Baby dress

I was visiting my friend yesterday and her daughter has just had a baby, I had bought her some baby vests but wanted to make her something.  I have some new prints that I bought a while ago but they are only in fat quarters so I thought this would be an ideal time to put them to use.  I got some measurements offline for what size a 0-3 month baby is and drew some shapes, I want this dress to go on and off easily as I remember buying clothes for my children when they were babies and clothes that are a faff to get on and off will not get much wear.  I decided I would do little velcro pieces at the shoulder so that if she has quickly changed her outfit she doesn't want to be messing with little buttons.  I also decided to do it in two patterns, it would need a seam halfway up anyway given the size of my fabric choices but also I think it makes it a bit more interesting.

I lined the upper part of the body but not the skirt, the reason I did this was because it faced it all nicely around the top.  The fabric is cotton and on this occasion as I said I have used new fabrics.  The little recipient wasn't there last night but I hope to see her in it soon, I was told it looked as if it would fit her perfectly, I hope so. 

So this has got me thinking a possible new venture?  I would only use new fabrics on baby clothes and always cotton or cotton jersey, I probably need to do some more research on sizing for baby clothes and I would want to keep it simple.  I think due to the cost of cotton prints I would only try new baby size clothes to begin with and would have to look at where to list, as I said Folksy does not seem to be getting much traffic  for me and I only ever sold  one thing on Etsy in two years and that was because the lady knew me but chose to buy it through Etsy. So I haven't used Etsy since, I think I need to take the plunge, make quite a few items then have a look at how to market them, lots of people do very well on those sites, I have noticed their pictures are amazing however.  Maybe I need a photography course.

How are other people fairing on the big craft sites?  I have heard lots of people say you just have to keep listing regularly and keep adding new items, my worry with this is this ongoing cost especially if you are not selling anything, I don't mind the time as I enjoy the process but buying fabric is expensive. Is there something I am missing? I would love to hear anyone's thoughts on what they do to get sales moving or just make a real start.

I look forward to hearing your ideas.

Charity shop dress ideas

I bought a dress at the charity shop at the weekend, went in to drop off stuff and it was on the mannequin in the window.  There are a couple of things I don't like about it, the brown beaded detail at the waist, the length and also not sure about neckline. However I thought the fabric was  gorgeous, I think it is very similar to the prints on the Desigual dresses that I like.  The dress is a size 14 so will need a lot of taking in as I'm a size 8, I will also shorten it as I'm not into the maxi length.  I like the border at the bottom so I will perhaps shorten it from the waist and I may add cap sleeves, the beading is coming off so I will see what condition the fabric beneath that is like, this may involve a new waist panel if there are lots of stitch marks.

I have just realised you can't actually see the border on the bottom of the dress in this picture, oh well you will have to take my word for it. Here are some of the Desigual dresses I like for inspiration...

(£94 Desigual)

This has a ribbon tie at the waist I think purple would look good on the dress I bought.

(£114 Desigual)

This fabric is very similar, the shape is a bit baggy though.

I will have a look at it and may do something in-between. The prices of those dresses always make me smile because really! We can do better than that, right? 

Grey Tote Bag

I decided I would make a few more bags today to list on my store and on Folksy.  I looked on Folksy and renewed a couple of bags that had expired but to be honest it felt like a bit of a waste of time/money as they are hardly getting any views on there and on checking the forum lots of people are complaining about the same thing. Something has changed some internetty-complicated-thingy that is affecting everyone's views so that is a bit rubbish.  I  have sold on there before, only 11 and stretched over a couple of years so nothing wild! Better than nothing though. So I decided I would just list this new bag on my weebly website.Fab Bags

Fab Bags

I have a bag this size that I always use for swimming I can fit my towel, suit, and all my shower stuff in there no problem.  I have only put it on for £10 so no real profit to be made on this one really as the cottons were new, lining recycled and ribbon trim also re-used.  I just want to get some interest going for now, I would also like to do more clothing for sale but this is tricky to sell online with sizing etc. I suppose I need to be more of  a risk taker rather than just making the odd thing and thinking oh that hasn't sold I won't do any more as they are just taking up cupboard space.  If anyone has any ideas for things they would like to see made that they are having trouble getting hold of let me know. I can run a few items up and see if they get any interest, I think people are perhaps short on funds at the moment so handmade originals are not top of peoples list of priorities.