Tiny Eyes and a revelation.

A little while ago, Dee invited me (and 6 other wonderful creatives) to design a Tiny Eyes doll. Eeep!

I jumped at the chance, of course.
But then the nerves started.
What will she wear?
Hooooly, the other designers are amazing!
What if I design a doll noone wants?

It turns out, it's really hard to design a doll!
I had so, so many ideas, it was really hard to decide quite which one to use.
I, initially, thought about doing a doll that looked exactly how I would like to look - tattoos, cute hair, peach and grey outfit, woollens, leather boots..
But, I reminded myself, I was asked to do this as Croutons, not as Rhiannon.

I had to think, long and hard, about what would best represent my brand.
(Sounds so flash calling it a brand!)
I decided, in the end, that the doll needed to be child-like. She needed bright, pretty colours. She needed vintage florals and polka dots. She needed a Croutons item of clothing, and a she needed a brooch, too.
She needed to be ridiculously sweet, with a little bit of quirk. Just like Croutons!

It's been really helpful, defining exactly what my brand looks like.
I feel a little like I have strayed from my 'look' a bit, in the past few weeks. I've had some custom orders for hoodies, that really haven't fit into my vision of Croutons. It's been good, and we've needed the money, but I'm really looking forward to taking a break from custom orders, and getting back to my own aesthetic, in the next few weeks.
Putting together the fabrics, choosing the colours and textures, is pretty much my favourite part of creating kidswear. I love putting that little bit of quirk in there - I don't get quite the same amount of joy with custom orders ( especially when I'm having to track down modern fabrics, in patterns I don't even really like!).
Turns out the 'feel' of Croutons comes from my eye for fabrics! I need to remember to run with that!

(Don't get me wrong, I'm incredibly grateful for any and all orders, the money and the love are gratefully accepted! I'm very thankful to be able to do what I do, and have it pay some bills is even more awesome.)