May Showers

Aren't April showers supposed to bring May flowers? (And what do May Flowers bring? Pilgrims. hahahaha) Okay, well around here April snow brings...May snow and no flowers to speak of. But today it's raining and hopefully they are wrong about snow tomorrow and Thursday!

I just realized that I hadn't blogged in a month. I know - I'm horrible! I can't even really blame it on the photos either, I've had some great photos sent to me! I've just been extremely busy, mostly trying to get ahead on orders before today. You see, today is D-Day - as in "Drop off my sewing machine Day" for it's semi annual cleaning and servicing. I'm going to be stuck with my older-than-Methuselah Singer machine for a whole week and it doesn't do button-holes. I'm always embarrassed when I get it back and they tell me "Wow, this thing is REALLY dusty! Just how much are you sewing, anyway?" If only they knew....

I whipped together a really cute outfit last week but then got ZERO good pictures out of it. In fact, the pictures are so bad that I'm not even going to list the thing until I get some halfway decent ones! But here it is, please don't judge too harshly - it really is adorable!



The loop tops/dresses have been flying off the cyber shelves! I have a few more in mind for the summer but I really need to start working on the fall stuff. I love how it finally stops snowing around here and I get to start thinking about what to wear in cold weather...it's a little depressing, really!





I've been working on my daughter's school wardrobe. It turns out that her school dress code will not allow her wear anything that reveals her shoulders...so no halters, knot dresses, or loop tops for her unless there's something underneath - yikes! I figured this will work well, though:







Yes, that's our St. Bernard. Meet Eulee, the biggest, slobberiest, hulk of a dog you've ever seen!

A couple weeks ago I had to say goodbye to my all-time favorite outfit, the Natty Huckleberry Halter Set. I did a promotion to send it out in style - however, I did not expect about ten people to PM me within 5 minutes about it! The first two entries were within 5 seconds away from one another - I ended up doing two sets, though one is slightly different than the other because I was out of the "standard" fabric for it. Someday I may come up with a new Natty Huckleberry Halter but for now I must say goodbye! At least I know they went to good homes :-)





Have you seen the new Liberty Belle set? It's a red, white and blue Tilly Rose Romper with a matching sunhat - sooo cute! A Miss Mamie Romper can be substituted for an extra $5, and I can also just do the romper (no hat) for $25.



Isn't that little baby the cutest?! I wanna squeeze her cheeks and smother her with kisses.

And last, and the very opposite of least, I have more Rhiana pics! Enjoy!








And praying I don't see any more of THIS until at least August!

Colorado Bliss

How do you know you live in Colorado? When it's 80 degrees out on Wednesday and snowing on Thursday. Oh well, I'll enjoy the weather today and hope for the best for tomorrow. But who could deny that it's worth it living here?



Last week we ended up with a three foot dumping of the white stuff. It was one of those days: husband out of town on business, go to fire up the plow and it's out of gas, fill the tank and get going on it and then the plow broke. Not only did it break off, I went ahead and ran the sucker over. So then I decided to be an idiot and tried to move the car...only to have it slide sideways over the side of the hill (thankfully missing the truck that was parked at the bottom). So, as I was shoveling out the car, the snow still falling on my head (the same snow that was supposed to have stopped falling two hours before that) I cried out loudly to God "Please help me out here! Just let ONE thing go right! Just ONE!", and that was when I heard the beautiful sound of my neighbor's bobcat at the end of my driveway. Life has been okay since then!

Being snowed in allows me to exercise my creative muscles. I had quite a few orders to fill but when inspiration hits I am powerless to stop it. Thus, I ended up spending a good amount of time making cute little summer outfits for my girls (and, yes, I did work on my orders as well). I had to run all over the west Denver area last night to take pictures - there is still at least 2 feet of snow all over my property so it's not the best backdrop for a little girl in a summery top! I think CPS would be knocking on my door if I posted those pictures. Though, today is absolutely stunning outside it would look pretty bad if I had my daughter posing in a snowbank with a halter top and sandals...

Anyway, I know it's been a while since I've blogged. Whenever I'm lacking photos I tend to wait longer between blogs. Well, now I have photo OVERLOAD! :D Hope this makes up for my lack of blogginess!

Let me first start with the cutest of cuties. Y'all are going to be like me soon, dying for more Rhiana pics! Her little one is so freaking cute and I crave her pictures like I do a nice cold Mountain Dew (anybody who knows me in real life knows just what that means!). I can't post them all here, but here are a few. If you want more go to her Facebook page. Become a fan! And I've said this before, but if you're within a million miles of Minnesota she is worth the drive to get some knock your socks off awesome photos :-) I can't wait to see what else she has coming!







I finally got my hands on a picture of the Original Sophia Mae dress today! We're on our 3rd version of this dress and when the fabric runs out on this one there will most certainly be a 4th!

See the progression?







And now, what some of you have been waiting for...the new tops! These can now be found on Etsy! My website will take a little longer to update...

















Until next week (or the week after...or the week after...lol) have a sunny spring and wish me warmer weather!

Butterfly!

Yesterday, while out on my walk with Natasha (my overweight Siberian Husky), I saw a butterfly! Now, I know that isn't big news for everybody. Most of you are thinking "Big whoop, lady" but when there is still 3 feet of snow in most places on the ground up here that's HUGE news! It means that even if we are not finished getting snow yet (and we most certainly are not) at least it'll be warm enough that it will melt quickly instead of adding to the 3 feet - woo hooooo!

The other interesting thing that happened while on that walk is that I realized I am using Natasha to help me get up the mountain, and really nothing else. I used to think that I was using her to help me fend off predators (we have a bit of a mountain lion issue up here in these parts) but when a really old man (at least 85 years old) walked by us she ran behind me and cowered. I now understand that should a mountain lion cross my path the most use Natasha will ever be to me is bait.

So, with the nice weather means nice pictures! Well, as nice as I'm capable of, anyway. I'm still plugging away at my daughter's school wardrobe so I decided to poke around my remnants bin and make her a patchwork skirt. Obviously, I will not be reproducing this thing since it's made of scraps, but since it is skirt season now I will be making more skirts in the coming weeks so keep a look out!



Last week I had to say good bye to the Sophia Mae dress. I guess I have just enough fabric for a little dress (about 6-12 months) maybe, so if you still want a vintage Sophia Mae and you have a wee one let me know - but I'm not likely to relist it because I can only make that size. I decided that the Sophia Mae dress isn't ready to die just yet, though. You all may not realize this, but this is actually the second iteration of the dress. The original used much of the same fabrics but in different places. I'm going to keep the dress alive, capturing the vitality and spirit of the old dresses, so here is the NEW Sophia Mae dress!






I have no idea why, but I matched it up with a pair of Oxford Striped Stretch Knit Ruffle Capris. It just seemed like the thing to do so I went with it!

And a little more eye candy for you this week! I LOVE seeing pictures of other people's kids my my clothing. It brings such a smile to my face!






I'll try not to let it take so long in between blogs, but I can't promise anything! I'm at the mercy of my stupid camera and the weather!

Sweet Sunday

Sadly, when all I've been doing all week is sewing there is nothing to write in the blog. I have sewn a lot this week - mostly because I had nothing better to do since I was snowed in anyway. I cannot believe how fast March went by. Wasn't it just February last week? Now we're only days away from April! I hate the spring snow around here but at least it thaws quickly. Of course, what's left is mud. Lots and lots of mud.

A few weeks ago I promised to debut the my new formal dress - and here it is! This dress looks simple, doesn't it? Well don't be fooled because it was pretty difficult to make! I think when I make another one it'll be in a slightly lighterweight fabric - this fabric was extremely luxurious but also a little heavier than I thought it would be and heavy + slippery = incredibly difficult to work with! What's even more amazing is how happy the little model was to show it off! This was a new experience for me: to actually shoot photos of a happy child! Woo hoo!

This is the same dress but I've changed the sash for a different look.




Look at this smile!




The flower is removable



I made this for a friend who is holding an online auction to benefit the Susan G. Komen foundation for Breast Cancer. This is a one of a kind item and will never be reproduced - no matter how much you beg! It's a newborn sized Miss Mamie Romper, called "Sweet Pea". Since I don't have a newborn to model it, you're just going to have to see it on the hanger and use your imagination! For more information about how to bid on this romper please email me at jen@petitepoire.net and I'll get you in touch with the person who can make it happen!



The little one in her stretch velvet ruffle pants looking happier than usual :)


Say goodbye to the Haylee Honeydew Set - this is the last one! *sniff sniff* But if it has to go at least I know it's going to a cute little girl who will wear it well!



I really need to get moving on my daughter's school wardrobe...I'm hoping I'll have something new to debut next week!

Nice and Boring...Just the way I like it!

Spring is "officially" here and I'm happy to report that there are no catastrophes or major dilemmas. PHEW! Knocking on huge amounts wood here, but we've somehow managed to escape the winter without one sniffle or a case of the funk. Not sure how, but certainly not complaining!

I could talk about the weather, and how Colorado weather is so disorienting. 70 degrees...20 degrees...back and forth. Mud or snow. When the weather report calls for "Significant accumulation possible" instead of an estimation of how many inches we're supposed to get I know we're about to be hammered! I could talk about my youngest and her latest marker infatuation. How she completely colored herself, her bedding, bed and stuffed animals green for St. Patrick's Day! I got the last laugh today though - she managed to get into my disappearing ink marker (for sewing) and colored all over herself. Within an hour it was gone! Muhahahahahaha! I could talk about my "real" job and how scared I am to work for a health insurance company right now with so much upheaval. Thank goodness I work for the disability department at Aetna and I might come out of this unscathed! (knocking on more wood) I could talk about a lot of things but I guess I just did :)

Speaking of the weather...yes, I took these pictures outside today. Now I know this probably looks like abuse to those of you who think 55 degrees is cold but rest assured that the model in this picture was not harmed in any way! She BEGGED me to be able to stay outside and play but I had to say no because there was so much mud everywhere.

So this is the Nie Nie Skirt by Pink Fig. I've been in love with this skirt since the first time I laid eyes on it but haven't had the time to tackle all those ruffles. That's a lot of gathering! But the hubs took the kids out yesterday so I finally had the house to myself and I sat myself down in front of the TV and ruffled until I couldn't ruffle anymore. The finished product is amazing if I do say so myself! After searching forever to find the "perfect" top to go with it I finally decided that the only top that would do would be a brown Riley Peasant Blouse - so I whipped that up for her this morning :) I have not been able to get that thing off of her since! Somehow I'm going to have to convince her to put her leotard on for ballet class...this could be a battle.




Look what this thing can do!




So guess what happens if you order something from me and I'm a super duper ultra lame slacker? Not exactly a slacker, but more than a bit overwhelmed! Well, it's only happened once (or twice...) but I tend to feel bad and throw in a freebie or two! I made this dress for my friend Karen's daughter, Olivia, and it's a one of a kind. She was kind enough to photograph it for me! Olivia looks SO cute in it! Again, sorry for for the late delivery but something tells me she's been successfully bribed :)



I made this Sophia Mae outfit for a friend a while back, whose daughter is named...Sophia Mae (duh). Well, it's since changed hands and I'm so happy that it did because this is the most amazing picture (doesn't hurt that the little girl is cute too)! When I first looked at the picture I was like..."Cute outfit!" then I remembered that was MY outfit - that's how good this picture is! lol Kudos to Rhiana Halverson and thank you so much for letting me use this photo!



That being said, I'm offering a discount to all professional photographers! With two daughters to clothe, I almost never have time to make demos, but I am offering 50% to all professional photographers who purchase my clothing. The deal is only good if you agree to take a picture or two of your daughter in the outfit(s) and mention Petite Poire on your blog! Please make sure your watermark is included on the photo and I'll give you a shout out on this blog and my Facebook page! It will also help if you can give me a little info about yourself (where you're located and what kind of photography you specialize in) so I can give you a proper introduction. Just make sure you mention this promo to me at either checkout (and I'll immediately reimburse you) or convo me on Etsy and I'll set up a custom listing for you. Please remember that this offer is for professional photographers only - no amateurs please! If this gets abused I'll have no choice but to cancel this promotion!

Now I know I promised you a peek at the new super pretty dress for special occasions....but I'm still not done with it. I am almost finished with it but it's still a couple days away from unveiling...sorry!

Gearing Up for School

It's such a big step in a child's life when she starts Kindergarten...and such a big job for her mother to get her school wardrobe all designed! Wow, my girls have no idea how lucky they are, do they? Inevitably the day will come when they don't want to wear mom's stupid clothes anymore but for now I'm just enjoying the fact that they'll happily wear them even if they don't want to be photographed in them!

I'm still debating on what I will be listing and what I won't be...but I'll show them off all the same! The denim Fancy Pants didn't seem like they'd be difficult - and they weren't - but they sure took a long time to make and all I did was hack up a pair of Target jeans and sew on coordinating fabric. You can't see the back, but I added some lace over the pockets and it turned out darling. However, they were not my design (I was basically dared to make them!) and they are way too much work! Same thing with the denim twirly skirt. I think I will be listing a denim skirt but probably not that one. I'll work on a simpler design that will not drive me crazy to reproduce. I will definitely be listing the tops, however. I love love love how they turned out!











I think I've finally figured out the secret to getting my oldest daughter to model...all I did was tell her that if she didn't model for me (with a smile on her face) I would give these clothes to some other little girl who liked taking the pictures instead! I meant every word of it! Amazing how well that worked.

I'm working on my first "official" formal dress for a friend's daughter's baptism. I had made my daughter's flowergirl dress last year for a friend's wedding, but that really wasn't my own design so it really didn't count. So far so good, it's coming along beautifully if I do say so myself! If all works according to plan, this dress will be perfect for weddings, baptisms, or anywhere else you want to risk taking her in a beautiful white dress! Keep your eyes peeled for that next week...