amelia's pleated skirt

this weekend, i finished an adorable miniature version of the diy couture pleated skirts i've been making as a gift for my god-daughter amelia. i wanted it to be sort of a complimentary piece to my pierrot/pierrette-inspired skirt - i thought it would be so cute for her to have her very own harlequin-inspired skirt and maybe at some point when i visit seattle we could do a little photo shoot together. that would be so amazing! 

making this skirt made me realize i absolutely love making children's clothes! they're so cute & tiny and it totally makes sense as i've always been drawn to making miniatures in every artistic medium i've tried. i couldn't believe how quickly this skirt whipped up after the initial dying and silk-screening process. i started out with the same fabric and used the same process as i did with my pierrot-inspired skirt but used a mixture of teal and pearl grey RIT dye to get that smokey blue/green hue.

i'm so excited to get this out in the mail to her although i think it might still be too big for her to wear. somehow, it ended up 2" bigger at the waist than i had anticipated so she might have wait until she's a bit older or maybe pin it for now. either way, this definitely isn't going to be the last piece of clothing i make for her from scratch! i usually reconstruct things for her that i find at thrift stores, adding patches or silk-screen images, or i'll collect vintage children's clothing for her but i've never made her anything like this before. i'm really excited to enter into this new chapter of making her things by hand, the most special of things. 

xoxo
☆ emilia ☆

singing in the rain

today, i'm sharing with you a very special recent vintage find which is so adorable i felt it deserved it's very own post… and. it's very own outfit! i found this amazing vintage children's umbrella at an estate sale this weekend and snagged it for my goddaughter - i couldn't believe my luck. when i woke up today and saw it was going to be a lovely rainy day, i just knew i had to style an outfit around it to share it with you. isn't it just the most darling little thing you've ever seen?! 

i never thought i would top the madeline outfit i put together for her last christmas and worried i might never come across anything quite as special for her again. as soon as i saw this umbrella, my heart sank and then leaped for joy! it's crazy cute and an adorable mixture of bambi, donald duck & the chipmunks although it doesn't say 'disney' on it anywhere - not sure if it's a knock-off or what. it's a little bent up but not terribly - i can't wait to send it off to her and to see pics of her splashing around with it!! it melts my heart just to think about it. i'm so glad i came across this adorable rainy day accessory, which only set me back $4.00… not too bad!

xoxo

☆ emilia ☆

*outfit details: clothes & scarf - vintage // shoes - penny loves kenny // rings - vintage, ebay, forever 21

pet portraits

a few years ago, i was fortunate enough to have commissioned custom felt portraits for my four cats from artist amelia reyes, a.k.a. slughunter, before she closed up shop to attend graduate school. aren't these portraits absolutely incredible and pretty much the coolest, cutest, most heartwarming things you've ever seen??

i suppose i'm a bit biased since the portraits are of my beloved little beasts. but, really - the care and attention put into each one, including a request for a bio of each cat's specific personality and favorite things, is beyond measure and really brings these portraits to life. the top two are osho and tima followed by sasha and ravi below. since having the portraits made, we heartbreaking-ly lost one member of the family - tima - and, unexpectedly gained a new member - misha, a solid gray girl who looks almost exactly like sasha now that she's growing up.

it's one of my christmas wishes this year to try my hardest to make a felt portrait for misha in the same style as the others (or as close as possible) so we can finally have all our portraits up and every cat represented. it's a daunting task and i feel like i'm in a master copy class - trying my best to recreate the mona lisa or botticelli's birth of venus - when i start to think about how i'm going to match amelia's incredibly unique style enough so the portrait doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. i've got all the colors & fabrics chosen and materials gathered except for the eye buttons and will be taking the next few days to begin sewing and gluing it all together. next week, i'll share the finished product with you. wish me luck!!

xoxo

☆ c. emilia ☆

christmas won't be christmas without any presents

the christmas tree is up, decorations are out, candles are lit and the first of the presents are starting to be wrapped tonight as i sip on hot chocolate and watch my favorite christmas cartoons. i just love this time of year so much!! 

here's a little collage i put together to share a few favorites from my vintage christmas gift tag collection. one of the things i love best about the holiday season is the opportunity to pull out my vintage ornaments, decorations, papers & gift tags and go through them all - i always forget how many cute holiday things i've collected over the years and they just make me so happy. vintage christmas stuff is the best! 

hope you're feeling cozy & merry & bright!

xoxo

☆ c. emilia ☆

etsy xmas wishlist

all year long i've been adding items to my etsy "favorites" list in the hopes of someday, somehow, acquiring all of these beautiful things. i hadn't even thought of using it as a christmas wishlist until last week when my family started asking me about my amazon wishlist and whether it was up-to-date. i was shocked to see i had amassed a whopping 29 pages of favorites - almost 700 items - and really can't expect anyone to sift through all that stuff in an effort to find what i'm really hoping to find under the christmas tree this year.

after sorting through all my "must-haves" & weeding out the "sold" items here is what i was left with - my 2011 etsy xmas wishlist (from left to right:)

1 -   handsoap set - creepy & cool - 8 hands of different shapes & colors

2 -   in it together - digital print by ashley g and drew 

3 -   vintage holly hobbie sewing machine - black or baby blue

4 -   cloudy bear leggings by qooqoo fashion

5 -   costume party - 14x11 digital print by the black apple

6 -   the prince and the pauper - teal-green & copper merino wool yarn

7 -   black forest picnic paper doll set by wool and water  * OR *

8 -   little maple friends paper doll set by wool and water

9 -   school of witchcraft and wizardry diary / 2012 weekly planner

10 -  kitty cat rings - black & ivory acrylic rings by iluxo

i hope everyone is busy getting their own christmas lists together & feeling the holiday spirit!

xoxo

☆ c. emilia ☆