A Huge Fabric Leap!

Possibly the most exciting parcel ever arrived this week. 

A box full of fabric. A box containing full bolts of fabric. A box full of fabric just for me!

Not only is this the largest amount of fabric I have ever bought but this is also the biggest commitment I have made so far to 'A Crafty Hen'. Usually I purchase one or two meters of fabric, make for example a baby gift set, if the item does well then I will order more of the fabric, and this method works ok most of the time. But sometimes an item can be a 'slow burner'!! It may not fly of the shelves for example, but slowly and surely after say advertising the product it may start to sell well, but this is when I often encounter problems! I go to reorder the fabric and find that it is sold out or the fabric shop has reordered it and then there is a delay, or worse still that it is no longer being printed! However much I like working with lots of different prints in small quantities, it is a lot more time consuming and really is not the most efficient way to work or to sustain a business. It takes time and effort to get traffic to your shop, to an item you have made so it makes sense once the the traffic is there to keep it coming! So I made the decision in the New Year to take more control of my fabric stock and the most sensible way to go about this was to choose a few 'key' fabrics that I can create a collection from and order these fabrics in bulk, making stock taking a whole lot easier!

And so there it was in the box! Five full bolts of organic fabric. 

Grey elephants has long been a favorite of mine which is luckily shared by many of you. The deer never stays around for very long, so I've not had the chance to play around with the fabric, and the multi coloured elephants is also a favorite. The grey spots, well that's a staple fabric! But maybe it is bolt number 5, that excites me the most, as this is organic cotton fleece. I've been searching and searching in the UK for cotton fleece and have not had any success. I use to make baby dribble bibs and the occasional baby blanket and started by backing them with fleece, which is the most common fabric to find a dribble bib backed with. But I was never that keen on the fact that the fleece was polyester. Yes sure it absorbs and wicks away moisture and dries very very quickly, but to me, and this is only my opinion, a baby's delicate skin should have the kindest and most gentlest fabrics placed next to it and for me polyester doesn't cut it. But organic cotton oh yes! And it doesn't disappoint!  It is very very soft and cosy making it not only perfect for dribble bandana style bibs but also for backing blankets. So watch this space, as they say! I am going to continue working with lots of different prints. I can't help myself! But these three key prints, the two elephants and the deer fabric will soon be available in bibs, dribble bibs, burp cloths, storage baskets and blankets and no doubt a few more items will slip in along the way, which I know will please many of you who get in contact with me asking for more of a range for your baby and nursery in these delightful fabrics.

New Storage Baskets

Introducing my new range of storage baskets. I feel very much like I have gone full circle with these baskets as portable toy storage containers were one of the first things I started selling when I opened my first shop online. I'm not really sure why I stopped making them as they were always very popular, but somehow and somewhere down the line baby bibs took over! But now they are back! The collection ranges from baskets to match the most popular of my baby gift sets for use as storage in a baby's nursery or child's bedroom to baskets like the Glitter Gold' one and the 'Black and White Monochrome' that would not only fit into a stylish modern nursery but would also not look out of place on a dressing table, in a hall filled with post and keys to your living one. Made using a selection of cotton and linen fabrics all the baskets have a white lining and a natural linen base. They are available now to buy from my shop.

On my Sewing Table.... Spring Makes

There are definite signs of Spring popping up everywhere, and its amazing how these glimpses of life give you renewed energy. Its like coming out of hibernation and where as in the house its making me want to spring clean and have a clear out, in my studio area I've been busy working, hoarding away new items, like a squirrel hoards its nuts, waiting for some light to come into the house so I can photograph these items. And yesterday finally the sunshine arrived, though it wasn't easy. I chased the sunshine from room to room, desperately trying to photograph my new stuff. My shop is looking rather bare at the moment and I can't wait to renew it. To organise it, to freshen it up. Unfortunately the sunshine disappeared rather too quickly so I didn't manage to get everything done. And quite a few of the photos I've taken I have had to rather heavily edit so I am hoping that the weather man has the forecast right and that we are in for a sunny dry spell.

I wrote the above on the 6th of March, and in fact the weather man did predict the weather correctly and we did have a lovely couple of weeks with real Spring like weather. We had sunshine and even felt some warmth! But unfortunately minutes after writing the above my laptop shut itself down and died on me!! And so that was that. 

What it did mean was without the distractions that the online community has to offer (!) I did get quite a bit of sewing done, and the sunshine did mean that I got to take quite a few photos. Though without being able to upload the photos I couldn't check the quality and I am disappointed with quite a few of them as I've unfortunately taken them on too high an exposure setting. Anyway working with the ones I've got and now that I have a new laptop, I am hoping to get my new items listed by the start of next week and hopefully then my shop will be filled with some lovely rays of Spring sunshine!

Favourite Finds

Image credits: clockwise from top left lmkremer, TheBlueberryElephant, RGideas, MarinskiHandmades, BagDoRi,

Some of my favourite finds on Etsy.

• Wonderland T-shirt from Imkremer retro inspired clothing for kids. This shop is colourful. I really wish I'd found it when my children were still babies!
• Wool baby booties by The Blueberry Elephant another shop I wish I had discovered when my children were young. The colours of the woollen goodies in this shop are beautiful, Anja obviously has a real eye for colour. The layout is stunning such a gorgeous feast for the eyes.
• Knee high knitted socks by RGideas these look amazing. I've liked so many of the items in this shop. And if it doesn't warm up soon I think I will have to treat myself to these socks or maybe the leg warmers!
• Ceramic Bowl from Marinski Handmades this is a gorgeous shop filled with sweet hand painted bowls and ceramic jewellery.
• Yellow Backpack by BagDoRi now I really don't need another backpack, or do I! This shop is full of practical, modern bags to tempt!

I keep telling myself that I should be thinking of spring but I'm finding it difficult, what with the horrendous weather we have been having of late. I've started working with some lovely yellow fabrics but keep getting drawn back to my pile of greys! Well the colour does match the sky outside! I've even found myself back window shopping for warm cosy woollens, thinking that a pair of knitted knee high socks like the ones above wouldn't be a bad idea for this weather! Oh come on Spring hurry up and come!

On my Sewing Table - New Baby Bibs

I have added a few new baby bibs to my shop, they can be found here. I am not sure now why I thought adding new stock at Christmas would be a good idea, especially as the light levels are so low at the moment which makes taking decent photos of items that bit more difficult! I have had an amazing busy few weeks, which I am so grateful for but it does mean that my shop is looking a little bare! I am now unable to replace gift sets as they sell out, so if there is something you like now could be the time to buy it!

Sale Time!

Sale is now on, be quick as sets are limited. To start shopping click here!

I wish you a Sunny Winter!

Yellow Lady Long Maxi Dress ... Lilyfashionsho... $79.99	bandit boy handmade soft scu... eviebarrow $65	VINTAGE COFFEE GRINDER - Wo... RedChiliPepper... $29	Alice in Wonderwall Meuadoraveligl... $29
Baby Bib and Burp Cloth Set ... acraftyhen $23	1960s Lunch Box / Vintage Fl... 86home $49.3	Toddler and Youth Girls Yell... CharlieandMeDe... $48	1960s Purse. Handbag. Mad Me... gogovintage $22
Cocktail pouch - Geometric d... octopurse $57.6	Crochet Cowl - Lacey Croche... LumiStyle $50	Mustard Mod Style dress with... MotekShop $149	Homework Leather Pencil Case presentandcorr... $30
heart shaped pottery bowl, m... karoArt $23	Handmade Fabric Letter P -12... Forestgirldesi... $32	Two pocket multi Backpack (Y... BagDoRi $60	Mustard, Cat Sitter, Mustard... thecattsuglyba... $22

What a lovely bright and sunny treasury to have my Baby Bib and Burp Cloth featured in. I rather like the cocktail pouch and the 1960's lunch box! Thank you to Hadas for finding such lovely items! You can find my baby gift set here.

Handmade Christmas: Greeting Cards

Image credits: Angela Smyth, Ashley Phal, Draw Abiding Citizen, Man vs George, Seeing Stars.

With only days to go until December now is a good time to start thinking of writing those Christmas Cards. For those of you that haven't yet bought the cards (that includes me!) here is just a small selection of the wonderful cards that can be found on handmade sites like Etsy, Not on the high street, and Folksy. For more handmade gift ideas take a look at my other Handmade Christmas selections.

1. Pack of five 'Crap Cat' Christmas Cards by a very talented artist Angela Smyth whose facebook page is worth having a look at as well.

2. 'All I want for Christmas' card by Ashley Phal whose Etsy shop is filled with wonderful papercut stationery.

3. 'Fairy Light Deer Christmas Card' by Draw Abiding Citizen which is a fairly new shop on Folsky. I have treated myself to this card as decoration! 

4. 'Cardinals in Snowy Tree' by Man vs George, a great modern greeting card with an added bonus of a another design on the flip side! This card comes in a set I also love their Retro Red Scandinavian Reindeer card set.

5. 'Penguin Card' by Seeing Stars. This is a lovely shop on Etsy, her work reminds me slightly of the artist Eric Carle whose books and illustrations my children adore. I have my eye on some of her prints especially this Lightning Bug print.

I'm back off to my sewing machine to get today's orders done. Please check back tomorrow to see what offer I have in store for 'Black Friday' - 'Cyber Monday'!

On My Sewing Table...............

It's been a busy few weeks and it doesn't look like it's going to let up, well not just yet anyway! I finally finished two custom baby blankets. 
One using my favourite deer fabric mixed with lots of grey and mustard prints. I was so happy with it and could have quite happily kept it! 
And in my excitement and hurry to get it sent out to its new owner completely forgot to photograph it finished along with the other blanket! 
Yes I could kick myself!! It's also been a busy time for baby gift sets, there are a few new ones in my shop and also lots of favourites in stock!

Handmade Christmas: Stocking Fillers

 Image credits. 1.Minifanfan 2.FionaT 3.KatieFew 4.Weegallery 5.ColourMeFun 6.KraKra 7.MosseryCo

One of the things that I struggle with when it comes to gift buying for Christmas is finding stocking fillers for my children. Managing to find small, relatively inexpensive items, yet worthwhile gifts can be difficult, and you can usually find me Christmas Eve in my local toy shop with a last minute handful of plastic bits and bobs that I know full well will end up discarded on the floor of their bedroom by the end of Christmas. So in an attempt to a: find gifts that will be enjoyed and cherished and b: support small handmade businesses here is my third part in my 'Handmade Christmas' series - Stocking Fillers.

1.  Sticker Set by Minifanfan on Etsy this shop is full of quirky stickers described by the maker as 'Happy Drawing for Happy People' and I completely agree!
2. Ninja Bookmark by Fiona T on folksy. An amazing unique shop full of zombies and ninja's what more can young boys want!
3. Apple Compact Mirror by Katie Few perfect for girls of any age including mums!
4. Forest Tattoos by Wee Gallery I can imagine these going down very well with my kids. Wee Gallery is a lovely shop on Etsy as well as temporary tattoos there are baby art cards and rubber stamps that also look very good.
5. Monkey Crayons by Colour Me Fun, a jam packed shop on folksy full of different crayons perfect for your little artist!
6. Wee Bird by KraKra I can imagine one of these poking out of my daughters stocking. It is well worth checking out this lovely colourful shop, especially her dolls, this one is my favourite.
7. 'We are all here' pocket notebook by Mossery Co. Stationery items go down very well with my kids and especially notebooks. They happily spend hours writing in them, filling them with drawings and stickers. 
My 8year old boy has a little stack of notebooks by him at night and I find it fascinating to see what he has drawn in them in the morning!   

If you have any ideas for handmade stocking fillers I would love to hear about them. 

New Organic Baby Bibs

I am busy editing photos of new organic baby bibs that I will be listing in my shops over the weekend. These are some of my favourite images of my bibs. It seems a shame to crop them, but square photos work best on sites like Etsy, so that's my job for tonight!

On my sewing table.......

This week it's all been about catching up with orders, including an order to a stockist. It's nice to occasionally batch sew. It gives you a chance to build up a rhythm, all the cutting can be done, then the sewing up of the bib fronts, then attaching the towelling, etc. It gives you a chance to build up a bit of speed as it cuts out the stopping and starting. It is also very satisfying when you end up with a pile of bibs at the end of the production line! 
This pile of bibs have gone off to Inside Out a lovely shop who are now stocking a great range of goodies from smaller handmade businesses like myself along side items from Cath Kidston and Orla Kiely in their stores in Tavistock, Exeter and Dartmoor. 
I always find though after concentrating on sewing one item that I am desperate to let my creative juices flow! So expect lots of new gift sets to start appearing in my shop next week!