Meet Natasha. (And one of her cute little poppets, above!). Natasha runs two boutiques: Little Love: home of the small via etsy and Piper + Lily via Made It. As well as being talented, inventive and generally just all-round lovely, as our maiden wearer of the Clogs she’s clearly a very brave person indeed.
I’d like to say that Natasha and I sat down over a lavish meal at North Bondi Italian (like all the interviewers seem to do), but we didn’t. Nope, it was a lot more like heeellllloo Gmail.
So, like, hi… and, um, what do you, like, do? (Bear with me, my never-before-seen-the-light-of-day interview technique clearly needs some polishing!!)
I’m a Mum, Wife, tiny business owner, blogger, lover of handmade, vintage & photography. My business, Piper+Lily, is where I get to run my sewing machine into the ground making vintage inspired children’s clothing & accessories made from eclectic fabrics ensuring that there’s no matchy-matchy stuff in the collection! little love : home of the small is my new venture selling hand picked vintage pieces for kids. I love taking way too many photos, sewing from scratch and repurposing what we’ve got lying around or what we’ve picked up from the op shop. One day I hope to have time to learn how to screen print, quilt, crochet & knit properly!
What sparks your creativity the most?
I have no idea! Probably my girls – I like to make them cute things and see how excited they get when I make them something.
How did you learn to do what you do?
I think that I learnt to sew by osmosis.! My Mum has been sewing for all of my life. Being the youngest in my family by 13 years I spent a lot of time hanging out with my Mum while she was sewing my dancing costumes so I kind of just picked up how to do it while I was most likely annoying the crap out of her!
How on earth do you make the time?
I would LOVE to say that I have fantastic time management skills and I am super organised but the truth is I suck at these two things! Between working 3 nights a week, ferrying the girls to kinder & their activities, general mothering & wifely duties(trust me, not those kind of duties!) and running two tiny businesses something has to suffer and it’s usually the housework!
Where do you do your sewing?
I work out of my study/sewing room which unfortunately has no doors to hide away the chaos!
Here comes the tough one: what drives you to create?
Some internal craziness that won’t just let me relax and do nothing! While I can easily avoid boring things like cooking and cleaning, if I’m not making something I can be a bit like a kid with ants in their pants!
Can you recommend some sites that might have tutorials for us to learn your craft too?
Made is quite good, it has a heap of tutorials. The Burda Style website is quite good as well and Grosgrain have a heap of tutorials and a sew-a-long called A Frock by Friday where you can follow along, sewing a bit each day and hopefully have an outfit made by the end of the week. A great one to get you going.
Thank you for sharing, Natasha. Before we go, can you share your Top 5 crafting sites with us – we do love a new blog!
Craft:
elsie marley
Crafterhours
The Crafty Crow (great for kids crafts)
Homemade by Jill
That’s it for my first Clever Clogs! Be sure to visit Natasha at her blog – I particularly love her Piper’s 4th Birthday Party post and her thoughts on choice in breastfeeding.
And, pretty please with vodka on top, let me know if you like the Wearing Clever Clogs idea. Works for you? Bores you to tears? Okay but things could be better? Let me know what you think!
Cate says
love it! love the interview…great reading. love the red and white polkadot necklace. love the idea of a follow along sew-a-thon. and am now going to pop over to piper + lily and have little squizz (she was brave to be your little test guinea pig wasn’t she!)
Nice one Natasha – and nice one Maxabella 🙂
xxxCate
Just Martha says
F-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c and interesting! Thanks. I am keen on the tutorials so will file them away for later…
Mrs BC says
YES I love this idea! I am heading over to Natashas site now, please interview more Clever Clog Wearers soon!
x
Rhi@FlourChild says
love it love it love it! feeding my addiction to crafty sewy type gorgeous blogs, and I can’t wait to read more about the people who make it work for them.
x
_vTg_ says
Yep- thumbs up! Being completely non-crafty this has been a fascinating insight into the crafty brain. More please!
Jane says
Brilliance, Bron! I suspect Miss India might be the beneficiary of one of those necklaces (if they come in pink). J x
Life In A Pink Fibro says
Look at you with your Interviewer’s Hat on! Great job. Love those shoes. And that necklace. And you know how much I love a clever crafty clogs wearer – if only because I will never be one.
Mama of 2 boys says
I think you are a clever clogs for inventing this idea for posts! Brilliant! Loved the interview with Natasha and adore Natasha’s handy work. The itty bitty shoes are scrumptious and those little girly smock like tops are too pretty for words… would it be wrong of me to dress my boys in those?! You don’t have to answer that ;o)
Thank you for sharing yet another innovative concept Maxabella :o)
Kymmie says
I love it! And you started so well. I love this girl and her amazing creativity. I’m a fan of creatives and a tad envious too. You did a great job interviewing by the way. Even on gmail! xx
Tricia Rose says
Love what Natasha does – her little girls must be thrilled! I wonder if they will take it to the next generation.
I don’t care what she says, she must have some major time management skills as well as design savvy…
Alice Becomes says
this is so much fun
So learning to sew is about osmosis….that’s where i have gone wrong!
lovely interview, lovely creations
Gill xo
A Country Wife says
More please!! What a fantastic post Maxabella, I’m feeling quite giddy and inspired to be crafty. I’m off to peruse Natasha’s recommendations, and her online stores. What gorgeous clothing and accessories she makes. Can’t wait to see your next installment xx
Sarah says
I loved it!!
Especially since I am about to start my own business it is great to see the who, what where of others.
Kepp it up
xx
jane@flightplatformliving says
yep as with everything i am learning about you and your blog, i love it! xxxx
Pieni Lintu says
These are all so great!
Brenda @ Mira Narnie says
WOW – what a first interview! I’ve been so excited about this new editorial!!! You are such the interviewer Bron, and I love Natasha’s little businesses and her clever crafty ways. Of course I got to meet her in person just last weekend and my daughter snapped up one of those gorgeous necklaces!!! It’s lovely to hear how another mother, wife and worker juggles the drive to craft and finds the time to do something she obviously loves!!
Well done!
xx
Tammi says
This is brilliant….loved your first interview and definitely want more 🙂
xx
the textured leaf says
Love this so much. Keep them coming as this is so motivating!
x
Heather says
Just love this series….am always looking for some ideas/advice on sewing/crafting etc as I am pretty useless. It is inspiring to read about all these clever people and a perfect distraction from all the work I am meant to be doing on fridays. Thanks hon! xxx
Gaby says
Great interview! Her booties are too cute!
clare's craftroom says
Well you are a clever clogs doing this Clever Clogs theme ! I love it , thanks so much .
Suz says
Love the beads – thanks for joining my blog – I am new. Your blog looks fun. Look forward to seeing what you are up to. I plan to put sewing tutorials up from time to time if I get some more followers who may be interested and make it worthwhile for me 🙂
therhythmmethod says
My only negative is that is makes me ache to be able to create something as gorgeous!! Alas, I am crap.
Wonderful stuff Maxabella, and great to be seeing more serious reporting going on in blogland – the interview style adds more variety to your blog, as well as giving a platform for wearers of clever clogs. Win win, IMO. 🙂
Georgie says
Loved the first clever clogs and that polka dot necklace. Has me thinking I need to be more crafty… Georgie x
LionessLady says
Lovely idea Maxabella! And super inspiring choice for number 1! Thanks.
aimee @ lily pad designs nz says
this is fantastic please continue to do more! xx
Michelle says
Love the clever clogs idea. It is always fascinating to hear the story behind the scenes.
Kelly Ingram says
I love reading the interviews. It’s nice to hear from other mums stretching themselves to be creative, and that not everyone does housework first (makes me feel a whole lot less guilty about my place :-P)
Sarah says
As a non crafter myself I LOVE reading these interviews. I’m fascinated with how other people can create and invent things.
Angela Steyn says
Loved the interview… I’m in a similar boat to Sarah above… I’m a craft spectator (you should see me trying to wield a pair of knitting needles – frightening!) but I pray every night that I will wake up the following day able to crochet for Australia… it hasn’t happened yet alas!
Happy days anyway 🙂
Angela x
Mama & The Monkey
Ooh Baby - All things Cuteable says
I love how the colours come out in your photos – so retro looking – all sort of pastel looking if you know what I mean ;o) How do you do that??? I’ve been using Instagram. It’s ok but I would love it if you could give me some tips. My camera is a Nikon D3000 but I’ve still got loads to learn.
Muchos, Lynne x
MultipleMum says
How cool are that little girl’s goggs? Scrummy. Not much into the craft blogs but like to look at the pics and great for gift ideas so I am in!
little love says
Thanks for making me look good Bron! 🙂 Lynne(aka Ooh Baby), it’s all photoshop magic 🙂 xx
herban farmacy says
I tried it before the shrimps got mixed in, and it
was a wonderful balance of creamy flavor and texture, without being too
heavy handed.