Portabellopixie

A coupla things..

Hey everyone!!

Thank you so much for the orders. We didn't quite know what to expect, but what a pleasant response! I'm feeling the love.

A lot of people are responding that they are having issues with an error message on the site after returning from paypal. We're working on it, but rest assured that if your paypal payment goes through, we received the order.

I've had questions about wholesale orders. If you have a wholesale order open with us, you do not need to place it on the website. In the future, you are welcome to place orders through the website though! You will need to apply for a wholesale account with us here. We will approve the account and you will be able to purchase wholesale from the website. Wholesale accounts are for shops / websites that resell the patterns. I have given group buys so if you have a number of buddies and you guys want to go in together, that's a-o-k with me. Just shoot us an email! Please just keep in mind that if you are wanting to sell the items made from the pattern, I ask that you buy it retail somewhere. Be it from me or someone else!

There will be credit card payment available from the website as soon as we are given an increase in the monthly processing volume. We didn't apply for enough when we were setting up the account! Oops. Hopefully that will be available soon. :)

Thanks again all, I'll be back soon!

Sandi

We're Live!!!

The new site is up and running. Wow, what a happy day. We've been working on this site for 8 months. It's nothing extravagant, but what a job to launch an e-commerce site! Part of that was actually getting the items to sell ready.

We're still working out a few kinks-I could use your help with that! Can you guys wander around and let me know how the menu is looking for you? Sometimes it works perfectly and sometimes - not so much. We are both on MACs so we weren't sure if we were seeing things differently than the rest of the world might? If the menu looks wacky, just refresh a couple times and the proper menu should show up. Would you let me know how it works? Then we'll know better how to fix it. Thanks!

But the shop is open, you can order those patterns! We will be shipping them out as the orders and patterns come in. We have about 70 of each sitting here right now with another shipment arriving early next week. So if you're quick, you could snatch them up now. :) Oh-and be sure to click on the main shots of the pattern front and back. They will enlarge quite nicely for a better view. Same thing with all the inspiration galleries. (There are more to come.) I knew how I wanted the picture thing to work, it took a long time to find someone who could help make it happen! In the future, we'll be showcasing the fabric collections with this cool popup method. You'll see a small shot of the fabric and then the pop up will be a larger chunk to see the repeat. But for now, this will do.

Oh and here are the final two patterns I didn't show in detail. (Didn't want to show more until I knew they could be purchased!)

Meet Gracie:

And another familiar friend, Cupcake Pincushion:

In a couple days, I'll provide some links to different spots of the website on the sidebar!

Enjoy!

Portabellopixie Patterns - Analise

Another pattern making it's way into the world in a short bit..Analise.  Three options in sizes 12 months - 8 in girls.  (As are all my patterns.)  This is a fun pattern.  It absolutely will meet the twirl requirement of any little girl.  But I like that it doesn't quite look so huge and fluffy when it lays flat.

Child Tested and Approved

I'm getting a LOT of requests for the patterns and questions from you lovelies wanting to know when I will have my website go live.  I'm holding off until right before I have my patterns in hand because I've found that delays can happen and I just don't want to take retail orders for the patterns until I know they're going to be shipping at a certain date.  Every time the website goes live for a matter of minutes to do a little tweaking, orders are sneaking in and we have to cancel them which is no fun.  This is also the reason I've been sorta slacking on sharing the rest-the response has been overwhelming each time I share one and the amount of requests and emails that come in cause Dustin and I to look at each other with astonished, confused faces (me more than him-he more just looks smug with a "my wife is a rock star" look on his face) wondering if these emails are coming to the right place.  So thank you so sincerely for the excitement about the patterns, I promise you guys will be the first to know when they are ready to go out the door.  I hope that doesn't sound conceited, I truly mean it in a tone of gratitude and thanks.  And apology-for the wait.

Other Housekeeping-I've been getting some questions regarding the music playlist.  Some are saying that it plays scrambled up for them.  I check it each time and it sounds good to me.  I've got Dustin working on configuring a different, better playlist device (it's really cool, you'll love it) that pulls directly from my computer so the issues should be resolved soon.  I know the whole music thing is liked by some and not so much by others.  What's the majority rule on this?  Taking the music OFF my blog isn't an option for ME, but do you guys like it better when the music starts automatically or for you to go start it yourself?  I'm just curious..

Portabellopixie Patterns - Claire

I suppose we could unveil another pattern today.. :)  Claire, meet everyone.  Everyone meet Claire!  Everything in this pattern was a spin off of this dress.  I had people email me wanting to know if there would be a pattern for it and I had initially said no.  But Eliza loves that dress!  She wore it constantly until it became too small and then I made another one.  I decided that if my little girl loved it so much, then just maybe another little girl would too.

From there, I thought that the bodice was such a good universal style and would lend itself to some peasant tops very well so I threw in a Peasant top and Peasant dress.  And from there I thought that it would complete the pattern to have a jumper style dress to wear over the peasant top or dress.  And then I thought I'd made a different style apron so you could mix and match the whole thing.  (You're going to get a lot of that with my patterns.)  With that being said, here is the line up for the Claire Pattern:

The knot straps on the square dress have a pretty petal shaped end that is also the ends of the straps on the apron dress.  The Peasant dress on the very right is the perfect length to fit under the Petal Knot Dress.  The Peasant top is super cute with frayed jeans.  Have fun.  :)

My Shirring Tutorial is also being printed in the pattern to have on easy reference.  :)  You'll notice that the peasant bodices and the ruffles are sewn with a rolled or marrow hem.  (The crafting community calls it a rolled hem but apparently the *industry* term is marrow hem so I'm calling it by both.)  All of my patterns are designed for this because it makes a cleaner finished product, but I realize that not everyone has a serger.  Instructions are given in the pattern how to do a turned hem if you would like.

So sit tight!  We're almost there-just waiting on printers at this point.  It will be a matter of weeks before you can get your hands on them.  And I still have 3 more to share, so I'll space it out over that time.  :)

I also want to send you guys over to Jennifer's!  She helped out with a bunch of the photography for the patterns.  If you don't recognize the kiddo in the picture, she probably took the picture.  I've been under deadline after deadline and she has been amazing to work with.  I highly recommend her if you are needing something modeled, photographed or just want to talk to a fun person.  We came to find out that Dustin and her family actually lived in the same town and were in the same church for a few years.  Her mom knows Dustin's mom and they went to the same school!  What a small world..

 

Portabellopixie Patterns - Market Bags

First off-thank you for the overwhelming flow of comments and email to me and my family over the loss of our grandmother.  I hope I haven't left everyone with the thoughts of my being in a deep state of depression by not posting.  We are all doing very well, death is never fun or easy to deal with, but it is not the end.  We'll see each other again and laugh and cry.  Thank you for the kind words, they have really lifted me up!

The reason for the lack of posting has been due to extreme busy-ness.  I won't go into the list, it would just be boring.  :)  I'll just push on and share another pattern!  Quick note though on my website-a few of you noticed that it was coming together and put through orders.  We weren't quite ready to take them yet and the site has been put back on "coming soon."  It will be "here" soon!

Market Bags

I am not exactly "known" for bag making.  In fact I wasn't really planning on doing bag patterns as there are already so many wonderful ones out there.  Children's clothing is my niche in the market but about 4 months ago I got the idea for this bag and couldn't get it out of my mind, so here it is!  This is actually the first bag I have ever designed and it is super easy to make!  The pattern includes two options.  A straight messenger style (reversible!) and a gathered version that is oh so fun!

My friend Erin was game to come out with me and be my model.  It was the first time I have taken pictures of an adult modeling something and it was fun!  Ah, you have to know Erin I suppose to truly appreciate what a great and easy to work with model she was.  Thank you!

The only problem with having so many great pictures is that I don't know which to pick for the cover!  What do you think?  The 3 I'm debating between are the ones with the logo on them...hmmm..

I just realized that most of the bags we took pictures of are the straight messenger style version!  I'll need to take some more of the gathered bag because it is so cute!

Portabellopixie Patterns, Ruffle Pants

Here we go, I'm finally getting around to debuting some of my patterns!  After I started getting "yoo hoo" and "echo echo" comments and emails I figured I'd better hurry up and get to it.  :)  I haven't been slacking, honest.  Pulling together a project this huge by yourself is not easy or quick.  But very fun and totally worth it. 

After Dustin got off work yesterday, we all took a trip up into the mountains for a big photo shoot and now I am finally ready to start sharing!  This first line is made up of six patterns, each holding multiple options.  I will share them one at a time, right up to the debut of my website where you will be able to place retail and wholesale orders.  I am accepting wholesale orders right now, please email me for info.  Wholesale orderers must have a resale license.  (All this will be on the website, but I'm trying to answer a few questions right now that I feel will probably come up!)

On to the fun stuff!

Ruffle Pants!  The first of what I'm calling Boutique Basics.  I'll put out one of these basics patterns every six months until I feel I've got 'em covered.  The very first had to be ruffle pants!  Is there anything more boutique-y?  Four options in this pattern to play with.

From left to right:  Double Ruffle Pants, Triple Ruffle Pants, Ruffle Pants (one big ruffle!), Ruffle Capri's (one big ruffle!).

Beginners should start with the single ruffle pants and Capri's and then move on to multi ruffles. 

All of my garment patterns will retail for 15.95 and include 3-5 options in each.  They will be shipping the end of June, and hopefully our website will be up and running in about 2 weeks and you will be able to pre-order.

I have this thing with patterns.  I am a visual person and every time I would buy a pattern, I would be all excited by the cover and come home to sew and be utterly un-inspired by the blah inside.  So I am printing my patterns booklet-style (each will be 6.5 by 9.5) with 24 pages of glorious color.  Pictures along with the instructions instead of hard to understand (at least to me) illustrations.  Each booklet also has an inspiration section with beautiful pictures showing what you can really do with the pattern.

My copyright info:  I'm happy to allow my patterns to be made by home sewers for sale.  It just has to be made in your home, no mass producing.  This is how I got started and I am excited to see what all you boutique girls do with these patterns to further your businesses.  And all the people sewing just for pleasure-have fun with them!  I'll have a flickr group up and running when they are available for purchase.  (Two weeks, fingers crossed, again they will ship end June.)

Next up: Gracie

PS-here is the *official* logo.  :)  You are welcome to post it as you please to help promote your sales of the patterns!

   

And they're off!

Whew!  A momentous occasion has occurred!  My first line of patterns are officially drafted and on their way out the door.  Either by grossly underestimating the work load or just doing more than I had initially planned, this took much more time than I thought it would.  Drafting this line has been equivalent to designing a line of fabric. Just in case you're contemplating it, now you have a better idea of the commitment to expect!

There it is in all its colorful happiness.  All 16 pieces, which will be neatly tucked into 4 different patterns.  I will make sure to give an "official" debut closer to Market which is when I will "for real" be officially debuting them. 

This will be a big month for us!  I will try very hard to blog and keep you up to date on the workings around here as they will be many.  Between now and May 16th, I will debut a new line of fabric (that has me jumpy I love it so much!), give the real, modeled, debut of the first line of patterns, and debut our website.  Forgive me if I am not around much!  It's going to be a very busy month, finishing everything up.

Wish me luck! 

Ruffly Fluffly Goodness

Ruffly fluffly is good right?!

I promised the Ruffle Pillow pattern a while back and here it finally is.  Have lots of fun ruffling and then have yourself a merry little pillow fight!  Pillows are not exactly design originality-they are more the design wheel.  Kind of hard to reinvent and I'm sure there are many a ruffled fluffies out there.  But having a quick guide that has the measuring done for you will certainly make the process funner!  So off you go-have fun.  :) 

Do you notice anything..interesting about that pillow?  Look really close...  It's my second big piece of exciting for today!

!!!!!  Corduroy   !!!!!

Corduroy!!  Corduroy! Not as in the bear, but as in Ginger Blossom Corduroy.  Soft baby whale corduroy in 2 lovely prints.  Lei, as shown above and Vintage Dots Breeze.  Oh the fun to have with this new texture of fabric!  The clothing, pillows, and yes-quilts.

Can you grasp my excitement about this?  Cotton, flannel and now Corduroy!  Oh the fun to have.  More tricks to come.  ;)  All right friends, I'm off for a day of sugar filled girly happiness with Eliza tomorrow.  Be back soon!

 

What Drafting Patterns Looks Like

In my world at least.

We'll start with the pretty flower and move on from there.  It gets a little scary looking.  I don't have a for real, all my own studio space.  Well, technically I do, but it's in our basement with only the teeniest bit of natural light which really, let's face it, is a no go for an art-eest.  So anytime I am tackling a big project, I haul everything up into our large sunny kitchen which is the heart of our home.  Good for being near things, but it usually results in a gargantuan mess.

These rolls of paper are my patterns masters.  (Not to be confused with puppet masters.)  I sketch a design onto the paper, section at a time.  So for example, I'll sketch an idea for a bodice, cut it out and sew it.  Then I make changes as needed, draw another round, sew it up etc..  When all is good, I draw one last clean final version of the piece and move on to the next section of that pattern.

Fabric is everywhere.  I don't use quite this much, but it's here to be at my fingertips.  Well and I like to look at it too.

 

   

As soon as the whole line is drafted, I have the final sample garment with my drafted pattern on paper.  Off they go to be digitized and graded.  I'll sew up a sample in each size to make sure everything is good and then they will be printed, instructions written and sold.  :)  We're getting there.

I won't bother showing the picture I took of my computer.  It's too scary to share.  And the inbox showing 267 messages that need attending is equally scary.  Give me one more day!  I'm finishing this all up and having a whirlwind cleaning session tomorrow and will return all emails then.

OH-another bi-product of pattern drafting:

   

The Not Quite "After"

 

I told myself I wouldn't post again until I had that chair finished.  Which explains the absence over the last week.  And look-no pictures of a finished chair!  It is under construction and looking rather well, maybe it will be completed by next post.  But I missed you guys and needed to chat a bit.  I've been super busy with getting a website together and pulling together enough projects that you haven't seen yet to make it new and fun.  Patterns are also being pulled together at a rate that feels like a slug sprayed with salt, but usually slow is better.  We're really going for something that hasn't been done yet, both in design and construction of the pattern.  Hopefully the instruction format I'm going for will make it easier for both new sewers and experienced seamstresses to fly through it.  (Because while slow is good for creating a product, it's not quite as fun if it takes 8 hours to decipher it.)

So enjoy a little bit of sweetness, a sampling of things to come.  You've seen them before, but this one is all done up in Ginger Blossomy goodness.

The next few posts will bring that finished chair, a sprinkling of new free tutorials and patterns and this little piggy trinket I've been dying to share..

(Update) OOPS!   I forgot, here are a few more sites that have let me know they are offering Ginger Blossom for pre-order!

I Want Fabric

Above All Fabric

Also, I have been receiving many emails from designers who have heard rumor of an ebay launch being organized for Ginger Blossom.  There is a launch in the works, but I have asked to not be part of the inviting.  Since I hail from the ebay boutique world, I have many many friends and didn't want to leave anyone out.  If you are interested in joining, I'm actually not the person to contact.  Go request an invite on the group board home page and your request will be put to the group.  There is already a large number of designers gathered for this, so if you would like in, I would suggest hurrying!  If you have emailed me regarding this in the last few days and I have failed to answer your email, I apologize-it was not intentional, my time is flying away from me these days.

Sandi