new arrivals

I just finished working on Part One of a custom order I received this week. I'm designing two custom dresses, both with zebra print and hot pink for a baby and a toddler, both sisters. I decided to have a little more fun with this and opted to not make the basic jumper, but go for more of a fun direction. This one was a struggle, however (lots of getting stabbed with needles, or being burned by the iron...), but I managed to make it work. I'm even still considering ripping out some seams and going back and starting over.

This dress has a diamond smocked skirt, and for even more added volume, the lining has a bubble hem and is covered in hot pink tulle. The front bodice, I initially was going to leave plain, but while I was taking a break last night for ice cream, I saw a little girl wearing a similar dress, but the bodice was covered in tiny ruffles. So, I went home, ripped out seams and added in the little ruffles. The straps are like overalls, which close on the inside with big snaps. On the sides, I added slits with button closures so that it would be easier to take the dress on and off. I even topped it off with a little handmade brooch made from felt buttons and tulle.

It's really something.

This style of dress is available for sale by custom order ONLY. If you are interested in ordering this dress, feel free to email me at tinybowshandmade@gmail.com

This dress is available in hot pink or teal in sizes 6-8 mo. or 9-12 mo. 

Also, here's a peek into the Tinybows Studio!

happy sewing!

new shop!

I am proud to announce that I opened up shop today on Etsy to sell my handmade children's clothes! You can check it out here!

I am also happy to announce that I have finished two new dresses as of last night (while staying up to 1:30 a.m. listening to Kreayshawn). I really like them. The yellow one used to be a pillowcase from IKEA and the white one was a 1960s tablecloth!

And now I'm off to JoAnn's to find fabrics for custom orders. 

happy sewing!

baby talk

I have been a mad woman all day since I woke up. I finished three new baby dress, and even found loads of new fabrics thanks to the lovely ladies at the local thrift store who compile every scrap of vintage fabric that comes in. I decided to get really crafty with some of the crazy fabrics they gave me and made two insanely awesome party dresses, and one sweet little cotton version.

These were all definitely vintage inspired pieces. And I am proud to say that custom orders are already pouring in! I'm so excited to get to work making one of a kind things for people! Although, I'm more excited about the responses they are already giving. People just love tiny stuff, I guess!

happy sewing!

baby crazy

So...so many people I know are having babies! Ahhhh! And they're all little girls! *Squeal!*

Of course this is finally giving me the little push I need to start making cutesy vintage baby and toddler clothing. I love tiny things, obviously. I love making doll clothing because it's small scale, doesn't take a lot of fabric and can be finished quickly. So, for all the expecting mamas I know out there, I'm making them each a dress and a pair of shoes for their babies. Also, I'm making a lot of these because I'm going to be selling them as well!

I found the pattern for this baby jumper on Burda Style. It was a member pattern, and can be found here for a free download! It's a simple three piece pattern that you can customize to make so many different kinds of dresses. Beware, there are buttonholes, you buttonhole avoiders! (I know who you are!) Luckily, you can easily use snaps instead if buttons aren't your fancy. These are two of my versions of the pattern, all made from vintage fabrics and notions!

Each dress is fully lined, closes at the top with buttons and is unique in it's own way!

happy sewing!

north carolina

So, I'm still in North Carolina until Sunday and I'm nearly dying from not having my sewing machine here. Before I left for vacation I was on my most prolific sewing spree of all time. I was working on the 1940s bathing suit, about three dresses, and the Burda 3/4 sleeve jacket, just to name a few. I don't think I know how to do nothing for an extended period of time. If I hadn't brought my embroidery along I'd be chewing on my fingernails, I'm sure!

However, my lovely little friend Bella has provided me with an opportunity to play around with photography. She specifically wanted me to dress her up "all old fashioned and stuff" (she's seven) and we had so much fun finger waving her hair and giving her a whole glamorous makeup treatment. She even wore the dress I got for her a couple weeks ago with the adorable tie back and polka dots. Ahh! So cute!

Weekend Recap

It has been an insane weekend, and it's still only Saturday. Last night I went to a cabaret benefit that I donated one of my Tinybow's Dolls to. She looked so wonderful as part of a delightful package!

I found the most amazing dress for these events, a vintage 1930s style beaded fringe dress and the beautiful 1940s fur fascinator I picked up last weekend at an estate sale. I got so many compliments on my look, and was even invited to be part of a burlesque group!

The benefit was super fun and we ended up leaving halfway through to catch the rest of  the Carnivolution freak show, which was incredible! (Sadly no photos!)

Today we headed to the Art Star Craft Bazaar for a Burda Style meetup, which only one person showed up to (thanks Lili!!!). I bought an amazing pair of nesting doll earrings and ate funnel cake. I wore my beautiful 1930s polka dot peplum dress from Forageinthestorage and the beautiful 1940s strawberry sweater from last weekend's estate sale.

Tomorrow we live for North Carolina. I'm so excited!!!

Port Elizabeth Top

I've seen so many members on Burda Style making the Port Elizabeth and I've been so in love with each and every one. So, I finally downloaded the pattern (not that many pages to put together, yay!) and got to work.

While I was out this past weekend, I bought a lot of fabric from an estate sale. All of it was crazy 1970s printed cotton (I think the woman was a seamstress). Also, at the same sale I found a huge shoe box full of handmade Barbie clothing dating from the 1970s. All of it was so wonderfully made and so I've been inspired to get back into being a prolific sewer.

All of the fabrics I found this weekend.

So, I decided to go with the pretty yellow floral fabric on the bottom because it is so bright and perfect for spring. The pattern was incredibly simple and easy to make. I never even needed the directions. 

I really like how it turned out and I can't wait to make more!

If you'd like to try making this, you can download the pattern and print it at home...FOR FREE!

Check out the pattern here.

tinybows send off

I've been steadily getting out orders of Tinybow's creations lately. I have three more left to finish and then I'm all finished until I get another order or decide to just start making lots of them to sell on Etsy (like I keep saying I'm going to do).

These are a few of the lucky ladies who found loving homes!

1940s beach wear

So, I'm heading to North Carolina this coming Sunday and I'm getting ready by making myself a whole assortment of 1940s inspired beach wear. Beach wear in the 1940s was very feminine and sweet and it was, well...classy!

I had a really hard time finding myself a bathing suit. I went to H&M and all those other stores and you know what? Bathing suits are really really skimpy. It's like there's nothing there covering you up. And honestly, that only works if you are either a) a size 2 and shaped like a 2 X 4, or b) have rock hard abs like Gwen Stefani in her "Hey Baby" music video. I'm a size 8-10 and I do not have any abs. I have lady hips. I know that I do NOT look good in skimpy H&M's super cheap $10 bikinis. Plus, I don't want to be showing the entire world my every inch of bare skin possible.

Alright, so Modcloth does have really cool vintage swimwear. But honestly, I don't want to shell out $100 for not even a yard of stretchy swimsuit fabric (which BY THE WAY is only $12 a yard at JoAnn's!). I could make that entire stupid Modcloth Bathing suit for $12! 100 - 12 = $88 savings. See what a rip off it really is? I don't want to get into a tyrade about Modcloth because they do sell some cool stuff. But they are a huge rip off. I bought a dress from them once and it was expensive and I expected good quality and it was actually very terrible and ill fitting. I haven't trusted them since.

Anyways, once again I did some 1940s beach wear research.

This was my favorite:

I really like the scallops. And just how elegant it looks. So, I raided my stash for a crazy print and without using a pattern, mind you, I took out my scissors and cut straight from the dress form. I decided against doing a scalloped skirt and the bows and all that frilly nonsense. I wanted it to be a bit more simple. So, I made a scalloped bikini top, with a simple skirt. I turned the top into a halter and gave it a tie back instead of using the buttons. This is what I have so far. I still need to work out a bunch of kinks in the skirt. 

The bust was insanely challenging. But I managed to get it pretty close!

More photos later!