August Competition Winners

Congratulations to Mel for winning the Ollie Rose bib competition with this simply gorgeous entry of Oliver in his owl shirt.  He looks so cute I have commissioned Kobie to make one for my baby immediately, and you can spot him on the homepage

Hopefully I will get a chance to show you some of the other entries we received over the next week as it was hard choosing.

And not forgetting……..

Congratulations to the winner of the $10 voucher -  J Gardiner.

 

Behind the Scenes

When designing a shirt our outfit probably the most time consuming part is all the behind the scenes work.

Wash day is a long but necessary process to make sure everything is preshrunk. My most dreaded part is the ironing of the meters of fabric afterwards. Groan!…

I also have a mock shirt where I do test runs of stitches, fabrics and ribbons to check they will hold up in the wash. I sew examples of the designs to it and it gets thrown in the wash about once a week so I can check how things are washing.  If they pass that test then I am happy to use that technique or material on designs for the shop. 

For creating the designs I usually start with a few sketches and scribbles of the idea in my head. I carry a notebook around with me when I can. Otherwise I just use whatever bit of scrap I can find to jog something down on. I have done a great deal of idea sketching on car trips to Geraldton. With hours to sit and think it is nice to watch sketches develop into designs for clothing and shirts.

I then start to make my sketches into outfits.   Choosing the fabrics that work best together is probably the hardest part. This could have something to do with all the gorgeous fabric choices I have….too many choices! 

It is the fabric that really helps tie the design together and make all the difference of a well designed piece as opposed to a few bits of scrap thrown on a shirt so I find this step quite time consuming.  Once I am happy with how it looks away I go.

Often I will only make one or two in the same design as the idea will evolve or change and I see it become something else. I wont usually do more than about 6 identical ones but with each one being hand cut and sewn anyway there are always slight differences to make each one unique.

There is so much behind the scenes work that goes into everything so some days I feel like I am not achieving much, but I might have spent the whole day washing, ironing and testing products. Which is pretty much what happened today! I have  nothing to show but a nicely washed, ironed and folded pile of blank shirts and new fabrics.

So as you can see we spend a great deal of time perfecting our patterns and designs and working hard to provide you with original designs.  It would appreciated if you see our items you would afford us the same respect and not directly reproduce our designs as your own.

 Kobie

Monkey Faces and Painting

If you ask Sabre what she wants for lunch, without fail she will ask for a Vegemite and cream cheese sandwhich…..EVERY day…..the same thing….EVERY day. Today we made the usual sandwich a little more interesting. Not only for my sanity but because it was a little bit of fun too. We made it into a monkey face.

Sultana eyes, polony smile, Vegemite and cream cheese. Trouble was after I cut away all the bits there really wasn’t that much sandwich left so we had to make quite a few monkey’s in the end.

He was quickly gobbled up though.

After monkey making we did went out to collect leaves for crayon rubbings. I remember LOVING doing this as a kid. Sabre didn’t quite have the dexterity yet but with a bit of mum help (read-push child out of way and gleefully grab at crayons and relive childhood memories of crayon rubbings. Sabre was happy to watch on whilst her mum was temporarily possessed.)

Then in the afternoon we did some painting. Mum was very carefull to just stand back this time and let the budding artist go for it. She loves feeling the paint and squishing it all around with her hands. There was a brief painting on the patio lattice when I had to duck inside but all in all at least it managed to stay mostly contained.

Note her art smock! One of Dad’s old work shirts. I have been debating about making a smock for ages but there is something about wearing one of Dad’s old shirts that I think kids sorta like. I know I did as a kid.

In amongst the artistic day I managed to finish a few sets for a lovely regular customer. Love the way they turned out and hope she will too.

  

Oooh just though I should point out that the pant legs of the helicopter pair are different lengths because I rolled one cuff up to show they can be adjustable….they are not grossly uneven! hhehe

Kobie

LMNOP feature

The latest issue of LMNOP Magazine is now out and if you look closely you will see our Timberdoodles lovely baby rattles have been featured.

Just Lounging Around

 

We are very excited today as our new range of Lounge Sets have arrived, make sure you check them out.  They come in some gorgeous fabric and styles.

 

            

I have been bitten

It would seem that I have been bitten by a bug or virus or suffered a fatal error on my computer shorlty after 1pm today.

All of my emails have been deleted. I am devestated and dont quite know where to begin. I would like to please ask for your patience if you are waiting on a reply from me as I may not get back to you. If you are waiting to hear back from me I please ask that you email me again.  With only one possible fix it man in town I am waiting to hear back from him if he can help me. Hours of research on the web has left me more confused and devestated as it doesnt look like I will be getting anything back.

Today’s orders are up to date and I am receiving emails as of 1pm, it is just my inbox and subfolders before that.

I will keep you posted.

Featured Item: 1girl1boy’s Hand Dyed Funky Shirts

Have you seen 1girl1boys hand dyed shirts yet on our site?

These shirts really are a unique and individual shirt, no two will be alike. Every shirt is hand dyed and printed by Stacey & Mark.  With Stacey designing, printing and sewing and Mark mixing inks and cutting blocks, they really are a great team.

Each shirt is hand dyed using 1girl1boy’s own dye recipes and printed using blocks designed & hand. To achieve a soft “hand” to the printed surface water based inks are used. Finally a design is appliquéd on. The appliqué is Ultrasuede that has been block printed, hand cut, & machine sewn.

Each shirt is unique. The block printing process gives the shirts a “handmade” look that is different from traditional silkscreen tees. The character of each print is different. Some may be light, others darker, depending on the material used for the block, amount of ink rolled on the block, & even the pressure used to print.

If you are wanting a truly unique handmade item, then these shirts are it!

I am ROBOT MAN

For some time now I loved anything Robot. Robot toys, Robot fabric…..heck doing the Robot Dance even!

Little Miss S caught onto this obsession some time ago too. After I told my very creative and clever friend Sara about her love of robots she created this ever so cute softie for her! How cool is that! She looks pretty neat on her shelves….now she just needs a mate so that he too can climb on board the Noah’s Ark he overshadows. Upon receival Sabre wasnt that overly exited in typical toddler fashion but by that afternoon she had christened him Jim and he was a firm friend.

I also managed to find this cool robot book for her with 48 Flaps to open. Every little kid loves the open the flap books so this one is a real favourite.

And then one of my favourite fabric buys was this cool ROBOT MAN fabric. Designed by Alexander Henry and printed in 2000 it is pretty hard to find now and has such a cool retro vibe to it. I just wish I had gotten more than I did. Always the story! Everythime I look at it and read the words…….”Robot Man” ……. I say it in that deep booming voice over sounding voice……”I AM…ROBOT MAAAN!” 

It looks super funky on shirts too. Here are just some of the tops I have used it on. Seeing as I am currently free for custom orders why not contact me for your own…”ROBOT MAAAN” shirt to be made for your funky little guy or girl…get in quick!

Kobie

Pretty in Posies

We are so delighted to be stocking these most amazing hair pretties. Created by Jenn a creative SAHM of two children in Hudson Valley just outside of New York. The detail in them is incredible. Some having up to 6 layers of felt, heat sealed ribbon,  handstitching and pretty rosettes and buttons. All in the most gorgeous colour combinations.

I have only had them 3 days and Sabre has had one of hers in constantly! She is a clip girl. I have literally piles of them! A girl can never have too many! She has worn them since very little as I havent wanted to cut a fringe in her hair so needed to keep back the wisps of hair. If only I had found Pretty in Posises way back then! The baby snaps are fantastic for fine wisps of hair. The snap style clip is tiny (just over 3cm) and the flower just small enough to be subtle but oh so pretty. As her hair has now thickened up the aligator style is perfect to hold back more layers of hair but we can still get away with the baby snap to pretty pony tails up a bit.

Sabre wearing an aligator style clip.

So how to store them all? I have seen those frames with ribbon you can clip them too but they are a bit too fussy for me and wont hold anywhere near all her clips! So at the moment they are just in a bowl and a basket. A bit jumbled but one day I will have to sort them out a bit better for her. Any ideas on the best way to do this greatly appreciated!

In the words of Jenn…have a pretty pretty day! Kobie

Finally a hint of spring in the air! The days here in the Bay have fined up making it the most inspiring weather for getting outdoors. Today Sabre and I planted some cherry tomato seedlings much to her delight. What fun getting to slosh in mud as she helped me pat them down. Our tiny vegie patch really isn’t much to look at. Living so close to the beach gives us very sandy soil but with a touch of manure and a few in pots they seem to do ok. We got a nice little crop last year and hope for the same this year. I actually don’t even like tomatoes unless it is cooked but the reason I grow them is because they always do well and I do like them on homemade pizza. Growing alongside them are the Basil plants which have reseeded from last year and starting to look a little worse for wear again. Unfortunately with the poor soils and little time that is all I have put in this year. I have a few pot plants to rehash and move around but that will be about the extent of my spring gardening. I do miss the Kimberley climate for growing amazing plants in the shortest amount of time.

 

I also wanted to share some pics of some of the prettiest wildflowers that are in flower in the bushland here. I had thought it was what people referred to as the Tamala Rose Bush after Tamala station in the Shark Bay region but have since found out that is another species. I am yet to find out this ones name, and for all I know it could be a wild weed! however it is very pretty and I enjoy seeing it on the bush block over the road from me.

On the highway back home from Geraldton this week I kept wanting to stop and photograph all the other beautiful wild flowers but was in that frame of mind of just getting there as soon as I could. Next time!

 

So with the spring breeze teasing the air I have been enjoying putting the Ollie Rose bird on everything in sight! With the mix of fabrics there are a million possibilities for him and his does look oh so cute. I am itching to show you beautiful inspiring fabrics and designs so stay tuned for part 2 of this spring is in the air post. Stay tuned…

Kobie