Baby steps

Yikes, our store is taking a little longer than expected to get up and running! It's all there, but there's a problem with viewing it through Internet Explorer. The guys who developed the site are working on it, and should have everything sorted by the end of the week. Holding thumbs!

Until then, please use another browser to view our store - you'll find it at www.thecrazyauntcompany.co.za

This dress is one I added to the store yesterday - realised it was the first pink dress I've done! What do you think?

Size: 2 to 3 years

Price: R195

Shop keeping (me busy)

So, I've been pretty busy lately working on our online store. Initially, I'd said it'd be up and running within a week - boy, was I wrong! – that was more than a month ago. The store is pretty much done – that's the home page I've attached here – and what I'm doing now is preparing stock. Cutting dresses, putting together designs for onesies, making bunting – because I work on Crazy Aunt in the evenings only, it's taking longer than I'd initially thought. Holding thumbs, though, I'll feel ready enough to open shop next week.

A window on the Crazy Aunt studio

At The Crazy Aunt Company, we try to be as considerate to the environment as possible. So, when we needed a pinboard, I shopped around on Gumtree for something I could reuse - and was pretty stoked when I found this window.


I took it apart, scraped it down, removed some of the glass and gave it a coat of paint.


And voila - I put pegboard into the frame, where our labels now hang, left three panes of glass in the window, which I'll use for notes, and turned the rest into a pinboard. It's a little too Biggie Best for me at the moment, but hey - the window is a whole lot more useful than it was a few weeks ago!

Fabric for an autumn dress

I bought this fabric a little while ago, thinking it could be turned into the cutest autumn dresses. Now I know you probably don't want to think about autumn just yet, but what do you think of this fabric?

Twin onesies

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a twin. I'd dress like my brother, tell people we were twins - until a hairdresser cut my hair as short as his. These days I still love the idea of being, or one day having twins - and so I get really excited when an order comes in for onesies for twins. Here's what we did for little Dominic and Elliott...

I heart new beginnings

Isn't it exciting when you open a new diary for the first time, crisp paper and sharp pencil, and know that you're about to plunge into a fresh, new year?

I started Crazy Aunt work today, my last day of magazine-world leave, and have cut so many dresses and so many designs, that I have blisters on my fingers. I have some gorgeous red fabric with white hearts all over it, which will become very special Valentine dresses, and metres of fabulously funky blue, purple, green, orange and mauve fabric, which will soon be reversible dresses too.

We're open again for business, so please send your orders through!

Festive floral dress

This little reversible dress is on its way to Maritzburg, with love from an overseas aunt. Perfect for Christmas day!

Holiday planning

How BEAUTIFUL is this fabric? It's for my holiday sewing – I have big plans, but can't give you details yet, as I''ll be making gifts for our family.

I'm so looking forward to having a holiday, and to having some time to do the things I've just not had a chance to do lately – hemming Marc's trousers, sewing a summer dress, a cushion for Barley and finally getting around to making cushions for our verandah chairs (which I need to scrape down and repaint, too).

The Crazy Aunt Company will close for the holidays on 16 December, and we'll open for business again on 5 January. I'll be checking emails through that time, but Crazy Aunt sewing starts again on the 5th.

Fab Fabric Friday

I spent last night cutting out Crazy Aunt dresses - have quite a few on order, and people are loving this sweet patchwork fabric. I've been pairing it with either maroon gingham or with denim. Just a few more orders to make up before we close for the festive season; I'm so looking forward to a break, and also to preparing Crazy Aunt for next year. Bring on the holidays!

Thank you, with love

I received a fab email from a client the other day - gives me warm fuzzies to know that all the time and work we put in is appreciated. "My friends in the US loved the baby grows you made for them," she wrote. "The one is planning on making it into a pillow after her baby out grows it. That is how much she loves it." Thank you for making my day!
That said, if you have any constructive feedback on Crazy Aunt gear - from what quality it arrives in in the mail to how it washes, how accurate the sizing is and what the fit is like - please let me know. It's really important that you're happy with what we do.

Inspiration board

I love pink and brown together – it's girly but not traditional girly, contemporary yet retro and just, well, cool. So I'm very excited to have had a client ask me to put something together for her in pinks and browns. Hope she likes my collection of fabrics!

Festive wrap-up

It's a beautiful 30-degree day in Cape Town today – summer's definitely here, and the festive season not far away. If you'd like to order Crazy Aunt clothes for Christmas or early January, could you please get your orders in by 3 December. Early I know, but it takes time to carefully put your designs together and make sure that each garment is special. Thanks!

Retro babes

Someone asked me on Friday to put something together for her little niece – something different, something funky, she told me. Rocks my world when I get requests like that!

Fab Fabric Friday

I found this fabric a few weeks ago, when I was up in KZN. It's so fab, I had to buy five metres. Marc and I are off on a yoga weekend this afternoon, and as soon as we're back I'll start cutting this for a few Crazy Aunt dresses. I can't decide which I'm more excited about!

PS Word from the parents of the little girl who test-wore my dress is that it's a perfect fit – and allows her to wriggle and run around. Happiness!

Dressing up

The very first Crazy Aunt dress – what do you think? I've been dying to make little dresses for ages and this weekend I had a few moments to get stuck in. I've sent this one off for a little girl to test – I need to make sure the design is perfect before making any more – and as soon as I have feedback and have ironed out the tweaks, I'll be making more.

These dresses will be from 6 months to four years, and all will be reversible. I have some gorgeous fabrics, and can't wait to put together more dresses.

Please send me your feedback – I'd love to know what you think of the style, what colours you'd like to see the dress in and any comments you have.

The wedding season

My little sister gets married in 10 days' time. She hates it when I call her that, but I remember with crystal clarity the day she was born – and the day my mum told us she was pregnant – so figure I'm entitled to call her what I will (she has to put up with a string of nicknames from me!). It's going to be such an incredibly special day; so much planning and dreaming and making has gone into what will be Shale and Shaun's wedding.

I fly up to KZN on Friday (with necklaces, ties, corsages and a few other crafted goodies packed) and will be there for the week before the wedding. I'm so looking forward to all the festivities, the final preparations and spending time with my family – but it does mean the Crazy Aunt studio will be closed during that time. I'll be back on the 24th to finish off an order and to prep for the Schoolyard Market at Elkanah, which is on the 30th. Happy days!

Bench Marc

Finally, a few pics from our Crazy Aunt studio renovation. My handsome Marc is restoring a battered old work bench I bought off Gumtree for R50 (with kitten Barley supervising). He's scraped it down, is redoing the work surface and will put castor wheels and maybe a rail or two on it. It's not complete yet, as we spent Sunday painting and putting up the shelves (pics of that tomorrow). This studio renovation is taking a little longer than expected, but I guess that's what happens when Crazy Aunt isn't our 9 to 5. Not yet, anyway.

Day dreaming, 0 to 3 months

Right now, the Crazy Aunt studio is being painted. All stock is packed up, fabrics folded away and what just two days ago was a green room with bright hat boxes boxes piled up and fabrics draped over two desks, is now a glorious not-too-white canvas. This weekend we'll be putting up shelves, giving an old work bench and desk new life and, I hope, unpacking. Such exciting times! Can't believe I forgot to take a "before" pic, but I'll definitely be posting the "afters".

To celebrate the the beginnings of our new studio, here's a daydreamer grower.

Price: R100

Oh, the busyness!

Although it's been an age since I last wrote, it's been anything but quiet in Crazy Aunt land. My best friend got married two weeks ago, and I spent time making bridesmaids dresses; I spent a weekend doing yoga in the bush (absolute bliss); have been prepping and sewing growers and bags; and planning how to organise the Crazy Aunt room. This weekend I'll be sorting everything out, and will take a few pics of some of the growers we have in stock.

Shirt for Karlee

It's my niece Karlee's birthday next week, so I made her this shirt, which will be on its way to Michigan tomorrow. Wish I could be there to celebrate, little pumpkin.