Cushions!

New in the shop are these cushion covers featuring my new prints.

They are printed onto lovely soft smooth Kona cotton and all have contrasting piping.

The bears on bikes cushions will soon be available personalised with a name hand embroidered by me.

I love them so much I'm already working on the next range!

Christmas!

Busy busy busy round here with Christmas orders to make and post but realised I hadn't mentioned the most recent Christmas items added to my shop.

You can now buy mini hanging blocks for your tree, in two bright designs or a personalised version.

I also have a new set of Christmas cards featuring my nutcracker and angel illustrations.  Still time to buy before the big day!

There are a couple of new faces in the shop.  Meet Lily the rabbit and Odette the cat.  Lily is dressed in a vintage sheet skirt and Odette is a clown in pink stars.

Christmas is coming!

I try to be organised for Christmas every year, with plans to start Christmas shopping in September etc but somehow there is still so much to do last minute!

I have however managed to be quite organised with Christmas products in my shop this year.  In stock already are these Christmas themed mix and match blocks and they will soon be joined by mini block decorations.  I am also offering the bear and cat Christmas card again and am adding several new one of a kind soft toys.

And I have actually already made a Christmas cake so you never know, maybe I will be ready for Christmas this year!

Claude

Just a quick post to introduce Claude, the latest of my one of a kind handmade toys.  He is available to buy in my Etsy shop and you can read all about him here.

Baby blocks

I have just added a new product to my etsy shop.  It is a lovely set of four blocks spelling out 'baby'

They are currently available in pink or blue, and yellow should be available next week.

They feature sweet illustrations, painted patterns and hand drawn letters with soft colours.

Someone kept using them to build towers while I was trying to take photos!

They make lovely nursery decor or a gift for a new baby and come in a draw string calico bag.

Stanley

Just popping in to introduce Stanley, my latest one of a kind handmade toy.  He is listed in the shop now.

Summer sewing

I've been cheating on the blog a bit lately with instagram (@juliastaite) but here is a look at some summer dresses I made for the girls recently.  The pattern is the madeline dress by sew sweet patterns on etsy.  Its a lovely classic dress with a great collar - very cute!

The pattern was simple and came with clear instructions.  Its quite a quick dress to whip up apart from the dreaded buttonholes (my worst part of sewing!)

I did however have major sizing issues -  Bea is pretty tall so I cut out the age 5 for her (shes three and a half) but after partially sewing the dress together it was very clear it was way too small.  So as not to waste the fabric I cut it down to fit Nell.  Shes 9 months old so I cut out age 2 after the first came out so small and as you can see below its fits - but probably won't for long!

I made Bea a bigger one (age 7!) and it fits well for length but still comes up a bit snug in the width.  Its a shame as its such a sweet little dress.  Maybe it was just me but I would recommend going up at least two sizes if you're making your own.

Hello Penelope

I have just listed a new one of a kind toy in my shop.  Penelope rabbit has got a little bit more detail than my other soft toys have had so far and I really enjoyed working on her.  I have a new cat on the way too but sewed one side on inside out so he needs a little more work...

Finished!

I just finished this cardigan for Nell last night.  I used this pattern from Drops and added a crochet edging shamelessly copied from Alicia Paulsons version.  I also added these cute buttons from this lovely Etsy shop and I'm pretty happy with the results!  And the only upside to this stupidly cold weather is Nell will hopefully get some good wear out of it.

Key candy

I like to have a keyring on my keys.  It makes them easier to find as I'm scrabbling around in the bottom of my nappy bag.

I have just been making some keyrings for the shop.  They have a panda illustration printed on cotton on the front and are backed with a co-ordinating fabric.  They are stuffed with toy stuffing to make them like little squidgy pillows.

You're the cat's whiskers

I've just added this fun valentine's card to my shop, featuring cats of course - you can never get bored of cats can you?

Christmassy things

The tree is up and as usual we have had fun adding new decorations to our collection.

This I my favourite - Because Bea made it at nursery!

I got this one from Jo Heckett on Etsy for Eleanor and its lovely.

Bea chose this one for Eleanor too.

And this was her choice for herself this year!

Now the rush to finish my customers Christmas orders is over Bea and I have started on some festive projects - including this toilet roll and cotton wool snowman.

I'm very much feeling the Christmas spirit this year as Bea is sooo excited - she has even been waking in the night thinking its Christmas day!  Cute, but not much fun being the one to tell her it was just a dream...

Christmas (already!)

I haven't even started wearing a coat yet but I have just added a christmas card to the shop!  I'm looking forward to christmas already - I always do at this time of year but get a bit sick of it before we even get to christmas day!

The card is a cat and bear illustration on recycled card and comes with a red envelope.  It is available singly or in a pack of 5.

New friends

I have just added two new soft toys to the shop that I have managed to finish before the baby turns up!


Meet Bernie the bear and Herb the cat. As with all my soft toys they are one of a kind.

Bella the ballerina

I have just added a new one of a kind cat to my shop.  This latest one is Bella and comes complete with a yellow tutu. See here for more details.

Ani-mix magnets

I have just added a new product to the shop.  It is a set of handmade magnets featuring my mix and match animals.

There are six animals in the set (so 12 magnets) so you can stick them on your fridge and have lots of mix and match entertainment to pass the time while waiting for the microwave to ping!

Box city

So here is the reason for my prolonged absence. And pretty much the whole house currently looks like this. We moved house just over a week ago and are still trying to make sense of the chaos whilst decorating almost every room at the same time.

I haven't been able to make anything lately other than work orders - one of which was this lovely special set of alphabet blocks for a new baby's nursery in a pink colour scheme. I think they look very pretty!

Something for Easter?

I have just added a new handmade toy to the shop. This is Edmund the rabbit, just in time for Easter dressed in fresh spring colours. Its been starting to feel a bit more spring-like around here and the blossom is starting to bloom. Although today its blowing a gale!

I do love making these little toys - especially their faces. They seem to come to life with every stitch!

As with all my handmade toys Edmund is a one off.