I {heart} re-designing: retro-stylin' bucket hats...

This weeek another of the projects on my " i {heart} redesigning list for 2011" has just been completed. This one is reusing some awesome Summer retro fabric from a 2005-ish Trelise Cooper top (that was bought pre-children, and will never fit again).

I've been keeping it because I wanted to turn it into one of those awesome vintage-type bonnets that are all the rage - I simply adore the ones by Nella on Felt.co.nz and for boys, the Gottahave hats/caps on felt.co.nz as well.

But I also really like the modern Billabong kids 'revo hats' out this Summer in the surf stores - their designs takes a bucket hat, gives it a wider, floppy brim, and crosses over the brim at the back and fastens it with a velcro bit. They call it a 'pony-tail' hole, and it's meant to wrap around a little girl's pony tail (ie like a cap has) to help keep it on.

So taking these two ideas and mixing them together I came up with a wider-brimmed bucket hat, with the brim extended at the back to cross over and tie together, like a vintage bonnet. All I did to the original Butterick Baby 3782 pattern was extend the two pieces of the brim by around 15cm each, and taper them off into a point.

My bubba is having a lot of fun taking it off, putting it on, taking it off, putting it on....

And I'm pleased as punch that another project can be crossed off my project list.

For more amazing creative spaces this week check out Kirsty's blog.

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Lil Magoolie roadtests the lilypad - and giveaway!

Today was a super highlight for me professionally - Maddie at L'il Magoolie reviewed my lily pads and it was a super brillant review with lots. Of. Exclamations! I was thrilled as we think L'il Magoolie is THE coolest design blog for parents in New Zealand.

Here's a snippet of what Maddie said:

Oh. My. God. I have fallen in
love with this thing. Instead of having to regularly wrestle the carseat out and
shake out food/toys/miscellaneous items that seem to always find their way down
the side of her seat, I just remove the liner and shake it out and/or wash it.
So easy! It’s great that the fabric is a breathable cotton instead of the
polyester on Aspen’s seat so she’s not Little Miss Sweaty-Neck at the end of
every trip. Plus it looks great (we’re sporting a lovely grey and yellow fabric)
and is very robust.

Also? It’s sometimes hard to see how well an item is
made when you view it online and I was very pleasantly surprised to find that
the attention to detail in its construction was top notch.

To celebrate, Maddie asked if I would consider doing a giveaway...to which of course the answer was yes! So, if you don't have a lily pad yet, or would like another please enter (I use one for the shopping trolley, two in my car seats, and another one in my baby's pram - that's the bonus of being the inventor I suppose!).

To enter the giveaway, hop over to Maddie's blog, and leave a comment on the blog post on my lily pads. You get extra points for facebooking it or tweeting it. Don't forget to follow her blog - it's a fantastic discovery point for new designs, new Kiwi products, and international trends!

Good luck!!!

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