Project: Design Challenge finished! Yeti dreams of soup.

If you were a yeti, what would dream about? Soup!

I'm so happy with the way this dress for the Design Challenge turned out. And Zadie loves it to. When I finished it I held it over my legs so it would be at her eye level and she screamed, "Yeti dress!!!!" and gave it (and me) a huge hug. Success.

For my embellishments, I did a reverse applique using one of my yeti t-shirts. I'm happy with the way it turned out and it was totally worth the challenge. If you like doing this technique, try it with a design element. Just trace your image onto thin paper (or photocopy it) to use as a template for placing the fabric underneath your garment. Use a lot of pins to get it right. I stitched around the edges before I cut then went around it again after. Basically I felt that the machine stitching wasn't standing out next to the embroidery so I wanted it to pop a bit more. It wasn't necessary to the construction because I used Wonder Under around the edges of the yeti.

I did the embroidery starting with the bowl of soup. I mapped out where I wanted everything with pins and then just did it freehand. I wanted it to look dreamy so I didn't want to draw on the dress and "trace" with the needle and thread. Finally, I surrounded it with the thought bubble.

Doing this project really reminded me of my love for embroidery. I'll be doing more of this type of work to Zadie's future outfits. If anyone wants a tutorial on my reverse applique, leave a comment. If there is enough demand, I'll write one up.

For more on Project: Project, read this post.

Small for Big

My screenprinted yeti onesies were featured on the awesome Small for Big blog that features really cool stuff for kids.

These onesies have been really popular and I'm considering making more. I have my friend Dorsey, who prints all my yeti shirts for me, print some onto fabric. I iron my fusible interfacing to the back of them, cut them out, then iron them on to the onesies and use the sewing machine to do the applique like I do for my other designs. His press is too large to print directly onto onesies.

People had been asking for these for a while so I made some up. It's so nice when someone else "gets" your stuff. I want my stuff to have an edge without being snarky. I want my kid to look good without announcing her parents' sense of humor to the world. I have so far successfully avoided buying baby clothes without witty (or not-so-witty phrases on them) and I'm hoping to keep that up and make it possible for others to do the same.

And we're out.

So the time has finally come. The yeti is extinct. He will be remembered fondly by his hand-stitched toothy grin, his pointy claws, and his silky pelt.

Oh yeti, you will be missed.

Pictured above is the last of the yetis. Ever. He flew via First Class Mail/Parcel Post to his new home with Jess T's dad. Another traveled far away and will be a baby shower gift so that's a secret. If you find some of this fur, let me know and we'll attempt a reincarnation.

I have already begun working on designs for a new elusive species. Look for them in late Spring/early Summer.

R.I.P. mysterious beast.

A yeti premiere

Check out my little interview on the Crafty Bastards blog. I just finished up all the new yeti ringer onesies and plush and you can read more about them over there. The plush is amazing. I'm super happy with how they turned out. They're a bit bigger than Zadie's head and extremely soft.

The ringer onesies also turned out better than I expected. They come in tan, pink and blue and they all have chocolate piping. I have 3 - 6, 6 - 12, and 12 - 18 months. Now that I have a wee one of my own, I feel that these onesies run slightly small (or maybe I just have an enormous child). The fit is similar to Old Navy stuff or American Apparel.

Here's the extra dilly-o, G: I'm having a sale at the show where you can get both the plush and the onesie for $40. Also pair a romper or ringer tee with a bean plush and get them both for either $36 or $42 depending on the size of the bean.

If there's something in the Etsy shop that you want and you don't want to pay shipping, you can buy it online and pay for it then (I'll refund your shipping when you come to collect the goods) OR pay me at the show. As you know, many of my items are one of a kind or have limited sizes available so this is the best way to get what you want before everyone else does. Just make sure you let me know your plans via the "message to seller" box during checkout. Also do this before midnight Friday or I won't know what you're talking about by the time we get to D.C.

A little bit of a preview. . .

It's been crazy busy in the land of Lemon Cadet. Baby Lemon has been hard at work developing her modeling skills, Mr. Huskystar has been stitching up a tsunami of new goods, and Mr. Lemon fixed the tent.

I've been working on some yeti plush that I'm really excited about. I usually embroider the faces after I have a base established. It's a little more to grab onto that way. But this new fur is a beast! It was shedding like a Skunk Ape in Spring so I had to hand sew the faces before I attached them to the fur. Then I had this amazing bald yeti.

The second photo is a sneak peak at what the finished guy will look like. The new fur is longer and very silky. I actually finished all of these but the photos are still on the camera.

A crafter's list

I made a big trip to JoAnn's last weekend to stock up on supplies for all the stuff I'm making for the shop and Crafty Bastards. I either have to drive 30 - 45 minutes south to the town where my parents live to shop at one or drive 1 1/2 hours up to Pittsburgh for a really big JoAnn's. Our house always needs a lot from Whole Foods or Trader Joe's so if I can get Mr. Lemon to come along, we head North.

I always make lists like this for my shopping trips. I take scrap pieces of paper (whatever is closest to me when I think of the first thing I need) and go crazy. There are always swatches of fabric stapled or taped here and there, my weird names for things, and ideas -- where I know what I need but I don't know what it is yet. If you're a crafter, you know what I'm talking about: I need something beige-ish and cotton and about 1/2" wide but....

My list was particularly nuts this week so I thought I'd share it with you. I support my local quilt shop whenever I can but they don't have the faux fur.

The Yetis have invaded!!!

Finally, after weeks and months of drawing and revising and drafting and revising again, I have finished the Yeti drawing.

I'm really happy with the way the little beast turned out. And despite some harrassment from the Vets at my friend Dorsey's print shop, The Locker Room, here in Morgantown, I DO NOT think it looks a boy in a chicken suit.

I'm thinking of putting them on the shirts like this:


I ordered mostly toddler and kids sizes in black, cardinal, kelly, and jade. I also ordered a few ladies shirts (Bella brand) in chocolate. The yeti will be white. I can't wait to premiere them!

Wish me luck!

So I've been taking lots of baby steps lately to try and get Lemon Cadet out there. After months of listing new items on Etsy, I've decided to take this to the next level. I've contacted an online magazine, sent a couple of emails to baby stuff blog sites, submitted applications to some juried Indie/DIY craft shows for this summer, and returned emails from stores asking for wholesale orders.

One small leap I took this week was entering Fred Flare's Next Big Thing Contest. Each year the peeps at Fred Flare choose some of the coolest items in craft and design. This year the customers will vote on a favorite and the winner gets $1000. The best 27 entries will get featured in their online shop and have their name and item up in the list of winners for a long time. As of today, there are links to all winners from both 2005 and 2006. That's a lot of publicity. The work of the winners is amazing.

It only cost 5$ so I worked up a snazzy blurb about the fabulous Yeti Panties with the assistance of my elves and submitted it along with my website and a photo. I also found a couple of wholesale suppliers online so if the Yeti Panties do get selected, I'll be ready to go to fill their order. I won't hear anything for months though so keep your fingers crossed until mid-Summer.

Lemon Cadet's yeti is featured with his sea friends!

Today Lemon Cadet's almost famous yeti panties were featured on the fabulous blog, ilikeseamonsters. This blog is authored by a fellow Etsian, tinaseamonster who makes really cool shirts about zombies. I can't wait to put those on the future cadets.

TinaSeamonster has been blogging for a long time now and has recently started featuring other Etsy sellers. She only picks super great stuff so it is a true honor to be featured.

She also mentioned it on the Craft Mutiny blog.

In other YETI news, four new pairs of yeti panties are on their way to the Etsy shop. One is polka dot, one pink stripes, one blue and one solid pink. I have two pairs of white panties that will get beaned later this week. Don't forget that you can get a yeti on your (new) panties too.

The yeti buttons are also now in the shop. As always, our partner website, YetiPanties.com (a division of Lemon Cadet) is still coming soon.