Flea Market: 2nd Attempt

Another flea market experience under my belt! This month's flea market was held outside which made it even more enjoyable. I have to admit, I was a little nervous as first as I hadn't made a sale in the first hour or so, but in the end, it turned out about the same as last month's market. The shoes were a huge draw and I sold 3 pairs along with a couple bibs and some more tops and the bubble skirt. The tops, it should be noted, were all the summer tops. No one was interested in my new sleeved line. I guess that's good news for me because sleeveless is so much easier!
I'm not sure if we'll participate in the September market. Our big presentation for the gov't grant is coming up this month and, frankly, most of the patrons of the night flea market are young college students...not exactly and ideal place to sell baby items! But, maybe I'll just go with what I have left and see if I can get rid of it! :)

Take 2!

We're coming up on our second flea market attempt this Saturday (which is why I haven't posted much here lately...I've been sewing, sewing, sewing!) After our relative success at last month's flea market, I should feel pretty relaxed about Saturdays, but I'm not. Because of the changing seasons, most of the clothes for this market are different than the popular items from last time. Sure, I have a pillow case top or two, but because I wanted to branch out I focused more on fall wear this time around. It was fun and I'm now excited to make my own kids' fall/winter clothes. For example:

although pants are not new for me, I've worked hard to improve my design. I now have learned the basic pocket (as opposed to a patch-style pocket sewn onto the clothes) and I had a lot of fun embellishing the pants. For the girls, print cuffs so the pants will grow with the child. And for the boys, stylish cargo pockets and a little something extra:
because if there's one thing Oscar has taught me about making clothes for little boys, it's that Thomas and his Friends go a long way to making a happy boy!
I've also made a few simple peasant blouses. Admittedly, they look kind of funny on the hanger but once on, they should be cute. Here's one I made for Irene this past spring.
And finally, last time I had been thinking about including some of my hairbands but was hesitant. There was just something I wanted to change but couldn't put my finger on it. After thinking about it, I came up with this new style. I know, I know...not too earth-shattering, but I'm excited to see how they sell.
Wish me luck on Saturday (and if you happen to be in Gwangju, stop on by!) ;)

Eastern Eclectic

Continuing on my quest to create the perfect sleeve, I used some of my new Japanese-y fabric that arrived last Sunday as inspiration. I love this fabric. I know, I know, I say that all the time...but I really mean it this time! I have a "thing" for Japanese prints and this almost looks (to me) like something you might see on a kimono.

Basically, I started out with the idea of making a simple shirt but then I got to the neck hole. Now, I'll be honest here - neck holes have caused me much grief in the past. Because the material isn't stretchy, I have to make it large enough to fit over her head - and I can't tell you how many times I've misjudged. So, determined not to screw this up and waste my beautiful new fabric, I opted for a button opening. Not wanting to do the boring ol' buttons down the back and inspired by the Asian prints, I added a sort of Chinese-style opening. The result? Cuteness:
As this was my first attempt, I decided that it wasn't good enough to sell at the flea market. (really, though, I'm being totally selfish and I just want to see Irene in it!) So I made second top but reversed the fabrics - same prints, different colors:


A close up of the collar made of the coordinating fabric. I'm now thinking that Irene may need one in red, too.

My little Korean girl in her Japanese-print Chinese inspired top...and her little dog too.

Sweet Sleeves

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been trying to expand my projects to include more fall/winter styles as we're creeping closer to September. While a cute sun dress can be layered over a T-shirt, I don't think I can expect to start a business by selling pillow case dresses in the winter months. So I've taken the plunge: sleeves. I've sewn them before, but sleeves are no friend of mine. Nonetheless, today I decided to take the plunge. I present the Sweet Sleeved Top:

It's really hard to see on the hanger (and alas, I have no chubby little 9-12 month-old little girls at hand to model it...just a barrel-chested 14 month boy) but I think the sleeves will provide just the right amount of *poof* for delicious little baby arms. And my favorite part? The sweet little shoulder bow!
I'm still not psyched about moving into "sleeve weather", but I'm quite happy with this top. Now the floodgate are open and I wonder what else I can do with a sleeve!

Bubble Butt

I haven't had much time to update my blog lately - between summer vacation for the kids and trying to finish up the custom orders from the flea market I've been keeping pretty busy. Did I mention that I had custom orders?! Makes me feel so professional! ;) I've also been trying to decide exactly what to put in the August flea market. Because we're almost to September now, it seems silly to sell only summer items so I'm trying to think of more fall goods that I can make. One thing that popped into my mind immediately was a bubble skirt (i.e. a skirt without a crisp hemline which kind of "bubbles" out at the bottom).

I'd made one for Irene a couple years ago, but that was in the beginning of my sewing days and it was also a re-purposed project. I used an old knit tank top that I got from a thrift store and a pair of tights that Irene had already outgrown and, following this tutorial, I made my first bubble skirt. I loved it. It was bouncy, fun, cheap and cute...but the inside looked like a disaster zone.
I still see these types of skirts and dresses hanging on the racks in stores and Irene loves the bubble dress that her Aunt & Uncle sent her for her birthday this year, so I decided to try to figure it out. It turned out to be pretty simple once I really looked at what was involved (I mean for a skirt...a dress would be a whole 'nother story!) So I present the Fun & Flouncy Fall 2011 Bubble Skirt:

Apparently I have a thing for polka-dot bubble skirts. I'll have to switch it up next time!