Lollipops and Daydreams Christmas Dress - The Nutcracker

Hello,

I'm a big fan of Nutcracker decorations at Christmas time. They are traditional, colourful and ever since watching "Barbie and the Nutcracker" movie with my daughter when she was little, we've included a few nutcrackers in our decorations at home here. The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy music has a permanent place in my memory!

Image from Pinterest

When I spotted this beautiful Nutcracker print I had to include it in our Christmas collection for 2018.
The following photos were taken by Una O'Connor Photography www.uoconnor.com

Thank you to Una O'Connor Photography for the modelled photos!

Happy Nutcracker Season

Maria 

Children's Rooms - Inspiration

Hello,

I came across some beautiful children's rooms on pinterest that I had to share. You can find the links to my page here . Lots of colour and some are for boys, some are for girls and some are unisex.

Amazing Feature Mural 

The mobile is amazing! 

All the storage details are so clever! From the use of the hooks for bags, the globe containers to keep smaller toys contained and the use of the book rails to display and store books. Its such clever use of a wall!

Soft vintage colour palette, very on trend right now but is also quite timeless.

I really want these beds, so beautiful.

Wonderful colourful play area with lots of clever storage.

So many clever uses of space and all very original and unique. Very inspiring rooms.
Happy Decorating!
Maria 

Blackberry Cakes

The blackberries in our garden are never-ending this year! I'm presuming the combination of snow and sun and the fact that the hedgerow hasn't had a decent cut in ten years has all worked really well together. We've frozen lots and made blackberry and apple crumble, blackberry country cake, blackberry maderia cake with blackberry buttercream icing, blackberry and strawberry crumbles. Running out of ideas I had a look on Pinterest 

These sound delicious!! 

Within my skill range (not the icing part though!!)

So so beautiful!

Blueberries not blackberries but you could substitute! 

The colours!! 

I've certainly got some inspiration and am going to try a lavender and blackberry mix

Happy Blackberry picking and if you have any recipe ideas do let me know!

Maria 

Upcycled Dresses

I've always been a huge fan of up cycling fabrics. When I was a teenager there was a second hand store in Rathmines, upstairs beside the Stella Cinema. I would go in with any clothes I didn't want and the lady would take note of each item in a little notebook and attribute a value to everything. You had the option of taking the cash amount or of exchanging for items in store! By the time she'd finished checking through my bag of old clothes I'd have already scanned though the rails picking out what I'd love to have! And so the deal would be done and I'd head back down the little stairway with a few new to me items for my wardrobe.

Photo credit AMC Photography Cork

During the summer holidays from college, I worked in the Cerebral Palsy Shop on Camden Street Dublin. At the time the government was running a work placement scheme for college students in volunteer organisations. For working five days I would get 90 Irish pounds. I absolutely loved the store and working there and was lucky enough to do two summers there. On a Friday I'd get paid and at this stage I'd already have a nice little collection of clothes and bric a brac amassed. Sometimes I would just clean the clothes up and other times I'd make slight alterations. I also learnt the value of a good steamer in there! No items were ever put on the floor without being checked thoroughly and receiving a decent steam to ensure they were presented as best as possible before they arrived on the shop floor.

Photo credit Rory Moore Photography

Fast forward to now and I decided at the start of the year to do what I could to make my business more sustainable. The fashion industry is notorious for crimes to the environment! As a small business I think its important to whatever I can to be environmentally responsible even in the smallest ways possible. In my everyday running I try to keep fabric waste to a very minimum and will use every inch of fabric possible. As a maker I'm always looking at fabrics wherever I am, be it on someones cushions or clothes in a shop window. When I spotted the floral curtains in a local charity shop I thought they would make perfect little girls dresses. Of course the worry being that no-one except me would think this was a good idea!!

Curtains! Photo credit Rory Moore

Photo Credit Rory Moore

With a leap of faith that there is an interest out there for up cycled clothes I've pledge to make at least ten items for each new collection out of old fabrics. These can be vintage fabrics, old curtains, maybe a ladies dress from a high street shop that was just never worn, many different sources. First thing is to wash and dry the item before setting to work. I'm delighted to say the first ten pieces are all sold already and I add a few pieces as I find the fabrics. Each tag will detail the provenance of the fabric so there's a little piece of history to the item.

Photo Credit AMC Photography

Photo Credit AMC Photography

Frill dress made from curtains. I added a scrap of polka dot fabric from my stash to make the frill and made bias tape from the floral for the under arm. Photo Credit Rory Moore Photography.

Looking forward to making some new ones for the Autumn! Thank you for reading
Maria 

Vintage Children's Pattern Illustrations

I adore the clothes illustrations on vintage children's patterns. They are pieces of fashion history and represent some of the key fashions of different decades.

Like the pages of fashion magazines or ad campaigns for brands, they do put forward an idyllic view of different decades. In decades where mass produced ready to wear clothes were not available, these were the clothes that patterns that home sewers or local seamstresses would use to take inspiration from to make clothes for children.

1930s , serious children! Beautiful neckline details with short dresses.

Classic aline shapes with sailor inspired necklines

More 1920s/30s with collar details, sleeves and matching panties for underneath

McCall's pattern, happy children!

Very classic colours, exaggerated aline shapes.

1930s , gorgeous necklines! 

The illustrations in this post range from the 1920s up to the 1970s. Obviously there is very little diversity in the models portrayed! The 1920s and 1930s are very serious looking children. The 1950s the children are allowed to smile, no doubt a representation of what was going on socially and also the mindset of post world depression and world wars advertising.

Lollipops and Daydreams Summer collection 2018

Location: Glenbower Woods, Killeagh, Co. Cork

Photographer: AMC Photography Cork. 

Clothes : Lollipops & Daydreams

The beautiful location for the shoot was the stunning Glenbower Woods, Killeagh, Co. Cork.  It is 10km west of Youghal so a perfect spot if you are touring around that area and need a break and some fresh air!

The woods were in the ownership of the DeCapell family from 1182 until 1933  (source) and is now open to the public. It is incredibly beautiful and I am sure the perfect place for a Sunday walk.

For summer we wanted to create a collection that was colourful and fun. One where the clothes could be worn on their own, or, simply layered with a top underneath or a hoody/cardigan over, as the Irish summer tends to be a little unpredictable but bearing in mind you could be wearing the dress on a beach somewhere warm!

The unicorn party dress is perfect for special occasions but you can always wear it everyday. The separate pieces like the 1970s top worn here with a organic cotton feather skirt , can be teamed together or styled with clothes from your child's own wardrobe.

For Summer we choose a mermaid print which is available in both pink and aqua.
The summer floral print dress has such a beautiful colour base, could work with so many shoes, sandals and other clothes!

 Of course no collection is complete without some unicorns and rainbows! This blue unicorn dress now comes in a choice of colour, blue or pink.

The wearability of clothes is so important to us as children need to be able to run and play in comfort!

Enormous thank you to Ann-Marie and to the girl's mothers. I am blessed to work with such talented people.

Hope you enjoy the new collection which you can find here 

Have a wonderful day and thank you for reading

Maria

PS Do check out our dinosaur tales!!