New beginnings

It's Autumn here in Sydney ... apparently.  Someone forgot to tell the Nasty Weather Pixie because we are blessed with the most glorious days.  Beach weather.  In another hemisphere Spring has sprung and before long our beautiful weather will leave us to start on its trek north.

Images: Boutique Baby Photography

 And of course that means that Easter is on the horizon.  

Dress available here or here

At Chez Fudge we have our own new beginnings, with Tony slowly but surely making progress from the disastrous first couple months of the year.  He will start on rehab (cardiac, not the more interesting drugs or alcohol) in about a week.

With life more or less back or normal, the much neglected sewing machine has had a bit of a workout in preparation for Easter party clothing and decorations.

Baby's Party Dress available here or here

This fabric combination had been sitting patiently in my stash waiting for the right design.  I knew immediately that I had found the answer when Tie Dye Diva released a new pattern for babies 0-3 months to 18-24 months.  It was exactly what I had been looking for.  I usually work with my own designs, but since I was invited to test one of Tie Dye Diva's patterns late last year, I have fallen in love with them.

At this time of the year I sell my bunny garlands which are not only suitable for Easter, but also for children's bedrooms, baby shower gifts, birthday parties, etc.

I was contacted this week and asked if I could make one in more pastel shades for the customer's little girl's bunny party.

Sometimes we need simple suggestions to set us on a different course, and I am so glad that this lovely buyer made her request, as I am really happy with the result.  It will be on its way to Florida in the morning and I really hope the little girl loves it.  I have added it to my Madeit shop here and will have it available in my Etsy shop in a day or so.

Bunnies on Vespas available here or here

What could be better for Easter than bunnies on Vespas?  With balloons.  

Available here or here

To celebrate Tony's homecoming, we were taken out for brunch this morning and our granddaughter was wearing this swing top which I made for her a short while back.  It's another Tie Dye Diva pattern and she loves wearing it - so cool and comfortable.

So it's happy times ahead ... new season, new beginnings.

Change in the air

You know what it's like; out of nowhere comes that sudden burst of warm air and you realise that there is an end to winter after all and once again you have been caught in that transitional period of confusing weather patterns.  Yesterday took us by surprise, even though it had been forecast.  It was warm.  It was beautiful.  And we knew it wouldn't last.

Image: Boutique Baby Photography

Of course, I was caught (again!) with a wardrobe full of winter clothes and recalling that I had foolishly thrown out my summer casual shoes at the end of last summer, promising that I would replace them some time before next Spring.  Which is now.

It was a busy day yesterday, right from the start.  Our plan was to arrive at the polling booth nice and early before all those other pesky voters turned up.  It was a pretty good idea, because practically the whole of our electorate had the same one and we found ourselves in a long and winding queue.  Still, it was warm, so warm.

By happy coincidence I received these adorable images of the latest dress I had sent to the States to be photographed by Sara of Boutique Baby Photography.   The fabric in this dress is soft and I simply love the beautiful colour palette - so fresh.  The dress is available here and here in sizes 2 to 5.

The day ended with us baby-sitting while our daughter and son-in-law attended the school P & F trivia night.  This year the dress-up theme was movie related and their table elected to be Star Wars characters.  My son-in-law rather unsportingly wouldn't permit me take a picture of him as Obi-Wan Kenobi, wielding his son's lightsaber, so I have had to resort to sneaking his driver's licence photo.

Being responsible baby-sitters, last night was another first for us - we were perfectly sober at the end of an election night.

Earlier in the week our quilting group took a bus trip to the Central Coast.  

Like locusts we descended on three quilt shops, each with its own ambiance designed to tempt the buyer in us.

The whole of the Central Coast was a-blooming, not only with the usual spring blossoms, but our State flower, the Waratah, made a spectacular showing.

With quilt shops in grounds like these, we were most reluctant to hop on the bus for the journey home.

Welcome Spring.  We missed you.

Gearing up for the new season

Spring Down Under - it's less than four weeks away.  Bliss.  In preparation, I've started on some new creations for my Hot Fudge shops.

Image: Boutique Baby Photography

A few weeks back I sent off a couple of dresses to be photographed in California where it's summer and the little models wouldn't freeze to death.

What an adorable little poppet.  She looks as though she's about to burst into a chorus of On the Good Ship Lollypop.  I am currently taking orders for this dress here and here.  

Image Boutique Baby Photography

This is the other dress which Sara of Boutique Baby Photography shot for me.  The model is her own adorable daughter, Lyric.  

Again, this dress is custom made and can be yours through my Etsy and Madeit shops.

I'm astounded how quickly Lyric has grown since this first session taken in April 2011.  

With the changing season on the horizon, I was contemplating whether or not it was too early to add some Christmas designs to my shops.  A few days back I received an order from a lovely customer in Canada for this bunny garland for Easter next year, so I figured I had better get hopping (boom-boom) onto the Christmas gear before I missed the bus.

No sooner did I put these two skirts up for sale than I received a lovely message from a dear friend in Brisbane who wanted to order one for her granddaughter's first Christmas.

On top of that, she ordered this dress for the same little granddaughter's second birthday in October 2014!!  Obviously my lovely friend could never be accused of dragging the chain.

And finally here is an image of my granddaughter taken in October 2008.  Her mother was going through her wardrobe sorting out clothes that still fit her for the coming season.  She came across these Hot Fudge pants which I made for her and was astounded to discover that they still fit her, only now she wears them as shorts.  Maybe it's worthy of a Guinness Book of Records entry!

Busy times, with new fabric arriving soon and new ideas zooming around in my head.  

It's a small world

How fortunate are we today to have the world at our fingertips.

A little while back I was contacted by an American designer who sells her patterns on line.  She made some flattering noises in my direction and asked if I would be interested in making up some designs from her patterns which I could sell in my Etsy shop, with a link back to her own shop.  Always a sucker for complimentary remarks, of course I agreed.

The patterns arrived in PDF format and in no time I was well into the task at hand.

It was early autumn and I knew that I would have to get the finished garments down to talented Melbourne photographer Yvette of Kees and Me Photography before the poor little models froze to death.

I also sent one dress to lovely Queensland stylist Sandrine of Image In Cafe, knowing that the weather would be warmer and therefore a little kinder to the model.

The latest completed dress was mailed to California where talented child photographer Sara of Boutique Baby Photography advised that she had a rare opening for a photography shoot.

So from America I received PDF patterns thanks to the magical mysteries of the internet.  The dresses were made in Sydney, mailed to Melbourne and Brisbane here in Australia and to California to be photographed and finally put up for sale through Etsy, with its headquarters in New York.

Amazing.

All these garments can be purchased through my Etsy and MadeIt shops.  I know, I know, blatant self promotion.  I have no shame.

Somewhere in the world it's nearly Spring

In three days it will be Autumn.  No, that can't be right.  It's warm and now that the nasty storm cycle has departed (said with fingers firmly crossed), we can sit back and enjoy an Indian Summer.

It's been a particularly busy month, with orders coming in from as far away as Italy.  

My latest dress is swanning around Los Angeles.

I'm excited that this dress will be taking part in a promotion in March.  I'll be able to elaborate on that in a few days.  It will also be up in my Etsy and MadeIt shops in the next day or so, in time for Easter.

That handbag is to die for.

Love these out takes.

I have watched this remarkable little girl grow from an adorable toddler to the beautiful princess she is today.

Having a talented mother to capture the images helps enormously.  Sara of Boutique Baby Photography is now so successful that she has become a fully fledged commercial photographer, specializing in newborns and children.  As you can see, she is very good at what she does and I wish her every success.

Autumn may be here in a couple of days, but it's good to know that somewhere in the world it will be Spring.

Work in progress

With the latest custom order posted off today, I can now concentrate on building up stock for my Etsy and MadeIt shops.

These happy little pockets are waiting to be attached to dresses.

Like this.

And this.

They are currently being photographed and should be up for sale in my shops some time next week.  It's been a bitter-sweet time over the past couple of weeks, as my favourite American photographer, Sara of Boutique Baby Photography has proved to be so successful that she is now a full-time commercial photographer, which means that I will have to tearfully say goodbye to our happy little partnership.  Wonderful for Sara, but so sad for me.  

How I'm going to miss the adorable little Miss Lyric who has made my clothes sing.  

However, necessity is the mother of invention and I've been fortunate enough to locate a couple of  talented Australian photographers who have come to the rescue.  Those pockets at the top of this post, attached to dresses, will be the first to be photographed and I can hardly wait to see the results next week. 

Here is a teaser of my last dress to be modelled by Lyric who is not at all well this week, poor little poppet.  Once she is 100% again I know her mother will work her magic and I can elaborate a little more on what will be happening with this dress.  

New seams

After the frenzy of sales in the lead-up to Christmas, I cheerfully and thankfully walked away from my sewing machine for the next few weeks to recover my sanity.

 
But now I'm back refreshed and ready for a new year.  This fabric I fell in love with as soon as it arrived on my doorstep just before Christmas and although we were away for a short break interstate, my mind kept turning over ways to use it.

It's now finished and on its way to the States to be worn by my favourite little model, and snapped by her very talented photographer mother.  It will be available in both my Etsy and MadeIt stores in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for it.  There's another dress hot off the machine and on its way to the States, but I'll leave that for another day.

Look at this beautiful Etsy Treasury created by the delightful Chrisy of Art Decadence.  How happy was I to be included in this lovely collection, because yesterday it made it to the Etsy Treasury Front Page.  Pardon me while I secretly hug myself.