Is Cooler Weather Finally Here!!??

Fall and Winter are soooooooo fun to design clothes for! I can make so many pieces for one look, layer, mix and match - MOOOOOHAH! HAH! HAH!!!!!!!! The possibilities are endless :o)  I got some luscious Japanese knit with a Geisha Doll print and thought the weight and drape would make perfect genie pants.  I know, sounds weird... Geishas and Genies?  But it looks soooooo cuuute! 

  

Halloween is coming!!

Ooooo it's one of our favorite holidays!  This year I made Sofie a set inspired by Disney's Haunted Mansion.  I didn't originally see it in my mind as a Victorian style set, but when it was complete, I totally got that vibe from it. Do you?  It was pretty time consuming and I offered just one other set for sale.  The Mommy who bought it was so great to work with.  I can't wait to see a picture of her daughter on their trip to Disney later on this month.

Here are a few of my listing pictures. I think Sofie is getting so much better at modeling the older she gets. I'm just a little bias though...

"Secret Fairy Letters"

We believe in fairies. What a joy it is to have a child in your life.  Sofie will be 6 soon. I love this age! It's tooth fairies and Easter bunnies, dragons and real gold at the end of a treasure map. Precious. Sacred. Cherished.  


As Sofie and I were watching "Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure" for the 53rd time the other day, it occurred to me that I'd never made her a fairy outfit before.  Well, I had to remedy that with much haste!  Almost as soon as I started Google fairy fabric, I found Michael Miller's flower fairy prints. Perfect.  The color palette was so soft and pastel - so little girl.  So, I built the rest of the outfit around those colors.  I made padded fairy wings for plenty of flying time, an envelope pocket for secret notes, and a little "tube vase" for flowers, magic wands, feathers, pretty pens or anything slender.  We love the way it turned out.

If you'd like to see it on eBay please click HERE


Well, I've played hooky long enough. I've got to get back to work on a Halloween set I'm working on based on Disney's Haunted Mansion - which I'm really excited about, it's just that there is a-l-o-t of sewing for this one! Phew!

Sofie Bell Couture CONTEST! July 6th thru July 13th!

Okay!! We are moved into the new house and unpacked (Well...sort of unpacked) and it is time to add some new friends to Sofie Bell Couture Facebook Page!!  

This is a "whoever brings the most" contest.  Once we reach 50 new fans (354 from 304 at the start of the contest), whoever brings the most new friends to Like SBC wins their choice of a OOAK ruffled embellished twirl skirt for girls, or an embellished fleece hoodie for boys, for the fall season.


**Please note**   you must tell your friends to post on the SBC wall who sent them or I can't give you credit, and you can't win!! So please remind your friends to do this.  I will keep a running tally everyday to let you know the current standings.


Second place will receive their choice of a three color OOAK fleece hat for a boy or a girl.


Thrid place will receive 25% off any of my future listings.


The contest will run from 2pm PST today until 2pm PST July 13th. Good Luck!! 

What a cool, neat experience to be Fairycakes featured guest designer for May!  The theme for the month is "Safari Glam!"  At first, I had no idea what I was going to make for it! I sketched, and fidgeted and noodled over different concepts for days.  Then I finally got the "bright idea" to look at photo's of this year's runway fashions for women and see if I could get some inspiration for a little girls take on Safari. There were so many cool versions of the harem or Aladdin pant I just had to try to make my own kids version. The pants turned out so cute and so comfortable, they were really my jumping-off point for everything else.  Next I came up with the shirred neck tank(?), swing(?), a-line(? I don't really know what to call it...) top I am really proud of.  In those same runway photos I saw a gorgeous kind of halter dress that tied close at the neck with a wide sash - something I would loooooove to wear.  The idea of something gathering in close at the neck is really what lead me to creating my shirred neck tank. Thanks to Fairycakes, my initial panic turned into the work I am most proud of!  Thank you Fairycakes!

So what's up with the spats!!? You ask? hee hee... Well I was in marching band all four years of high school. That pretty much sums it up.  Twenty five pound, wool and polyester uniforms in the heat of summer, with tall white faux fur helmet hats, white gloves - and oh yeah baby, spats. To me, spats are cool, funky and have a little "edge"! - and they just add a really unexpected twist.  Plus, kids can totally pull off the look... as long as they're not also wearing a white, faux fur helmet too... :-)

Isn't my little model a beauty?

This set is for sale HERE until May 31st

This set is also for sale HERE until May 31st

2:00 am And Sewing Away!

Are you ever lying in bed in the wee hours feeling like you have such a great idea you can't go to sleep until you try it? Well, I'm there.  I'm taking a little break - hunched over my keyboard to give my back a short rest from being hunched over my sewing machine.... hmmmmm

I've been mulling over many design possibilities in my head.  Mostly for little girls, some for little boys.  Since I don't have a boy myself, I'm always a little afraid I will create a boy set that looks too girlie... but I think I may have solved that problem temporarily... But I digress.   I have an idea for accessories to my outfits that I haven't seen done quite this way in children's boutique clothing on eBay or Etsy.  I've been quietly "lurking" to check.  I got the idea from my old high school band days.  Yep, I was as marching-band geek as they come, baby.  Oh boy, the hot wool uniforms we wore to parades in the heat of summer... I loved it.   Weird, huh? 

Well, even though our band uniforms didn't have these particular accouterments I always noticed other band geeks that did.  I scoured second hand and vintage shops looking for these items for yeeeaaaarrrrrs afterward.  Now that I know how to sew, I can't believe I didn't think of them sooner!  Forget the fact that it's been eeeehhhhhemmmm... 20+ years since my marching days.... Well I sure hope someone out there likes these accessories besides me!  We'll see tomorrow.  I am excited to be a featured guest for Fairycakes "Safari Glam" launch starting the 11th on eBay.

To abruptly change the subject, I have a beautiful little plant from Chile which has the most gorgeous and unique little flowers on it starting to bloom.  Can't wait to post pics of it.  The rain is supposed to stop tomorrow, so I can sneak some shots in when I'm photographing Sofie in my new outfits!

I should have sewed.  I should have cleaned my house and tackled the mountain of dishes in my sink... The weather was just toooooooo beautiful all weekend for that.  For all my complaints about the expense of living in California (made mostly in the rainy cold weather, I might add....) you just can't beat the weather.  Sunny with a little breeze and 82 degrees.  Love it.  Where I live north of San Francisco, the weather will stay warm and sunny well into November now.

This wonderful weather makes it so easy to garden and grow some amazing plants.  Did you know you can grow just about anything in a pot?  Take it from a long term renter who's convinced her dear husband to move as many as 50 potted plants, shrubs - and oh yes, trees many times over our 20+ years together.  I like growing in pots for many reasons.  If you're silly like me and get attached to the plants your grow and don't want to leave them behind when you move, you can take them with you.  You can change the way your garden looks every year by moving your pots around.  This is really cool. Like the design shows we watch on TV that show us how to rearrange our rooms to get a fresh look?  We can do this with the garden too, only the plants change so much from season to season, you really do get a much different look.  Another great reason for me to grow in pots, is it uses less water and it's sooooo much easier to prune and care for plants in pots. Oh, and one more thing, you can grow more types of plants that many not normally be for your growing area because you can move them into a garage, shed, living room or porch during the winter.

I am no expert on potted gardens, but there are a few things I've learned from trial and error over the years.  Every 2 or 3 (or sometimes 4) years, you've gotta transplant your leafy friends into a larger pot.  When you are talking shrubs or trees and they are already in big pots, you've still gotta take them out of their pots, trim 1 to 2 inches of roots off all sides (I use a long bread knife for this) and them put 'um back in their same pot with new soil all around the space you just made.


Keeping your plants fed with good nutrients will keep them happy and healthy in their pots.  I use Superthrive with a 10-10-10 fertilizer every 2 weeks when I water.  I also give drinks of worm poop tea and mulch the tops of the pots with compost.  This combo has worked great for me. 

Sneak Peak of More New Designs Coming Sunday April 18th

These are two of my favorite outfits I've ever made.  They are my own designs. Both are kinda funky, euro... retro? But pretty and hopefully** little girls will want to wear them :-)

Isn't the back cool?  It's The Blossom dress.  I really like bustles lately.  It seems like all the ideas I sketch have a fluffy butt for some reason lol!!  I am a featured guest designer for Fairycakes in May.  The theme is safari glam.  The sketch I did for that feature had kind of a bustle too. Hmmmm...

This next one is called Ninja Girl Power!! I got my hands on some Michael Miller "Thunder Flower" fabric and just had to do something ninja-ee / geisha-ee with it. I think it turned out nice. My mom loved this one.

I have new designs to share!  Five new designs from Sofie Bell Couture.  Some knits, some cottons, and little twirl here, a little bustle there and viola! Cuteness.

 This is actually a mix and match set.  You can see all the pieces here -
Sofie Bell Couture Ice Cream Knit Set

I love the ombre dyed rainbow ruffle knit on this outfit! Here is the link to buy this one -Sofie Bell Couture Garden Knit

This applique on this little apron dress is really unique.  It is "interactive applique" or 3-D applique. The seed packets feel like they have real "seeds" in them.  The tulip bulbs are stuffed to look and feel round, and the fern has been chenilled to look and feel fluffy and airy.  As a goofy little anticdote, I won best of show, best of section and 3 first places for this dress at the county fair. Hee hee. To buy it, click here -
Sofie Bell Couture Garden Apron Dress

Lise of "Posharella" posts the most darling "chuckles" on her forum. I don't know where on earth she finds them, but the one she posted today was just too adorable not to pass along.  Enjoy!

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds ,

'What does love mean?'

The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined

See what you think: 

'When my grandmother got arthritis , she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time , even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'  Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you , the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'  Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'  Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'  Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'  Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him , to make sure the taste is OK.'  Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing , you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'  Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'  Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

'If you want to learn to love better , you should start with a friend who you hate , '  Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt , then he wears it everyday.'  Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'  Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital , I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'  Cindy - age 8

'My mommy loves me more than anybody You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'
Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.' Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford .' Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'  Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'  Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody , your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image) Karen - age 7

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'  Mark - age 6

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it , you should say it a lot. People forget.'  Jessica - age 8

And the final one - The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry , the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard , climbed onto his lap , and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor , the little boy said ,

'Nothing , I just helped him cry' 

A Rainy Easter

Well, here in sunny California it is raining and just barely 55 degress for Easter weekend.  I worked hours upon hours to make a special dress for Sofie's 5th Easter.  It's made of beautiful light weight prints and vintage dotted swiss - wonderful for warm...sunny... weather.... Hmmmm

Oh I have all the accessories to boot! Darling little white and pink ribboned gloves, fluffy pink petticoat, brand new Easter shoes, and peonies for her hair.  Boy it would have looked cute *sigh*.  So, now I have been rooting around her closet trying to find something from her winter wardrobe that A. still fits... B. is not stained, and C. looks even remotely spring-like for the Easter Egg Hunting party held by the city every year at Howarth Park.  Thank you Mother Nature! Thank you so much for your cooperation this year!! Love ya' babe.

A Question about Twirl Skirts

In all thier various forms, the twirl skirt seems to be the very foundation on which our little cottage boutique "industry" was built.  They're darling, you can embellish and decorate them to coordinate with anything and our little girls find them comfy and dizzy-ing-ly twirlable! (Sofie actually threw up last week in the middle of Joann Fabrics because she twirled so much in her new skirt....fun times....fun times...) What I'd like to know is, as a mommy, would you prefer to buy twirl skirts with shorts or bloomers built into the skirt so your little twirler isn't flashing everyone?  Or is your little one more of a leggings and twirl skirt type of gal?  I am debating for summer clothes, if leggings might be too hot for summer, and maybe I should switch to lighter weight fabrics instead? Hmmmmmm.....

Gardening Anyone?

Loooove to garden! Looove plants and flowers!! I have been rootin' around in the dirt for oohhh ehem... 25 years or so (I started when I was in college...okay writing that made me feel only slightly less old...). This year it has been a warm and sunny Spring in Northern California and my tiny garden is already looking very happy! I have a secret weapon - "Super Thrive." To me, this stuff is a miracle vitamin. I have used a-l-o-t of fertilizers, additives and poops over the years, but nothing gives me such almost instantly noticable perky lush growth as this Super Thrive stuff in a little dirt-brown bottle. I have purchased it at Wal Mart and The Home Depot, if you want to give it a try!

Universal Laws of a House Cat

Law of Cat Inertia

A cat at rest will tend to remain at rest, unless acted upon by some outside force - such as the opening of cat food, or a nearby scurrying mouse.

Law of Cat Motion

A cat will move in a straight line, unless there is a really good reason to change direction.

Law of Cat Magnetism

All blue blazers and black sweaters attract cat hair in direct proportion to the darkness of the fabric.

Law of Cat Thermodynamics

Heat flows from a warmer to a cooler body, except in the case of a cat, in which case all heat flows to the cat.

Law of Cat Sleeping

All cats must sleep with people whenever possible, in a position as uncomfortable for the people involved, and as comfortable as possible for the cat.

Law of Cat Obstruction

A cat must lay on the floor in such a position to obstruct the maximum amount of human foot traffic.

Law of Dinner Table Attendance

Cats must attend all meals when anything good is served.

Law of Rug Configuration

No rug may remain in its naturally flat state for very long.

Law of Obedience Resistance

A cat's resistance varies in proportion to a human's desire for her to do something.

First Law of Energy Conservation

Cats know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed and will, therefore, use as little energy as possible.

Law of Electric Blanket Attraction

Turn on an electric blanket and a cat will jump into bed at the speed of light.

Law of Random Comfort Seeking

A cat will always seek, and usually take over, the most comfortable spot in any given room.

Law of Bag/Box Occupancy

All bags and boxes in a given room must contain a cat within the earliest possible nanosecond.

Law of Milk Consumption

A cat will drink his weight in milk, squared, just to show you he can.

Law of Furniture Replacement

A cat's desire to scratch furniture is directly proportional to the cost of the furniture.

Law of Cat Landing

A cat will always land in the softest place possible; often the mid- section of an unsuspecting, reclining human.

Law of Cat Composition

A cat is composed of Matter + Anti-Matter + It Doesn't Matter.

Contests and sewing blunders...

Well my contest yielded 230 fans, and I think it was a complete success! Way cool! I will throw another next month with different prizes. Would loooove to get up to 1000 fans as a first goal ;-)

Well, I was really rocking on my summer outfits this past week until Thursday.... I sewed the double layered skirt on backwards. Yeaaahhh, great. Took the wind right out of my sails. I really can't stand rippin' it out and sewin' it back on.... Hard to believe I still make "rookie maneuvers" like that more times than I care to admit!

Some hints for my summer releases - Ninjas, flower children, and 1952. Pics to come shortly - as soon as I get my skirt sewn in the right way...

Thunder flower is starting to come together...

My Thunder Flower top is starting to look like a little sumthin' sumthin'

A beautiful video

A lovely designer friend of mine posted a link of a wonderful video that has recently gone viral. I tear up every time I see it. If you haven't yet seen "embrace life," please copy and paste the addy below into your browser (for some reason the link icon is not working...) - bet you'll need a tissue ;-)

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/health/2010/0220nr.levs.embrace.life.cnn?hpt=C2

Okay, who teared up??

I have a little sneak peak of one of my designs for an upcoming "european style" launch I'm involved in starting April 5th. I am gah-gah for Michael Miller's "Thunder Flower" Fabric!! Since my lovely man has been a marital arts instructor for the past 20+ years, I jump at any opportunity to make anything ninja-ee (note my fantastic command over the English language...)!

I had this idea to draft a pattern that reflects the "GIs" the thunder flower gals are wearing in the print. So far, I'm kinda geeked about it. Hee

Hoping for some nice juicy donations to send to Haiti Families!!

My charity auction is up and running! Yipee! It feels so good to help!



















http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220561598067



Please come check it out :-)

Haiti Relief Charity - Woo Hoo!

I am taking part in an eBay group launch tomorrow - "We Have Hope!" Approximately 50 creators of childrens boutique clothing and accessories will be auction off their special donations with 100% of the proceeds going to the American Red Cross in Haiti.

If anyone you know has a little girl wanting a one of a kind Easter dress set please search "Wisterialane HOPE" to find me.

Above is a sneak peak of my outfit :-)

Another cute chuckle for the weekend

(Sorry guys) This one is for all my "sistas"

Why Women Are So Bright
-We got off the Titanic first.
-We can scare male bosses with mysterious gynecological disorder excuses.
-Taxis stop for us.
-We don't look like a frog in a blender when dancing.
-No fashion faux pas we make could ever rival The Speedo.
-We don't have to pass gas to amuse ourselves.
-If we forget to shave, no one has to know.
-We can congratulate our teammate without ever touching her rear.
-We never have to reach down every so often to make sure our privates are still there.
-We have the ability to dress ourselves.
-We can talk to people of the opposite sex without having to picture them naked.
-If we marry someone 20 years younger, we're aware that we look like an idiot.
-There are times when chocolate really can solve all your problems.
-We'll never regret piercing our ears.
-We can fully assess a person just by looking at their shoes.
-We can make comments about how silly men are in their presence, because they aren't listening anyway.

Cute chuckle

I belong to a design group forum on eBay. One of the moderators has been posting some really cute "chuckles" lately, and I thought I would spread some of them around a little bit :

WHY GOD MADE MOMS

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?

1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?

1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?

1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What' s the difference between moms and dads?

1. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
2. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.
3. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don't do spare time
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

1. On the inside she's already perfect.. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone is having a romantic day with your sweetie!

"The resurrection of Sofie Bell Couture"

Where to start? If you had asked me 18 months ago what my life would be like in February 2010, I would have answered anything but our little family's current situation.

In the last year and a half, our little family has lost much. We lost our beautiful custom home to foreclosure, my husband lost not only his job, but the very industry in which he worked disappeared and he remained unemployed for 9 months. And because the very small home we just barely qualified to rent after the foreclosure of our own home also landed in foreclosure, the banks kicked us out 2 days before Christmas, two years in a row. I have many stories about not enough to eat, and crying over my precious daughter as she slept in her jacket in an unheated, uninsulated home in the dead of winter.

Never before had I known such hardship. I grew up in a middle class family - California natives. I married a beautiful successful man and never wanted for anything. A happy life.

The hardship we've had is why I had to let my fledgling clothing business wither away. My creative spirit was lost for a while. Overwhelmed by the adversity we had experienced. So what am I doing now? A year and a half later? Well, I am thankful that I still have my beautiful man by my side, and precious daughter who loves us in spite of all. I am grateful to my parents and my brother who came to our rescue many times. I am thankful for my husband's new job and a very modest roof over our heads. For enough food to keep her healthy and smiling. For heat. For a little extra money to buy some buttons and thread in the hopes of resurrecting Sofie Bell Couture.