxication and my injury, I still did a good job on the dresses and there are no blood stains to be seen...

I am making good progress on the market dresses. More updates to come in the next couple of days.

Happy Sunday! Bec x

Market info - WEDNESDAY 19th December

I have set a date for my market night. 6pm Western Australian time on Wednesday the 19th of December. In the next few days I will be attempting to finish as many of these dresses as possible. Some are ready to go, others need hemlines or necklines seen too. A few are samples that you might recognise from previous blog posts.

Lots of them are size 12. You know this is my size, so I often make new designs in my own size while I am figuring things out... Lucky for you if you are a size 12. There are no size 18 or size 6 dresses made as yet. I am so sorry ladies!! Being sick on and off,  I simply ran out of time. For this reason I will be offering a few custom spots that will be made available on the market night. These will be available to ladies of all sizes. As with all market items, it will be a first in best dressed scenario. Custom dresses will be made in the new year, with delivery before the end of January. And I will try to make up for it with a wide variety of sizes at the next market. Promise.

I will offer 5 Annie dresses and 5 of the new mini dress with sleeves... I am yet to name this style, any suggestions??

Here are a couple of dodgy 'taken in the mirror' pics to show you the two dresses I have decided to keep. This style is so perfect for summer. It is short and flirty, but blanced out with the sleeves. I have made myself four of them now and they are all on high rotation for everyday wear.





Once I have these dresses finished I will set up an info page to explain all the market night nitty gritty....

I have lots to do.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend so far... Bec x

pretty in pink...

 

Over the weekend my niece visited the sugar shack. We had a plan. Lots of locations had been chosen and we were going to embark on a photo taking adventure to get some pictures to show off my latest dresses. Unfortunately the weather turned and the rain came down, ruining our plans. We took this handful of pictures using the Sugar shack as our backdrop as a practise run. Obviously, as far as photography goes I still have a bit to learn. But I am still pretty happy with how these look. Love to my niece for being so helpful. Thank you pretty girl.

 

Bec x

Back, again..

After the announcement of my triumphant return last week, we were, once again, knocked down by some sort of tummy illness. I will spare you the gnarly details. I think we are back on track again now. Fingers crossed.

Yesterday I shipped out my last custom orders. Now I need to get making for my upcoming market night. I will have more details of what will be available in the next few days... Bec xx

The update...

Hello folks! I know its been a while. I have been having a world of trouble with our Internet service. Sheesh! I wouldn't even know where to start telling you about it so I am just not going to bother. Its all boring anyway. What hasn't been boring, however, are the events that have taken place whilst I have been offline.  Its funny that without the Internet I have been both lost and found, if you know what I mean?? It has been pretty tough on the business side of things. Not being able to access Etsy/Emails/Facebook/etc had made it nearly impossible to get the info I needed to get started on making orders. We are finally up and running again. I have finished cutting my final custom orders, so now I can get on with the making despite my crummy Internet service. I should have these last orders finished within the next 5 days, leaving me free and easy to get creative again!

I am planning a market night in the coming weeks and I am so excited to share some of my new creations with you. I have a handful of one-of-a-kind dresses that are already finished and a few new styles that I will be throwing into the ring. Lately I have been making cute little summer dresses with gorgeous low-scooped necklines and short sleeves, playing with barkcloth, experimenting with ruffles and having lots of fun in the process.

I have a big thank you to send out to miss Tanya Collier. Last Friday I received my 'tickle the imagination' magazine in the post, as I am sure many of you did too. I was so impressed!! What a beautiful magazine. I am so incredibly honored to have been included in its first issue. I love being a part of this handmade community and this publication is such an amazing showcase of talented and inspirational people. If you haven't seen it yet, go find yourself a copy! Its a keeper. Tanya, what a wonderful job you have done putting this together. You must be so proud. Bravo.

I feel I have much more to share with you, but I don't really want to bombard you with an essay on what has been keeping me busy for three weeks. Soon I will have pictures from my little sisters wedding to show you... I have a few D.I.Y's up my sleeve... Then there are the Christmas decorations to show off... And of course I will have to do a show and tell of my latest op-shop scores.... And then I have my latest dresses for the market.... You get the picture.

I hope you have all been well and happy and wonderful and safe. What have I missed?? Clue me in if there is anything special to report. Thanks. Bec x

lovely weekend behaviour...

After feeling pretty crappy all week I have finally got my mojo back! On Saturday morning I packed the little one into the car, popped into town for a quick coffee pit-stop and  then headed off toward Busselton in search of garage sales.  We found some great stuff, including the stack of wire chairs and the lovely old timber chair painted white. We stopped past the local market on the way home to pick up a bunch of proteas, a bargain at $2/stem!!

This weekend I had that winning feeling. Early to rise. Pancakes for brekky. Finding cool stuff at garage sales. Afternoon napping...  Even a very spontaneous chair make-over that I love!I cannot wait to recover the others, but I have decided to hold off until I have invested in a sturdier staple gun...

Zavian is still sick. I dont think she will make it to daycare this week, so I am staying up late sewing trying to get my orders finished in good time....

Bec x

I have a whole rack of nearly finished dresses, waiting impatiently for zips and trimmings and then to be sent off to their new homes. 

It has been a hard week. Both the small and I have been unwell. Flu symptoms and tummy upsets. It's hard to get anything done when you have a miserable little person who needs your attention. In the end I gave up trying to sew and just spent a lot of time cuddling her on the couch. I now expect these orders will ship on Monday.

My appetite has returned today so I think some lazy croissants with jam are on the menu.

Have a good weekend!!

We spent the majority of the weekend in our pj's in recovery mode after such a big Friday night. It wasn't that I drank too much champagne but rather I was exhausted after all of the preparation that lead up to the show. I am still on a bit of a high from it all.

Now I have my little sisters wedding to think of!! Only three weeks to go and I have some serious sewing to do if we want her bridesmaids dresses ready in time. It's all about lace and flowers around here right now. Spring has definitely arrived at the sugar shack...

 

 

 

I had the most amazing night!! My first runway show was heaps of fun. I was so nervous and excited. The models looked incredible, the venue was packed out and the night went off without a hitch. I didn't get to see the show, as I was preparing and dressing models back stage, but from what I heard it was awesome, the feedback was great! I want to say a huge thank you to my models who helped me out for the night, To Lauren Wood who invited me to be in the show, and who made our models look so damn fine. And also to all my friends who made it to the show to support me - thanks for a killer night.

Bec x