A tail tale....

My apologies for being morbid - but, I'm just popping in {...between pukes...} today, to share that: one of my tails is pictured in the New York Times!!


Photo by: Heidi Schumann via Mighty Girl

Things have been busy with in-laws visiting and subsequent gifted illnesses. No crafty business is happening, no preschool is being attended, no fun is being had at all today. But, if we can keep the baby from getting sick, I'll be so very thankful!

sneak peak

I designed a fairly fun superhero cape for an upcoming book project...but I feel I must preserve the rest of it until the publishing date.

~more words next time.

Secret Project

No details on the project secrecy just yet, but isn't it cute...?
(and no..this isn't a cryptic "I'm having a girl" message)







It's inspired by the little shower gift I gave Amy, but different. :) I'll be happy to share the rest of the story with you, when I know how the story ends...

Thanks also to Rare Bird Finds for the unexpected plug.

Gift ideas for little dudes

As is my everyday morning routine - I come downstairs to make breakfast but get sidetracked by turning on my computer ...which sits at the desk in the kitchen. This morning, the first email I read was from Melissa , my number-freaking-1-customer, who was informing me that my tail was highlighted on Etsy's HOME page.

What was my first reaction?



Clearly - I grabbed the camera. And, then I fumbled about trying to save the actual page, as tail orders began pouring into my inbox. Suddenly, I had visions of my entire shop selling out. I also had visions of paying for the very expensive car repairs we are currently incurring - solely with my Etsy earnings.

And, then... the tail on the Home page sold. & the fuss was over.
But, man - it was terribly exciting for 45.28 seconds!!

(which did result in four tail sales, and three tail commissions! It was still a rather profitable 45.28 seconds by all means!!)

Pattern-making

I'd forgotten that in my effort to preserve Amy's baby shower surprise - I never posted these. They were born of my pattern making stage. That is...before I realized that making my own patterns was really silly. silly. silly.

Oh well, no harm done. Several more babes are a bakin'. I suspect there will be more of these born soon.

Tutu + Tutorial = Tuturial

Okay, bad joke in the title. My apologies.

I put this tutorial for a super-fluffy "NO SEW" tutu together long ago, but it nearly got lost in the archives. I've been asked "a few" times recently how to design a tutu... So, here's a tutorial for those of you don't want to wrestle tulle, invisible thread, and a sewing machine in order to create the tutu of your little girl's dreams. It's so easy - a child can do it herself! (that is, if she can tie her own shoes!)

Step 1: Cut and sew elastic to form waistband. I use 20 inches for most of my tutus, which fits most kiddos.
Tutu Tiplet: If you wanna go all pro - there are even fun colored elastic cords that can be used instead of plain old elastic. Or you can use a belt!

Step 2: Cut AT LEAST 4-5 yards of tulle into strips. And, cut, cut, cut some more. I do some thicker strips, some thinner. I use 52" wide tulle, so if your tulle is less wide, count on more yardage.
Tutu Tiplet: You can use solely tulle. You can also add in streamers of ribbon, or other whimsies tied in here and there. You can use a solid color tulle, or alternate amongst a few different colors.

Step 3: Tie your strips onto the elastic. I vary the length of some, just to give it more poof and visual layering. Align your knots all on one side of the waistband, of course. They don't HAVE to be crammed together. As long as you use 4 yards worth of 52" wide tulle, the tutu will be immensely fluffy.
Tutu Tiplet: I put the waist band around my leg, slide up thigh-high..and it makes tying and controlling the tulle a lot easier!



Voila. An easy-peasy tutu in three easy steps (not counting the hours and hours of laborious tying BEST SPENT IN FRONT OF THE TV.)
___________________________________________________________________________________
Tutu Tiplet: If it's a tutu emergency and you'd like to save yourself the headache - there's always tutu offerings at The Doodle Factory . I don't sell this style, however. :)

***you can also make a mini-version and use for a pony-tail holder!

Bling.

I'm speaking with another boutique about selling my tutus with them. This little tutu factory keeps evolving on it's own. Did I mention that a friend of mine has been taking some serious torture from me and sewing in the waist bands? I find that part of the tutu making completely mindless and annoying. And, she "says" she doesn't mind it. AwEsOmE.

Anyway - I may be breaking my self imposed rule. I may agree to doing three styles, replicating them, and offering them only at this shop. It's just too hard to do completely fresh photos of each unique tutu on e-retailer shops. So... I'm considering it. And, after this boutique - I'm done. No more. I mean it.

This is a tutu I've made for the shop owner's daughter, Fiona. She asked for a bit of bling, so that's what she gets. I don't believe I've done "bling" before. I'm good at bling.



Anyway - The manic posting frenzy may be coming to a halt for awhile as I play around with tutus. I have already done another few different ones. Scarfs as sashes, itsy bitsy baby ones, etc. The ideas seem to be multiplying at frightening speed. (much speedier than I'm able to achieve them, that is....)

I really meant to head back into some more artful endeavors, rather than drowning myself in tutus. Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Back to the factory.

Clarifications, review, & stuff

To clarify - (for those folks who thought I was a nut-job declaring that tutu as "botched."
The tutu was supposed to have this lovely sort of scalloped bottom. With ribbon ties that cinched it up to as high as the little princess wanted. I put in the cinches, which sucked. Then noted that it looked odd, as the uncinched spots dangled down too far. I then took the machine and permanently pinched in spaces in between, thinking it would be another perfect solution...and much easier. It ended up just being a mess of a cinched bottom - that just doesn't hang like I envisioned it would. It wasn't worth the effort. Not at all. SO - to Kenzie it goes!

I've also wanted to say thanks to the new commenters for the cheerleading. Everybody loves comments, eh? I'd tell you this in person but, those of you with blogger accounts don't seem to be linked to blogs. Anyway.

The sweet Melissa sent me some great pictures of her guy wearing one of my tails. I just love Melissa's words. She's got such a colorful way with them. And, she "reviewed" my tail over here . That was a pleasant surprise. Thanks Melissa.



I think I need to make a "gallery" of kiddos wearing my garb?

Less fattening than Easter candy

So sorry to bore this blog with more tutus, but I like to keep a running documentation of them, (so I can stay true to the no-copy rule). Well, and....I don't feel like I accomplished anything if I can't add it to my blog!



This batch is my favorite yet -- and they are heading off to a boutique in ENGLAND. How CrAzY is that???



It just hit me that tutus would be an excellent easter basket gift, but it's a little to late to plug that idea over at Etsy now!!! I'm always a day late with my wise ideas. "An Easter treat that's super sweet, but won't rot teeth!!" How's that for a advertising slogan!! :)



The weather was bipolar today...cloudy one second...sunny the next...which didn't result in fabulous pictures - but they'll do. And, I can't catch a good nap these days. I don't know what I'll do when my daughter stops napping and I no longer have my crafty outlet time. Sigh. How do other mommies make so much when the naptimes disappear??



I guess preschool is on the horizon for us, so I'll have that to look forward to eventually. However, I hope it's a case of being "overtired," as Kenzie woke up two hours early today, and then proceeded to take a 20 minute nap.
DARN.



I'm babbling (while pictures load) & I doubt anyone is still reading anyway. :) So, the lone tail is off to England too..

Doodle Factory

I'm up to my eyeballs in tutus. Given almost a whole day of Daddy:to:Kenzie craft time yesterday - I've been making tutus to satisfy an order for a shop in California. I've also made a few spares to plop neatly into my Etsy shop, which has been depleted of tutus.

Sewing one product over and over has given me some thinking time. I've been perplexed as to what to call my products, as well as how to include my blog names. I didn't want to change everything and run the risk of not being able to secure web addresses, etc. My original blog, is my Kenzie's doodles blog. Doodle, as I've mentioned before is one of her zillions of nicknames - but it was the first, given to her by her Nana. Then, catching on to the crafty blog phenomenon, I started Mama's doodles. Then came a flickr account, followed by an Etsy shop. My names weren't fabulous, but it's what I used without giving forethought to what I wished it to become.

So, back to sewing....I really enjoy making these tutus. I'm an artistic soul, and never thought my main contribution to the art world would be, um, tutus. But, it is what is is! I have poured my heart into these tutus this past weekend and just love how they are turning out. They are all different. I guess I'm injecting my artistic license into my tutu endeavors. I really like that they are unique and different from one another. Just as each little gal wearing them {futuristically} is unique and different, themselves. I don't know how long I can continue to produce them this way - but I can honestly say that I haven't generated any "repeats" just yet.

Now, back to my "names." Happily sewing along, I looked at my doorway - with finished products hanging from it. And down at the pile of sewn tutus, still needing sashes..and then at the piles of sashes, and not to mention the buckets of flower petals (all of which were disassembled from flower stems by by partner in crime - my husband. Gotta love a man who'll sit in front of the TV and mindless take apart flowers for you!!! He's the best.) Anyway, this production line got me to giggling about my factory approach. "It's a Tutu factory in here!" I thought to myself.

Moments later it hit me. Doodle factory. That's it. Kind of cheesy, but that's what I'll be tagging everything with once I can figure out how. It's all encompassing of each of my blogs, stays true to their original names... It makes sense given my origins, and I like it. I make lots of different things, and fortunately, the name will easily apply to everything. And, happily - a quick (very quick, mind you) search of the net - didn't manifest any direct results for companies who've already claimed the title. Phew.

So, it's official - Doodle Factory, it is...

Feeling flattered...

It's no secret around here that I enjoy creating things. Generally, my creative productions have no real purpose other than satisfying my "need" to be creative. Those of you who've been visiting my blog know that I've tried to sell some items on Ebay, which flopped. Then, I tried Etsy, which has had underwhelming success as well (but, to give Etsy it's credit, I have sold a couple things).

I was quite flattered to be referred to a cute little boutique in my city, that sells really hip & trendy children's clothing. I'm in the process of "auditioning" for them, but need to put some ideas into finished form and then meet with the store owners. I'm to do that after the chaos of the holiday season, and will be moving forward with that after the New Year (yep, a bit of a resolution for me...!).

When considering things that I'd like to make for sale - my original idea was for the tutus that I've made as gifts, etc. I just love the whimsy of them...and having a little princess of my own, escalated the passion I have for them. My daughter just loves creative dresses and tutus and anything girlie and frilly. I can't help but inhale her enthusiasm.

I'm really excited to have been recently contacted by the owner of the online shop: My Princess Shop. After discussions, she has already started making my tutu's for sale there. The online shop is another neat collection of fabulously whimsical children's products. And the owner is so kind and so kindred-spirit-sounding over the phone...

I'm horribly flattered and excited to finally have a venue for my creative energies. I can't wait to see what might happen with the boutique in my city as well...but My Princess Shop feels like an exhilarating start!!