building up stock...

A school fete has beckoned me & I'm busy making a small selection of goodies to showcase in the hope of drumming up more custom orders.

Making a whole bunch of something out of fabric I choose is one thing but I love the made to order concept a bit more. It's exciting to liaise with someone and allow them to choose the fabrics. Knowing I'm making them something individual and personal is an absolute delight.

I love it when people comment on the uniqueness of the items I make for my kids. When I custom make something for someone it is also nice to think that they too could get a little bit of satisfaction in knowing they had a hand in the creation of the item.

Love it!

down the garden path...

Before all that sewing, the garden had my undying love. Its a bit like the puppy dog you get shortly after getting married, before the kids come along. Your first baby. Then the real babies come along & the puppy dog who is now a little old & grey gets sadly neglected. My vegie patch is a lot like that puppy dog, it used to be all consuming & I poured all my time & energy into it. Now however, a couple of pregnancies and dealing with a new world of raising girls, all that time time I used to have has just evaporated & been sucked up elsewhere. Over the last 4 years my vegie patch has been more of a burdon than the sanctuary it used to be.

I had dreams of being a new mother, with kids in tow (maybe even one on my back as often I have seen people do) & we'd spend hours in the vegie patch. That dream quickly got squashed by the reality of all those other things that need your attention when you have kids & sadly the vegie garden became more & more neglected. My trips down there would leave me feeling deflated as I looked around at the wasted space that wasn't being as productive as it should. Infestations of bugs were taking over as I neglected my morning & evening bug squashing ritual. It looked sad, as did my poor, old, greying dog. A long hot summer this year & a shortfall of rainwater also meant that when I did attempt a quick little stint down there nothing seemed to get going & all that effort just seemed to be falling short.

But, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Autumn weather has brought much needed rain. The kids are a little bit bigger & willing to share my time a little bit, my husband's attempt at compost has paid off & I have finally realised I can't do it all. Collecting seed, growing my own seedlings, making my own liquid feed it was crazy to think I had made it this hard. Despite realising this, it still requires a lot more work than I can give it. The perfect 6 bed rotation dream has been abandoned in favour of 'chuck a whole lot of vegies randomly in & hope that some survive'.  But its producing & its making me smile again.

Vegie gardens are hard work (don't let anyone tell you they're not) but if you're realistic about it & don't try & overshoot things the joy of a dinner plate filled with home grown produce is just the most amazing feeling.

designing & stuff...

Although I should probably focus on building stock of the designs I already I have, I just can't help myself & I'm back to the drawing board & playing with ideas. I'm working on some overall sort of things (sorry if I may offend, but I hate overalls so I need to come up with a new name). I want them to be slouchy, comfy & easy to take off. Cute girls ones & of course something special for the boys too. Hopefully the rain will continue over the weekend so that I can hide in my sewing room & continue to play.

On another note, I have new labels coming. YAY! I originally had some text only woven labels but they ran out. So a quick online order delivered some printed labels which were OK but not really the look I'm going for, plus I've almost run out of them too. So a visit to World Wide Label on etsy & I have these little woven babies on their way. There's going to be a lot of them so I'll be able to label the clothes I make for my girls now too (a little bit of self promotion doesn't hurt anyone).

have a look at these...

Here's a little peek at some boutique little owls that will be up for grabs in the Facebook shop soon.

it's discount time...

If you have a Facebook account then jump on over to www.facebook.com/byreneehall because i'm offering 15% off a made to order peplum style pinafore to all those that 'Like' my page & leave a comment.

The Peplum Pini is available in sizes 1 to 4 & is reversible with snap closures at the front. Prices start from $31. Refer to 'Products' under Photo Albums for further pricing details or contact me for further details.

The offer is available to Australian residents only on orders received by the 1st May 2013 upon the above conditions being met & excludes postage. Fabric selection can be made from my 'Current Fabrics' under Photo Albums. Fabric is subject to availability at the time of confirmation of order. This discount excludes any other offer.

back on the needles...

A seaside break which was a little cool prompted me to pick up the needles & get knitting again. But now we're back & we're having unseasonal hot weather so the idea of knitting is proving a little difficult again. I am however, the slowest knitter so I need to push through to ensure that this actually gets finished by the time the weather does actually cool.

It will be a beanie. I don't really have a pattern. Just fumbling my way through it (as I do) but I'm  hoping it will look a little like this one...

...chances are that it won't (that's what I get for not using a pattern) but its a nice feeling getting the needles out again. The idea of being warm & toasty in winter clothes sounds just dreamy given the 39deg cel day we had yesterday.

peplum pini...

I can't tell you how exciting it is that I am now at a stage in making my kiddy clothes where I can have a design concept and now actually turn that into a pattern. I've thrown together a few bits and bobs before but often they're quite similar to things that have already been done before. But this is different and special to me. Its all from scratch, all me and I'm really happy with the end result.

I've called it the Peplum Pini and selling them as a custom order over at www.facebook.com/byreneehall

They're reversible, as I think when dealing with kids, everything should be reversible. I'm not the best at stain removal. So if one side gets all mucked up, well then I have the other side to give the outfit an extended life. On the other hand if you're kids aren't as grubby as mine then you have two sides to coordinate with even more clothes, its like two outfits in one. I'm also a big fan of all things pinafore. I like to buy basic T'shirts and leggings for my girls and then throw something over the top to jazz it up if we're heading out in public.

The fabric I have chosen for this is Jay-Cyn Designs 'Storyboek Two' 100% organic cotton. Ultimately I would love the reverse of this to be a gorgeous medium weight hemp as I would like my little business to be a reflection of what I am passionate about. But, little steps and hopefully the bigger picture will become clearer in the not too distant future.