Up, up and away!

These last few weeks have been a bit of a blur!  In between my children's school commitments and assessment, I've been sewing up a storm!  The winter stock we've been taking to the Boutique Markets in Portside every second Sunday has been snapped up by a gorgeous Brisbane crowd of shoppers!  Thank you all for the wonderful feedback - happy customers make my job seem all the more worthwhile.

We'll be missing the next few Markets as we're scooping up the children to head overseas and visit family, who we see too rarely.  Fear not; we will return to Portside at the end of July to bring you more Nicobelle Design goodness, then in August, the 2011/12 summer clothes previews will begin on the blog, website and at the markets.  I have some wonderful designs planned and cannot wait to show you all! (Can't believe I'm thinking about summer when the winter chill has just started here.....)

Please note that any orders placed on the website will not be fulfilled until our return in mid-July.

I look forward to catching up with you all soon - the laptop is coming with me and I've already organised wi-fi access for our time in England, so fingers and toes are crossed that we are successful with the wi-fi hotspots and I can post about some adventures over there!

Take care,
Fiona

New stock and the boutique markets

With amazing weather again, we had a fabulous time yesterday at the Boutique Markets, meeting so many lovely new faces and catching up with friends.  I have to say a big thank you to everyone for such sweet comments about my clothes - although my website has been operational for a while, it is wonderful to also have the opportunity to display my range in a handmade market environment.  On a website, it's just not possible to always capture the magic of a piece of clothing - the colour, its fall, the twirl factor and of course the tactile quality of the gorgeous pure cotton fabrics, but in the flesh, customers can see the colours and feel the softness of the clothes - and it makes such a difference!  So when I hear wonderful, positive comments from children and their parents, it feels that what I am doing really seems to be on the right track!

These new styles are all now available in sizes 4, 6 and 8 for ordering on the website.

Emily Knot Dress in Rainy Days:

Emily Knot Dress in Blue Meadow:

The One-of-a-Kind Alyssa Dress (size 8 only): 

Rosie Twirl Skirt in Fanfare Teal:

Enjoy browsing the latest styles!  If you have any queries about a fabric you would like transformed into another style, or an item which has sold, please email me.  I do create custom orders and am happy to discuss any requests you may have.

Take care,

Fiona    

First market day

Last Sunday was our first ever Boutique Market day and what a wonderful time we had!  Although a shower or two were predicted, the sun shone and the weather was gorgeous.  Thank you to everyone who visited Nicobelle Design - I met some lovely new customers and fellow stallholders but unfortunately was too busy to make any of my own purchases this time (a big plus in hubby's eyes!!).  With a P&O ship in dock, Portside was abuzz with tourists and visitors all morning and the Markets had a really happy vibe as people browsed the beautiful, and very tempting, wares on display.  Here are a few pictures of our stall before opening time:

Our pom poms seemed to attract the crowds - everybody wanted to buy one!

Winter dresses and tops

Winter skirts

Our knot dresses, which proved to be a big hit

I am already looking forward to the next Boutique Market day - if the first was any indication, we are in for a fun-filled year!!  Sewing has already commenced and I'll provide some sneak peeks of our latest stock soon.

More winter designs

Two more dresses have been added to our winter line.  The Gemma Tunic in Raspberry:

This dress features ruffles at the base, topped with golden ric rac, butterfly sleeves and a feature ruffle from the neckline to add a bit of zing, and is designed to be layered with leggings, long-sleeved Ts or jeans.  The two fabrics are simply gorgeous together and would match a multitude of basics in her wardrobe.  It's a style that would look sweet all year round, not just in the cooler seasons.

The second item is our Sasha Swing Dress in Sunflower:

What a happy dress!  Again, this has been designed for winter layering - how sweet would it look with a turquoise or brown T and leggings?  As the straps are adjustable, this dress will grow with your girl - in a couple of years, it will be one of her most comfy tops!  Last year I made a Swing dress for my 8 year old daughter and her 13 year old sister occasionally borrows it to wear as a top - all you need to do is re-tie the straps and it will continue to fit for years!

Happy browsing!

Our first winter collection is live!

Since my last post, I have been as busy as a bee making all of Nicobelle Design's winter stock and am SO excited to start sharing it with you!  It has been a great journey - there is nothing I love more than designing a piece of clothing, firstly in my mind, then on paper, and seeing it come to life in fabric and colour.  Often along this journey there will be alterations to be made until the perfect piece arrives, but the whole design process is very exciting and engaging!

In our very first winter collection, there are dresses, tops and skirts, all designed to be worn with your daughter's favourite wardrobe basics.  Team our skirts or dresses with a long sleeved T, leggings and winter boots and she will be set to discover new horizons! Our styles can easily be dressed up for a fancy day out, and are so comfortable, she will think they are also perfect for a quiet day at home with friends.

The Julia Tunic in Sea Green

Our tops have 3/4 sleeves and look simply divine with a pair of jeans and boots; they are roomy enough to pop a long sleeved T underneath as well.  

The Juliette Top in Autumn Floral

As with all our winter clothes, the skirts have been made with the deeper and richer colours of the season in mind, so that when she selects her favourite hot pink or dark red long sleeved T from the wardrobe, it will match a multitude of our styles. 

The Kristie Skirt in Winter Sky

The Ellie Skirt in Geranium

I hope you enjoy browsing our latest range.  There are more styles being added to the website almost daily, so please check back to see more.  If you have any queries, just send me an email from the link on the right.

I'll be back soon with some more news!

  

And the highest bidder is..............

jaynec!!!  Congratulations on winning the auction for my skirt.  What a wonderful bid of $60 - thank you so much for your generosity!  And thank you to all who placed a bid through the week.  This amount will be added to the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and along with all the other donations received so far will help to make a difference to those affected by the devastation.


Even though most of the handmade auctions have already ended, the RAFFLES on Toni Coward's blog will be staying open until midday on Wednesday 26th January.  For those of you who were hoping to win a handmade auction and missed out, click here to see the master raffle list.  There are some gorgeous pieces of handmade goodness still available, as well as some books and patterrns - just click the links on that page to go to the individual blogs for details of their raffle.


Once again, many many thanks to all who bid on my skirt.  I am so proud to have been a part of this much larger group of handmade auctions and will be back later in the week to announce the grand total of all our auction and raffle fundraising efforts.

Auction for the Qld Flood Appeal

Edited to add:  To bring myself into line with the other online auctions, I will now be ending the auction for my skirt at 9pm Monday 24th January (local Brisbane time), rather than midnight.  As many of us moderate comments, this change means that we can update and keep current any late bidding, without the necessity to stay glued to the computer until midnight. ;)  At 9pm, I will announce the successful bidder!


Over the last week, the world has watched as devastating floods engulfed much of our beautiful state of Queensland.  Lives and homes have been so sadly lost, but one consolation to have come about, in the wake of all the flooding, is the willingness and tirelessness of people to provide support to those in need.  Recent images of people helping complete strangers in Brisbane's affected suburbs can't help but give us all an increased faith in the human race.


As with all natural disasters the clean-up has begun and people all over Brisbane and Queensland desperately need help.  Toni Coward, the Australian designer behind Make It Perfect patterns has launched the Queensland Flood Appeal with her sister Carli.




As a contribution towards this Appeal, I am holding an auction on this blog for the skirt below:

This is a double layer twirl skirt made from 100% cotton fabrics by designer Heather Bailey. The underskirt provides added body and twirl and the skirt features lovely trim detail with an elastic waist for comfort and ease of dressing.  In gorgeous sunshine shades, it is sure to brighten up any little girl's wardrobe.  It is a generous size 6 (so will also fit a small size 8).  Waist measurement is 58cm (23 inches) unstretched and length from waist to base of skirt is 46cm (18 inches).  This item is brand new, lovingly hand made and has not been offered for sale before.  On my website, this skirt would have a retail price of $40.


This auction is open to everyone - I will pay postage to anywhere in the world for this item.  Payment is by donation to the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal - for details on how to donate, please visit the website.  This is SUCH a worthwhile cause - please donate generously, especially as your postage will be FREE!!!!


How this auction works:
1.  Bidding will start at $30 (Australian).
2.  You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address.  Please ensure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.
3.  Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.
4.  This auction is open to everyone.  Postage to anywhere in the world is FREE.
5.  This auction begins NOW and will END at midnight on Monday 24th January 2011 (Brisbane time).
6.  At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please ensure your bid comment includes your email address).  The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email.  Once proof of payment has been received, I will post the skirt to you.
7.  Thank you for participating in this auction - happy bidding!!

Crafty fun for everyone!

I've enjoyed reading illustrator Jenny B Harris' Allsorts blog for some time now.  Jenny is an extremely talented artisan and offers many free patterns and downloads for readers to try. She also has an etsy shop where she sells embroidery patterns of dolls dressed in traditional folk costumes from all over the world.

One activity on her blog which my younger daughter has delighted in for the last couple of years is the interactive cloth doll figure Zoe.  With a little clicking and dragging of clothes, shoes, hats, etc, children can dress Zoe in different outfits ready for any occasion!  At the moment, Zoe's clothes reflect a Christmas theme, but do change depending on the time of year.

Even more fun (I think!) is the beautiful gingerbread cottage that requires much sweet decoration in the form of candycanes, jellybeans and other delights.

For the littlies (and the big kids amongst us!), Jenny's blog is a wonderful play to visit.  At the moment, there are lots of Christmas crafts ready to download - all clearly written with patterns included.

Well done Jenny for such a wonderful web resource!!  We visit you often and I hope others receive as much pleasure as we do from your blog!

Fiona  xx

Giveaway winner

What a wonderful week I've had visiting new friends from all over the globe!  From England to Switzerland, Greece to France and the USA back to Australia, I've so enjoyed reading about the snowfalls, seeing new recipes and looking at the gorgeous Christmas decorating taking place. Thank you all for your lovely comments about my new website, designs and tutorial!  Your words are very much appreciated.

Without further ado, I'll announce the winner of my giveaway:

As entrants received extra entries for blogging or tweeting about this giveaway, or for following Nicobelle Design on facebook, we had a total of 19 entries.  The winner was number 14, Jessa Irene from A Holiday Haven!  Congratulations Jessa - I hope you little cousin enjoys wearing the brooch and hair ties.  If you could please email me on info@nicobelledesign.com.au with your mailing address, I'll get the goodies out to you first thing next week.

Thank you once again to all of you for entering my giveaway - I'll be blogging about new stock on my website next week so stay tuned.

Have a lovely weekend, and for those in the northern hemisphere, keep warm!!

Fiona  xx

Tutorial and Giveaway!

To celebrate the opening of our new online store, I thought it might be fun to do a tutorial and giveaway!  We are currently running a special offer in our store: with every skirt purchased from our Summer Collection, you will receive a matching Puff Brooch FREE! Simply pin a puff brooch to any top and it will instantly coordinate with the beautiful colours in that skirt.  These brooches are made from a Suffolk Puff (or Yo-Yo) which has been embellished with a crocheted flower and button - so pretty!  


In today's tutorial, I'll be guiding you though the creation of one of my Puff Brooches - and will give details at the bottom of this post on how to enter the giveaway to receive this very brooch as well as two matching hair ties!

To make a Suffolk puff, you'll first need to decide on its finished size.  For a brooch on a little girl, I find that a finished diametre of just over 5.5cm (2 inches) works well, otherwise it can become a bit overpowering on her outfit.  For hair clips or ties, smaller is better again.


For this tutorial, you will need:

• a smallish piece of fabric
• fabric scissors
• a paper template cut into a circle of the desired size
• needle
• thread
• embellishments (I'm using a crocheted flower and button)
• brooch pin
• thread to match the button colour 

Here's what you do:


1. Using a paper template with a 12.5 cm (5 inch) diametre, cut a fabric circle.  This width allows for .5cm (1/4 inch) fold-over around the entire outside edge and will give you a finished puff of approximately 5.5cm.


2.  Thread the needle with a doubled piece of thread for strength - you'll be pulling tightly on those stitches!  Tie a knot at the end of the threads, leaving a tail of a few centimetres.


3.  Place the fabric circle wrong side up and with your free thumb, fold over half a centimetre of the edge to make your first stitch from the top side.  Continue to fold with your thumb as you go, making small stitches along the edge. (I'm right-handed, so I stitch from right to left and hold the edge down with my left thumb.)

4.  When you reach the beginning again, bring your last stitch through to the top side.  Gently pull on the thread to tighten your stitches and form the puff shape.

The gathering will end up as a tight circle in the centre and the folded edge will be hidden underneath.

5.  Keeping the thread taut, make a couple of small stitches inside the gathered edge to finish off.  Cut the thread, again leaving a tail of a few centimetres; knot this three or four times with the initial thread tail to secure. Cut the thread ends and you have completed your puff!

6.  Now for the embellishments!  Place the crocheted flower and button in the centre of the puff and stitch them in place, starting from the back (again, using a doubled thread and leaving a tail for later).  Once they are secure, stitch the brooch pin to the back of the puff and finish by again knotting the ends together to secure.

All finished!

How sweet does it look on our Kate Strappy Top!

Would you like to enter this giveaway??  Each of the following will give you one entry:

• leave a comment on this blog
• blog about the giveaway, and place a link to this post on your blog
• visit our facebook page, 'like' it, and leave a comment here to let me know
• follow us on twitter, and leave a comment here to let me know

On Friday December 3rd, I will select a winner.  International entries are welcome - I am happy to post anywhere in the world!  What a gorgeous treat for the little girl in your life!

Speaking of blogs, I follow Natasha's gorgeous lifestyle and cooking blog 5 Minutes Just for Me - today she is doing a '5 Minutes With....' segment about me!  Hop on over to read it! Make sure you stay for a while - she writes the most wonderful posts about home decorating, cooking and much, much more!

Thank you for visiting me today - I have also joined up with Beverly's Pink Saturday linky party.  Thanks for having me Beverly!