Mini Cushions

I call them "mini cushions", although they're not really tiny. Measuring approximately 30cm square, they're smaller than your average department store variety but they are infinitely more charming!

You may recognize those central cushions from one of our apron dresses.  The fruit fabrics are a real favourite of yours, so we're incorporating them into other items.

Plenty of admirers come to our market stall and tell us how lovely our dresses are and that they would love to buy one, if only they knew of a little girl to give it to.  Hmph!  So we've decided to diversify slightly and make things that you don't have to be a little girl to enjoy.

Like cushions!  Everyone likes cushions!  And apples, most people like them too.
These cushions are just right for a kid-sized chair or a toddler bed.  They'd also work well when your poppet fancies curling up with a favourite book or catching up on a bit of Waybuloo

These aren't on our Etsy page either, so you'll have to write us a charming email if you'd like one.  We love those sorts of emails.  helterskelterkids@gmail.com.

xx Jane

E17 Designers Market

 Our apron dress and karate top @ E17 Designers

The best thing about selling our wares in a market environment is that we get to speak directly to our customers.  We learn what they like, they say lovely things about the stuff we've lovingly crafted and they give us the encouragement we need to keep everything going.

It is even more insightful to speak to our potential customers, the ones who browse but don't buy anything.  Understanding what makes them want to shop with us means making a more desirable range of items, which means our little business will thrive.

We met plenty of lovely shoppers at the E17 Designers Market  a few weeks ago.  It was a perfect late summer's day, bathed in sunshine and warm enough to wear t-shirts.  Plenty of people were out and about as part of Walthamstow's fantastic annual Art Trail, so there were loads of folks passing through the market hall.

Helter Skelter Jane at our stall

The atmosphere was boosted by a delightful performance form the Rose and Crown singers (who set up adjacent to our stall, so we had front row seats).  I remember enjoying their version of "Scarborough Fair" very much.  Also passing our stall were a steady stream of cafe patrons, who had discovered that a good cup of tea and a slice of amazing homemade cake were to be garnered from one of the hall's back rooms.

Sliz and I had a terrific day, making our most sales yet for a market stall.  We left the hall beaming with pride and bouncing with motivation.  We hope to be a part of many more E17 Designer events in the future.

Domino badges! Our new best seller

Although we loved the idea from the start, we weren't expecting these cute domino badges to be the star of our last market day.

They're bright and colourful and liven up a winter coat.  We discovered that badges are (still) all the rage with teenage girls.  We had scores of lasses fussing over our big jar of badges, picking out the right combination of their favourite colour and number.

Other customers included a doting aunt, who wanted to come away from the market with something for each of her nieces.  She selected a badge showing enough dots to represent each girl's age, which struck us as a great selling point.  Another shopper was a grandmother wanting a gift small enough to fit into an envelope.

Meanwhile, we are intending to wear them ourselves,  five or six at a time, down the front of a plain jacket, or pinned to a shopping tote.

They come in an array of number combinations, up to 12 and you can chose from one of six colours:

• classic black
• red
• yellow
• orange
• pea green
• cobolt blue

We haven't listed these on Etsy or Folksy yet, so if you'd like to purchase one for the tiny price of £2 (plus postage) contact us on helterskelterkids@gmail.com

We're working on more domino stuff, so watch this space if you love a bit of fun, retro-style jewellery.

xx Jane and Sliz

So Long Summer!

 As summer slips away, my garden wall turns this ravishing shade of red and signals that the chill is on its way.  Elsewhere in the world, blossoms are opening and rafts of people are looking forward to feeling their toes in the warm beach sand or an afternoon ice cream.  

While I'm a little bit envious of those folks, it seems that autumn is going to be a very busy time for our fledgling craft business.  The autumn months are the Christmas shopping months and we're trying to get prepared.  We've got to get ourselves signed up for local markets and get our pencils out to design Christmas gifts and decorations.  Then there is our clothing to think about.  Is it suitable for winter?  Our lovely apron dresses can be dressed up warm, but we'd love to add another dress with long sleeves in a cosy fabric for the colder months.  

And what about the new things we've been making that I haven't even mentioned to you yet?  We've got bags and brooches, cosy scarves and cushions.  Details about all of these will follow this week, as I'm making a pledge to you now, patient reader, to blog every night until we're all up to date.  That is assuming, of course, that my own Helter Skelter kids keep their little eyes closed in their beds during the evenings.  

So to those of you pulling on your jumpers and cardigans, enjoy these autumnal days and for those of you enduring spring showers (if you are), you lucky ducks!

xx Helter Skelter Jane