New listings and Twilight

I've been busily working this week on only size medium and large garments. Very soon I'll get to listing an even amount smalls, mediums and larges so that my shop is more balanced. It takes me about a week to get items listed because I usually photograph a batch of garments once each week or two, then stagger the listings until the next batch is photographed. I've also got more custom garments coming up.

Just listed these two tops:

M looks like rain top

S candy house top

I'm going to take a tiny fashion break and talk books for a minute. Before I got into fashion designing, my hobby was writing fiction. Now that designing is my job, I find myself wanting to write as a hobby again. Here's why:

In this post, I was talking about how I don't read much and that I haven't been engrossed in a book in forever. Since then, Twilight came along. The feeling of being engrossed came back, but not in the way I remember. The book was disappointing. It was slow, silly and dull in parts. But I loved the premise and the idea of the character Edward (protagonist's love interest), and that's what kept me reading.

The movie was more fascinating and more frustrating. It was richer, and the characters had more life to them, but they just sort of followed the motions of the plot on the screen. I didn't really care about them, didn't believe that the main duo was in love except that they told us so. I felt like they could have done so much more with the story. And vampire's skin sparkling in the sun? There was no way to not make that look dumb.

Rather than read more of the series, I'm instead left feeling inspired to find, read and/or try to create other stories with the same amount of passion but with more depth, feeling and plausibility than the Twilight books.

We'll see how I go.

Long post: today's outfit, shopping and new listings

I hope everyone had a fantabulous Christmas! We had a fun time. Although there was a gaping hole where my dad should have been..


Okay this picture of Ellie was actually from the weekend, but she was just as delightful yesterday, which may or may not have anything to do with the oodles of presents she recieved (this bouncer was not one of them, but she does find it far more fascinating than she did when she was little enough to use it).

This is what I wore today:

Dress: Review
Boots: Josef Siebel
Bag: Somewhere in Thailand

I pledge to do more outfit posts. I keep intending to take outfit pictures but either I forget the camera, it's out of batteries or I plan to do it 'later' and by the time I remember it's too dark for a decent photo. Poo.

Today was my brother's 25th birthday. I went to Chadstone shopping centre to get his present this morning before his birthday lunch (yes, I left it stupidly late. But I did know what I was getting him). In Australia, Boxing Day (the day after Christmas), is pretty well-known for its sales. Stores open at 7am and people arrive in droves to get their hands on a bargain. After driving around the carpark for 20 minutes I thought it was a completely dumb idea to shop that day, but then I tumbled into a parking spot completely by fluke. I thought my luck was getting a little better. It ended up being a good morning, depite it taking three times as long to get anywhere because of the crowds.

I got myself some significantly reduced tights and socks from Myer and a necklace. I avoid all clothes in shopping centres, except to browse for inspiration (which 99% of the time is a waste of time). However, I figure that tights and socks are machine-made and therefore don't require sweatshops, but I haven't done any research on it. If anyone knows, please hook me up. This is the necklace I got:


And I got this fedora from K-mart for $10, also significantly reduced.


I never seem to find hats that look good on me, but I quite like this one and I need one for summer. I never really wore hats before but now I want to set a good example for Ellie. The band around the hat is a little tacky looking, so I think I'll replace it or remove it altogether.

I also got lime green chairs from Target for our dining table. I've been looking for second-hand chairs for ages and gave up when I found these cute little numbers (for 30% off). I'm quite over eating on stools.

The gift I got my bro was a remote controlled helicopter. They are pretty damn cool.

In Heidi & Seek news, these are the new listings for tonight.

S/M dance polka top

S in frame top

S reinforce dress

I'm dreaming of a green Christmas

Recycled Christmas gift tags by PaperPumpkin

I can't remember the last time I was really into Christmas. I think it's important for kids, and I want Ellie to have that Christmas spirit (simply because it's fun) but this year I haven't gotten into it at all. We haven't decorated the house, we don't have a tree. We're so incredibly busy and run-off-our-feet that all we've done for Christmas is the necessary organising of gifts. Next year I want to get into it. We'll have a tree, maybe this one, for decorating:

The Cardboard Tree

The great thing about this is that it's made from recycled paper, plus each sale contributes to a reforestation program. We should be planting trees, not cutting them down for decoration and then throwing them away.

The mass consumerism of the holiday makes me uneasy. I haven't avoided the shopping centres altogether, for the sake of convenience. A lot of our gifts came from the Oxfam store. But being in the centres, having marketing material shoved in our face and looking at everyone running around and buying up big, just screams 'waste' to me.

I think about the gifts that are bought just for the sake of having a gift to give, when the recipient probably won't love it. I've done it before, even this year, because it's hard sometimes when you haven't the foggiest clue what to get. You can't not give a gift. Although, I am doing better than last year. I made a few gifts. We got thrifty. I got a couple of World Vision Smiles donations to give. But others are just things for the sake of the occasion. Not extravagant things, but things nonetheless.

Next year I'll try to be a bit more prepared. Next year we'll get crafty and thrifty with decorations. We'll start our own traditions. We'll try to avoid the shopping centre rush. Next year the lead-up to Christmas will be a lot more fun.

We're doing the family rounds on Christmas day. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and sharing presents. Happy holidays, everyone.

How I create

This top, imagined, is a testament to the strange, organic way I have of making things.


I first made it as a skirt, but I was unhappy with how it looked so it sat in the 'to alter' pile for a while. As a skirt, the lace lined the hem of the skirt. Then when I revisited it I decided to try it as a top instead. I flipped it upside down, sewed up the excess and made and added contrasting straps. I love how it turned out. It's drapy and loose in a flattering way.

These are my other listings for today.

S nanna betty top

XS the real girl dress