Its been a busy week!

This is what I have been up this past week or so getting ready for this weekends art & craft fair that I am having a stall at.

Lots more 'Tilda' dresses, now in 2 sizes; Size 1-3 & Size 3-5.

And something new, some little skirts. I am a little unsure of the sizing as I was just guessing here with these as I made the pattern up as I went so have sized them as; Size 2-4 & 3-5 as being an elastic waist they can be pretty adjustable to fit a bigger range and I went with a pretty generous length.

I have a confession - I LOVE FABRIC! lol

These fabrics are just stunning, the colours as so gorgeous!

Is it a bird or duck?

So I drew up this little bird over lunch while the kids slept and decided to make up a little softie. I think it needs a little more body and a little less neck, lol. This is the first time I have made a softie and also the first time at doing applique and using the blanket stitch on my machine so all in all I think it turned out not too bad, although Master T thinks its a duck - quack, quack!

A good day

Well today was a good day. I had my first market this morning showing off "tillytom designs" and things went pretty well. It was absolutely freezing cold and my stall was situated in the shade for the whole morning but most of the passers by were lovely and stopped to inspect my goods. I received lots of comments - just a few "what a fun and colourful stall", "do you really handmake all these?", "you must have too much time on your hands" (if only!) and "finally, somebody making REAL handmade goodies!".

My biggest score was an invitation to a big craft fair being held here in 3 weeks time that is being run over a full weekend - so two full days of running a stall. It is by invitation only and all goods must be Australian handmade - absolutely no imported anything so it is going to interesting to see what the other stalls have (there are 21 stalls total). Looks like I am going to be busy busy sewing and crafting over the next few weeks!

Just a couple of pics of my stall today - sorry about the blurry photo, still learning how to use the new phone which has a great camera! (when I learn how to use it, lol)

Oh, and you can check out my madeit store!

Just click on the madeit link over there on the sidebar : )

WIP Wednesday

Nothing much happening on the sewing front this week. Have been working on a few new designs for a couple of things I am wanting to make to sell at the markets so will have a peak of those in the weeks to come.

I picked up this book this week on making gorgeous baby/children's beanies. There are some really cute designs and they are all knitted in the round (using circular and double pointed needles) which is something new for me and so far I am really enjoying it.

I have picked this design from the book to start with. I am knitting it just in one colour so as not to confuse myself. The wool is a beautiful alpaca/pure wool blend and a mix of pink/orange shades. Hopefully it will come together quickly and easily, so far so good!
I have also been sorting out how to display my goods at this weekends market. I picked up these cane basket platter things at the reject shop which I think will be great for the hair accessories and gift tags. I also picked up a couple of bamboo dishes at target for $5 in the clearance section which was a bargain - they are bright red and bright green on the underside. They are for the pencil rolls and crayon rolls.I was hoping to get started on a skirt last weekend for Miss M for the EB Skirt challenge, but of course things come up and I haven't been able to make a start on it. I did receive the latest copy of Ottobre mag in the post this week though and have book marked a few things I would like to make in the weeks to come.

And I still have a spot left for the PIF if anyone else wants to join - please : )

Busy

I have been busy this week sewing up these pretty dresses ready for the markets on the 1st Sunday or next month. I am not sure how they will go locally at the markets here so what doesn't sell then I am planning on uploading to my new madeit store that I am in the process of setting up. These are all a size 1-3. I am currently drafting up a larger size to fit size 3-5. Am not sure yet whether I will go any bigger at this stage with my clothing or keep my size range at 5 and under.

WIP Wednesday

I thought I would have a WIP (work in progress) Wednesday post with what I have been up to over the last week since finishing off Miss M's quilt. I have been busy sewing and crafting ready for upcoming markets and have built up quite a good stash of bits of pieces to sell now, just need to add my new labels onto everything!

New overlocker - I am so happy with this purchase and I got it for an absolute bargain too!

Some recent purchases on Ebay

Some new fabrics for my stash; Heather Bailey freshcut, Anna Maria Horner Garden Party & Good Folks, FreeSpirt Rose Diamond & Dogwood Festival and a fat quarter of some beautiful Babushka Doll by Kokka

Some more pretty dresses needing to be finished off

New labels - very exciting!

Pillowcase Dress Design

This is a new dress I have been working on. It is based on the pillowcase dress style, but I wasn't too keen on the ribbon idea for straps so went with this instead. I have used elastic along the front and back, but as you can see by the pics of Miss M, I need to shorten it slightly as it is a little wide. I tried it on Master T also (who is nearly 3) and it fits him well also as a very short dress or longer style top (again too wide slightly at neck). So just a quick adjustment to the elastic will also make it slightly more gathered at the top, but am gauging it will fit from approx 9months to 3 -4 years - which is exactly what I was aiming for. If I have customers wanting it in a dress style for an older child, it will be easy enough to add length to the pattern without the need to adjust the top part.

Whats in a name?

So, I have been thinking lots about selling at the markets (with some other un-blogged ideas that are still on paper and yet to be attempted) and have decided a new name is needed before I do anything else! I like "little possum designs" but find it a little common as far as little possums after doing some googling, there seem to be lots of little possum type names for businesses. (I came about little possums originally from our little ones who we call possum).

So my questions for those of you that sell in the markets or online or otherwise, how did you come to your name? I have so many ideas floating about in my head, random names etc. but just haven't found "the" one.

I am hoping maybe to be organised to sell by mid-late year, maybe 6 months as there are lots of little monthly markets in our regional area, plus school fetes, shows, etc. And selling things like bags (all sorts for all types of occasions/uses), baby items - bibs, toys, playmats, clothes, nappy bags/wallets, etc., hair accessories - ties, clips, etc.,

Some names that I have been 'thinking' about so far.

"Rumble Bee", "Pink Poss", "TillyTom", "One Pink Possum", "Whoops a Daisy", "This litle possum", "Little Blossom", "Tom & Tilly", "Pink Fish", "Pink Punch", "Pink Apples", "Moo You", "Apples & Punch".

Will be back with more when I have some more time and find my list from previous thinking sessions, lol. Please feel free to comment, mix them up, add your own, suggest something, etc.