Ribbon Headbands

I have been working on some ribbon headbands to match the fairy wands I make. They are made by covering tubing in ribbon, which is then joined and decorated with a selection of ribbons and finished off with a little butterfly.

To begin with I have made them to match the pink and purple wands, but I will be adding some more colours soon.

The headbands and wands can be purchased separately or as a set.

Until next time...

Measuring Head Circumference

I have had a few people ask me how to go about measuring their child's head circumference, to determine which hat size is needed, so I thought I would write a post explaining the best way to get an accurate measurement.

Method:

1. The measurement should be taken with a non-stretch flexible tape measure.
2. Wrap the tape snugly around the widest possible circumference - from the most prominent part of the forehead (often 1-2 fingers above the eyebrow), above the ears and around to the widest part of the back of the head.
3. Read the measurement.

Note: The measurements of my crocheted sun hats are taken with the hats completely unstretched, but being crochet, they have quite a bit of stretch in them, so the hats will fit onto a head that is up to a few cms larger than the stated measurement. This also means that they will fit comfortably for longer than a firm (non-stretch) hat.

[Example: 2 of my children wear the 52cm sized hats yet one is 6yrs old and has a head circumference of 53.5cm, and the other is 10yrs old and has a 54cm head circumference. The hats sit comfortably and do not look overstretched at all.]

For the best fit of my crocheted sun hats (and most use from the hat) I recommend ordering a hat thats measurement is the same or just a little bit larger than your child's head, so it will sit well yet have room for growth.

If you are still unsure about what size to order, feel free to contact me and I will help as best I can.

I hope this helps- if not (if it is unclear or confusing) please let me know. Sometimes you know in your head what you are trying to say, but can figure out how to explain it properly.

Until next time...

Computer Slug

Now this is totally unrelated to anything work or crafty. Just something weird that happened this morning, much to the entertainment of my youngest son and me.

We returned from dropping the others at school (the youngest is home again , although I suspect it is less about him being sick now, and more about milking it for all its worth!). Anyway, I sat down to check my emails, only to discover that there was a little slug sliming its way around my computer screen. I called Master 6 out to have a look. The background is the standard Microsoft Green Rolling Hills job so after asking why it was there, Master 6 jokes that maybe Sluggy thinks that he is really sliding around on grass.

I grab my camera and we giggle away together as Sluggy
leaves the grassy hill to:

"fly up into the sky"

"circle on a cloud"

and then "return to earth".

Quite entertaining and it feels nice to have a good laugh with one of my children early in the day.

I will show the photos to the others when they get home-hopefully it will give them a laugh too!

Until next time...

Fairy Wands

I have been working on some fairy wands. They are based on some wands my sister made for the nieces in the family (including my daughter) a number of years ago. After much searching I finally found someone who supplies the paper mache wands that are used for the base (we had not seen them around for a long time). The weird thing was, after I finally tracked them down on the net, on my very next trip to Spotlight, what did I find? That's right- paper mache star wands!

I have painted, glittered and then decorated each wand with a variety of ribbons and bells. They were heaps of fun to make and I think they have turned out very well. They can be used for play, dress ups, as a costume accessory or to decorate a room...any way your little fairy princess wants.

I have only just finished the photos, so will be working on listing them in my Made It store tomorrow as the kids are getting hungry now!

Handmade Kids

If you like all things handmade for kids check out this site- it is like a buyers guide for anything and everything handmade for babies and kids including clothing, accessories, toys, decor, bedding...the list goes on (and includes my stuff!)

Keeping Busy...

Unfortunately I have not posted anything here for a while. I have been so busy with family birthdays, sick kids, school holidays etc etc as well as increasing my stock levels, trying new designs, setting up a Facebook fan page (oh that is a whole new world...) and researching advertising options so that my products are seen by the "right" people. It is fascinating and challenging and has certainly been keeping me busy.

I am currently working on some hats that will only be available in the smaller sizes- they are made with 100% cotton, but it is an ultra soft baby cotton, and will work best in the smaller sizes. I hope to have them ready by the end of this week, or early next week.

I have recently come into contact with a lovely lady called Michelle from Pamper Boxes -after purchasing a few of Paul's pens, Michelle has ordered more to be included in some future gift boxes she has available-very exciting! Michelle is a lovely, helpful person, who has kindly taken some of her own time to give me some advice on getting started and getting the word out to potential customers. Thank you so much Michelle!

I have worked on my new range of hats made with Anchor Magicline (100% cotton) and have many of them listed in my Made It store:














They are all available in various sizes to fit anywhere from newborn to 12+ years and to keep things as simple as possible I now offer free postage on all our items (see listings for specific details).

Until next time...

Children's Cotton Crocheted Sunhats

I am very happy that I have finally perfected my own crochet sun hat pattern for children, including working out the various sizes. This was quite an accomplishment for someone who only taught herself to crochet in recent years, but I am very pleased with myself and proud of the results. This pattern has been tried and tested including being washed. Some of my early attempts looked good, but lost shape when washed, so I had to keep working on it, to fix that problem before I could even consider putting them up for sale. I am very happy, and relieved to have designed a pattern that looks good when made AND also looks good after being washed and dried! Yeah! I am also getting very favourable comments from people who see them (and this is from people other than my friends and family!)

All my sunhats are made from natural fibres- mainly cotton with an occasional blend of bamboo/cotton. As the hats are crocheted using natural fibres, they breathe well, and will stretch and shape to fit a child's head comfortably. I have made hats in various colours/patterns, which people can buy (ordering the size they want), but I am also willing to take custom orders for specific colours if anyone would like something different from what I already have on offer.

I have a variety currently available in my Made It store and I will also be adding new designs/colours regularly.
This are some of the designs I currently have on offer:













I am currently working on a new batch of hats, which are made from Anchor Magicline Cotton. They are fabulous "patterned" threads in designs such as Splash, Stripes and Dotty. I should be ready to list them by next week.

I have decided to focus on making items for children, atleast at the moment, so in line with that decision I have converted all my handmade fabric buttons into hair ties/ponytail holders. I will be photographing them on the weekend, and relisting them next week too.

Until next time...