Counting the days

It's been over a month now since I've seen Isaac or Devon. Before this the longest I had been separated from Devon was three days, from Isaac...maybe a week? I miss them terribly, but talk to them often on the phone (once going a few days without being able to speak to them at all, while Isaac was in between getting his new phone) During that time I felt completely isolated and helpless (and guilty too!) One of those days, a co-worker asked me, "How is your family doing?" I responded by bursting into tears and then running to the bathroom, leaving her very confused I'm sure. So, I'm super excited to report that I will be reunited with Devon and Isaac this weekend! It's only going to be a few days but it's all I can think about, two more days...
 
As much as I miss them, I also have to make sure that I enjoy my time alone (something I really haven't had at all in the past three years) my time to finally go out with some friends, grab a drink...dance to some really amazing music, and be thankful that I finally made it back to the city where we fell in love:)
 
...shot on a beautiful day spent re-exploring china town...

...the view from my rooftop...

Kool Aid Fairies

Here's something I worked on recently, fairy outfits for Athena and Milla (my good friend, Rebecca's beautiful girls) They played "Kool Aid" fairies in a rock video directed by Merkley Merkley (please be advised: there is nudity in Merkley Merkley's photostream)

Inspiration

I roamed around Japan Town yesterday back to one of my favorite destinations when I lived here years ago, Kinokuniya Bookstore. They have the best fashion magazines and at the lowest prices of any location. I've always found Japanese mags to be so much more inspirational than any US publications. Instead of being chalk full of ads, it's page after page of gorgeous editorials and a million teeny tiny outfits laid out flat so that every little detail can be seen. I'm finding brands that I've never heard of before that are just genius like Good Evening, Wafflish Waffle and Snidel Girl. The image above is from Snidel Girls Spring '11 line, not the most attractive name (or nearly as funny as Wafflish Waffle) but definitely the most precious pieces for your little girl. They do a women's line as well, unfortunately it seems like it's only available in Japan:(

Happiness

I hope everyone had a beautiful day! The brightest part of mine was getting this letter that Isaac sent along with some drawings from Devon. I love how lately she's been giving everyone little piggy noses:) She wanted me to know that this one was a picture of me holding her gameboy...I miss them so much!

Drape Pocket Loungers

Here's some cute pics of my most recent Spring item for Sweet William. This fabric was one of the most difficult that I've dealt with so far. It's a rayon with a beautiful "basketweave" effect, great drape but super slippery! I ended up damageing two pairs of pant's in the final "clipping" phase...very frustrating. These little pants went from size 12m all the way up to 8Y. I wanted to apologize for being such a bad blogger lately. I've recently relocated to San Francisco and it's been really tough for me since Isaac and Devon are still in Southern California and will not be joining me for several weeks. Our Etsy boutique is also on vacation mode until I can reunite with my babies!

School Days

Devon's first day of school was beautiful. I wish I could have gone to a school like this (my school was like a box) this place is total eye candy.... everywhere! It's like straight out of a fairytale, they even have miniature ponies. So, I'm happy to report that neither of us cried and she made friends right away. By day two she was like a pro, a quick kiss goodbye for Mom and Dad and she's out the door.There's definitely things that I remember from the age of three, so I'm hoping she remembers this place:)

Textured Denim Pieces

Been working on Spring stuff for Sweet William. I was looking for engineer stripes, but found this beautiful textured denim much more interesting (and it's crisp, but still has a really soft hand). So happy I still had enough left over to make some cute little trousers for Devon to wear (since suddenly she's growing out of all of her pants) Just wanted to say that I'm really sorry I haven't been on it lately with posting. Things seem all over the place and next week Devon starts school. Will she cry or will I?

Babiekins Magazine

YAY! The latest issue of Babiekins magazine is out, and I finally got to see the pictures that Devon shot in San Diego for this beautiful vintage photo shoot styled by my friend Heather and shot by Allie Lindsey. You can also read our feature in issue 4 here, thanks so much Priscila!

Moody

...is how we're feeling most days

So we've been shooting a lot, trying to get outdoors and enjoy the sunshine and snails.

Sorry to disappear, we have limited internet access right now, but I'm still trying to get new product up quickly...fiending to go fabric shopping (right now, it's all about window shopping)

Devon had a growth spurt this week, I think. She going to be starting pre-school on the 22nd. We love this place! It has a petting zoo with swans, peacocks, the biggest tepee EVER, and a reading nook that looks like a hobbit house. First thing out of her mouth was " Wow, Mom! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!"

Tea Party Dress

Devon's cousin, Zoe gave her this little "Garden Tea Party" dress. I believe it was handmade in France and a gift from Nonie. Devon said she felt like a princess when she put it on.

Here’s one of our “Tea Party” dresses that I just sent off to a nine-month-old client. Her mother was checking out our sold items and fell in love with our Polka Dots and Petals dress. It was a one of a kind piece, but the substitute seersucker also works wonderfully with the original embroidered, polka dot cotton. We hope it makes her feel like a princess:)

The Bright Side

Just a few weeks into a brand new year and already it seems that things are super chaotic. It would be so easy to slip back into that negative mind frame that I've been trying so hard to escape from. I read this the other day and it made me smile: "Whenever things seem to have gone terribly wrong, choose to see it as having gone tremendously well for reasons that are not yet apparent" It's my new favorite life lesson- so many lessons lately... things can't always be so serious though. Thank goodness for playtime, play dough and perfect peanut butter and jellies!

Holiday Sewing

Happy New Year! Our family was lucky enough to have the free time this season to spend together (did a lot of playing) but I also did a lot of sewing over the holidays and wanted to share some pictures of the finished products made with core materials purchased on Etsy.

I made this purse for my Mom, modeled it after a vintage "weekender" bag. It seemed like it could be best used for toting around her quilting or crochet projects. The awesome 60's vintage print cotton was sourced from MoonParade . I highly recommend her to anyone who sews (or enjoys any kind of crafting) Reina ships very quickly, is super sweet, and always ties my packages together with some kind of amazing trim (which I always use later) as a ribbon.

I also made this Ipod Nano case for my Dad, I wanted it to look like an authentic, Chinese "little happy bundle" So, I found this hand stamped muslin ribbon at Kawaiigoodies. It was the first time I had purchased anything from this seller, but it arrived very quickly and was the perfect touch for this present. I'm embarrassed to write that I'm still working on presents for my sister and niece (and my brother's birthday which is right around the corner)

This batch order for babybird set me back a bit. She bought up all the last pieces of my cashmere for our little bonnets....and now I'm movin' onto Spring:)

Puppy Playdate

Just wanted to share this happy moment of Devon's first puppy playdate with my sister-in-law's new baby, "Mochi" We hope everyone had happy holidays!

Tiny Turbans

Sand Dune Turban

Floral Burst Turban

I made myself a batch of these turbans last Winter. Recently, my friend Heather's been spotting them everywhere and thought I should offer some for kids. I'm also making a collection of teeny, tiny turbans for Penelope's Blythe Doll, Tigerlily:)

*Joy*

Well, I had a rash of Christmas orders (right at the end of my cut off date) so our blog has been neglected, but I did ship off the last set yesterday so, YAY! Now I'm finally making Christmas presents and a Holiday dress for Devon...hurry...hurryhurry!

By end of January, our little shop will be stocked with early Spring items! Our Etsy will be focused on knit seperates with ocassional wovens (dresses and blouses) in VERY limited fabrications (we're talkin' 3 to 4 pieces only....ever! I'm excited to say that DevonRose will also be available very shortly at babybird
and as I'm switching into a new Spring collection for Sweet William, I was so happy to find our corduroy vintage print, "Peter Rabbit" dress in the new issue of the beautiful PapierMache magazine!

Boob Job

...or really the total reconstruction of the holiday dress that I made last year for my sister-in-law, Heidi. It's a fully lined wool and velvet dress. I completely detached the back zipper (which is 23" and piped on either side with black velvet) I took in 1" from the sides, created a major peg by chopping off 1 1/2" at the hem, reworked the neckline, added fish eye darts to the back bodice, and chopped 1/2''' off of the back sleeve. The hardest part was adding cups to the bodice (kinda freaked me out when I had these gaping holes cut into it...no turning back now!) but lucky for me, I was able to pull it off in the end...



..and this is the finished garment. Isn't it a sweet shot of Devon? Even though she's without a top (you know how kids like to run around the house shirt free) I hardly ever get any pics of she and I together, since I'm always behind the camera.

Russian Doll

Just made a batch of these little holiday dresses for Sweet William, it's the last of my bulk orders for the year! I'm going to be shipping off all Etsy orders this Saturday and Monday (priority) so everything will be arriving in perfect time for Christmas. We shot this dress right before Devon left for her first professional photo shoot (down in San Diego) for Babiekins magazine. It was a vintage editorial, styled by my friend Heather who did an amazing job with everything...can't wait to see it! The new issue is out in early February:)

On Location

Lately, I've been trying to find different places to shoot new pieces on Devon. It's so easy to just throw them on her and shoot around the house, but I think we're both getting bored of that. Isaac reminded me of this great tiled wall, the perfect backdrop for our Candy Sprinkled Thermals. It's actually the facade of M&L Fabrics and I'm usually there at least twice a week (right now they're having a holiday sale so I'm stocking up) I found a great navy gabardine that I'm going to turn into a modish dress, to pair with this awesome little 60's vintage vest. I bought it for Devon 2 years ago and now it finally fits her. It's going to be her Christmas outfit... I'll make sure and post pics:)


I also wanted to get some impromptu shots (of Devon just doing her thing) in our 80's Sweater Dress, and she had been asking to get some new library books lately. We live right around the corner from the Euclid Branch, so we've been going there a lot (before that I hadn't been to the library in years) It's perfect for Devon, since I sometimes have a hard time guessing which books she'll love and which ones will just end up lonely on the shelf. Getting her first library card was a big moment for her, she's always got to wear it around her neck for the entire visit, and spends the majority of her time there on the computer playing Science games.