We heart dresses

I was so excited when I found this heart fabric - it's perfectly bright and appropriate for this time of year. This dress is 1 to 2 years, and the denim reverse has a white heart on pink.

Price: R180

Blue floral and maroon gingham, 6 to 12 months

This fabric combination is one of my favourite at the moment. I love the dark yet soft blue that contrasts with the white and maroon flowers. It's simple, pretty and playful.

Price: R180

A dolly (peg) for Crazy Aunt

My fab friend Amelia
spent her summer holiday having a winter, in London and New York. Being the kind, thoughtful person she is, she brought these retro dolly pegs for me, to use in the pics I take for this blog.
Thank you, Amy!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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!

Qual-kitty control

Last night I worked til quite late on an urgent order that came in. It was really great to have some company – especially once she'd she stopped swatting my pins.

Fab Fabric Friday

So, cutting of the Crazy Aunt dresses will begin this weekend, and here's a little peek at some of the fabric I'll be using. While the colours are Christmassy, the fabrics are very definitely about summer. Tomorrow, I go shopping for buttons.

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.