Dwindling skirt inventory

This is good. The skirts are flying out of here. And honestly, I have to thank you all because it's been the best 7 years. There have been years where Libby Dibby skirts paid the bills and now they are leaving the building... (happy sigh)
I wanted to post the latest stock inventory, since I'm getting so many emails.
As of tonight, these are the size breakdowns. (please note, in the Smalls and XLs, there are a number of multiples)
I also am considering the possibility of having a few final batches of skirts sewn up to use up the last few rolls of fabric, but I only have a few color schemes in those.
(expect to see a few more in any size of Day Journey, Blue Sky Girl, Bubble Tea)
Here are the stats for Skirts in stock as of tonight:
Small
Classic
Blue Sky Girl
Fall springs
Original
Choco Milk Bubbles
Hollywood
Out & about

Medium
Original
Caramel
Urban Jungle
Classic
Out & about
Fall springs
Neighborly

Here is what I have in large:
Coco in Love
Classic
Bubble Tea
Out & about
Urban Jungle
Day Journey

In XL, I have:
Bubble Tea
Fall springs
Choco Milk Bubbles
Hollywood
Blue Sky Girl
Original
Out & about

Goodbye skirts

So we've decided that 2012 is the year to say goodbye to Libby Dibby skirts. Not to Libby Dibby, just to the skirts.

I've marked all of the skirts in my etsy shop WAY DOWN - they are priced to move and they will not be replentished. When they're gone, they're gone.
Catch them while you can... it's time for me to narrow my focus a little.
In the meantime here are some of my favorite pics from over the years, and around the world.

Favorite Sewing Books - post 4- Sew What Skirts

I'll confess I first picked up this book to see if it was giving away my Libby Dibby pattern. (it doesn't) But I ended up buying it because it's awesome.

I haven't made one of the skirts as they're presented. But the directions and know-how that are shared in this book are amazing and clear and valuable and I have at least 4 or 5 skirts I have made using the techniques I learned by reading this book - yes - ACTUALLY READING the book and not just looking at the photos.

Bubble Tea pics

I think I showed you the fabrics for this new skirt pattern to replace "Sweet Tea" a while ago, but we never got pics until this weekend. I wore the skirt as we went around town and in our ventures to Hollywood and Malibu - we took these pics. (Not that they're your typical Hollywood or Malibu pics, but they're the typical parts of our lives that involve those two locations - and they made for some fun pics)

Like them?

Courtney's skirt travels

Special thanks to blog reader, Courtney for taking these pics while she was on a vacation this summer! It was on my to-do list to get some pics of the non-polka dotted side of the Original skirt.
now you can see it!

What to wear with Libby Dibby skirts?

I get asked this question a lot....

"What do you suggest I wear with a Libby Dibby skirt?"

So I figured I'd post a few ideas and suggestions.... I tend usually to pick slim fitting t-shirts with a nice neckline and some form of detail that draws the eye upward.  With the a-line skirt, this ends up giving a really classic hourglass look as the eye travels. There are days that I actually tuck the ribbons from my skirt into the waistband, and others that I wear them out - depending on the shirt I'm wearing.

My favorite look with the skirts is a slimmer top, tank, fitted sweater... it keeps everything from looking too boxy. I'm not really a shirt tucked in girl ever, though I've seen lots of gals pull it off with my skirts. It doesn't really work for my shape - I'm the type constantly trying to camouflage my tummy weight, so I keep it more loose around the waist.  You can see a lot of my favorite types of shirts with the skirts in the pictures of skirts page here on the blog, but here are a few pics that really show the shirts that I wear.

I also have been seeing some nice tops lately in Anthropologie, the Athleta catalog. I've complimented a few gals lately and been informed they bought their cute tops at Target (haven't seen them there myself, though).  My new favorite brand is Velvet. I made it to a sample sale of theirs a few months ago and have been wearing their tops well with my skirts this season. Plus, their tees wash beautifully, have great silohuettes and vibrant colors.

As far as shoes go, in the summer my skirts get paired with sandals, wedges, flip-flops and even my Croc flats.  In the winter, I love them with tall skinny boots.

I hope all this helps answer some of those questions!

a happy day in oak park

Today was spent strolling through Oak Park, popping into my favorite boutiques, meeting my pal Anita for coffee and generally just getting inspired. We made our way from downtown Oak Park to the Harrison Arts District (where I used to live and walk around daily... Where I first bought the vintage skirt that inspired Libby Dibby!)... And we waltzed into Bead In Hand... Which is a treasure of a bead store. I used to walk past the store so often that I finally started buying beads, unable to resist... Which led to selling jewelry, which led to leaving my corporate textile design job, and when I was selling jewelry, I traded necklaces for sewignlessons from an OP friend here who taught me how to make the skirts... Yada yada... And here we are.
Anita was adorable and wore her Libby Dibby skirt to meet today and I loved it when she got stopped on the street by a girl who complimented her on it. (it felt so anonymous and unsolicited!)...
I also was the recipient of this fabulous little beaded heart that she made for me... Oh how I love it! Oh how I love friends. Sigh. I'm happy.

Coco in Love goes to Jersey

I'm not a Jersey girl, but the Worth family has roots in rural (beautiful) New Jersey. On our trip to visit them this week, we've gotten some nice pics of my #2 favorite Libby Dibby skirt. (#1 is Out & About) Gotta say, I love those big dots..

Caramel latte, anyone?

As we've been traveling around this summer, it's been a goal of mine to get some decent pics of some of the skirt patterns we haven't photographed yet. Last week, we were at Big Bear Lake in the SoCal mountains and got these pics of Caramel Latte. 

(still to come: Coco In Love - as she travels along the East Coast and into the Midwest)

Tip Junkie

yay! I am the featured mom-preneur today on Tip Junkie.
Check it out and enter to win a free Libby Dibby skirt!

Call for Photos

Hey! Do you have a great looking pic of you in your Libby Dibby skirt?
I'm in need of some good pics of the current patterns of skirts to post on my testimonials page.
If you have a picture that shows the skirt/pattern/fit well - email it to me (with the understanding that I can use the pic) and if it's usable for me - I'll send you a prize!

 I'm most in need of the following patterns:
FALL SPRINGS
HOLLYWOOD
DAY JOURNEY
THE ORIGINAL (flowered side)
COCO IN LOVE
CARAMEL LATTE
CLASSIC

The pics need to be clear, good resolution, decently close up ... (and artsy is always great!)

Here are some examples that J has taken.

Skirts for Haiti

I had 4 girlfriends over tonight to sew skirts to send with my friend Suzie when she goes to Haiti next week. We made 15 skirts tonight... Complete with lots of little girl details like pockets, appliqué, ribbons and beads... I hope the little friends love them and can feel pretty and know we are sending our love...

(I'm so glad that Sewing Seeds gave me this idea last year!)

Chuckling at my style

Sometimes I laugh when I look down at myself and what I'm wearing. One of Mimi's preschool teachers in Beverly Hills once said to me, "um, you don't dress like everyone else around here"... (no joke). Today is one of those days where I looked down at church and thought, "what would I wear and carry if I wasn't me?" In the past, I've blogged about this necklace, ring, tattoo, journals, skirts... And the paper filling my journal is the second half of the paper I use to print my mailing labels for orders that I ship out to all of you... And have I mentioned that this skirt (Coco) is my favorite other than Out & About? (well, it is)

Valentine's Day outfit

But you already knew I was wearing this today, didn't you?

New Sale Items on Etsy

This week is forecasted to be RAINY RAINY RAINY here in LA. Which means more movies for the kiddos and the chance to actually sit down at the computer during the day and get some sale items uploaded to my etsy shop. For those of you who don't live close enough (or do, but couldn't make it to the awesome Upscale Backyard Sale) - I've listed a number of the SUPER SALE skirts that I had out that beautiful sunny day in November.

These are the last of their kinds... many of them are discontinued patterns - or ones that never really sold. They're up in the shop now. If you've been waiting to snatch up a deal - or use up the last of your Christmas $$$, now's the chance.

We have a winner!

This photo is just an excuse to show off my cute kids, but let's pretend that they are giggling as they say, "Michelle Underwood, you won a new skirt!" email me, and let me know what size you need and I'll ship it out tomorrow!

FREE skirt giveaway

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas shopping is all done. My wrapping is almost done. My crafting is about 75% done. That leaves me enough time to do a free skirt giveaway! This is the pattern (Day Journey) that the winner will receive. (It will be a S, M or L size skirt - your preference) - It will ship out to get to you in time for the holidays if you win!

DEADLINE: Wed, Dec 16th - 9pmPST

All you have to do to enter:

1 - sign up as a follower of Libby Dibby on blogger

2 - leave a comment sometime this week

3- post about the giveaway on your blog. or tweet about it. or just tell your friends!

Upscale Backyard Sale Recap

Mornings are my saddest time around here right now - if I'm not busy, all I can think about is the baby I am missing a lot. Today is Sunday, one week later than the precious photo that I took last week where AJ was snuggling with J in church. We had no idea that 48 hours later he wouldn't be ours. It still feels weird. J and I are still catching up on sleep and marveling how going from 2 kids to 3 kids to 2 kids is surreal and makes 2 seem like a breeze.
I decided in the quiet of this morning to write a recap of my Sale yesterday - which was honestly, such therapy for me. Thank you to everyone for coming - what a great day! We had people coming into our happy backyard all day long and it was amazing to meet bloggy and online friends in person for the first time in person, and then also to see friends that I hadn't seen in nearly 10 years. My design mentor - who hired me right out of college to do textile design - came, as did friends from every aspect of my life in Los Angeles, both before my move to Chicago and after we came back. The distraction was divine, it was fun to feel surrounded by friends.
Christy (who is taking our family Christmas shots today) took some great pics and brought some rockin pumpkin scones, and Tifanie manned the checkout with Kendra. My friend, Paula - who is starting a bakery in Hollywood, brought rockin' treats for us (see here for some other SUPER cute and YUMMY cupcakes she made for a recent event I had)... and the new (enormous) trampoline that J set up for the kids kept the mood light and giggle-y.
It was so much fun to see all of my stuff in one place... I had ALL of my skirts out, a sample sale rack, a spinny skirt rack, housewares, stationery, baby items, and jewelry sections... I had 6 large laundry baskets of scraps packaged into parcels, that by the end of the day was down to 1 laundry basket.... (that's 40 bags of scraps, folks!), and 23 bags of bead supplies, too. I just knew that the people who love Libby Dibby are also so very creative (or are working at getting there!) and it was fun to see people "inspired" (heard that word a lot!) to go home and make stuff with their finds.
The sale (I almost just called it a party) was so fun - and so much easier than doing craft sales - since I had to pack and move stuff all of about 10 feet... that I think I am going to bow out of more craft sales and simply do this instead. Maybe 2 times a year? What do you think? My thought was to have it again in May, before Mother's Day.I still have a few shows this year - the most notable being UNIQUE LA in a few weeks. But other than that... this is my new ticket... lots of you gals came over -THANKS SO MUCH!
(and thanks, again, Christy, for the awesome pics)

Nesting - sewing, really

What do you do when you are waiting for a baby to arrive? You nest.

Which is exactly what I have been doing. Organizing, sewing - trying to get through my to-do pile of things to sew, really...

here are some of the projects I've done recently for some lucky kiddos... (i.e. they're all custom orders for people)

PS - apparently, you also BLOG while nesting. I'm trying to get a few posts done tonight. We get AJ tomorrow!