Sewing for Cherubs

Swirls of Fabric Heaven

I have to show you my new love. It's anything swirl-dyed by my good friend Pam of The Indigo Onion. What she can do with dyes and fabric is simply amazing. Just look at this box of goodies I got in the mail last weekend:

See what I mean? Heaven has come to earth in fabric form.

Oh yeah, I guess you probably want to see what I can turn this into, right? Well, here are some past examples of things I have made using Pam's gorgeous fabrics:

 

And here is my most recent foray into swirl-sewing. I love this swirl so much - it reminds me of the sky at the end of autumn and the beginning of winter - that I used up every little scrap I could squeeze out of one precious cut and came up with this special newborn set which is currently for sale at Universal Mama:

I can't wait to dive into more of these swirls! Thanks for looking.
 
 

Sweet as Cupcakes

Got a couple new oh-so-girly items to show you. Both of these are currently available in my shop at Universal Mama (scroll down the page to The Cherub's Closet LLC). While you are there be sure to check out all the amazing items the talented vendors at UM have created for Cyber Monday!

For a sweet newborn baby:

And a hoodie for the toddler in your house:

 

Thanks for looking!

Mail Call

Yesterday I had what we in the online sewing world call a "good mail day". Those are the days your heart skips a beat when the doorbell rings, because you have been tracking a shipment online and you know it should be arriving soon. In the online sewing world, we call this "stalking the mailman". (Don't worry, the mail carrier was never in any danger.)

First up, a little package from Miss Label. I am thrilled to be able to give my finished products an extra professional touch with these beautiful new logo labels. The care and content are on the reverse.

 

And then a not-so-small package from one of my favorite fabric suppliers. Chickadees and Hearts in two colorways. I have a serious crush on the blue hearts.

Yes, it was definitely a good mail day!

Hey, Remember This?

 

I sure do, and I'm happy to say that I will soon be back in business! Thanks to some clarifications given by the CPSC (ie. fabric, thread and yarn are highly unlikely to contain lead... well DUH), I will be re-opening my shop soon. I have some stuff in the works that I can't tell you about just yet. Patience, grasshopper. You can be sure I'll be breaking out the links and the previews just as soon as I can. This blog is a good place to stay up-to-date.

One of the nicest things about having an online business is meeting customers from around the world. That is something I have really missed. I'm really looking foward to having you all visit my Closet again very soon!

Things Change

They say that the one thing that's constant in life is change. I want to let you all know that I have made the difficult decision to shut down my business. New legislation has recently been passed which requires all manufacturers of children's products to perform testing of their products for substances such as lead, starting in February 2009. While I agree that improving the safety of children's products is always a good thing, I simply cannot afford financially to comply with the new regulations because my production volume is so small.

You can read more about this legislation here or here, if you are interested. Please keep in mind that the linked sites are very opinionated ones, and I may or may not agree with what is said there. Form your own opinions. :)

I would like to take a moment to sincerely thank all my wonderful customers and congo-mates, and my friends and family who have supported me in my business journey. I have learned so much, met so many lovely people, and grown so much. Thank you all for your support! I am still available via e-mail (see link in my sidebar) for any customer service questions.

I want to reassure you ('cause I know you'd miss me if I were gone), I will still be right here sewing and blogging. I'll be lovingly creating special things for my own children and gifts for family and friends. And honestly, I'm coming around to the notion that this is not such a bad thing... in fact, it's starting to feel quite wonderful. I am excited about having more time to work on projects for the people who mean the most to me in the world.

So here's to the future! Stay tuned, and see what I'll come up with next! Thanks for reading.

An Open Letter to Angelina Jolie

Dear Mrs. Jolie-Pitt:

First off, allow me to extend my congratulations on the birth of your new twins. I am a big fan of your work. (Full disclosure, I am also a fan of Ms. Aniston's work and therefore was forced to remain Switzerland-like in the whole "Team Angelina" / "Team Jennifer" thing.)

As you may have gathered, I have a little sewing business. Yesterday I was going through some photos of my work for an album I was putting together, and I came across this one:

And I thought to myself, now how CUTE would it be if someone had boy-girl twins and they dressed them in these? And well, I think you know where I am going with this.

These onesies are a generous 0-3 months size and would be just perfect for little Knox and Vivienne. I'd be more than happy to ship them to you free of charge as a baby gift. You have no idea the boost it would give to my small-but-enthusiastic business to have my wares being worn by a little celebrity baby or two.

So, Angie (may I call you that?), comment me, e-mail me, write me. Let's talk.

(P.S. To my readers: Obviously this letter is tongue-in-cheek, as I realize the odds of Angelina Jolie actually reading my blog are, oh about zero. But hey, if someone out there does know her, or know someone who knows her, six degrees of separation, ya know, and if you can link her to my blog, by all means, feel free to make me the happiest seamstress on earth.)

Something New at Twinkle Twinkle!

Just a quick shout-out to my local customers in Lynchburg, VA.

Today I will be delivering some new goodies to Twinkle Twinkle. I heard that you have been asking for baby hats in beautiful fabrics, and I am happy to oblige. Many of these hats are made in the same fabrics as my blankets, so you can put them together for an extra-special baby gift set. Currently the hats are available in sizes NB, 0-3 months, and 3-6 months. I will add 6-12 months if there is a demand for that size.

I hope you will enjoy this new addition to my product line. Thanks for your support!

Land of the Free

Today is our bi-monthly stocking over at Creatively Serene Congo. Our theme for the month of June is "Land of the Free and Home of the Brave". Be sure to stop by and see what we've come up with! Previews are up now and everything becomes available at 4 p.m. EDT. So plan your day accordingly. :)

Here is a sneak peek at what I am offering:

Old Glory...

American as Apple Pie...

Firefighting Hero...

A Last Little Bit of Whimsy!

I thought I was done with the "May Fairy Lady" theme, but it wasn't done with me. So I took the last few ideas that I didn't have time to finish up for our last May congo stocking, and listed them at my own Hyenacart shop. Everything is up for grabs at 2 p.m. EDT today! (So, like, in about 30 minutes.)

Here's the last thing I finished up for this stocking, a Woodland Bears Boardshorts Set that I literally pulled off of my machine about 20 minutes ago. Who, me? Procrastinate?

I'm lucky today.

I'm lucky today for two reasons.

First, I am lucky that my dear husband was very, very understanding about a very UNlucky moment I had this morning, when I was helping my 4-year-old wash his face before school, and my cell phone fell out of my jacket pocket and.... directly into the toilet.

On a more positive note, I am also very lucky to be part of a wonderful group of Hyenacart artisans called Creatively Serene. Today is our second and final "May Fairy Lady" stocking, at 4 p.m. EDT. I have had SO much fun sewing all kinds of whimsical fabrics for this theme! Hot off my machines this morning, a sweet little hedgies baby set:

Now go forth and shop. Wishing you a lucky Monday!