I spy a TaDa! Resell

This is a great one! Just spotted my "Darling Ducky" dress and apron set on eBay. Only 3 hours left to this auction and right now it's at $76 which is a steal.

Go right here and bid to win this one.

Introducing...

...our spring collections.

Find them all right here.

I'd stay and tell you more about it, but y'all are keeping us on our toes. so you'll have to just read more in the listings. In the meantime, I'm off to Amy's where we are going to be whipping 20 Valentine tees assembly line style. Thank you all for your orders!!! The huge response just blew us away. We have been having so much fun with it that we hope to offer "Tee Time" every 6 weeks or so with a new $15 tee you can pre-order on the blog. Sound fun? Next up will be St. Pat's and then an Easter tee. Yep, I walked out of two stores yesterday with an obscene number of tees. ;)

One last thing. Feast your eyes on the perfection that is Amy's handiwork. Here stripes are so perfectly lined up that you can barely see the side seam in our close-up.



Amy. you. are. amazing!

You will not find a more perfectly made pair of ruffle knit pants on Etsy. We've also lowered our prices and added a size guide in our "Policy" section to make ordering even easier.

Ok, gotta run...tees are calling.
(And so is that bag of peanut M&M's I'm bringing with me. ;)

I just can't stop myself

Oh dear, I can't seem to stop myself from showing you peeks

of one of our many new pieces coming up.

What has gotten in to me?

I'm sure you're bored with me by now.

Would you rather hear how potty training is going?

I didn't think so. ;)

Ok, this is the last time you'll see him until Saturday.

I think.

But don't hold me to that.

Retro Valentine Tees

***Pre-ordering is now closed.
You may purchase this tee in our Etsy shop.

After our photoshoot this Saturday,

we'll be listing these fun retro Valentine tees on Etsy.

But you can pre-order them here, to ship next Monday.

Just $18 each (+$2.50 to ship U.S.)

We have sizes (4/5), (6/6x) and (7/8).

*sorry nothing smaller*

Choose the card design you like best and the size tee you need

and we'll whip one up for you this week-end.

Deal?

Deal.

In addition to the two cards shown above, we have these 16 to choose from as well.

I even have two of most of these available.

These have been in my stash for 3 years so I doubt you'll find them anywhere else.

If you'd like one before they hit Etsy, just leave a comment and an e-mail address where I can contact you. Or you can e-mail me at tadacreations@gmail.com.

Don't wait too long to order, or the card you like best might get snatched up.

***Pre-ordering is now closed.
Visit our Etsy shop to order your tee.

From this...

to this.

From this...

to this.

Almost done!

Too fun not to share

I've just finished the most difficult part of my day. Laying out and piecing together two sweet appliqués. Tomorrow I get to stitch them on and add all the fun little details that make it come alive. This is my favorite part of creating...watching it come together right before my eyes. Of course it doesn't just happen. Lots and lots of hours go into each creation. Truly a labor of love or I wouldn't do it.

Since writing my appliqué tutorial I've figured out that it's beneficial to piece them together separate from the item it's going on. I find this much easier to do when there are so many tiny pieces. Long handled tweezers really help too. That way, should I make a mistake it's much easier to correct at this stage. I keep the backing on as much as possible and peel and lift and place all th piece one by one, ironing them in place, until it's finished.

This morning I started drawing out all the little pieces that make up the whole drawing.

And by 9:30 tonight I had this...

Isn't his black bow just the cutest? That's going to be fun to satin stitch over! You may think I'm kidding,

but I'm serious. I love that part.

Ok, so it didn't actually take all day. We went to church, had lunch, Amy stopped by for a fitting and later, dinner with another family. It just felt like it took all day.

*Oops, looks like a lost the black piece inside the heel. Note to self: cut a new one.

With all the layers in this one I'm definitely going to pull out the needle nose pliers to help pull my embroidery needle through. Do you think that's what they had in mind when they invented that tool? Needle nose pliers? I should add that to my favorite tools list. It sure saves my fingers.

Amy and I are putting the finishing touches on ten new pieces this week. Eeek!

And our photoshoot is this Saturday. Double eeek!

On my hoop {Sneak Peek}

Oh, Mother dear, see here, see here...

Sweet Tweet {Just Listed}

This week has been a trip down memory lane for me. Hard to believe it was over two years ago (was it actually three?) that I took these photos. The girls were just itty bitty, weren't they? Well, between what I had left in my stash and what I've scouted out, I have enough fabric to offer this collection at least once more (maybe twice, depending on what goes first). So excited! I'd LOVE to make these again. And looking at them now, I'm struck by how they look like something I'd still design brand new today. You wouldn't say "oh, those were SO two years ago, " would you? ;)

Click here for the listings.

We have also added the matching Sweet Tweet and Raggedy Ann dolls to our collections. How fun for a little girl to have a Dollie that no only looks like her, but is dressed like her too. *swoon*

TaDollies...not just for children

Amy and I have had the privilege of gifting two of our TaDollies (do you like the new name?) to some very special ladies. The first went to a Grandmother recovering from surgery. We thought she would enjoy something sweet to hold on to. She loved it! The second is on her way right now to a family member with alzheimer's. What a difficult thing for anyone to go through. This special lady enjoys seeing her name in writing, so I was more than happy to add her name to the skirt. We hope she will enjoy lots of hugs from this doll and that it brings a smile to her face.

Raggedy Ann {Just listed}

We've brought back an all-time favorite design, just in time for Valentine's day. We have enough fabric left to offer this set one final time. We may do more Raggedy Ann in the future, but not in these exact fabrics. Click over here for the listings.

How to add Ric Rac: Tip #1 {Tutorial}

Ric rac. I just love to hear the words ric rac. It's so fun to say out-loud or just in my head. It's one of my favorite embellishments to use when designing kids clothes. I probably use it too much actually. But I'd like to think there is always room for more ric rac in everyday life. I often look at things and think "wouldn't that be even cuter with some ric rac?"

You might think this too simple, but I've been wanting to write up a tutorial on how I sandwich ric rac quick and easy and just haven't needed to do it for a while. So, I'm starting with just showing you how I add it to a hem. So humor me, someone out there may appreciate this and it may just save them the extra step of figuring it out themselves.

First, choose the size of ric rac you need for your project. I tend to use jumbo for edging skirts and dresses and medium on something smaller like a sleeve or neck opening. You can find ric rac at JoAnn fabrics, usually on the backside of their thread display. But recently Amy and I discovered that Wal-Mart also carries some of the basic colors and sizes at the same price you'd pay at JoAnn, if you had a 40% off coupon. Have you noticed that ric rac at JoAnn NEVER goes on sale! If it did, I think I'd buy out the entire display, so maybe that's a good thing. You can also buy every color and size imaginable from The Ribbon Retreat.

Yesterday I added ric rac to the bottom of a top I made.

And here is how I did it.

First I ironed the hem up by 3/4". Then opened that and ironed up the edge by 1/4" so the final hem will be 1/2".

Now open up those creases and lay the ric rac down on the first crease you ironed. The 3/4" line. Lay it down so that the crease site just above each indentation.

Remember to heat seal the beginning and end of the ric rac. Once you've sewn all the way around, re-iron those creases.

And you are ready to stitch your hem. You shouldn't need any pins to hold it flat. With sharp creases and the right amount of pull/pressure, you should be able to just zip around the hem. You'll stitch it with the underside up of course so you can see where to sew.

Here's a sneak peek at my finished top.