WOODLAND COLLECTION - Market Night!

Yep - I decided I would cause myself some much needed hard work on the sewing front and hold my second Market Night over at Ms Midge!  I thought I would be very smart and give myself four weeks to get my act together and put enough time in to have a whole collection - but as always my timing is impeccable!  Those four fantastic long weeks just happened to coincide with two weeks of school holidays - fab.  Needless to say, I have been working against the calendar to get it all together!  

Anyway.....here are some of the gorgeous outfits available on THURSDAY night - the 26th of April.  8.30pm Melbourne time - be there or be square!

You can find the whole Woodland Collection HERE.

In other sewing news, I have made items for a couple of other events happening this week....

Little Pink Tea Party's 1st Birthday Showcase

Handmade Love Showcase - This is only ONE of the entries there!

And I still have to work on some goodies for The Sewing Library's 1st Birthday celebrations!!!  Man - a hell of a lot of celebrating going on this week!  Phew!

So - what do you think?  You like??

Market Night Meltdown

I'm putting myself out there again.  It may not be at a "real market", but it's as close as I'm able to get to one these days!

The last delivery of fabric I received was so divine, and I didn't order much, so I wanted to make the most of it.  I decided to hold a Market Night at Ms Midge.  The limited yardage of fabrics have surprisingly gone quite far, and I'm super happy with the little collection of garments I have come up with. 

But now the hard part begins.  At 8.30 tonight (Melbourne time), I will open the "Fly A Kite Collection" for SALE.  And hold my breath.  Of course I 'm hoping it will be a raging success!  But in the pit of my stomach I'm fearing it will be the opposite!  I have been reassured by others who have done market nights that this is a very NORMAL feeling!  So I'm just going with it!

So by all means - pop in tonight and grab yourself a one-of-a-kind outfit.  

I would love to see you there!

What lengths would you go to.....

.....To get a brand of clothing?  Really, this is a serious question.  I ask this because I have just read on the page of an extremely popular brand of little girl's clothing, that "fans" of this brand will go as far as paying for flights from interstate, to attend a market, in the hope of picking up these items!  And I'm shocked.

I am guessing that this now confirms that I am not a "brand snob"?  I have never been overly worried about where I have bought my clothes from, nor my children's.  It still irks me, even after ten years of being together, that my husband prefers to wear branded clothing - whether it be sports socks or t-shirts.  And what is irking me even more, is that I now have a teenage boy who is becoming more and more aware of the so-called "importance" of wearing or owning branded items.  Don't get me wrong - I understand the pressure kids are under to feel like they fit in, and are not looked upon as "dorks" lol.  So we were lucky to go to a huge warehouse sale for a surf/skate brand earlier this year, where we got almost $1500 worth of clothing etc for the whole family for around $250!  Can't look a gift-horse in the mouth.....

So, what's your take on this?  How far would you go?

Post Market Post

It is Monday....again.  Why oh why is this year going so fast?  I can't keep up with the rolling weeks and how quickly the Mondays seem to roll around!  Is it just me?  Or does everyone feel 2011 has been the fastest yet?  Is it something to do with getting older, or is it just because?

Yesterday was my second appearance at Mulgrave Makers Market.  The two weeks prior were filled with sewing, sewing and more sewing.  My Journey Collection of little girls clothing was finished in time and I was very excited to get out amongst the public and see how I went!  This is what it all looked like:

Another stunning Melbourne September day appeared, and my little stall was ready to rumble.  And I am pleased to say I had another pretty satisfying day!  There were probably three times as many stall holders with little girls clothing, so customers had plenty to choose from.....and luckily some of them chose mine!

I still have plenty of this collection remaining, so have opened up the Album to my faithful Facebook followers, and a few of them have already been snapped up!  So with any luck all the above beautiful dresses, skirts and tops will find lovely new homes.  If you are reading this and have not seen my Facebook page.....look me up!  MsMidgemadebyme  

Ok, off to rangle these children of mine - school holidays is another way to say CHAOS!

Why sewing is SEW good for you!

I meant to post about this a few weeks ago.....but got side-tracked - sewing.  Just remembered today!

Just after I decided to throw myself in the deep end and sign up for my first Market appearance, with ten days notice, I found myself sewing long in to the evenings, and before I knew it, it would be close to midnight and I would turn everything off and crawl in to bed.  About a week in to this tiring pattern, I was wondering why my just-bought jeans, which were a little tight when purchased, were starting to feel a little loose?  I laughed with my husband, that I had just paid a fortune for these denim beauties (yes, full price - something I NEVER do), only to find them not fitting so perfectly!  Then it occurred to me - my late night escapades with my sewing machines, had kept me from my usual late night escapades with tv remote and food!

SEWING IS A WEIGHT LOSS SECRET!

This theory was confirmed a week or so ago, when I found myself more organised in the lead up to this next market.  I have been doing the majority of my sewing in daylight, and once again find myself snacks in hand, surfing the channels at night!  And my delicious jeans are now feeling much firmer and fitted.....

My full priced Curve ID Levis.....best jeans I've ever bought!

So there you go people - you heard it here (first?) - hit the sewing machines and lose inches!

Has anyone else noticed this new-found phenomenon?

Repeat Business

Whilst undertaking the mammoth task of cutting out 30 yards of fabric yesterday, it gave me time to reflect on the past few months of being Ms Midge....

Since I did the Market two weeks ago, I have been overwhelmed by the amount of wonderful feedback, incoming orders and general excitement from friends and family who have been following my little business.  But most of all, I have been pleased to receive repeat business!  This has boosted my confidence and made me believe that what I am doing is worth it.  I know I'm no rocket scientist and I'm not changing the world, but I can now say that I am providing little ones with quality, unique little pieces of clothing!

The main comments I have received are about the fabric choices I have made.  Both collections of fabrics I have used - Spring Birds and Journey - are prints that you just don't see anywhere else, and that was my aim from the outset.  As much as I love the whimsical little prints you can buy in bulk from our stores here in Australia, you just don't find the originality that I love about the prints I can find overseas.  And you see, that's where this little "journey" of mine is opening up all sorts of "cans of worms"!

Why, oh why, was it so hard for me to track down the first lot of fabrics I found?  Why did I have to go to the States to buy it?  Well, because it just isn't here! Sooooo, as my mind does, it starts to boggle.......and now, my husband and I have been wondering whether it would be the logical thing to do, to bring in larger quantities of these divine fabrics, so that the wider Aussie community of fabric worshippers could have easier access to them?  Still pondering this, but I'm sure I will keep you posted!

What do you think?  If I were to do a bit more investigating, would it be worth my while?

Market Debut

Rather belated post, but a post none-the-less!

So on Sunday, the one just passed, I woke up with the sparrows (or the unbelievably annoying skwarking bird that sits outside my bedroom window every freakin morning), got my crap together and headed off to my first ever "real" handmade Market. I thought I best head off early because I really had no idea how long it would take me to set up my little stall first time round. I had actually never even visited the market before, so also had no idea what I had gotten myself in for!

Turns out, I didn't need to accompany the sparrows, as my little stall took much less time to set up than I had anticipated - good to know for next time. And this is what it looked like:

I had a vision in my head of what I wanted it to look like, and given the limited amount of space I think it turned out ok. I got quite a few compliments on the set up, so I mustn't have done too bad!

I was really nervous. Like, couldn't sleep the night before nervous. And the first 45 minutes from when the market opened, the doubts crept in - what on earth was I doing? Nobody was going to stop and buy my goods......they're just not good enough - yada, yada, yada. But then a strange thing happened! A lovely lady came and took her time looking, and bought a dress! I was so damn excited! And from that moment on, customers kept coming, and kept purchasing until all the doubts faded away, and I was re-assured that putting myself out there was worth it.

All in all, it was a truly successful first day at the market. I handed out a tonne of flyers with details of my FB page on it, and much to my delight, got a whole lot of new "likers" through in the following days. Even more delightful - an email from one of the before-mentioned customers, ordering three more dresses! To say I am thrilled would be the understatement of the year! All of the day's compliments and feedback on how different and beautiful the dresses are, has spurred me on. So much that I just had to then push the purchase button and order these:

*Sigh* They're so damn pretty and amazing....and I can't wait for them to land on my doorstep so I can start creating the next little collection of garments!

Spring Birds Collection - started!

Well, I did it! After staring at the most divine fabrics, that I finally received in the post, this afternoon I took the plunge and put the scissors to work! It was almost like I was scared to cut it, afraid that I would regret my choice of size or style to make? But, it's done......my little collection has sprung to life! Albeit a couple of frocks at a time..

Never before have I fallen in love with fabric. When the parcel arrived, I opened it like a Christmas present. Out came two lovely little packages, gently wrapped in tissue paper and purple ribbon. A beautiful little hand-written card accompanied my purchase, which I thought was a lovely touch. When the tissue broke (ok, I ripped it) open, the feel of these beautiful cottons was heaven. So delicate and soft - beautiful. I couldn't have been happier!

So here are a few pics I have taken of the two little dresses I managed to finish today - at the same time as swinging my three year old upside down - just cos she asked me to, tackling a few household chores, and the craziness that was my afternoon with an extra little boy added for my entertainment. I really amazed sometimes at what can be achieved when you set your mind to it - or alternatively, put blinkers and ear phones on.

I hope you love my little creations as much as I do!

Oh - P.S. - I got accepted as a stall-holder at a beautiful Hand-made Market here in Melbourne! Today was as good as days can get!