Solstice Clothes

Plus Size Pixie Wear

2009-10-18T00:49:00.001-07:00

Plus Size Pixie Wear
Originally uploaded by solstice clothes

Plush Creature Sale!

2009-07-23T07:07:00.001-07:00

Rodney
Originally uploaded by solstice clothes

Go on, you know you want one!

Our famous creatures are now up to half price, so don't let your favourite go!

Each quirky and creature is an individual, and comes with his or her own birth certificate, with their likes/hobbies.

A constant companion to cause mischief in the living room, guard the childrens room, or pull faces from your work desk (yes, that includes all you teachers!).

Will it be:
Felton -who likes dismantling televisions?
Alphonzo - who can't get enough of spaghetti hoops?
or Sprong - who is a collector of fridge magnets?

There's a monster for everyone folks!

Winter Dress in Punky Patchwork

2009-07-22T23:14:00.001-07:00

Angora Dress - Made from Recycled Felted Jumpers
Originally uploaded by solstice clothes

What's happened to Summer? A couple of hot hot weeks and it's all disappeared... oh, well, at least Glastonbury was dry!
But the colder weather has put me in a different state of mind, and inspired this Winter dress.
I found some gorgeous pure wool jumpers in our local charity shops and this is the result - a wonderful Winter dress in Punky Patchwork! Bright pink Angora bodice and lambswool panels in lilacs and purples.

All the jumpers were washed and felted before being cut and re-stitched in this Frankenstein's tailor kind of way!
I'm just sad it's not in my size...

Great new Stock!

2009-05-28T08:59:00.001-07:00

Summer's finally here! It's SCORCHING today (doors and windows are all open in the workshop). And, just in time, we've got plenty of new summer stock! Cute new vests, sweet little skirts... all of it funky and Fair Trade!

New Site for Monsters!

2009-05-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming, but our sister company, Victoria Frankenstein Creatures, has finally flown the nest! We've stocked those quirky and funky little creatures for some time but the demand for Ms Frankenstein's creatures has risen and risen and we all thought it was time those cute critters had some proper online space of their own!

They're all still as great as ever - made from 100% recycled materials, supplied with woven labels of authenticity (so you know you're getting a genuine Victoria Frankenstein monster) and their handmade little birth certificates, with their names, birthdays and hobbies on.

And the new site's working really well - only opened this week and already Ms Frankenstein is flooded with orders and custom requests!

There's some Special Offers, too - three monsters every week just for £10 each! It's an ever-changing offer, so don't miss out!

Brand New Home Page!

2009-05-11T14:57:00.000-07:00

We've finally done it! After too many days of too little sleep, we've completely remodelled our home page. FINALLY!

So it's off to bed now ready to face tomorrow - think there's more shop pages to edit and create, not to mention the HUGE pile of projects in the workshop.

And... there's some new stuff coming soon...

Back to yoga...

2009-05-07T08:27:00.001-07:00

I've been meaning to do it for ages. Promising myself that I would. So yesterday, I did. I went back to yoga.

Margaret's the best yoga teacher in the WORLD! (That is official, btw) Encouraging, positive, energetic - what more could you ask? Oh, and she reads affirmations out to the group too, and encourages 3rd Eye visions. Like I said, best in the world.

Working in my Wings

2009-04-30T12:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a bit of a mixed day (a skirt triumph, a zip disaster) so today I've worked in my wings. Don't know if it's made me any more productive but it's definitely been fun. Tomorrow I'll be adding sparkles and Fairy Dust!

2009-04-29T23:22:00.000-07:00

We've got even more creatures available now! Meet our PatchCats, cute little Earth Elemental creatures, inspired by Woodland imps.

They're all made from recycled fabrics which have all been sourced locally, so they're good for the planet and have a low carbon footprint! Every single one of these little Victoria Frankenstein creatures is unique as well - every single one of them is a unique combination of fabric colours and patterns and stitching details.

Some of them have big eyes, some are winking or sleeping and some of these cuties have just one eye. One of them even has a cheeky tongue sticking out! All of them have sweet little tummies and are lovely to cuddle. And, because they don't have button eyes, they're suitable for any age (Zephy's cot companion is Mr Shirty, the original Patch Cat, made from... yep, you guessed it, an old shirt.

Fabric Whore

2009-04-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'll confess. I'm obsessed. I love fabric. Absolutely L.O.V.E it! But it's not just me, check out Burdastyle, read some of the profiles on there and look at their pics - some of those peeps have serious stashes of fabric that make my hoarding look small time.

One of my all time favourites is broderie anglais. It's probably a hangover from my childhood. Like all good thrifty moms in those pre-Primark days, my mom had a sewing machine that saw some serious use. My wardrobe was almost entirely handmade, consisting largely of garish circular skirts (my favourite was grass green with red braiding on the hem - nice!) and a good selection of tiered gypsy-style skirts with lots of broderie anglaise trims. You'd never have guessed I was born in the seventies, would you? Lol

Happy Birthday!

2009-04-22T02:30:00.000-07:00

Today's Earth Day. Which means it's a day designed 'to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment'. Just a thought, but shouldn't we be doing that more often?

Today's also Grotch's birthday. Grotch was our very first handmade creature, kind of a Victoria Frankenstein prototype. He'll be celebrating with cake (he favours Firkins), games involving aeroplanes and wearing a silly hat.

Happy Birthday Grotch!

2009-04-21T08:46:00.001-07:00

Ages ago, when we worked on Saturday Craft Markets, we met loads of people who loved our funky Victoria Frankenstein creatures. Everyone who saw them just grinned and beamed.

So we ran a special promotion, selling any monster for just £10.
People just couldn't resist their cute little faces and we'd practically sold out by lunchtime! And, because all of our creatures are handmade, we were rushed off our feet making more for the next Saturday.

So, to celebrate our lovely online shop (which means our sweet little beasties don't have to stand in the cold anymore) and to make space for all the lovely new projects we're planning for the summer, we're running this special promotion again!

2009-04-14T04:27:00.000-07:00

After a busy week of painting mushrooms on T-shirts, site editing and banner design, we decided a day off was well overdue. So we took ourselves to the Zoo for the day. It's not really the right time of year - I think we picked the rainiest day of the year so far!
The tigers and bears were a bit reluctant to venture into the daylight and the orangutans definitely weren't keen on the rain. Neither were we, by the end of the day, to be honest. But the meerkats were wonderful (they're so much smaller than you'd expect), we were just in time to see the penguins being fed and the giraffes are unbelievably graceful.
But it's back to the workshop now - there's more T-shirts to paint and I've got some new skirt designs to work on!

A strange way to spend a Sunday morning...

2009-04-12T02:07:00.000-07:00

Probably not everyone's idea of fun, but we went for a 'litter pick' this morning.
Our local park is so pretty, with a circle of trees and a set of mini swings and a slide for little peeps, benches and even a little fountain, not to mention a beautifully carved wooden dragon. Unfortunately it's also a magnet for bigger peeps who aren't so conscientious about their rubbish.
So this morning we took it in turns to entertain little Zephy on the swing and pick up what rubbish we could. I'd swear that dragon was smiling when we left!

Hello!

2009-04-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

Hello and Welcome to the Kenspeckle blog. I'm Niccy and with my partner-in-crime Nick we run Kenspeckle, our little shop of joy!
We're based in the Midlands and we stock gorgeous Fair Trade clothing as well as the crafts I work on (including Fairy/Pixie clothing and cutely weird creatures). Everything I make is made with love and joy, which I hope passes on to our customers.
Between Kenspeckle and our lovely kids we're generally busy but hey, what's life without a challenge?