sheeps clothing

back in black

2009-11-09T22:51:00.001+11:00

Saying that these black and white clips are my favourites leaves me with the guilt of a parent nominating a favourite child.

I hope the other hair clips don't grow up full of resentment and needing the help of a therapist.

These babies are off to Leeloo and will also be available in the store in a few days time. It's on the to do list, so don't hold your breath.

If you don't want to wait, get your people to talk to my people. We'll sort something out.

style collective 30 days of giveaways

2009-10-30T18:19:00.001+11:00

Style Collective tomorrow launches its 30 Days of Giveaways Promotions. Each day they will giveaway a fantastic prize from an independent designer.

More details about the promotion, including the full list of prizes, can be seen here. Good luck!

buy handmade this Christmas

2009-10-12T17:45:00.001+11:00

The Made It team has recently launched their Buy Handmade This Christmas Campaign.

Below is a selection of the fantastic items currently on show in the Made It Gift Guide. Click on any of the pictures to visit the listing.

With Christmas less than three months away, it's not too early to start shopping.

hey girlfriend

2009-10-07T16:15:00.001+11:00

The wonderful Angela at Leeloo works tirelessly for the labels in her stable. Angela recently interviewed me over at the Leeloo Blog and now due to her hard work, a Sheeps Clothing vintage button brooch has been featured in Girlfriend magazine.

The brooch as shown in the picture above is available at Leeloo.

2009-10-04T13:20:00.001+11:00

I do love Liberty fabric and have found an Etsy seller who has a lovely selection. I do not love making yoyos so usually buy them from another Etsy person.

Today this lot of yoyos landed in my letterbox. The fabric originated in England, was shipped to the US to be made into yoyos and now is here in Melbourne where I shall match them with pretty vintage buttons and make them into brooches and hair accessories.

I wonder where they'll go next?

grand final 2009

2009-09-26T12:37:00.000+10:00

When faced with a choice between St Kilda and Geelong, Harvey chose food and warmth over allegiance to his fellow Cats.

the interview

2009-09-19T15:27:00.001+10:00

Angela, the lovely lady behind Leeloo, has posted an interview with me over at her blog.

Want to know what my favourite song is? What I think smells good and what I want to be when I grow up? You know the way....

shop!

2009-09-09T14:42:00.003+10:00

The Shop 4 Kids team have this month launched a new magazine, Shop Girl and have very kindly featured some Sheeps Clothing vintage button hair elastics and a Liberty fabric brooch.

Want to have a closer look? You can now do so at the new Sheeps Clothing store.

Shop, Girl!

vintage button clips

2009-09-16T12:02:00.003+10:00

Vintage button hair clip production has been in full swing of late.

These ones are headed for Noah's Aeroplane in South Yarra. If you're passing be sure to drop in and have a look at the beautiful range of summer dresses in stock. Oh for a little girl!

handmade in Melbourne

2009-08-28T17:21:00.003+10:00

The 2009 edition of the Handmade in Melbourne book is out now and available through selected bookstores and newsagents.

the knitting club

2009-08-28T17:19:00.001+10:00

Photo used with approval of school Principal.

Recently I've been taking a lunch time knitting club at a local primary school. Over the course of four weeks, the kids (both girls and boys) have learned the basics of knitting, including casting on / off, knit, purl and a few technicalities about needle sizes and tension.

I feel strongly about the value of children learning to knit. Beyond the obvious skill learned, it teaches a lot of things that I feel are sometimes lacking in today's kids - persistence, resilience, reward for effort and delayed gratification. Additionally I feel it helps with maths skills, fine motor skills and creativity.

The classes I held at the Melbourne Stitches and Craft Show back in March really fired my enthusiasm for passing on the skill. The kids were so enthusiastic (they had to hold a ballot at the school as the club was over subscribed by 400%) and the pride they showed in their work (holes, dropped stitches and all) really warmed my heart.

My own knitting has gone down the wash cloth route of late. I like that they are knitted up quickly (obviously the delayed gratification element of knitting doesn't apply to me...) and they are good way to try out new stitch patterns. As for their actual functional use, I'm not so sure. What looks so pretty when freshly blocked, doesn't quite look so good scrunched up and wrung out hanging in the shower stall. Project details can be found here.

baklava in balaclava

2009-08-12T18:24:00.001+10:00

Carlisle Accessories now carries a small range of Sheeps Clothing women's hats, with a fuller range currently on the needles for next winter.

I dropped in to the shop last week and as it was approaching lunch time and Balaclava has nothing if not a good selection of cafes, I stopped and ate. I thought it only appropriate that I should have a slice of baklava in Balaclava.

Carlisle Accessories has a fantastic range of hats, scarves and other accessories. I was hoping to spy a balaclava on the shelf so I could drop a balaclava / Balaclava / baklava witticism, but it was not to be.

Probably for the best.

Carlisle Accessories, 147A Carlisle Street, Balaclava.

multi buys

2009-08-02T11:24:00.000+10:00

The supermarket I frequent seems to have gone into buy two, get the third at a reduced price madness of late. The fact that I now have more tins of tomatoes and sardine packets than I could ever use suggests to me that perhaps as a sales tactic, it works.

Never one to walk away from a good marketing opportunity, I've introduced similar listings into my Made It and Etsy shops.

Having just experienced a vintage button hair accessory making frenzy (now also available at Red Feathers and a Hula Skirt), I've updated both shops with some new colour combinations, plus new buy three at a reduced price listings. Want more than three pairs? Sure you do. Just let me know and I'll do you an even better deal.

The knitted coffee cozies are proving to be winners to and you'll note there's a bulk buy on offer there as well. They are only available in my Made It store as I didn't want to deal with the vagaries of US take away cup sizes. I don't fancy knitting a bucket sized cozy for our US friends and their triple shot / semi skimmed / half and half / soy / decaf / grande / latte / caramel shot / sweetener not sugar beverages.

new stockist

2009-07-12T18:24:00.001+10:00

Red Feathers and a Hula Skirt

360 Marmion Street
Melville WA 6156

Opening Monday 13 July!

treacle beak beanies

2009-07-09T22:10:00.000+10:00

It's amazing what a quick trawl through blog and website stats can reveal.

We've all seen the strange key words that bring people to one's blog. In my case, a long ago reference to my distaste for visible male (or female for that matter) under arm hair still brings in lots of readers, as does a fondly remembered holiday to Bora Bora.

Today following an unfamiliar link brought me to the door step of a new blogger, Treacle Beak who has recently knitted up my cupcake beanie pattern in a variety of flavours. Don't they look lovely?

If you're not a knitter yourself, the finished article is available in the store.

Welcome to the wonderful world of blogging, Treacle!

2009-07-05T12:31:00.001+10:00

In February 2009 Victoria was victim to the worst bushfires on record, which wiped out entire communities, caused 173 deaths and left thousands without homes or shelter.

The Handmade Help Recipe Book evolved as part of Handmade Helps Out by a group of crafters and artists who wanted to contribute to the recovery effort.

All proceeds from sales of the recipe book will be donated to the Salvation Army.

Click here to order your copy. You'll even find a recipe from me in there.

production central

2009-06-16T09:47:00.001+10:00

Melbourne's recent cold snap and last weekend's Queen's Birthday long weekend have allowed me to get lots done.

Firstly there was a button hair clip making marathon, the result of which can be seen above. The majority of these are destined for Noah's Aeroplane in South Yarra, with the remainder going to Sydney to be photographed for the new Shop 4 Kids Magazine extension aimed at girls 7-14.

Secondly I knitted up a couple of mug cozies for a blogger who shall not be named as she may not have given them away as yet.

With that done, I have finally had a chance to knit up some of the yarn so beautifully hand dyed by Wired for Fibre. This super chunky weight wool has a lovely subtle colour variation, and at the risk of sounding like Neil Perry waxing lyrical about a piece of Wagu beef, I wanted to keep the scarf design simple so as to best show off the wool.

I really love how it is looking so far. I think I will make them quite long so that they can be looped around a few different ways. *

As well as the green, I have just taken delivery of the varigated mid blue and purple shown below, plus solid red, olive and two shades of pink.

Once these are done, I am hoping to get a chance to start on some of the patterns that are crowding my brain and keeping me awake at night.

It's a good thing that Wimbledon starts next week, with the Tour de France not long after that. I could be pulling some all nighters if my enthusiasm continues at this pace.

*Edited: I love the green one so much I have decided to keep it for myself, something I have never done before.

and the winner is....

2009-06-10T18:23:00.001+10:00

Congratulations to Rebecca F of Western Australia, the winner of the newsletter subscription draw. Rebecca has nominated the above hat as her favourite item in the Sheeps Clothing store and thus shall be receiving this hat shortly.

The first monthly newsletter and associated subscriber only special offer has now been distributed. Each monthy newsletter will contain an exclusive subscriber only offer and if you haven't yet signed up and wished to do so, click here to be taken to the subscription page on the Sheeps Clothing website.

The next newsletter will be sent out early in July.

mug cozies

2009-05-31T17:42:00.001+10:00

Mug / coffee cup cozies have recently been added to the Sheeps Clothing range.

Knitted on smaller than usual needles and / or slightly felted, they are sure to keep your hand cool and your beverage of choice hot.

They are now available in the Made It store and soon will be at Leeloo as well. Fancy a different colour? Be sure to let me know as my yarn stash covers all the colours of the rainbow.

shop update

2009-05-16T17:06:00.001+10:00

On a cold and wintery day like today, what better thing to do than update the shop.

There's only enough of this beautifully hand dyed yarn left for one or two more of the scarflette shown below and the hat as shown below.

There's also a few new pairs of vintage button hair clips, with more to come soon. Click on of the pics to see the relevant listing.

happy mothers day

2009-05-11T21:51:00.000+10:00

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mums out there. May your day be full of cups of tea in bed, wonky hand drawn cards and picture frames decorated with spray painted macaroni.

Above is my own Mum's gift. I tried to convince her it was a hat, but she wasn't buying it.

extended!

2009-05-01T17:03:00.000+10:00

To fit with our current promotion on Style Collective, our newsletter sign up promotion has been extended until the end of May.

To be in the running to win your favourite item from the store, simply sign up to receive our monthly newsletter and special subscriber only offers before the end of May.

Good luck!

winter collection in store now

2009-04-23T10:58:00.001+10:00

With a delivery to My Poppet yesterday, the Sheeps Clothing winter range is now in store at all our children's stockists. The up to date stockist list is available on the website.

Not all items are available in all store, so please contact us if you are after something specific. Of course, the entire range is available on line here and here.

For the last couple of years, The Knittery has been custom dyeing our lovely thick thin yarn as pictured throughout this post. With the pending closure of The Knittery, the yarn I have now is the end of the line.

There's still a little left, but if you've had your eye on something, I suggest you get in quick because once it's gone, it's gone.

style collective

2009-04-16T16:18:00.000+10:00

Have you seen the new Style Collective fashion blog?

Since being launched in January this site has taken off like the proverbial scalded cat and is now getting a bazillion hits a day. Apart from being internet marketing gurus, the Style Collective team obviously have fabulous taste as they have included one of my scarflettes in their winter scarf feature.

You can see the feature here, or the the scarf in question can be found in my Etsy and Made It stores.

There's lots of colours to choose from including cream, as featured on Style Collective, primrose pink (shown below), pale pink, forest green (above), olive, red, navy. I could go on. Basically, you name a colour, I'll knit it. Simple as that.

store update

2009-04-08T09:49:00.001+10:00

Since being featured in Shop 4 Kids, this hat has been flying off the shelf, or rather, needles. As well as its original pale pink form, it is now available in both shops in cream and this vibrant primrose pink.

As much as I love cream wool, photographing it always presents a dilemma. I don't like to see knits photographed against a solid background in another colour than white, and as you can see here, cream against white doesn't work that well. I think I will have to go for the artistically faded background as demonstrated so beautifully by H&B with the first photograph.

Until that is sorted, you will just have to take my word for it that the cream is lovely. Really truly. I wouldn't lie to you.

Thanks to everyone who has already visited the new website and signed up to receive the new monthly newsletter. You can look forward to lots of special subscriber only offers and secret handshake sort of stuff.

If you haven't yet signed up, do so now! Remember to sign up and then visit this post before the end of the month to tell me your favourite item from either shop to be in the running to win your selection.