WAHM Pride

Following Pivotal Expressions' first birthday last week, today Cravings Frocks/Mrs Beckinsale has a first anniversary of its own! On the 28th of March 2009 I visited Made 'N Thornbury, my first experience of a cozy not-for-profit market. I went along with the intention of checking it out for this crazy idea I had of making cushions that look like trams. I went, I saw, I liked. I applied for the next market in five weeks' time and swore off dressmaking for clients.


The W Class Cushion prototype, which I'm currently sitting on
To celebrate this anniversary I've phoned the Yellow Pages and asked them to remove my dressmaking ad. This month I've had two or three calls a week asking me to make evening dresses (and one to repair a pair of shorts - people do not know the difference between dressmaking and repairs & alterations!). I'm getting mighty sick of my "I'm not taking any new clients at the moment" line so I've finally got around to cutting off the source. I've just searched for myself and yep, all gone!

My business has come so far since I last made a dress for a non-family-member. I never would have predicted advancing from a $10 stall at a community market to being a rent-paying member of a shopfront co-operative in one short year. As an at-home mum in her first year out of paid work, running my business has done marvels for my self esteem.

Recently pro-blogger Uppercase Woman wrote about her personal journey of becoming proud of being a WAHM, and quotes author Brené Brown who says "We have to stop apologising to our children for working." If we're taking time away from our kids to run a business or work outside the home, we have to show them we are proud of what we are doing. It's not about trying to be the (hopefully close to debunked) wonderwoman who has it all. It's about doing what we can as well as we can.

So, Jack and New Baby, your mum is proud that she's created this business from nothing but her weird imagination. She's proud that she spends hours a day creating and thinking and deciding and trying her darndest. Coz if I wasn't doing that, I wouldn't be true to myself.

I'm even proud of how I dressed Jack a year ago:


And perhaps proud of the weight I've lost in the last twelve months...
And how far has my business advanced since swearing off dressmaking? I'm spending this week sewing the first Mrs Beckinsale skirts for Olive Grove. Maybe things don't change that much after all!

Getting back into routine

The other week I read through Clutterpunk's account of her weekly routine of walks, libraries, friend and adventures with her two boys. I saw the life I imagined I'd have during the two years I planned to take away from work after Jack's birth. We'd go watch road works, talk to friendly puppy dogs and I'd lose all my pregnancy weight. Instead I was irresistibly drawn into turning my dressmaking business into a craft business, and Jack grew up in the sewing room.

I realised yesterday the effect the last six or seven weeks of pregnancy have had on both me and Jack. I've been too exhausted (and busy with Olive Grove and Northside Makers Markets) to take him to the playground regularly or to resist when he wants to watch tv. I sew two to five hours a day, six or seven days a week, and if I'm sewing and Jack's not napping the tv is on at the opposite end of the house. He doesn't necessarily watch it - I often discover him sitting on our bed chewing my jewellery or taking all the precious DVDs out of their cases - but if the telly's not on he whines and tantrums. It's been so much easier to simply let him watch it. I've been thinking of getting a little tv/DVD unit for the sewing room so we can at least be in the same part of the house.

If you can't see, Jack's holding a remote in each hand.
You can tell this is an old photo because my laptop was still alive!

But now that I'm officially into second trimester it's as if my energy switch has been flicked back on. Instead of lamenting the fact that when I'm not in the sewing room I'm on the internet, I'm taking back control and curbing both our addictions to the screen. It's a little unfair on Jack, who gets no say in what will be a drastic change of routine (or rather, 'a routine'), but should make both of us happier.

7am .......... Up, nappy, bottle, breakfast, teeth
7:45am ..... Books & trucks
8am .......... Shower; computer for me & telly for Jack
9am .......... Park
9:30am ..... Morning tea & play in the sewing room while I work
11am ......... Nap for Jack, serious work for me
1pm .......... Lunch for toddler, pregnant woman had hers around 11:30
1:30pm .... Telly & email
2pm .......... Sewing room & afternoon bottle
3:30pm ..... Walk, afternoon tea
4:15pm ..... Hubby/Dad's home and I can collapse

This is a big change from the computer going on at 7am and being kept in sleep mode all day so I can check my email/Facebook/Google Reader every time the mood strikes me, usually hourly. I am going to try to keep the computer off as a default. For those who don't have personal internet access during the day an hour and a half may seem incredibly indulgent. Even I am a little embarrassed that this is my new internet 'diet'. But the fact that I plan to leave the house not once but twice a day, and possibly spend 45 minutes exercising, is a huge change. Of course it's normal to put on weight during pregnancy but I gained *gulp* 20kg last time and only lost 17kg in the 15 months between Jack's birth and starting over again. If I can gain only 17kg or less this time I'll be proud of myself.

It's just gone 9am. I'd love to go use up my accumulated health points on my new online addiction, Treasure Madness, but it would be poor form to break my new routine after only two hours. So goodbye internet, I'm headed for the playground.

White Lace Fever*

Can't wait to show you the project I'm finishing off tomorrow. But the sacred bond of dressmaker/bride confidentiality requires I withhold all revealing details until after the big event in 20 days!

This is particularly pertinent as the groom's mother follows this blog.

And no, this Christian LaCroix dress is not our inspiration picture.

* A occular condition in which the sufferer sees lace every time they close their eyes; the side effect of looking at waaay too many bridal magazines in one sitting.

A word of advice [Desperate Romantics handbags]

If you're thinking about sewing a leather handbag on your domestic sewing machine...



...DON'T.



And if you're thinking about sewing an ostrich leather and velvet handbag on your domestic sewing machine...



...I'll save a seat for you in the nuthouse.

I adore the leather on this one. I only had enough to make one bag with it (you can see I had to use a damaged piece to even get that much) and thought it looked best with the green upholstery velvet. If I'd used it with the green & gold brocade I probably couldn't bring myself to part with it.

Speaking of which, today these handbags are priced at $2,000 each. This price may become more reasonable after I've had a lie down and a good cry.

Spoonflowered postcards

I've been playing around with the idea of fabric postcards for a while, initially inspired by this tutorial. Jodie of Vintage Ric Rac has used her Gocco in her own version of fabric postcards. My first ones were made with calico backing, machine stitched to look like real postcards with appliqued stamps and my wonderful Two Cheese Please postmark.




At Christmas I turned the concept into 'Letters to Santa', so that the fantastic things kids demand for Christmas can be saved and used as blackmail by their parents later in life.


Recently I realised that they'd take a whole lot less time, be more writeable and actually mailable if they had a card backing. I had some postcard-sized card from Lincraft, intended but unsuitable for an earlier project, and ran them through my printer.


When this experiment was successful I used it last week to make mounting cards for sets of my Victoriana fabric badges, of which you'll see a lot more in coming weeks. I painted the card with tea to give it an aged look.


Which leads me to today, and Spoonflower. Last month I spent a hell of a lot of money on Spoonflower making up custom Victoriana/Steampunk fabric for various projects. One of these is Victoriana postcards. I used images scanned from 'Victorian Goods and Merchandise', a permission-free book by Dover Publications.


The Spoonflower images haven't come out as clearly as they looked on screen, because the fabric designs are only printed at 150dpi and the old engravings have a mind-blowing amount of detail. I wish I'd only used two teacups and a spoon for my Morning Tea card, but apart from that I'm happy with the designs. The colours are a little paler than I'd anticipated but I think that adds to their vintage appearance. My favourite is the Detective design, of course! I'll be putting these in Olive Grove later this week. Drop in on Friday and say hi!

Photos from Northside Makers Market

I took a whole bunch of photos on Saturday - 100 to be precise! You can find photos by myself and others on the Northside Makers' Flickr group or simply enjoy these favourites of mine.


My new fabric badges plus a leather iPhone case


A new screenprinted kids tee


Spot the photographer! Finki cushions


Blueberry Crumble Bar - tastes as good as it looks, despite the baker's friend saying it was "as soft as a baby's arm." Perhaps she wouldn't have said that if I was more obviously pregnant...


Giant leopard


You're a magician.


This necklace is miiiiiine!

Northside Makers Market Saturday 13th March

Come spend one last Saturday with the Northside Makers before we take a well-deserved break.

Here's our pretty ad in this week's Northcote Leader:

New clothes, new person

Now that I'm going to be working in a shop I believe I need some new duds to wear. In keeping with my ethical fashion pledge I'm determined to make or refashion any new items in my wardrobe.

I found some fantastic tutorials on patternmaker Megan Nielsen's website. I think I'll start by refashioning my black cords, which don't quite do up any more. And I've already picked up a men's shirt from the oppy for this cute empire waist refashion. And I've bought a copy of her short-sleeved jersey top pattern, to make two or three of when I've got time.

Ever the multitasker, while I'm working on all these just-for-me projects I'm also going to be putting more work into this:

An identical profile to Jack's 12 week scan.

Wave hello to the nice people:

Wave hello!

Teeny tiny toes


I've just realised I should blur out my surname on these... Done.

Yeah, I do perhaps take on a couple more things that I've actually got energy for. I must admit I'll be relieved when the last (for now) Northside Makers Market is finished this Saturday. And if people could stop ordering cushions for a couple weeks I'd really appreciate a rest. Thankyou.

World's Best Glasses

For a few years I've been set on the idea of getting me some cateye glasses. I love the whole rockabilly aesthetic and the right pair of specs would help me feel a notch funkier in my day-to-day life.

I got some spending money for Christmas and found these beauties on eBay:


Rhinostones and blue plastic! I love that the blue section of the glasses has just a conservative sweep up and a pair of tiny stars, and then the black comes in behind that full of bling and pointing to the sky. I bid as hard as I could but was handicapped from the start by the $30 postage from the US. In the end the glasses went for $83.66 (plus postage). I spent my Christmas money on bookbinding supplies instead (and hope to have time to use them one day).

Seven weeks later my birthday rolled around, as it always does. Once again I was the happy holder of cash and started searching eBay again. A week ago I was emailed this specimen:


Would you look at the black plastic moulding?! It looks like rubber (but I'm sure it's not). The combo of the shiny pearly conservative body with the bizarre black ribs flaring out from the sides drives me wild. And this time postage is only $11. Again I've been bidding as hard as possible but keep getting beaten. I gave up yesterday at a combined frames & postage total of $70, then decided today that I could go up to $80 but no higher. I logged in and found out a third party had entered the bidding war and the total is now $80.30.

I love them so and I do have $110, but I'd still have to get lenses once they arrived. I think my Extras insurance would cover a decent amount of the cost, but it means I'd only be getting this one thing for my birthday money and not get any more disposable cash til December 25th rolls around again.

And how much can one spend on glasses one has never tried on?

But how could they look less than awesome?

Frames this amazing come up seldom and prices paid reflect their rarity - I'm hardly going to snap up something similar next week for half the price.

I have until 11:40am Wednesday to bid again. What should I do?!

Communicating with Customers, or, Don't Trust HotFail

This week I have learned the hard way - twice - that when I have to confirm the details of an online order with a customer I need to do it using Made It's communication system, not by emailing the person directly. Because if they're using Hotmail my email will be directed to their junkmail folder and they'll never receive very important information about how long custom orders take to complete. If it goes through the communication system of an online store it's more likely HotFail will let it get through. Over 50%, anyway.

This is one of many reasons I abandoned Hotmail years ago.

Here's an amusing example of Hotmail's junk filter at work.

Sending messages through my online shop's communication system also means there's an impartial record of when messages were sent, even if they never arrive at their destination.

My lovely fabrics

Here are the fabrics I meant to share yesterday. At the GJs 25% off sale I got five fat quarters, eight skinny quarters and a 40cm piece with change from $50.30!


It's lovely to buy a whole bunch of fabric, leave it in the bag for a few days, and then take it out and be thoroughly surprised by the beautiful things you found.


These will be used in various Victoriana/Steampunk projects I've got in the works. They're not Victorian in the sense of William Morris reproductions, but they've got the right feel for the projects they're intended for.


I love him wholeheartedly. Thankyou for all the sympathetic and empathetic comments yesterday, and a couple particularly wise ones. I am spending far more time than usual working at the moment, due to the coincidental timing of Frankie and Olive Grove, and Jack is being expected to tolerate this change without a fuss. All the poor lad wants is attention. So I'm going to get off the computer right now and give it to him.

Muuuuuuuuuuuuuhm

I was going to blog about the beautiful fabrics I bought at GJ's 25% off sale, but instead I have a question.

How many of you know what it's like to try to work while a tantruming toddler grabs your legs and demands to be picked up?

There is a canyon between the experience of childless crafters and WAHMs (or even parents who have to take their littlies to their studio for a few hours a week). We WAHMs may be able to remember what life was like before children, but those who don't send a good part of their time caring for children can't understand what it's like on our side.

I'm not accusing those who don't look after children of anything remiss. If you're trying to have children but it hasn't worked out for you yet, I do wish you every joy as early as possible. But those who've got kids will immediately know what kind of morning I've had to be writing this.

Looking for fairtrade tees?

I've spent the morning looking for a local wholesale supplier of blank teeshirts to applique and screenprint. It's tricky - the UK fairtrade marketplace is far more established than that in Australia, but buying overseas means adding to the miles the garments are travelling. There's a number of suppliers who do men's and women's tees but not kids.


Finally I've found Certton. The fabric is certified organic cotton (grown here and overseas) and knitted in Australia, and the garments are sewn in Australia by workers paid a fair wage. They offer blank garments in men's women's, kids' and infant styles. What's more, they even sell fabric wholesale for those who want to make fairtrade garments to their own designs.



They wholesale teeshirts and baby clothing in quantities as small as 20, and those 20 can consist of different sizes, colours and styles so it's perfect for small businesses like me. Of course they cost significantly more than buying sweatshop teeshirts from a retail shop, but that's the price of ethical clothing.


You can check out the wholesale garment list and pricing by entering your business info here, or just ask me and I'll forward you the PDF.

So, does anyone want to join me in placing an order in a couple weeks?

All pics from Certton