Where are Annie Maude, Daniella Marie and Vivian Elizabeth....

....At Too Cute of course! Too Cute is a darling little consignment shop in Burlingame. It is nestled in a charming little galleria of shops and has a wonderful selection of new, resale and handmade toys and clothes for children. The proprietress, Isabelle also has an adorable drop off art and playtime studio. It is a terrific hangout for “the little’s”. Over the years, Isabelle has become a dear friend and inspiration to me. She has continually been there as a shoulder to ….”SCREAM” on when my little toddler and now five years old has gone through frustrating stages. Isabelle also has kids who are older than mine, so she has been able to offer advice or simply be a sounding board. Anyway, recently she was kind enough to give MAD Stitches aprons a new home too. Here are some pictures of Annie Maude, Daniella Marie and Vivian Elizabeth aprons outside of Too Cute!

Introducing....The Vivian Elizabeth Apron

So the aprons are a joy to sew and I have a new addition to announce. We now have the Annie Maude apron for toddlers. The Daniela Marie; which has a sweet variation of a pocket for 2T-5T's. And now I want to introduce the Vivian Elizabeth apron for 5T and up. One thing I have learned on this journey of trying to create MAD Stitches is that the best inspirations or ideas come from gifts I make for people. Over Easter, my sister in law Elizabeth and one of my most positive supporters asked if I could make a special apron for Vivian, my gorgeous and super talented niece. I came very close to making her the Daniela Marie in her size(she is 7 years old). However, after much thought, I felt that she was past a pinafore apron and she deserved something a bit more grown up to wear when she does all of that baking with her mom in the kitchen. Well, my family recently went on a vacation and I took my sewing machine(...yes I really took it on the plane and all!) While on our trip, I drew up some new designs that I thought might suite The Viv. Anyway--this is the new apron that grew out of making a gift for my niece...Introducing....The Vivian Elizabeth! Thank you to my incredibly sweet and artistically talented niece for inspiring me to want to create this for you! I love you!!! And to my sister in law Liz who continues to be one of my biggest cheerleaders as I try to build MAD Stitches! Love, Auntie Ness

Twice Turned

So it has been a while since I have reported in. All is well in the land of MAD Stitches. I have worked on the studio a bit more and I have added a chopping block wood work bench which I love. So going back about a month or so I spent a fair bit of time in Petaluma working on patterns with Nicolle Vasbinder at StitchCraft. We worked on a new dress pattern and some cute pants for Annie. I also had a chance to stop in a few of the little shops in Petaluma--OMG they are so charming. Anyway, hiding in the corner of one of the shops was a very old baptism gown. I could not resist it and... it was only $15.00. So, I bought it and quickly hollered for my mom! The fabric on this gown was so old I knew I only had ONE shot to shorten it into an Easter dress for Miss Annie. Fortunately, my expert, seamstress mom came over with all of her sewing tools and rebuilt the dress. She cut off the bottom and turned it into a slip and shortened the rest into a dress. Sadly, I neglected to document this process--but here is a picture of Miss Annie wearing her twice turned dress from Nan Nan.