Tutorials Anyone?

I'm working on putting some fun tutorials together. I'm working on a sewing tutorial and a couple of jewelry tutorials. And I'm thinking about a small painting tutorial...although I'm fairly new at painting myself....so maybe not yet. I'm not sure which one I should focus on and post first. Both of the jewelry tutorials could be done with children, probably aged 3 and up for one and 6 and up for the other one. The sewing tutorial would be done without small child help (unless you count picking out fabric). The painting one could be done with your children too, and it's up to you to decide how old he/she should be.
Which would you rather see first?

Giveaway WinnerS!

Yes, that's winner with an S. As in plural, more than one, not a solo! There was a total of 64 entries between the comments, followers of the blog, and followers on Facebook! WOW! Thank you ALL for your interest! This is the original giveaway post, and this is an updated giveaway post.
I just want to let you all know that I read each and every comment! I appreciate all of your kind words! I hope everyone sticks around for longer than to find out who the winners are. I definitely plan to do some fun tutorials on here, and give out special blog-only coupons, and more giveaways in the future! So stick around and see what comes next!

OK, and now for the part I'm sure you all want to know....who the first winner is. This winner gets to have ANYTHING of their choice. Whatever they want! Custom made, straight from the shop, THEY get to choose! (Please excuse my cell phone pictures. My computer is NOT wanting to cooperate for screen prints.)

Congratulations Alice!!
The second winner gets a $20 gift certificate to my Etsy shop. The $20 can be used towards anything EXCEPT shipping.

Congratulations Robie!!
I can't wait to talk to you both to find out what you want!
Didn't win? That's ok...There is still plenty of fun stuff in my shop, and a coupon code to use until the 31st in honor of Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day! Just enter SMSGD15 and you will get 15% off your entire order! And stick around - there will definitely be more giveaways in the future!

Inspiration at Work (Or PLAY!)

It's amazing how inspiration can sometimes come from the most unlikely of places.
SSOOO I have a shirt (or 2) that's completely plain. No designs of any kinds - save and except for the accidental bleach spots. I don't want to throw said shirt(s) away because I like 'em. I got the idea, just now, on the way to work (yes, I have a "regular" job as well), to do a bleached out design of some kind on them. Like...use bleach to make a picture of a tree, or bird, or what-have-you, and then add in some splatters here and there, quickly wash it off (so it doesn't make HOLES in my shirt(s)), and then have a newly redesigned shirt. Has anyone else thought of this? Have you tried it? If so, what were the results?
I'm not entirely sure what made me think this would be a good solution...but it seems like it might be an interesting experiment, at the least!
Then there's the inspiration that others give. I'm constantly being inspired by other people. Things they say, do, show, blog about, what they are inspired by, etc.
Here's a for instance.... Lil Blue Boo has done a couple of quick tutorials on how to make personalized nursery art here and here. This has inspired me to make a one of a kind personalized piece of nursery art for my niece and her husband. I hope she (and he, and baby boy) like it. I'm not done with it yet, but as soon as I am I will post tons of pictures of the process!!
I also get tons of inspiration from things around me - fabric, decorations, plates, toys, random objects, nature....I could easily keep listing.
What kinds of things inspire your creativity? Your every day life? Think about those things now and then, and try to come up with new ones. When you TRY to come up with something to inspire you, you sometimes hit the jackpot with an idea. :-)
Some pictures of my inspiration:

My husband and my youngest daughter

Two of my girls

Even when she's serious, she's beautiful.

Inspecting shells together

Watching her sister run into the ocean.

Corn field in front of a small forest.

Beautiful wind-blown trees.

Pretty seashells on the beach

A view on a *real* beach. Grassy, sand dunes, beach, ocean.

Beautiful beach view.

Log landed on the beach. Made for a lovely picture. And  nice place to sit and enjoy the view.

On a separate note, I'm thinking about doing some tutorials and/or sew-alongs. Anyone want to chime in on what they would like to see?

SMS Giveaway Day Update!!!

So far I've had more entries than I thought I would for my giveaway! So to entice some more people to enter I'm going to sweeten the deal for the SMS giveaway (for which you can enter here) I'm going to also give a $20 gift certificate to a SECOND winner to my Etsy store! The only catch? I'd like at least 45 entries (I'm almost to that! So it shouldn't take long to get there. Especially if some more people that have already entered enter in more ways!) Sound good to you? I hope so!

If you haven't entered already there's still some time! Go check out my entry rules, and check out all of the other great SMS giveaways going on! I've spent far more time blog hopping in the last couple days than sewing, that's for sure! (But don't worry, I'll be getting back to my machines ASAP!)

The Swing Dress

I just wanted to officially introduce a new design - the Swing Dress!
The Swing Dress is a super cute, very comfortable dress now, shirt later! We love making things that can last a long time. We know how it feels to having growing children! There are no buttons, snaps, zippers, ties, or even hooks to mess with on this dress. You just slip it on the same way you would a shirt, and voila! Instant cuteness! This dress looks amazing for photo shoots, but does equally well running errands.
Currently we are only offering the swing dress in the Purple Dotted version in the Etsy shop as RTS (Ready To Ship). There will be more versions of this dress offered soon!
There is also a bloomer that coordinates with the Swing Dress being offered in the shop. The bloomer is MTO (Made to Order) since there is a limited amount of the fabric used for it. But I'm on the hunt for more fabric that would coordinate for a second bloomer option, so keep your eyes on the shop! There will also be a coordinating Little Guy Bow Tie offered soon.
Here are some pictures of the Swing Dress and coordinating Stripe Bloomers in action!

Stay tuned for more of these coming to the Etsy store!

Sew Mama, Sew Giveaway Day is HERE!

We are participating in Sew Mama, Sew's Giveaway Day!

We are giving away either an item already listed in the shop, OR a Custom item of YOUR CHOICE!! It could be a dress, shirt, skirt, bloomers, shorts, or pants! If you win, you will choose what you get, including the fabric used!! If it is a new Adjustable Pixie Dress, or the Standard Pixie Tunic/Dress and you would like us to use YOUR shirt in it, just let us know! We would be happy to work with whatever you want to send us. We will also make a hair clip or headband to coordinate with your item if you wold like. Right now we are not shipping internationally, but perhaps in the future we will.
Please visit our Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/3GiraffesClothing to see plenty of pictures of what we have to offer.
Visit our Etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/shop/3GiraffesInc to see what we currently have listed.
Don't forget to check back both, often, since we strive to continually add new items!
I suppose you would like to know how you can win!?
Just become a follower of the blog and post a comment below and we will pick one RANDOM winner using the random number generator on random.org. If we get enough posts we will give away an item to a second randomly picked winner!
Want extra entries?! Visit us on Facebook and "Like" the 3Giraffes Facebook page. Want another entry? Comment on something there. Or purchase something that day from the shop and you will get a fourth chance to win! The final way to enter? Have friends visit us on Facebook and say who recommended them! That's it! Pretty easy, right?!That's a total of 5 possible entries!!!
The giveaway closes May 27th at 10pm EST 11:59pm EST (thanks to blogger having issues yesterday I'm extending it a little bit! Lucky you!). So you have plenty of time to check everything out and enter in as many ways as you want!
EDIT: Since I'm offering up the option of something from my shop, or a custom item, if you choose a custom item it will NOT be ready to ship out May 30th. (Although, I WILL do my best to be able to make it happen by then. I just cannot guaruntee that it will.) Also, please give me a way to contact you in your comment. If you are the winner I'd like to let you know it!
Some custom made items from the past:
Custom Valentines Day Sister skirts:


The baby version - with a fold-over waistband so it can be worn next year too!

The big girl version, also featuring a foldover waistband to last!

Custom Valentines Hoodie:

Pretty Custom Dresses:

Ruffled Pinafore Dress (Please excuse the wrinkles. I was too excited about how cute it was to iron it before taking a picture!):

Paired with some ruffle booty bloomers would make this to DIE for!

The Lexi Dress (We will soon be listing 8 VERY TWIRLY versions of this in sizes ranging from 0-3 months - 5T!):

A couple of big bows in the back perfect for a little girl!

The Jillian Skirt plus an embelished t-shirt:

A fun inset in the back of the same fabric used as the ruffle.

Items newly listed:

The Purple Dotted Swing Dress

View from the back

Coordinating Bloomers

Some new items coming soon (Currently only as Custom orders or as Uniquely Yours. Not sure what Uniquely Yours is?! Go here for an explanation of what we offer!):
Adjustable Angled Top - Super comfy upcycle. Wear it now as a dress and in a year or two as a tunic or shirt!

Adjust how long you want the straps to be, then tie them in a pretty bow!

Items We Offer

Since we like to be eco-conscious, and use items that we can find at local thrift stores as much as possible, all of the clothing we sell is either Limited Edition, Uniquely Yours, or a Custom Creation.
Limited Edition means that we will make as many as the fabric we have allows, but once that fabric is used there will be no more of it's kind. We only use sheets, pillow cases, table cloths, and clothing that is in great condition. But since we do not have access to bolts of the fabric that we use there can only be a limited number made. When it comes to using sheets, pillow cases, and table cloths that limited number is usually no more than 10 - 15 items that are made from the same fabric. Of course this partly depends on the style of clothing being made. Smaller clothes (infant, and toddler) take less fabric than bigger clothes, and ruffles take a whole bunch more fabric than you can imagine! We try to make as large of a variety of sizes as possible to give more options to our customers. We also will make things as "Made to Order" Limited Editions. This means that we have a limited amount of fabric, will make one to take pictures of and list, but not cut out any more until it is ordered. That way the number made, and the sizes made, is dictated by the customer's desire, not ours!

Uniquely Yours is a label given to clothing that there will only ever be ONE of. There will be no other item exactly like it made. This might be due to having only a little bit of fabric, or it might be because we want to make many different items from the same fabric instead of making several of the same type. Sometimes you will see Uniquely Yours items that look very similar to another, but if it is labeled to be unique, then there is a definite difference between the items.

We are working on some "standard" designs that have been praised profusely while taking our children out to stores, malls, theme parks, parks, etc. These standard designs will be made in multiple types of fabric, sometimes offered up as Limited Edition, and sometimes as Uniquely Yours. We will also sprinkle in some new designs here and there to make things interesting.

If you, or your child, has a favorite t-shirt, or dress, or anything else, that you would like to have made into something new we are more than happy to create custom items for our customers! You can either let us have free reign over the Custom Creation design, or have complete control over what it will look like. It's up to you!

3Giraffes Inc - About Us

This is an exciting day!! The first post on the 3Giraffes Inc blog. I suppose a little history is in order.
I am Harmony, and the leader, and owner, of 3Giraffes Inc. I design, cut, sew, and give my ideas and input...well... constantly! I also maintain the blog and the listings. This is my baby, afterall. I need to do my best to be on top of everything. I've been designing clothes since I was about 10 years old. And sewing since I was about 12 years old. I've learned from the most masterful designer/seamstress/pattern maker I know - my mother!
My mom, Frieda, also designs, cuts, and sews. She started sewing when she was 12, and designing shortly after. She also makes the majority of the patterns that we use. Maybe one day we'll also offer patterns for sale. If we can figure out how!
Then there's also Briana. She's the helper, back-up, accessories co-ordinator, and helps to maintain the blog and the listings. She wears a lot of hats around here!!
Combined we have 64+ years of designing and sewing experience. Counting up the years and writing it down makes me realize just how much experience that really is! Wow!
I created 3Giraffes with the idea to create fashionable clothing for all ages. But I didn't just want to create fashionable clothing. I wanted to make the clothes using recycled products, and supporting local community centers. Overall we use a minimum of 50% recycled materials, but many items are made using 80% - 90% recycled materials. What are these materials? And what are the local community centers? The local community centers are places such as Goodwill, The Salvation Army, and the Christian Sharing Center. All of these places help local people in many many ways. The materials we use are things like sheets, pillow cases, table cloths, t-shirts, and pants. It is rare that you would be able to tell what parts of the garments have been upcycled, and what parts are brand-new materials. We will only tell you if you ask. Otherwise, feel free to enjoy the mystery!! We are also more than happy to have customers send in their own items to be upcycled. We do not charge more for custom items. If it's custom and a design that we already have, then it costs the same as what is listed for any other item of thte same size and style.
Follow us on Facebook for special sneak previews, and periodic discount codes. We will also be hosting giveaways through Facebook and the blog, so don't forget to check back often! Interested in becoming a sponsor? Let us know! We are happy to advertise for you.
https://www.facebook.com/3GiraffesClothing

	https://3giraffes.bigcartel.com http://www.etsy.com/shop/3GiraffesInc http://3giraffesinc.ecrater.com/

Our goal is to make comfortable children's clothes while recycling and supporting local community centers as much as possible. If you ever have a question, or an issue with a garment please feel free to email us at info.3giraffes@gmail.com . We are always happy to make the customer happy!