Rebecca Jess's blog

Lots of Shirts for Sale

I have a decent number of shirts from last year's stock and the year before's, so I'm selling them off. Get your Palais Designs while they're cheap! Here they are (be warned: there are quite a few photos!) Starting with children's shirts:

 

Tulips

I have 3 of these long-sleeved tees left at $19 each. Every shirt has a differnt set of buttons, making them all unique. Two are a size 6, one is a size 4. These shirts are from American Apparel, so they fit a little smaller than most shirts, so I'd go a size up when ordering.

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Go Train

Here I have my last "Go Train" boys long sleeved shirt. This is a size 6 and, like Tulips, is an AA shirt, so the fit is a little smaller.

The train wraps around the shirt from the front to the back. This is also available for $19.

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Take Heart

SOLD

This short sleeved tee is done on a Gildan tee so it's a much larger fit than the AA shirts. This one is a Youth XS, which is probably equivalent to a children's 8-10.

Here are those swirls a little closer up. This also wraps around to the back of the shirt. And it's going for just $10.

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Garden Variety

This long sleeved blouse is about a size 8. It's silk screened and has some hand embroidery. Going for $12.

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Pumpkin Carriage

I'd say this shirt is in the 8-10 range, size wise. It's a little shorter in the torso than some shirts, but not in a ridiculous way.

This one is hand-painted and also has some hand embroidered bits, like this little star on the back. Only $10.

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Fly Outside the Box

This t-shirt is a Gildan, so it's also a little large. It claims to be a Youth S, which I would say equates to a children's 12. $10.

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Griffin

 
This Griffin tee is a Gildan Youth S, so about a children's 12.

This one also comes in brown, but in a Youth M/children's 14. They are $10 each.

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And now, the Adult Shirts:

 

Owl

 

This 3/4 length boat-neck shirt is an American Apparel and is even smaller than most AA products. Like, ridiculously small. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that a M (it doesn't come in small) would comfortably fit a 12 year old. I have this shirt in M-XXL, and the XXL is the equivalent of a regular woman's M. Going for $12 each.

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So Green

This hand-embroidered design is on a navy blue Gildan Woman's Small t-shirt. Because it's Gildan it's a roomy small, but it is a woman's cut so it's less boxy than most Gildan tees and the sleeves are a shorter length. $12.

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Flora

This cap-sleeved, scoop-necked shirt is one of my favourite AA colour options: raspberry. It's a size M and, unlike most AA products, it's the size of most real Mediums. If you're a M, this will fit.

This one is also available in M, but with the above fabric combinations (this photo is also sizeways and I can't seem to figure out how to switch it around). These two shirts are $18 each.

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Bird on a Vine

This short-sleeved tee is silk screened with a bird image and also has an added ruffle around the neck. This yellow shirt is a size L and it fits similarly to most fitted woman's clothing; not big and loose, but not too small and tight either.

This shirt is also available in this cream colour but in a size S. If you know me, I own this exact shirt in a size S and it fits really comfortably. I like it because it's fairly long in the torso. Each shirt is $15.

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Floral Vine

SOLD

This V-neck tee has a design that combines some hand painting and hand embroidered applique. It's a size S and fits like most Smalls; it's shorter in the torso than the previous shirt, but is still a decent length. This is one of the first shirts I ever made; it's been hanging around for quite awhile. $10.

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Five Point

This long-sleeved V-neck involves applique and a bit of hand painting. It's a size S and fits like a regular small (maybe a tiny bit smaller than regular, but not much). That said, the arms and torso are a bit short on me, so if you have gangly limbs and a long torso, I don't recommend it. However, if you're shorter than 5'7", this may not be an issue for you.

Here's the design a little closer up. The stitching is silver. This one's going for $19.

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That's it! If you're interested in buying, let me know via email and I'll mail your order off to you! Place you order at rebeccajess@gmail.com.

Birthday Birdie Bookmark

Bookmark for my Wellie

I made this birdie bookmark for my Wellie (it's a camp term; she's not a boot) for her birthday. My friends really love and appreciate when I hand-make things for them, which is AWESOME because I LOVE making things for them. This bookmark was made primarily out of small fabric ends that I inherited from my roommate's boss, who quilts. I love getting fabric ends from people. They think they're burdening me with their junk, but it's the exact opposite. I love having new bits of fabrics to work into my designs and crafts.

Happy Birthday, Wellie! Hope it was a good one! Here's to years of reading to come!

Maple Roses

maple leaf rose bouquet

I wanted to be the flower giver this time.  However, I didn't technically end up giving flowers.  I gave leaves.  My roomie (pictured here with the finished bouquet) found this great link that explains how to make roses out of maple leaves.  Amazing!  So I made my guy a bouquet of maple leaf roses with oak leaves as filler and used a seasonal burnt orange ribbon and one of my previously mentioned gift tags to finish it all off.

It was rather well received and even now, 3 weeks later, the leaves have dried out but still look great in their bouquet form.  Don't be surprised if these make their way into my wedding some day: beautiful AND cost effective!

Son of a Preacher Man

 

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This onesie was a custom order made for my friend, The Twizz. She has a friend who is expecting a baby very soon. He also happens to be a preacher. Awesome idea. This was really fun to make. I tried a new technique that I'm really happy with; it combines silk screening and hand painting. I like this combo because I get the smoothness and eveness of silk screening as well as the control that comes from painting by hand.

I have another image of this that my computer refuses to upload right now, but I'll try again later because the other image is a little less camera-flash-intense. 

Fall Line at Fresh Baked Goods

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Here are four examples of my fall line, which is available at Fresh Baked Goods in Kensington Market (Toronto). Each piece is unique: the fabric leaves that I've appliqued on each shirt are different, as are the buttons.

These short sleeved shirts come in two great fall colours--chocolate brown and deep raspberry. They look great with a scarf or chunky neclace and sit quite nicely under a cardigan or blazer. Come check them (and my other summer sale items) out!

Because of Camp...

 

Topaz's Shirt

 

Zoic's Shirt

I used a combination of silk screening and embroidery for these t-shirts that I made as retirement gifts for my past camp directors, Topaz and Zoic. The phrase I used on the shirts is one that I used in a video that was made of staff and alumni finishing off the sentence, " Because of camp..."

Topaz and Zoic have been a huge factor in my life and in making me the person that I am today. The amazing thing about them is that even though I no longer work with them, they continue to inspire me all the time. I wish them all the best in the next phase of their lives! 

My First Quilt

Olivia's Quilt

One of my dear camp friends had a baby at the end of August. I started this little quilt for her baby while she was still pregnant and managed to finish it 3 weeks after the baby was born. Not too bad, for me!

I've never made a quilt before, so this was a pretty big undertaking. I used a pattern from the book, Doodle Stitching. I think the hardest part was figuring out where to stop my little hand embroidered details; I could have kept stitching birds and lines and dots and hearts until the whole thing was covered. It was a really fun project and makes me even more excited to keep working on my camp quilt! 

Stamp It

Bird Stamp Gift Tags

While on mini-vacation this past June, my sweet guy purchased a stamp set for me that I fell head over heels for in a little shop in Montreal. The set has a number of birds laced with some appropriate plants/leaves/shrubbery. Last month I put the stamps to good use by making this set of gift tags.

I recently inherited a large, old margarine container of good quality card from my mom. These little business card-sized pieces of card were pre-cut and just waiting to be used. I love when my mom decides to give me margarine containers full of amazing treasures from her craft room. Anyway, I simply stamped these cards and then carefully coloured them in using pencil crayons. The effect isn'y very good in this photo, but they turned out to be really sweet and I've already used a number of them. They're so great to have on hand! 

Green Pea Necklace

Before

I have this great red bead necklace that I found at a second hand store in Uxbridge a few years ago. Besides the perma-old lady perfume smell it has, it's a really cool necklace; the beads are large and I love its length. However, I found that, as much a I love it, I never wear it because of the shade of red it is. There's just something about it that made it not fancy enough to go with formal wear and the colour never matched any of my more casual wear very well.

I saw a necklace while I was in Anthropologie last week (we have one near me in Toronto now; so expensive, but I love their clothes and housewares SO MUCH) and I was inspired. I got home and decided to try and cover my red necklace with some pretty green fabric I had lying around. I love the results and I already wear the necklace more than I did when it was red. I also love it's green pea qualities.

After

I'm interested to try this technique with some of my longer, smaller beaded necklaces. I want to try wrapping them with fabrics and some different colours of thin ribbons. I see a trip to Fabricland in my future. On a side note, I live in Toronto, and yet I still shop at Fabricland. It's just so wonderfully familiar to me (and fairly close by). I'm willing to venture outside of this store, because I'm sure Toronto is full of great fabric places, but I haven't found any I like yet. I need to find fellow TO sewers and discover their favourite haunts. Do you know of any great places I should check out?

Piglet & Pooh

Mock Up

Friends of mine got married a few weeks ago and the bride had me embroider two hankies (his and hers) with this image of Piglet and Pooh on them. This one is my mock up; the actual end results are almost exactly the same, but with the names of the bride and groom stitched underneath. This was the bride's gift to her hubby the night before their wedding. Adorable.