Tiny Dancer fabric is here!

Instagram killed my blog.  Or at least that is what people have been saying these days.  Even though I'm a lover of Instagram, I am determined to keep this blog afloat! While we're on the topic of blogging, if you are reading this blog with Google Reader, remember that they are stopping that awesome service on July 1st. That's a few days away, friends. So, if you need another reader option, you might try Feedly.  I just switched over, and so far, it's pretty similar.  I think the original Google Reader is my fave, but you gotta do what you gotta do.  Anyway, there's my first public service announcement.

Let's talk about more important things!  In case you were wondering if our new fabric line debuted, it did!  Hooray!

Kokka signed us on over a year ago and we finally have something to show for it!  We named the line, "Tiny Dancer".  Yes, because we love to sing great songs AND the fabric is all about "tiny dancers!" So, viola!  It's strange because these designs were created so long ago, and we've had to keep them hush-hush for so long.  But, it's a secret no more!

If you've been following the blog for a while, you'll know that the idea of the paper dolls has been a favorite of mine.  Back in the day, my mom would use her scissors and whip some delightful paper dolls out of a regular sheet of paper!  It was an amazing concept to me!  And, luckily, she taught me how to do it.

One of my best friends growing up was an amazing dancer, and even danced in college (yes, she's THAT good).  I remember she had a big concert and I wanted to do something for her, so I figured out how to make ballerina paper dolls for her.  I was obsessed and started cutting out a billion of them for myself and anyone else who wanted them.  So, this line was directly inspired by her.

Also, my little sister, Lizzy, is an amazing dancer.  We don't know where she got all this graceful talent from, because the rest of our family pales in comparison.  I mean, she is amazing and just has such a natural grace.  It's beautiful to watch her dance.  She even walks different than the rest of us.  So obviously, she was a big part of the inspiration for this line.  And, in fact, when I was drawing these on the computer, she helped discuss that the bent leg needed to go higher and connect at least to the knee, discussed what point shoes looked like... little details like that.  It was fun to enlist her help!

And, if you remember a while back, Tillie was really into ballerinas and was taking a little dance class.  It was darling to see her in her little leotard and she just ADORES dancing and loves to have me turn up the music so she can dance her little heart out.  Of course, that dolly was a big part of the inspiration.

I wanted to represent these beautiful girls, and also some others of my favorite people.  Chances are, if you are close to me, you are one of the dolls.  True story.

Excuse me while I wax poetic, but we also really wanted to make sure we had the entire WORLD represented, because dancing is a universal language.  I just love the concept of people coming together because of a common denominator.  Isn't it a neat idea?  Becca and I worked for HOURS to make sure we had several different ethnicities represented in both the skin color and hair colors.  It was hard work, but it was really important to us.  I hope, as people see this fabric, and have dancers that they know and love, they'll be able to pick out one of the girls that represents their special dolly.

Of course, we wanted non-legit dancers, like ourselves, to enjoy the fabric as well.  So, we made sure we had a fun floral print, a great dotted stripe, and a classic damask.  So, if you're not the dancing type, maybe another print will speak to you?

So, with that, may we present TINY DANCER (a fabric line created by me and my sister, Becca, for Kokka Fabrics).  Seven Islands is the distributer, so if you're interested in purchasing from them, or locating retailers, give them a holler. They are SUPER nice and we couldn't be happier to be a part of such a great team.

Let's take a look at the fabrics, eh?

*One thing to note on the panels, when it came time to run the fabric, we needed to make a few color changes, so it's not precisely as these computer files show.  If you look on our website melimba.com under patterns (click here) you can see the true colors on the panels!  The photos aren't the best, but I wanted to get the actual fabric up on there! Also, on the melimba site you can see the scale of these prints too!  :)  The fabrics are approx 43" wide.  Another little tidbit for your pleasure.

The fabric is a lovely cotton/linen blend and is great for both quilting or apparel sewing.  In fact, my mom created a darling dress for Tillie, a cute skirt, AND an awesome quilt that we use all of the time!  (pictures to come very soon, in fact I've already started that post!  be proud!)

Whew!
Pretty exciting, no?

Oh, and you want to see the selvage edge?  Sure!  Maybe I've already shown it here, but oh well! Here 'tis again, b/c I'm so darn excited about it! Pretty fun, right?

And, it's fun, b/c on the prints with only two colors, there are only two dancers dancing on the selvage. I die!

Anyway, there is much more to come. In fact, I'm 90% done with a Spring 2013 Quilt Market recap post!  Get excited, friends!  Mind reels that I'm going to be posting more in such a short amount of time!

If you have any questions about the new line, leave them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks for letting me show and tell tonight!