Frankie Small

Jacket Season

becky — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 02:43:25 +0000

Look what i have been working on……

I love jackets , especially when they are fully lined. The red one is my favourite.

Patch Work Skirt

becky — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 09:11:51 +0000

I always like to complicate things for myself. When i got the pattern made for this i had a completely different idea in mind (which mind you i will still attempt) Late last week i decided to tackle my growing pile of fabric scraps and i cut strips of fabric (on the bias) to make this skirt. This first stage took a whole night and the next day i was ready to assemble. Little did i know that my whole day was to be consumed by finishing this skirt! Very frustrating because i love the end result but how much do i charge for something which took me all day?????Do i make more?……

Hand Printed Long Pants

becky — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 08:45:46 +0000

Perfect for any season these beautiful pants are made from a linen cotton.

With a tie for the littlies to make them more adjustable these hand screen printed pants will last many seasons to come.

New in the shop tonight!

Hello Autumn

becky — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 03:01:33 +0000

Stacks has been cooking at Frankie Small HQ. With the smell of Autumn in the air i have been working on the perfect garments for the cooler months ahead.

The ‘Charlie Shorts’ are the perfect shorts for this time of year.

Made from quality denim they are a little bit sturdier than your average shorst and they are unique in every way.

I have gone back to my stash of second hand t-shirts and am churning out these great ‘long sleevies’.

I love them.

They are all unique and individually hand screen printed with my own designs. What better way to be environmentally conscious…..sizes start at 0 and go up to size 8.

For the girls i am working on this beautiful dress…

Yet to be available so stay tuned.

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Summer Collection Photo Shoot

becky — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:46:48 +0000

After a couple of weeks of crazy cold weather (of course just as the school holidays started) and many attempts later, my photographer and i finally managed to squeeze in a photo shoot to show case frankie small 2011/2012 summer range. After our third attempt, it almost didn’t happen. It started with a phone call at 8am in the morning and weather was pretty ominous, then another phone call at 9am and it wasn’t looking any better but i decided to go ahead with it anyway and when we finally got to the beach the tide was high! We couldn’t believe that we were so concerned about the weather we hadn’t even considered the tide. We were about to walk away but Gwena suggested we have a coffee instead and i though well if we are going to do that we might as well just bring the clothes down and let the kids run around and grab a few shots anyway. As it turned out, the light was perfect, the tide receded gradually and gwena did a fantastic job (once again) of capturing the moment and the clothes. Below are a few snaps that she has weaved her magic on and i am totally impressed!

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Susie Play Suit

becky — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:03:37 +0000

You wouldn’t believe what i went through to get the pattern right for this play suit. The end result was far from the original idea but i am pretty happy with what we have ended up with. We tried to have a MC Hammer, Ali baba style pant with the same existing top but for the life of me (and my pattern maker) we couldn’t make it work. I did three samples (with each time the pattern being adjusted) and she did three samples until we finally gave up and settled for the baggier pant option. I am happy and if you want to be let in on a little secret my little Ilaria is happy too.

This daughter of mine who previously has refused to wear anything Frankie Small (simply because i made it) finally succumbed today and wore this play suit to pre school. I was personally chuffed and she loves it so much she says she is going to wear it tomorrow as well! Needless to say you may hear that in a week’s time she has completely tired of this outfit and stuffed it into the dark crevices of her exploding wardrobe! Fingers crossed it’s a stayer.

Screen Printing

becky — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 03:27:33 +0000

Well of late i have become slightly obsessed with a bit of screen printing. It is quite ironic because back in the ol’ school and university days when i studied Visual Arts, I was always put in the printing group. I hated it with a passion because all i wanted to do was paint. So it seems back then the universe was trying to tell me something and finally i am listening (several, and i mean several years later). So a couple of weeks ago i spent a day with the lovely Di Jones from http://sketch-jones.blogspot.com/. She is an amazingly talented women who makes screen printing look so easy…..and it is! So here i am, perhaps moving into a new phase of my business that involves not only being creative but enabling me to return to the artist self that i let go of many years ago.

So here is my first Frankie Small item made from the print that i made with Di…

This T-shirt i made from old adult T-shirts that i cut up and then i screen printed it. Expect to find similar T-shirts of this unique nature in the coming months as i am totally hooked. In the last couple of days i have been doing some sketches (something that i have realised takes up a lot of time -that i don’t have) and this is what i have come up with…

This one isn’t completely finished, i think it needs more to it before i put it on a screen. And then there is this one…..

Gotta have the grasshopper! This is still a sketch but i am excited to see how it ends up.

Meanwhile on the Frankie Small front, i have been too busy doodling to do anything else! No not really. Last week i sent off my biggest package yet to a new shop opening in Perth, Little Glamourettes. So if you are in the Perth area you must check out this beautiful new store with lots of Frankie Small goodies. Check out http://www.facebook.com/pages/Little-Glamourettes/223429447700061 for more.

Two Months in the Making…..

becky — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 07:23:17 +0000

I have accomplished a huge feat today…..these fantastic new shorts…

They have taken 2 months to get the pattern right and 2 days to make up….mmmm and can i afford to sell them??? i absolutely love them so if there is a will there is a way. The detail is amazing on these shorts which is why they take so long to make but worth every bit of it. Who would buy these for their little man????

It took the bribery of a jelly snake to avoid another screaming fit….i am certainly exhausting all my options to take photos of my kids!

Long time between blogs…..

becky — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 02:53:01 +0000

Guilt is an amazing thing as it often stops you from doing what it is that is making you feel guilty! Well i have been feeling very guilty about not keeping up with my blogging and hence every time i think about it i don’t do it. Not today though! I have just returned from a family holiday to Melbourne, the first time we have been back as a family in three years since we left. Who takes a holiday to Melbourne in the middle of winter anyway???? Well despite the cold we had a wonderful time catching up with friends and making the most of all that Melbourne has to offer.

On my recent trip to Vietnam i spent a week working with a Vietnamese girl and together we sewed a whole lot of adjustable shorts and reversible dresses. It was an amazing experience to live in her world for a week and to work with her. My most enjoyable part of this experience was the smorgas board of food we ate for lunch which was followed by a rest. The Vietnamese certainly have their working life sorted. What better thing to do than to eat then sleep for a few hours in between work!!!We defiantly have it all wrong here! Below are some pictures of my time spent with Hang working…..

Well last week i received a big box in the mail containing all the garments and i was so excited to see the excellent quality. We learnt a lot from each other and i particularly enjoyed showing Hang new ways of production. I think we both had a lot to learn and give from the experience. This was a one off experience and below are some of the beautiful fabrics and designs which we made over there…..

These shorts below are a gorgeous linen which comes in 3 colours..

And this is what happens when we are over having our photo taken……

Gotta love it!!!Be sure to sign up to our monthly newsletter as this month there is going to be a super special on these gorgeous handmade wears from Vietnam!

What’s new…..

becky — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:00:35 +0000

Well for the past week i have been filling my brain with all that has to be done and all that is yet to be. It’s been one of those weeks where i have had little sleep (my 2 year old has taken to waking every few hours in the night) and once woken my mind starts working overtime, prohibiting me from getting back to sleep only to be woken a couple of hours later!

I met with my pattern maker today, bleary eyed and armed with pages of choatic ideas and designs all of which i am sure made no sense. I’m hoping that she will find a way of translating my mumbo jumbo into something earth shattering, attention grabbing and of course beautiful!

Meanwhile back in my sewing room i have been busy working on these beautiful, reversible (of course) jackets…

I have been wanting to tackle this jacket for quite some time and finally did so over the long weekend. I have had this stash of winter fabrics glaring at me for months and finally i have managed to put it to good use. This jacket does take up a ridiculous amount of fabric though so a lot of them are one offs or 2 of different sizes. They will be put on the web shortly.

Another project i have had stirring around in my head has been these long sleeve tops made from op shop finds….once again one of a kind….

Initially i thought this idea would be quite simple to execute but of course i was wrong! For starters, most op shop items these days start at a whopping $6 and for this top which is a size 00 I can only get 1 top out of the garment….you need the sleeves, the interfacing, the back and the front. So as unique an idea this is, it is not particularly economical. I have however persevered and have had a lot of fun making up a few of these from size 00 – size 8. I am set to continue this style without sleeves for summer.

Lastly, if you haven’t already, be sure to sign up to my newsletter….first issue out in July with an amazing one off special….(form to your right of this page)…..you’d be mad not to miss this one!!!!In the meantime don’t hesitate to ‘like’ Frankie Small on facebook (icon bottom right of this page) for weekly and daily updates.