More handmade customised dice...and another birthday present.

It has been a couple of weeks since my last post, and I've been busy with a variety of projects.

I had a couple of orders for some customised fluoro dice. So far I've only made dice using 6 lettered names - Murphy, George, Maisie...but this time as well as an Oliver I had an Anna! Names with less than 6 letters are no problem, I just added a couple of fun shapes on the other faces. Not sure that I can think of a solution for longers names though!

We had another birthday party to go to, and I decided to make a pair of Racer Shorts from a plaid mickey mouse cotton. Mickey is one of the birthday boy's favourites and the shorts should be perfect attire for a week in Cornwall (fingers crossed!) I'm afraid that I left making them until the very last minute which meant that as soon as they were finished they were wrapped and taken to the party. No photo! Oops.

With these projects completed I am finally able to start on my man-sized challenge! You may remember that I made some shorts for the Celebrate the Boy Summer event?

Well, they were not only a hit with Wiss but a colleague at work fancied some for himself too. The challenge: to make one pair of tailored shorts to fit a 28 year old man using the Life Preserver fabric in the Snorkel range from Cosmo Cricket.  Hmmm, no elasticated waist then?! I've bought the pattern and all the fabric I need. Now all I need to do is concentrate. Very hard!

I know what I'll be doing this bank holiday weekend...hope you enjoy yours too!

A birthday present and a fancy dress outfit - handmade!

This weekend saw the brilliant birthday party of a very special little girl. Happy 3rd Birthday E! The sun was shining and we all had a fabulous time.

I decided to make E a Warhol Dress for her birthday. The free tutorial on the made website was so easy to follow and the whole dress was finished within two hours. Not bad for a first attempt! I made it using a grey polo shirt from Primark (the pocket is made from one of the sleeves) and some super-soft orange fabric for the neck. Here it is, just before it got wrapped!

As well as a picnic, donkey rides, a tattoo parlour, swimming, ice cream, and birthday cake there was a fancy dress parade. I am not afraid to admit that I got very excited by this and spent quite some time planning Wiss's outfit - handmade of course! We decided that a mini Elvis would be pretty cool and so I got sewing a version of the famous white jumpsuit.

I thought that trousers and a top would be more practical than a jumpsuit for an 18 month old, so I made the flares using Dana's kid pants tutorial with an insert to make them 'flare'. I made my own pattern for the shirt based on one of Wiss's t-shirts. It wasn't perfect but it was good enough (the straining poppers only added to the authenticity!) A simple red jersey scarf, some sunglasses and some fabric paint for jewels were the finishing touch.

I give you, Elvis Presley......

Elvis has now left the building, thank you and good night!

South London, Handmade Toys and Childrens Clothes

Wowee! Where does the time go? So much has happened since my last post I don't know where to start.. So let's begin with some very exciting news!

You can now purchase This is Wiss Bobby Horses from a fantastic new shop in Crystal Palace. Juliette's Handmade Gifts (3 Belvedere Road, SE19) sells gorgeous handknitted clothes for babies and children as well as carefully sourced handmade toys. If you're looking for a wonderful and original gift for a special little person it's a great place to go. (Plus Juliette has a super cute house rabbit called Oscar who is sometimes in the shop!) The shop is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

After the last Sell it Mama event I decided to take a few weeks off 'business making' to get busy making some clothes for Wiss. I was so chuffed with the results that this 'break' has snowballed into a long list of things I want to sew and a big pile of fabrics waiting for their relevant project. I don't imagine I'm alone in this obsession though? It's summer, it's the start of the birthday season for us, and there are lots of parties to go to. So this means I plan to make: some seersucker shorts and trousers, a little summer dress for a 3 year old, some PJs for a birthday boy, a waterproof overall, one mini Elvis outfit, and some tailored shorts for a 28 year old man! I'll post later with photos as and when they're all finished.

But with This is Wiss firmly in mind I was able to go fabric shopping this weekend. The Bobby Horses have been such a huge success, and especially the bright yellow ones, that I am going to be expanding the range to include more colourways. Just look at how gorgeous these felts are:

So as well as well as the grey, yellow and brown horses, there will soon be pink, green, turquoise and red ones too! All will have contrasting wool manes and vintage button eyes.

As you can see, I've got my work cut out this summer. And I've not even mentioned the allotment or the marathon training. But they will have to wait....I've run out of time!

Celebrating the Boy Summer 2011 (better late than never!)

What a lovely holiday! And until this afternoon it seemed that we'd brought the fabulous Italian weather back with us.

I managed to make two pairs of shorts for Wiss for the holiday - and although the second pair were infinitely better shaped, the pattern could still do with some tweaking. Mainly to allow for the extra large booty that washable nappies give their wearer. (To be fair to Dana, I forgot to print out her pattern for the first pair so I traced a pair of shorts. It didn't work that well! For the second pair I'd got myself more organised and used her pattern.) Still, I was so pleased with the results and was chuffed to bits every time he wore them that I can't wait to make more clothes. Check out MADE kid pants if you'd like to make some for your little man.

Now we're back, normal service must resume. I have had some more orders placed for Bobby Horses, and Changing Bag sets, plus I need to replenish all the stock I sold at Sell it Mama, so it's back to the sewing machine for me this weekend.

We have a special little girl's 3rd birthday party to attend at the end of July and I'd like to make her present: maybe the tutu from the new Oliver + S book? Or perhaps the Warhol Dress? Plus it's kids fancy dress so I'll have to think about what Wiss can go as... ! There are just so many exciting possiblities when you make your own things. Happy sewing!

So...hello!

This is my very first step into the blogging world so please bear with me while I find my (web) feet!

This is Wiss was launched at June's Sell It Mama event in Gipsy Hill and it was better than I could ever have expected. It was lovely to meet and speak to people in person about my products and get immediate feedback. Thank you to everyone who came to say hello, and special thanks to all my new customers!

Since then I have had a little break from making 'business' stuff to concentrate on some sewing for fun. Specifically, making some clothes for my little man for our holiday to Italy. I followed with interest 'Celebrate the Summer Boy' on two of my favourite blogs; Made and Made by Rae and although I didn't quite manage to make anything for that particular week I did knock up my first ever pair of shorts this weekend! Check out their amazing tutorials and archives and I dare you not to be tempted to make something too!