Handmade delights for giving

Are you by any chance looking for some delightful handmades to give to a loved one this Christmas? If you are, I may just have something for you, but you'll have to order this week, especially if you want something custom made to arrive in time for Christmas. 

Here's what I've got for you:

P&E gift certificates - these are handmade by me (of course!) using reclaimed kids' books and cereal boxes (lovingly saved for me by my nana). You give them to your friend/lover/mum/sister/daughter, they feel happy, email me, and we have a chat about fabric and colour choices then I make them a skirt. Just for them. They feel good in it, it fits them perfectly, because it was custom made, and it's special, I tell you. $70 (this includes postage of the card and the finished skirt)

If you want to buy someone a ready made skirt all I have left at present is this beautiful turquoise Birds  of Tasmania wrap 'n go. It's about a 12-14, and it's awesome. $50

Crocheted stubby holders are crazy good, handy and pretty unique. I'm into granny-ing them at the moment but I can do whatever. $12 each

Crocheted heart hair clips. Sweet as! $10/pair

Crocheted flower bangles. These are made using the rings that come off yoghurt and Vegemite jars and 100% hand-spun, hand-dyed wool. And they look awesome with some redpeg ecostudio recycled silver bangles too! (Dirty gardening hands optional). $15 for a set of 3

That's what I've got in stock, which I can send out tomorrow. If you email a custom order to me this week I could probably get it to you in time for Christmas, but you'll have to act fast! 

I hope your Christmas/holiday/gift-giving time is a handmade extravaganza!!!

It's time for a P&E by-donation skirt clear-out fundraiser!

Hi team! (yes, I think of you all as my team... Hope that's cool)

I realised today that I have a big stack of P&E skirts hanging about that need to go and do their thing in the world, so I'm offering them to you, blog readers, as part of a clear-out sale, where skirts will be available by donation. That's right folks - if you want one of these skirts, send me an email - pearlandelspeth@gmail.com - outlining the skirt you want and the amount you'd like to pay. This should be based on what you can afford and what you think the skirt is worth. Seriously - you name the price. Cool yeh?

If you really can't afford one, but want one, I'm also open to bartering, so email me. Especially if your bartering offer involves corflute signs (I can use them for the chook houses) or green and/or red/pink/yellow/orange wool (crocheting a blanket).

In the past, during these kind of clearances, some skirts have proven to be more popular than others and have been snaveled up very quickly, leaving some disappointed people in their wake. If this happens again, the highest bidder will be the 'winner' and will get the skirt. This is because I am a mercenary, capitalist scumbag. And also because the money raised from this clear-out will go towards building new houses for our Autumn Farm pastured meat chickens. Fair enough, right?

The skirt sale ends next wednesday, when any unclaimed skirts will be sent to the op shop. So I guess Bega Valley readers can try their luck with that.

I'm listing them with the waist (top of the skirt - you don't have to wear it on your waist if you don't want to) measurement in cm, because I don't make to sizes like 12 or 14.

Oh, and these 2 little skirts, for little people, will be given away for free, on request, with the purchase of another grown-up skirt. Just let me know which one you want.

So now's your chance - get ye-self a lovely P&E skirt and contribute to some new chicken houses.

Go team!

Reclaimed Australian Fauna tablecloth A-line,  82cm

Wren-pocket wrap 'n go,  84cm. You can give or take a few cm for this one as it's a wrap skirt

Souvenir of Norfolk Island (it's blue on the back), 77cm

Fishing A-line, 102cm

Purple vintage curtains with pockets,  82cm

Grafton mini skirt,  96cm

Cornwall mini skirt, 92cm

Vintage embroidered swan pocket A-line,  84cm

Navy velvet with vintage print side panels A-line,  79cm

Vintage pink print with embroidered pockets A-line, 66cm

Cross-stitch print with vintage doily pocket, 91cm

Horse pocket wrap 'n go, 85cm (give or take a bit)

Pin stripe A-line with embroidered pocket, 77cm

Vintage hiking person pocket A-line,  85cm

Teeny tiny but extremely gorgeous, perhaps for the discerning tween in your life? 67cm

Skirts for Stella

After I made my friend Niki her pair of preggo skirts, I got an email from a work colleague of hers, who also wanted some skirt action. How exciting! I love making custom skirts!

Stella was after some bright, 'jewel' colours and, perhaps most excitingly of all, she suggested that she'd be up for some New Zealand fauna teatowel action. As luck would have it (or perhaps its just a testament to my enormous collection of teatowels...) I happened to have a very pretty 'Birds of New Zealand' teatowel in pristine condition, and a lovely piece of complimentary emerald green drill. Jewel colours, birds, New Zealand - check, check and check! With a cute striped waist-band and a bow at the back, it came together pretty well!

The second skirt inspired a bit of a new design, as I had only a small piece of the beautiful vintage floral print I used, and wanted to integrate it into the skirt in a bit of a fancy way, rather than just a panel. The answer? A scalloped, layered front. I suppose it's kind of like an overlapped wrap skirt, except it's not a wrap, so Stella won't have to worry about flashing her undies on a windy day. Win win! I'm pretty keen on this now (kind of wondering why I've never done it before...) so will probably be making tons of these in the weeks to come. Look out anyone who orders a P&E in the next little while!

Thanks Stella for ordering some skirts from me, and for inspiring the new P&E scallop-front skirt!I hope you have fun wearing them.

The P&E Knock(ed) Up: a super-comfy, non-ugly maternity skirt!

So you might have noticed I love making people happy with handmade clothes. I especially love making people I love happy, so imagine my excitement at making comfy-top P&E skirts for my currently-growing-a-baby bestie, Niki!! 

Beautiful Niki showing off the P&E preggo skirt's stretchy-top

Niki is quite the collector of P&E items, which is nice for me, because I like sewing for her. And accommodating her growing tummy is, of course, extra special. The one pictured here, frolicking on the beach in Byron Bay, is made from a vintage (and, quite frankly, kinda kitsch) kitten print teatowel and a vintage sheet. I know - what a surprise.

The P&E preggo skirt was born when I myself was pregnant, and needed something comfy and non-ugly (have you noticed how ugly maternity clothes are???) to fit around my growing little Olive. The answer? A standard P&E A-line made to fit under the tum, with a wide stretchy band at the top.

Annie, almost 9 months pregnant, in one of the first P&E preggo skirts, heading off to uni to finish the draft of her PhD thesis (quick! There's a baby coming!!)

AND they're excellent for after the baby's born too, and your tummy's regaining its equilibrium. In fact, I wore mine for quite a few years after giving birth, just because they're so bloody comfortable.

I've made a few more since then, for Pearl and various other friends (you can see one here), all of whom have "lived in" their P&E preggo skirts (I think Pearl still has one doing the rounds, three and a half years later). But the best recommendation of all came from Niki when she sent me these photos:

 "I hope lots of people order P&E preggo skirts for their preggi friends or lovers - it's the most comfortable and beautiful thing in my wardrobe. I love it so much! xxx"

Awww...What can I say but yay! Here's to kitschy kitten prints, growing babies and comfy-top skirts!

A custom skirt for Tricia

I may have mentioned once or twice before that I really love making custom clothes for people. Really, truly, and honestly love it. Whether this be a bolero or a dress for a special occasion or, more often, a skirt (or 3 or 4) for the new season, it's always fun, and it's always different. I love learning a little bit about people - what they're interested in (horses, chooks, wombats, plants...), what kinds of colours they love, and maybe a little bit about where and when they're going to be wearing the clothes I make for them.

I love it when people send me photos of themselves wearing the clothes, and when they send happy little messages about how the clothes make them feel great.

I love it when they give me lots of ideas, and I love it when they give me none, leaving the whole thing up to me.

I love the fact that, because the skirts are custom - made to the exact measurements of the lady in question - they're going to fit just right. Because really, who's just a size 14? We've all got different bumps and big bits, we're all different heights, and we all like to wear our skirts at varying lengths depending on how we feel about showing off our knees/thighs/whatever.

Which is why a custom skirt makes sense!! It's also nice to get something that's made by someone who's happy doing it (ie, not exploited), made from recycled materials (or not), using sun-power, that comes to you in the mail with a happy little note and some nice coloured sticky-tape on the outside. Don't you think?

Tricia, from the lovely lovely blog, Little Eco Footprints obviously agrees, because she recently ordered a custom skirt from me, which I happily made for her today, sitting in the sun listening to Jordie Lane.

It's made from a blimmin' beautiful zig-zag print sheet (from back in the day when Target still sold floral zig zag print sheets made from 100% cotton) and pockets of native bird teatowel, with my new favourite ric-rac fancy trim.

Oh, and it's a wrap n' go, so it'll fit all the time, even when she's had a big delicious lunch from her garden.

 If you would like to have a nice-fitting skirt made just for you, by me, please send me an email - pearlandelspeth at gmail dot com. I'm really missing making custom skirts for people now that Georgie Love is gone (*sob*), so if you - or someone you know - are in the market for some spring/summer wares, my fabric collection and I are here for you. And, in case you didn't know, I also do gift certificates, so you can give ladies you love a custom skirt at prez-time. Fun, yes?

Candelo skirts for sale!

On sunday Gab and I spent a lovely, sunny day at the Candelo Markets. I was selling skirts, doily and teatowel bunting and crocheted stubby holders, and Gab was selling her beautiful recycled silver jewellery and the most adorable, colourful recycled leather wallets of all time. The skirt she's wearing in this picture (it has chickens on it!) was a trade for a spunky broad-bean-green leather wallet for Pearl.

For those of you who can't make it to Candelo for the markets, I thought I'd post some skirts on here so you can have a virtual market experience. Also, I'm selling my market skirts for a mere 50 bucks, so they're something of a bargain!

So have a stroll around our stall! If you see something that tickles your fancy, send me an email, or leave a comment, and I'll post it to you! Remember that the wrap 'n go skirts are made from a vintage 70s skirt pattern, and are quite flexible in their sizing, so I've just given a general ball-park size. They can be smaller or bigger, depending how much you've eaten for lunch...

Have fun!

L-R: detail of blue-wren skirt pocket; vintage rose print barkcloth skirt with blue polka-dot waist band and pockets (size 14); stretchy pin-stripe skirt with vintage embroidery pocket and red polka-dot waist band (size 12)

Brown cornflower-print teatowel and polka-dot wrap 'n go (size 14-16); orange and yellow floral wrap 'n go with blue wren and rick-rack pocket (size 12-14); blue barkcloth gorgeousness...

vintage floral print drill with contrast pockets (size 14); more of the brown cornflower print (it is BEAUTIFUL...)

crocheted stubby holders, $12 each

embroidered black swan (with babies!) pocket on blue drill (size 14-16)

Vintage pink floral print A-line with embroidered pockets (size 10)

vintage blue and red floral print A-line with vintage kids' print pockets (it's a little hiking person and green trees on a red and white polka-dot background) (size 14); vintage pink floral print bolero (size 14) and doily bunting, $15.

To market, to market

embroidered-black-swan-pouch-pockets on the make

Back in the day (that would be the day before we had 2 kids) we used to pack the car early on saturday morning and head off to the Addison Rd Markets to hawk my wares. It was a fun, social occasion, involving visits from friends, Malaysian street food for breakfast, chinese dumplings for lunch, and many treats in between. Occasionally we even made some money!

bunting and t-blouses

When Oski was born, though, we very quickly realised that doing markets with a toddler and a baby was just going to be a bit stressful and potentially un-fun, so we gave it a miss. And haven't had a stall at a market since.

Australiana bunting on the make

skirts with hip-koalas

But this past week has seen a flurry of sewing activity, as I prepare for a shared stall with RedPeg at the very lovely Candelo Markets. There'll be all kinds of P&E, including crocheted stubby holders and bunting and handmade cards, and you can get some recycled silver jewellery to boot!

crocheted stubby holders galore!

So if you're in the area, and feel like getting yourself a springy P&E and some accessories on the first day of spring (yay!) come to the Candelo Markets and visit us tomorrow. All skirts fifty bucks!!! Tell your friends!!

A jacaranda skirt

Almost a year ago, I made the inaugural Bothy skirt for a lady called Siggy. I liked it. She liked it. All was happy times.

When Siggy read about the teatowel-a-thon, she thought she'd like another P&E, so emailed me requesting a skirt from a still life, or a 'place' Australiana souvenir, featuring the colours purple, pink, teal or green, and a patch pocket. How lovely!

Of course, when I read 'purple', I though 'jacaranda'. Don't you? I knew I had a jacaranda teatowel in my collection and had (foolishly, it seems) assumed that it would have been a souvenir of Grafton. Not so. It's actually from that other well known jacaranda hub - Surfer's Paradise. Who woulda thunk it?

Either way, it was perfect for Siggy's skirt, teamed with a hand-embroidered black swan (with babies!!!) serviette as a pocket.

I don't know about you, but I love the colours. I love the flowers. I love the swans. 

Siggy, how about you?

RedPeg rocks my world

As you may well know, I'm rather partial to a spot of bartering. Getting goods and services from someone in exchange for goods and services you yourself have made just feels kinda good. It's hard for people to be greedy, or unfair, when it comes to bartering. Getting rid of the whole money hoo-ha also means that you can take charge of your time more easily: The less money you need, the more opportunity you have for doing things that are fulfilling and that make you happy. Obviously, there are things in the world you just need money for. I'm not saying that I'm heading for some kind of cash-less living situation (as attractive as that sounds). But trading a bunch of kale or 3 for a fresh rabbit or loaf of bloody gorgeous home-made German rye sourdough is happy-making, and it means that you get the things you need/want, but can't make yourself, with your own 2 hands. This increases self-reliance, and cuts out that (often unpleasant) middle-person who, in a normal money economy, you just sell your time to, so you can get money to buy the things you need/want. Who needs that guy?? Bartering also strengthens community (and I reckon this is my favourite bit) - getting to know the person you're getting your gear from helps you to appreciate their craft and the work that goes into creating whatever it is you're getting from them. You have a conversation with them, you thank them and pay them a compliment, you make friends with them.

Happily for us, we've met quite a few people of late who are more than happy to trade their knowledge, expertise and wares for our knowledge, expertise and wares. Sweet!

Of exceptional note are our new friends Gab and Mick, who are totes up for bartering all kinds of stuff, most notably, Gab's bloody gorgeous RedPeg Eco Studio jewellery. 

Being as I am a lover of the bauble, yet chronically dismayed by the ethically dubious nature of most jewellery, it was pretty delightful to discover that Gab is, amongst other things, a most talented creator of ethically and environmentally sound jewellery. Moreover, she has been happy to trade her wares for a few P&E bits, and it looks like this relationship could continue into the future. ACE BALLS!

Yes folks: these earrings say "grow more food". Outrageously cool.

I find Gab's jewellery pretty much irresistable. For example: I got my first pair of RedPeg earrings a couple of months ago. I HAVE NOT WORN ANY OTHER EARRINGS SINCE. Yes folks, she's that good. 

For swaps, I made her a little wool bolero, with red rick-rack trim (the rick rack is kind of hiding in the photo on account of all the red in Gab's gorgeous and exciting studio),

and a brown spotty wrap n go with Australian flora pockets. 

I feel like I totally got the good end of the stick with this situation. But then again, that's the other awesome thing about  bartering: often-times both people think they've gotten the best deal.