Not Your Grandma's Baby Blanket

Unless your Grandma is extremely hip.  +wink+ Following closely on the heels of my newly redesigned bibs (flannel, chenille with blingy pearl snaps) I received a request from one of my favorite shops ~ Could you make baby blankets, too?

Baby blankets have been on my project list forever, but I just never seemed to get around to them.  So when this special request came in I decided there must be a market for handmade baby blankets.  Why not give it a whirl?

I made my first blankets today.  I decided to start with the smallest size - what has been called "receiving blankets" in the past and, depending on the size of the baby, may work as swaddling blankets as well. These are the kind you would use to bring a newborn home from the hospital and bundle up in their first few weeks of life.  These are all 30" x 30" double-sided coordinating pre-washed, pre-shrunk flannel.  I am a huge fan of anything polka dot, so plan to make the coordinating flannel always polka dot.

I also plan to make some larger blankets.  They will probably be flannel and chenille or minky dot (a kind of close-cropped very soft chenille).  

They look easy to make, but I was surprised how careful I had to be to measure correctly and sew slowly to be sure everything lined up.  Even then they aren't perfect ~ but I tell myself I hope customers will appreciate the fact that they are handmade and no two will be alike.  I am sure - as with anything - the more I make the easier it will be and the more detail I will enjoy adding.

I've fallen in love with flannel fabrics.  The designs are endless and run the gambit from soft pastels for the more traditional to crazy skulls for the more adventurous.  My tastes in choosing fabrics for my blankets, bibs and burpies (burp cloths) also runs the gambit.  I'm drawn to some of the traditional soft and sweet baby designs and colors.  But I also get a real kick out of the loud and crazy designs and colors you wouldn't expect to see in a baby product.  I am finding that a majority of my customers seem to be young, hipster Mommies and they go for the unusual and unexpected.  But I will carry some traditional fabrics as well.  For you know, the traditional Mommies and Grandmommies.  I love 'em all!  

What fun I have designing new things!  I haven't abandoned my Whee Ones - there will be many coming soon for the next holiday season; but my imagination runs rampant with ideas for new products, new fabrics, new designs.  It keeps my products - and my work days - fresh and fun.

Speaking of ~ since my product line is expanding I'm thinking of doing some subtle changes to my logo, colors, taglines, etc.  Once I've made those decisions, I'll slowly roll out the new image.  
And I just realized - as I often do - I'm making future plans in my head by writing /speaking them as I do it.  My apologies.  Now carry on.  +wink+ 

Long live flannel.

And babies.

Hey Baby (bibs)!

I have played around with baby bibs in the past, but now I've stepped it up a notch and am having a blast!

Flannel comes in so many whimsical and adorable designs ~ they lead my imagination in all sorts of directions!  I've added chenille for the backing to add not only to the functionality (it's thicker and more absorbent), but adds to the texture and the all over design and fashion.

And to set them truly aside from the thousands of baby bibs out there, I always applique something on the front.  That's why I love the flannel designs so much ~ they inspire my appliques.


The crowning touch (almost literally) ~ I have discovered how easy it is to use pearl snaps and they add a touch of class to the bibs.  I had a real lesson when it came to the snaps...  I bought an expensive ($26) tool to attach the snaps.  After a very frustrating experience ~ they wouldn't attach and I ruined several snaps ~ I logged onto Pinterest (my new Google for all things crafty!).  It didn't take long to find a couple of awesome (and easy to understand) tutorials on how to attach snaps.  The real treat?  I found links to a fabric website (I thought I knew them all but I'd never seen this one) with super cheap pearl snaps (in colors no less!) and a little metal tool to attach the snaps.  It cost $2.50, all I needed to add was a hammer!  Easy peasy attaching.  And I've only hit my thumb once with the hammer.  (wink)  Needless to say, I returned the $26 "tool."

So here's hoping my customers will like my new products as much as I do. :) You can find some in my Etsy shop ~ with more to come!

Listening to the Customer.

When one of my loveliest of customers called last week with a special request I immediately said, "Sure! - What do you need?" (See my previous post re: saying "yes!") In retrospect this was maybe one of those cases where I should have said the "What do you need?" part before the "Sure!" part. But on second thought ~ as always ~ I learned and grew.

My lovely customer is an older woman ~ very creative and imaginative ~ and lucky me, she loves my products. A friend of hers is throwing a baby shower for her daughter and my customer is invited. She decided she wanted one of just about everything I make: a dog (but not a Wee Dog - something else); a knit hat; a Wee Traveler bag; a pillow and a baby blanket for the baby's car seat and stroller. Oh, and none of this pastel-baby-looking stuff; we want dark, strong colors because the baby is a boy. And she loves my little truck applique, so could I please incorporate that somehow. And coordinate them all? Oh, and she needs them all in a week.

Keeping in mind that I was in the throes of preparing for the RAW: Natural Born Artist event at the time and slightly freaking out about that, as well as having many additional orders in the queue, I wondered... what had I gotten myself into?

But she is a dear soul, so I agreed. The dog, the pillow, the hat - snap. Done in a short work day. The bag... I hadn't made one in awhile and it took a couple of runs to get back in the groove, but it finally clicked. And the baby blanket ~ I've been talking about adding Baby Bubby Blankets (small for car seats and strollers) to my line for about a month, but hadn't made a proto-type yet. So it was time to dive in. It was surprisingly easy and I am excited to say I can officially add them to my line.

You see the finished gift set above. Not something I ever would have dreamt up for a baby shower, but now that I see them all complete and together ~ I must give credit where credit is due. My dear sweet soul of a customer had a fantastic idea - unconventional, one-of-a-kind and fun! Now I can't wait to show it all to her!

Once again - lesson learned - to listen to what the customer wants and go with it. Inevitably delightful surprises will result!

The Wee Ones

Thanks to the assistance of a very understanding mister (he took the dog to the park and watered all the flowers and veggies and did the dishes) I spent 11 hours in my studio today, focusing on an idea I became obsessed with ~~ Wee Ones.

So here they are. And here I am with my feet up sipping a glass of chardonnay and watching "Mad Men" ready to eat my salad topped with fresh green onions and tomatoes from the garden.

Life is good. I hope yours is, too!

The Wee Ones Have Arrived!

Well, arrived and gone. Mimi (left) and Poppy (right) were in the shop just minutes before they were snapped up. They will be flying to Tucson on Monday. :)

With the economy slowly coming back (emphasis on slowly) I decided to offer some little animals (emphasis on little - they range in size from 5" - 7" tall) at a lower price point (emphasis on lower). And not only are they priced lower, I can offer cheaper shipping because they're smaller and can fit in an envelope!

They are so much fun to create as each one is partially hand-sewn and the expressions and features are limitless! They're perfect for babies ~ small for little hands and soooo soft. But I think they would also make a perfect "cubicle-mate" for anyone in an office. Or perhaps a little someone to keep you company in your car as you commute. Or as a bedside companion for an elder in a nursing home or a child in the hospital. The possibilities are endless...

So help me welcome the Wee Ones to the world. More will be poppping up in my shop today and in the days to come! And, as always, of course I take special requests!

FYI - check out Etsy's Showcase today, Saturday August 8th, for my featured shop in the Toy Category! New items popping up hourly and we'll be featured until midnight!

http://www.etsy.com/showcase.php?ref=fp_banner_showcase_main
(go to the upper right-hand corner where you see "main" and click on the down arrow; scroll down to toys and you will see "freckles & friends" featured)

Thanks for stopping by!

In the Workshop...

Petunia is the newest little piglet in the shop. She's very sweet and very petite. I heart her.

And then there's "black dog" - who shall remain nameless until he reaches his owner on the east coast. (When somone special orders they get to name it.) He's pretty darned cute, too.

And I finished the special order for the twins - the dog, the teddy bear, the pink baby beanie hat, the blue/white baby beanie hat and they will be delivered to the customer tomorrow. It's really been fun creating something special for a little guy and girl yet to be born. I like to think of their little nursery (it too somewhere on the east coast) and as mama and papa rock them to sleep, the last thing they see before their little eyes close are a pink polka dot teddy bear and a blue polka dot smiling dog.

It makes me smile, too.

Two Down; Seven To Go :)

No, the hats aren't really for them; I just decided to get everything in one shot. My friend ordered a pink hat, a "blue/white" hat - for the actual babies, a pink polka dot bear and a blue polka dot dog for twin babies in their family who will be making their appearance soon.

So now before moving on to the rest of the special orders, I think I'll experiment with something I've been thinking about. If it turns out, pix to follow. And it may even end up in the shop. ;-)