The Devil Made Me Do It

Fall Fashion

2010-10-13T12:27:00.001-07:00

Using one of the most visually provocative styling choices, Patrick Mohr sent his models down the runway show at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in Berlin sporting shaved heads and dramatic facial hair. .

It's stuff like this that makes me realize I am way too conservative.

Thriftstore Score: Lite Brite

2010-10-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

At the Value Village the other day I spotted one of my fav. toys from childhood: the Litebrite. Of course buying toys at the thriftstore, especially those hidden in a box and taped up, is always a gamble. I shook the box. It sounded like there were pieces inside. But who knew what was missing? Still, for about a dollar, it was worth the gamble. Turns out all the pieces were there and the Lite Brite was in pristine condition. Even the paper "maps" were either unused or gently used.

We've been making "Lited" pictures ever since.

The Devil Made Me Do It at Arts on Foot

2010-09-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

Hey all, I'll be at ARTS on FOOT in Penn Quarter this week, Wednesday through Saturday from 11 AM to 7 PM. There will be awesome art, great food and food demonstrations, live performances and music. It'll be like a FALL FESTIVAL of FUN! I'll be in booth #34 with a lot of cool new work, so stop on by. Afterwards you can ride the dreaded GREEN LINE, just for the thrill of it (and to tell your friends you did).

Thriftstore Score: Vintage Tins

2010-05-28T04:48:00.001-07:00

Adorable. That's what they are: adorable. I found these little vintage tins at the Salvation Army last week, cleaned them up, and... Well, as I said: adorable. Though they were probably intended for biscuits or cookies or something, I thought they would make good boxes for notions in my new (and IMPROVED) more better organized studio.

I don't know about you, but I'm always searching for boxes to store things and what I usually come up with is something plastic and boring and environment-wrecking from Target or Ikea. Obviously, these are far superior. And instead of trying to avoid making eye contact with some plastic monstrosity, each time I look at them, they'll make me smile.

On top of their obvious appeal (adorability!), they have a secret and wonderful feature: a spring action opening. So you just "unlatch" the front, so to speak, and the old spring action pops them open and keeps them that way. So sweet it makes your tooth ache!

Come to my studio and see for yourself.

Barbie Dolls at Value Village

2010-05-06T17:04:00.000-07:00

Thriftstore Score: Shabby Chic Bookshelf

2010-05-05T07:50:00.000-07:00

I found this little gem at the Value Village the other day. It was filthy, of course, with stickers and writing all over it. I scrubbed her down and decided to just leave her pealing white paint (people pay extra for that sort of thing hehe). She's solid wood with some nice beveling on her edges. Not bad for $7! I thought she would go in my studio as a lovely storage piece. But now I'm leaning towards using her either as a nightstand next to my bed, or as an entryway piece IN OUR NEW HOUSE with books and our key basket on top. She'd look nice paired with the white shabby mirror I found in Maine last year. I'll do pix once we move in and I decide. Enjoy!

Hello Sailor (wink, wink)

2010-04-20T10:12:00.001-07:00

Ahoy Maties! Finally finished up this sweet blue, white and grey nautical-inspired sweater-coatie. I had a lot of fun with this, especially loving the whimsical blue and white stripes of felted wool.

Of course my version of a "sailor collar" came out feminine and flouncy, with asymmetric pieces of this light navy blue layered and circling the neckline.

Added to this mix is one piece of the striped blue and white, so there's a lot going on to catch the eye. The top of the sweater is a lovely grey merino wool. I really like using merino for the tops of these sweaters because they just look so classy and the drape is wonderful and flattering. The middle section here is made of more of that sweet light navy blue, only this time in cableknit, which I've cut to flare out from the low waist to give some room for hips (and so that when you spin it will shiver your timbers).

To finish, I've made coordinating blue and white striped front ties, and a lovely and feminine striped flounce, so that you get some stripes on the top, middle and bottom. Three of my signature "freckle flowers" dot the upper left shoulder.

And as an extra special detail, I put a tiny striped pocket on the right sleeve (just the right size for a tiny, hidden treasure.)

Lifeforce

2010-04-20T09:44:00.001-07:00

The other day, when I was dropping Eamon off at school, I noticed these three round holes in the middle of the white lines of the road which runs in front of his school. Rte 1. gets lots of traffic. And these lines must get run over hundreds, if not thousands, of times a day. But inside each of the three little round holes in the pavement was a little cup of dirt, and growing in each little cup of dirt was a tiny green plant, less than an inch high. Just small enough so that when a car tire runs over the hole, the plant is protected in its little cup in the pavement. Amazing.

Thriftstore Score: Globe

2010-04-16T12:08:00.001-07:00

One of this week's Thriftstore Scores is this "really old" globe. I wish I knew how old it is, alas it has a copyright, but no date. I'm sure after some research and several hours of squinting at countries that no longer exist, Chris and I will be able to figure out at least a rough estimate as to when this li'l sweetie was made. In the meantime, I will enjoy her for her loveliness. The yellows of the continents and the ocean's blues are especially rich in tone. And just look at that sweet but sturdy metal base (clearly this baby is old). But what I love best are the adorable, almost "cartoony", mid-century looking graphics of flying fish, penguins, aeroplanes, and ships dotting the surface, conjuring up visions of steamer trunks with big leather belts and shiny locks for--not trips, but--voyages. This is not merely a circular map to help you orient yourself in the world, but rather, a lusciously romantic object to help fancy-up your dreams.

Art Star Craft Bazaar

2010-04-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

Gearing up for the Art Star Craft Bazaar show in Philly next month. Here's the yak:

The Art Star Craft Bazaar is an outdoor retail art/craft show that is juried by Philadelphia’s Art Star Gallery & Boutique. Over 100 local & national artists have been chosen to set up shop & sell their wares along the beautiful waterfront @ Penn’s Landing. Shoppers can expect high quality handmade goods that reflect the unique & often quirky aesthetic of Art Star, set against the backdrop of the sparkling Delaware river. Art Star has hand selected a diverse collection of artists that create anything & everything, including housewares, paper goods, dolls, prints, ceramics, clothing, accessories, paintings/drawings, sculpture, and many other one-of-a-kind curiosities. All items have been handmade from a variety of mediums that include fabric, clay, glass, wood, paper & much more

It's my first show in Philly and my first two-day show of 2010. I don't normally do a lot of Spring/Summer shows (due to the fact that I work primarily in wool and cashmere), but this one was recommended to by by a friend and it looked so intriguing that I thought I'd just go for it and see what happens. Apparently there were hundreds of applicants vying for the 125 slots in the show. I'm excited I was chosen to be amongst what looks like an awesome group of indie crafsters. The location of Penn's Landing seems like a beautiful place to spend a couple of days, so I'm gearing up production, making plans to hit the road (and praying for sunshine and good weather). If you live anywhere near Philly, stop by and say Hello!

Here are the details:

When: Saturday, May 15th from 11-6pm & Sunday, May 16th from 11-6pm

Where: Philadelphia, PA @ Penn's Landing Great Plaza - on Columbus Boulevard between Walnut Street and Chestnut Street (click here for directions)

If you live anywhere near Philly, stop by and say Hello!

The King and Queen of Easter Fabulous!

2010-04-07T06:55:00.001-07:00

Sunday, at Dawn B's (Poppi Shop) famous annual Easter Sunday Brunch, we had a fabulous time stuffing ourselves with too much delicious food and champagne (I must have eaten five of those giant chocolate covered strawberries), sitting under the umbrellas in Dawn's back yard, chatting with Dawn's awesome collection of (mostly artists) friends, and enjoying the perfect day.

Allison and her husband Kevin took the prize for Easter Fabulousness.

Sakura: Cherry Blossoms in DC

2010-04-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

Well, Friday was the first day I'd had off in many weeks, so I decided to head down to The Mall with my bike. It was such a gorgeous day. What I'd forgotten (don't ask me how) was that it was not only Cherry Blossom time, but Cherry Blossom FESTIVAL time here in DC, which means The Mall was a mob scene. Still beautiful to be sure.

This is my third spring in DC, and I am always awed that the festival planners--who begin planning the festival a year in advance--always manage to get it just right, holding the festival in just those two weeks when the blossoms are at their peak. I took a few pictures (really, you can't help it), because I knew it would only be a few more days until the blossoms were gone. Sure enough, today it will be nearly 90 degrees and the blossoms are "melting" off the trees.

Of course this time of year always inspires a flower-maker like myself. So I'm including a couple of pictures of "blossom" hats I finished today. Enjoy the spring!

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

2010-03-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

As the mother of a five-year-old boy, I often find myself having conversations with other parents about gender differences. Of course being the liberal-minded people we are, we've all made our attempts to bring our children up as "gender neutral" as possible. But by now we've all pretty much given up on believing we're making any real progress. Just regarding looks alone, my son doesn't seem to have a self-conscious bone in his body. He doesn't care what he's wearing, as long as it keeps him temperature regulated and doesn't itch or annoy him. Sure, he has favorite clothes, a Darth Vadar shirt, a shirt with pool balls or a bowling pin on it, things that remind him of activities he likes. But he's not bothered if he's not wearing these, and surely doesn't know or care about whether his shirt "matches" or coordinates with his pants (all with the knees ripped out), or mismatched socks. He absolutely HATES having his hair brushed and gives no thought to the style or whether it's a mess. He'd be happy to never change his underwear or socks...

You may think this is because (he's a boy, and so) no one ever makes comments about his looks, and so he's never been lead to think his appearance is important, but I assure you this is not the case. He's blonde-haired and blue-eyed and has ALWAYS gotten plenty of "attention" for his (good) looks (don't even get me started with this seemingly universal obsession with the blonde, blue-eyed thing. Suffice it to say, these toe-headed children get more than their fair share of attention simply because of what they were born with. Blondes may not have more fun, but they certainly garner a LOT of attention.).

There have been exactly two occassions when my son dressed himself and asked, "Do I look handsome?" Which floored both my husband and me. But he didn't seem to have any investment in whether it did or not. It seemed more like he was trying to please us by showing that he'd managed to get himself ready, and looking "handsome" meant clean and dressed and ready to go.

From what I can see, none of his self-esteem seems to be tied to his looks or dress.

Oh how I envy him this unselfconsciousness! It is a state that I cannot remember ever having known.

The little girls in his class don't have it so easy. At five they are already keenly aware of their looks and dress. There seems to be a strict and rigid code for what they can wear (established by? and enforced by?). Every mother of a girl I know has mentioned the HOURS they have to spend sometimes getting their daughters dressed and out the door. Hours spent trying on every single thing in their closets before finally finding something "acceptable" to the girl.

And what of the girls who try to step outside the code?

I was standing with one little girl's mother at the playground one day and the mother was telling me that her daughter absolutely refused to wear anything that is not pink or purple. Hoping to expand her daughter's ideas, the mother pointed to her daughter's best friend (whom the girl looked up to) and said, "Look at Jane's outfit, isn't it lovely?" pointing to the adorable forest green outfit Jane was wearing. To which her daughter responded, "Oh Mom, it's so ugly. I feel so bad for Jane. Do you think that I should tell how awful she looks?"

These girls are FIVE!

One day I overheard another five-year-old girl ask her mother if she "looked fat", which of course mortified her mother, who couldn't help but wonder where her daughter was getting this. Not at home. But of course it's not at home. It's all around us. And while my son has the luxury of growing up worrying about whether he's smarter and stronger and faster than everyone else, and "good" looks are just the cream on top, these little girls already give their looks primacy. And why not?

Recently, I saw a video/ad/infomercial/art piece called Beauty Kit by the Parisian digital arts collective, Pleix, featured in Look Pretty! Feel Beautiful! on Worn Fshion Mag's blog.

Created in 2001...the video below shows a series of four imagined “Beauty Kits for Little Girls” containing DIY beauty treatments. But rather than the customary cheap-makeup-and-nail-polish combos, these kits promise breast implants, liposuction, rhinoplasty, and cosmetic dental surgery.
Part kitschy vintage ad, part modern infomercial, the piece takes you through step-by-step guides, juxtaposing playful music, simple images and rudimentary drawings with creepy flashes of bloody scalpels and bone fragments. It’s both amusing and disturbing – an apt commentary on an increasing appetite for and obsession with (arbitrary) aesthetic perfection that, at this point, seems to claim its acolytes almost in infancy.

Warning: it's kind of gross, but not nearly as gross as the fact that we are still teaching younger and younger girls, and women, that it may be necessary to take such extremes to feel "beautiful".

It's Springtime, A-Ding-A-Ding Time

2010-03-28T07:15:00.000-07:00

So this week I've been working on this flounce-front Sweatercoat Cardigan.

I started with this awesome lime green, teal blue and grey striped wool and went from there. Of course the original striped sweater was pretty cool, but it was sort of a bit much. I find with prints and stripes, a little goes a long way. So I used this crazy vibrant sweater as a "jumping off" point or "foundation sweater", knowing I was going to use it as the flounce down the front of my coat.

After playing with a dozen or so sweaters to try to find a couple that looked good and would work for the various parts of my "foundation sweater", I decided on a gorgeous "gem" green merino sweater that didn't exactly "match" anything in the stripes, but coordinated with it nicely, for the top of the coat. I also found a really nice creamy warm grey merino wool that I thought would work well for the mid-section of the sweater. I also managed to find a nice set of grey buttons, a shade darker than the grey I was using for the mid-section, that helped to "pop" the look.

I decided a bright green thread would do nicely to pull everything together. So I cut and sewed the top and mid-sections (so that it would flare out a bit from the waist to flatter and accommodate a woman's figure). Next, I draped everything on the dressform (the top and mid-section of the sweater, the flounce and the buttons) to see how it looked. For awhile I played with the idea of making this a longer coat, adding some more sections to the bottom, and finishing it with a straight hem made from sections. After staring at all of this for a day and trying various ideas, I decided to keep the coat shorter and go with a larger flounce to finish the bottom. Sometimes I think this is too much flouncing, but here it seemed to really pull everything together, especially on this shorter-length coat.

Once all the decisions were made it was just a matter of making the bottom flounce (also with coordinating inserts) and sewing everything together.

When that was all done, I looked at the coat again for a day before deciding to add a handfull of appliques to the back.

Fancy Man Strikes Again!

2010-03-24T16:03:00.000-07:00

Of course Fancy Man has convinced me that you can't have too many flounces. I'm not sure that he's right. But I've been playing around a lot with flounces lately and really like the way this skirt turned out. The flounces go up one side, but are slightly shifted and shuffled. Maybe that will be the title for this piece: Shifted and Shuffled Ruffled...

Enjoy!

Go Ask Alice

2010-03-20T14:31:00.000-07:00

"Every adventure requires a first step. Trite, but true, even here." - Cheshire Cat

Finally got around to posting this new "Go Ask Alice" sweatercoat, inspired by--what else--the Alice in Wonderland craze. Sure sure, I know, I'm jumping on a bandwagon. But who cares! Alice was a favorite as a child and I still love those stories. And as far as inspiring fashion, there's a lot there to be inspired by, especially for someone like me, whose work is full of whimsy. Check out the Cheshire Cat stripes of blue on the collar, ties, and flounce.

Cheshire Cat: [singing] 'Twas brilig, and the slithy toves / Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: / All mimsy were the borogroves, / And the mome raths outgrabe.

Hello! and Welcome.

2010-03-20T14:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I decided to start a new blog over here, because it seemed to let me do things that my old blog wasn't letting me do. So here goes.