A FEW THINGS AT THE SHOP...

This week was very busy at the shop.

I had several custom pieces to get finished up and took in more...!I worked on a sweater that the client wanted to add a skirt to. It turned out lovely. 

I created a lovely Prairie Blouse for a customer that went through my 'stash' hanging in my workroom. I added bits of blue to go along with the embroidery down the front of the blouse.

The back show the vintage pieces I used.

I used vintage hankies with lots of handwork on them. Added bits and pieces of tattered fabric along with old lace trimmings.

The front has pretty embroidery with little beads through out. I used bits of tattered blue fabrics on the sleeves to bring a balance to the blue in the embroidery and the hankie.

END OF THE YEAR POST....

        WOW!!!! It has been a while!

 I have been busy sewing and keeping the new business up and going and being a one woman show it is pretty overwhelming.

Now lets see......well...I been sewing some pretty cool totes from old coats. I have stitched up some sweaters and made a few pairs of Prairie Pants. I created my first Infinity Scarfs. It took me about 3 hours to figure out my first one and the next to about half that time. Once I figured what I needed to do, it took no time at all! lol....

I had several folks come in the shop from out of state which has been cool. Traveling is such fun! 

One thing I am going to do this next month is go through some of my creations and pick out a few pieces that I have had a while and dye them. 

I think for a start I will go black and let it thin out to gray. I have had a lot of request for black, like, "I would buy this if it was black", or "Tea isn't my color". I have found that the older ladies in general like black better and I must say I am in that category...lol

           Christmas......what can I say? BUSY!!!!!!!!

My racks have thinned and I am going to have to get busy. I have been working on creating 'Prairie Slip Dresses'. I am looking for vintage slips with plans of adding lace, doilies, etc and dyeing them for the Spring. I will add photos when I have several finished up.

The NEW YEAR is right around the corner and I am ready for it!

I will try to be more proactive this year in my posting....Please keep an eye out for them....

Stay Cool.....

JUST A FEW THINGS......

I had an article written up about the shop and my creations in a local paper, Athens Now and here is a link..http://athensnowal.com/ Thanks Ms. Ali Turner.

SAMOVAR GARDENS

I have the most wonderful loose teas at the shop.

 A young couple have started their own line of home grown loose teas. Caleb and his wife grow their own plants and herbs, dry them at their home....and are a truly homegrown business.

 What they don't raise, local orchards provide..things such as peaches, apples and strawberries. With the help of a few friends who also grow what ingredients the couple do not, they will all get together and have tea parties...deciding what herbs and fruits go together best. Samovar Gardens is the name of this green earth company and here is a link. http://www.samovargardens.com By the way....Samovar is the name of a vintage Russian tea maker!

TI had a write up about thN.

GIRLY GIRL PURSES

 Girly Girl Purses...https://www.facebook.com/GirlyGirlPurses is one of the vendors at the shop. Janet Dearman does wonderful work. She tells me she is always looking for fabrics...I know exactly how she feels. Everywhere I look, I search out VINTAGE!!!

 I have lucked out and found a couple wonderful people who help me find some of the most fantastic choice vintage pieces...doilies, hankies, dinner napkins, table clothes...etc...etc...I really don't think I would have a business if it weren't for the 2 LOVELIES. They own their own business.. Ms. Patty Green of  Sisters Antiques, here is her Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SISTERSANTIQUES an a gentleman known only to me as Mr. Reggie  and the name of his online business is Aesthetic Restorations.

 I met a wonderfully nice lady who added this pretty couch to the shop, Ms. Karen is into 

antiques as well. In fact she works at an antique mall, Champagne Lane Antiques and here is a link to their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/champagnelaneantiques

This is an example of my Prairie Boudoir Line... I am about to start a line of dress made from slips and I preferably vintage. I will be adding lace and doiliies to colorfully dyed slips.  

THE SUITCASE....is full of vintage pieces, baby clothes and socks, bonnets and gloves. It even had extra buttons on the card. Anyway...I found all this wonderful stuff in an OLD brown paper sack....and I got it for a steal.....@ $2.00 whole dollars!!!! I use it as display...I can't bear to part with it...lol

HAPPY CUSTOMERS...

 And this is one of my favorite customers. I have created several custom pieces for her. She loves to go searching for pieces for me to put together, 'In your own special way', as she says....I tell my customers that you can dress my creations up or dress them down...She loves to dress them down...notice the work boots and long-john shirt...lol. Thanks Ms. Janet.

Last but not lease I found this to add.

I found this today....It has lots of lovely ideas for uses of vintage doilies and old lace. I thought some of you would like some simple ideas for Holiday presents and gifts.

 http://dishfunctionaldesigns.blogspot.com/2012/05/vintage-lace-doilies-upcycled-and.html

THE BOUTIQUE

It is hard to believe that is has been almost a month since my last post!!!

 I have been so busy...I am sure you can imagine.

The hardest part for me was getting all my ducks in a row with the dreaded 'Tax Man'....lol....but finely I got all done with a big red bow...lol. I have actually paid all my bills from my sales for the month!!!! Now I need to pay my bills and then pay ME!!!!

Here a couple photos of the main room. I added vintage sari's to the ceiling to create layers of visual interests. I hung old paper umbrellas in corners and on one wall I papered it with old photos, pages of books, bits and pieces from an old scrapbook from the 30's and 40's. I want to really give a feel of living in 'ol dayze' when you had to do and make do with what you had.

 At this point the decor is pretty minimal. I want to use more furniture from the Art Deco Era and I have 'put it out there' to bring to me and the shop...

 Of course since I took these photos I have changed things around....a lot!! I love to move furniture around for some reason....It makes me happy...lol.

I put the rod in the corner like it was done back in the day when you didn't have a closet or a shelf-robe to put your clothes in. The clothes drying rack is an old homemade one. I have some of my jewelry, totes and hats as well as my clothing. My lovely hubby built me a dressing room from 3 old wood doors. It turned out wonderful...Thanks My Love.

 At the moment I am making up some simple Prairie Aprons for the Holidays. I am making some like my grannies use to wear. They have a little bib that is pinned to the shirt/blouse instead of a tie off around the neck. I am using brass quilting pins and old sheets and pretty vintage hankies with a little tea bath.

**I am working on a line of Boudoir Clothing with a nod toward the 20's and 30's. I will be posting photos of this soon.

In the meantime.. I have a fair size room that I hope to fill with the work of other artists from the North Alabama area.

  Things such as purses from Girly Girl Purses, loose teas from Samovar Gardens, fancy Halloween masks by Belilah, I am talking with other artists so we will see who considers themselves true artists and who doesn't.  

Until Next Time....

LATEST CREATIONS....

I recently finished this lovely custom jumper and the client loved it.

 She provided the embroidery place mats. They were lovely...I almost hated to cut them up....She tried it on and fell in love....

 This lovely crochet over blouse was a first for me. I used all vintage pieces to create this beautiful top. It is for sale and can be found on my Etsy page.........SOLD

I created this 1920's style shift with a dress and curtain panel. It has a nice flow when you twirl. It can be found on my Etsy page......SOLD

I have been collecting vintage crochet pieces with green for a while and I finely found a dress that would go with the green. It had a second layer so when I cut the hem of the dress to create the blouse I left the

under layer longer to give the new blouse much more umph....lol The neckline, sleeves and waist all have elastic and are very expandable.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED....EMAIL ME....

...a pretty booth.

This my booth this week at the Craftsmen Cottage.

Since I took this photo the little girls dress in the front has been sold. A local photographer plans to use it in her work.

The 9 new pieces are a Large or larger. if you see something you like you can request extra photos.

prairiechilddesign@gmail.com

This lovely outfit is more beautiful then the photo shows.

I used a bed sheet to create the blouse. It has wonderful lace at the hem that was actually a dresser topper. It has a tie off in the back to create more of a waist if wanted.

The pantaloons are a first. I started with a small pair of pajama bottoms. It was a cotton with a white pattern. I added a  very soft vintage cotton tablecloth to the outside legs and the same bed sheet fabric area and a simple lace to the gathered hemline. The 2x-3x blouse is sleeveless and could be worn with another Prairie style blouse or your favorite denim shirt...SOLD

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Here is a sweet little jumper blouse. 

I wanted it to have a little French feel..so..I used a a curtain panel to make the skirt part an a fancy embroidered tea towel to make the bibby. The shoulder straps criss-cross in the back. It has drawstrings on either side sot that is adjustable from Small to Large. It is listed on my Etsy page....SOLD

PRAIRIE CHILD ITEMS...FOR..SALE

Starting now I plan to be more active with my Prairie Child blog

and I am keeping my fingers crossed to make it happen...:)

 I am all over the place in the social either world....lol as well as sewing for the public. With Christmas right around the corner I am trying to create items for Christmas presents, All who know me, knows that I make 90% of the presents I give....Time is short.

I have recently acquired another dress form so there may be some major changes in my creative style.

 I have  up-cycled for the last two years using everything from old bed sheets to curtains to old tablecloths to get the yardage that is needed to create those unique pieces.

STARTING IN THE NEW YEAR.... I am going to start using some new linen yardage to add to the up-cycled line.

 I want to create a casual feminine line with soft crumpled no iron wear.

   

HERE ARE SOME OF MY LATEST PIECES...

they are listed on my Etsy page and you can use the app on the Prairie Child blog to reach it.

 I have been trying to find the time to add new information to my blog...but...time is hard to come by...lol. I do hope you will be with me as I  break out into NEW IDEAS...

 Here is my idea of a pair of ultra baggy pantaloons. I used a pair of curtains to make a couple different pieces and this is one example. I am wearing the other curtain panel.....lol 

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 This sweater and skirt can be worn together or separately. I used 3 different sweaters to create this lovely piece. The skirt was a linen curtain and it is beautiful...this photo does not do it justice. .

 This beautiful linen blouse will fit that pleasantly plump female...like me...I added the little pocket low to be used. It would be great for a teacher or anyone that is constantly looking for somewhere to put that pen or that odd item you don't want to loose.

 I created this very adjustable jumper to fit several sizes. A table runner, vintage lace and a skirt were all stitched together to create this lovely summer jumper. A silk camisole, or a simple sport bra will look great under this piece....Showing a little extra skin is not a bad thing....:)

This VINTAGE blouse is factory made so I don't know exactly how old it is.

 I cut the sleeves, the collar and added loads of vintage doilies, lace,tattered fabric. It is light weight and see through. This lovely blouse and  nice sport bra would look beautiful over a pair of you favorite skinny jeans.

I hope and really will try to be more constant in blogging.....so..keep an eye out for my posts and remember....check my Etsy page to purchase one or more oft these items. Thanks PC