On Tails & Tutus

Now that I have a child, all my creative whims seem to manifest into children's products. I've made a lot of children's stuff that I haven't sold, but given as gifts, and then got kind of carried away into the tutu industry...



I have a confession to make: I am one of those mom's... A mom of a girl baby who -detests- the color pink and all things princesses!! I hated (& still do) the stereotypical roles, the underlying messages to our gals found in fairy tales, etc. I rarely dress Kenzie in anything light pink, unless it was a gift. Then, I feel I must make the exception. While getting my Master's, I did seriously study some women's issues and how those manifest. And, well - this is a craft blog, so I'm not gonna get into the developmental theory behind women and our roles in society...(and I certainly don't want to offend anyone who disagrees with my "I hate girly pink!" theories). But, anyway...it's really hilarious to me that I'm selling tutus. Could I make a more stereotypical product for a gal?? Probably not, but I humor myself with the idea of them all being unique and therefore being separating myself from the "norm." Ahem. What a hypocrite, especially since I'm ReAlLy enjoying making them!



But, I do support the growth of little imaginations, and I think dress-up and costumes are a stellar way to encourage that development. So, tutus will stay. I don't care what the little gal's pretend to be in them...just pretend away!! My poor Kenzie only has one tutu, and, sigh...it's even a mass produced one that she got as a gift. It's not even a made-by-me original. What kind of Mama am I????

I now have a nephew. He's the first little guy born into a family with five girl cousins now. Since I've made my neices a lot of handmade junks over the years, I find myself wondering what to do for a little boy. I've got some ideas, and am starting the "play around and pattern" process to see if they're reasonable.



Recently, we also attended a Wiggles concert, where we purchased a Dorothy the Dinosaur tail as a souvenir. Kenzie adores her tail . She wears it all day, and sleeps with it by her side at night. She changes characters frequently (I'm a dinosaur...I'm an alligator..I'm a dragon!), and I see some potential in expanding my "Doodle Factory" into the Tail industry. :)

The tail mimics the the mass-produced version my daughter now owns. I've got ideas for mermaids, dragons, these dinosaurs, etc. It has an elastic waist band, encased in fabric.

We'll be growing tails around here and giving them as gifts to some birthday gals and boys soon....& I believe they might be growing right into my etsy shop too...