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...

Handmade Buttons!

As promised I indulged my love of buttons by buying what I needed to make some of my own. I particularly love large buttons so started with the two largest sizes I could get-45mm and 38mm. After going through my own fabric stash and raiding my sisters collection too (Thanks Kylie!) I had heaps of wonderful fabrics to try. These were made up primarily of reclaimed clothes-many vintage, retro or just plain gorgeous and unusual. I had so much fun making the buttons and still have heaps of fabric so I am going to get some more button components so I can make some more! I might also put some smaller ones onto elastics to make pretty pony tail holders and have a go at making some button hair clips.

Here are my first attempts at button making:







A collection of large (38mm) handmade fabric buttons (now available in my Made It shop)
















A collection of extra large (45mm) handmade fabric buttons which will be available in my Made It shop soon!






It is so exciting when you try a new craft and instantly love both the creative process and the results! Yeah!

Til next time...

New Bags with Pockets

I have finished the two bags I was working on- they are the first ones which I have added inside pockets to, when I made the linings. They went really well and I am very pleased. I am going to include pockets in all the larger bags I make, from now on. I convinced my lovely neighbour to model the bags for me to photograph (it helps give people a better idea of the size and look) and I have listed them in my Made It store. I will include the some photos below:














Brown Maui Bag- This is made with Moda Vera Maui Yarn. Each bag I make is fully lined with cotton fabric to prevent small items from escaping. The straps are also lined to prevent stretching.
This bag has two pockets so items like keys and mobile phone do not get lost in the depths of the bag. It has velcro to hold it closed-I felt this yarn was elaborate enough on its own, and didn't need to be embellished with any buttons.
The yarn is multi-stranded. The main colour is dark brown with strands in various shades of pink, running throughout. It is a looped yarn so the bag has a lot of texture.













Red Maui Bag: This bag is essentially the same as the one above except for the colour and a very slight difference in strap length.
The main colour of this yarn is a rich deep red, with strands of dark yellow, cream and pink running through it.




This is my lovely (and patient) neighbour Ama, modelling the bags for me! Thanks Ama!

Anyway until next time...

AUGUST BIRTHDAY SALE!

I was busy working on my Made It Store yesterday. After a discussion with fellow seller and new friend Sheepish Sarah, I decided to offer FREE POSTAGE on all my Made It items sold during the month of August, to help celebrate my birthday. I am also hoping that this offer might encourage a few people to give a newcomer a chance. We will see how it goes...

I am finishing a few bags today and will hopefully have them ready to post tomorrow. I have made the decision to start making baby & children's sun hats again (now that I have the pattern right). It took me so much trial and error last year to make a pattern that looked good made but also looked good, sat well and offered good coverage once on a baby/child's head. I did perfect it after much heart ache and I am ready to through myself back into it and see how they go. I will post some updates once I get back into it. I need to finish stocking up my supply of bags first.

I have also decided to try my hand at making my own buttons. I love great buttons and use them as a prominent feature on many of my bags, and although I have found some sensational buttons in my travels, I cannot always find ones to match/compliment a particular bag and they are also very expensive. Stocking up on buttons really puts a big dent in my budget. So stay tuned for updates (and photos of my button making adventures!) I am also trying to convince hubby to try his hand at making me some carved buttons from wood and coconut- I love the natural buttons, but the large ones are super expensive.

'Til next time...

I Finally Made It Back!

I had been promising myself to write a new post for a while now, and when I finally made the time, I could not log on! I read all the relevant help pages, followed all the instructions but still no luck. After much frustration, I still haven't worked out how to fix the problem permanently, but I did find a way to get around it and that will do for now.

Since my last visit I have been really busy. I redid all photos of my bags (for my Made It listings) and finally figured out the best way to photograph them AND have them look as natural and as close to real life as possible. The new photos have been added to the listings.

I have been busy posting my moebius scarves in my Made It Shop. For anyone who doesn't know, a Moebius scarf (also known as a Mobius or Infinity Scarf) is made as a loop with a twist in it. The loop means that it can be worn without getting in the way of what you are doing, and without falling off. This twist means that the scarf sits nicely around the neck/under the chin. I love them because they can be worn in so many different ways, depending on the width and length of them. I will include some sample photos below (these are some of the scarves I now have for sale in my Made It store):





















I have also been learning how to use Google Analytics and reading about the best way to list items to help them be found- and not just be found, but be found by people who are actually interested in what we have to offer. I changed my titles and the 1st line of my item descriptions, and I am now appearing higher in Google searches. So much to learn and so many things to think about.

I have also had some of my bags accepted into a shop on consignment, and the shop owner seems very confident that they will sell. I hope she is right! Its all very exciting because if they sell well during a trial period, she will then buy bags from me outright, rather than on consignment. I am trying so hard to be patient, but it isn't easy because selling well through her store would be a huge boost.

In the meantime I am getting some more bags finished to add to my Made It store. It has also been a busy time with the kids- bday parties to ferry them to and a few school events are on this week. The youngest two had a multicultural day yesterday. Each class studies a different country-they set up displays etc and the parents are asked to cook (or buy) food from that country. The classes then move from room to room, learning a bit and sampling some food from that particular country. The kids love it. Anyway I cooked Tarte aux Pommes (Apple Tart) for my daughter's "French" class and Oat Cakes for my son's "Irish" class. I also volunteered to help out with serving food-it was a lovely way to spend the morning! On Friday 2nd oldest son is receiving 2 awards at a school presentation, so I will be spending the morning at the highschool. Busy, busy but it keeps me out of trouble!

I will be back with photos of my new bags when they are done. These bags are all larger than the original ones I made, so I am thinking of adding an inside pocket or two when I make the linings, so smaller items like keys, mobile phone etc don't get lost in the depths of the bag. A bit more work but I think it will be worth the effort.

Until next time!

Update

I have been so busy this week. Just as school was about to go back, the littlest one gets gastro-poor pet. He is all better today, and off to school with the others to "see his friends". Working around the kids holidays and then the illness, I have managed to finish the crochet portion of two bags (I am hoping to get the linings done today or tomorrow), and I have been working on some mobious/circular scarves (just for something a bit different).

I am also going to retake the photos of my bags, after discussing it with a friend (who has some knowledge in this area). The photos I am now using, in my Made It store, just do not do the bags justice at all, and they look so much better in real life. I can get the photos to look better, but then they don't look "true to life" (colours/tones are not accurate). I need to make sure the photos look accurate and good at the same time. I have been taking the photos as j-peg files, but this means I can only edit them with basic software (as I am an absolute dunce when it comes to photoshop!). I will retake them as RAW images, which will let me edit them with the camera's own software, which will hopefully improve the end results. If not, I will be off to visit the above mentioned friend for a crash course in Photoshop (Thanks for the advice and offer of help Sue)!

Anyway I must make a move to get these kids off to school, then it will be back for photo taking (while the sun it out). Hopefully I will be back later with some spectacular photos to show off!

Sheepish Sarah Bag is Finished!

The bag I made using the Purple Haze wool I ordered from Sheepish by Sarah is finished, and I am very happy with it (I am quite tempted to keep this one for me- I am due for a new bag!) I had a little trouble getting the colours to show up correctly in the photos. I tried photographing the bag outside, inside, flash on, flash off...to no avail. The overall colour of the bag is Purple (which makes sense seeing as the wool is called Purple Haze), but outside in the sunlight, the highlight colours show up a lot more brightly and less "blended" than they really are. I am going to include one photo of the bag I took inside the house (the 2nd photo), which is the closest I can get to what the bag looks like when it is not in the sun. In my opinion the bag looks better in person. Now what should I make next...