I went to see Nick Cave's "soundsuits" at the Chicago Cultural Center on Friday night and holy moly was I blown away. They were all at once nightmarish, fascinating, scary, alluring and amazingly beautiful. I especially liked walking into the gallery and seeing them all lined up on two stage-like catwalks...very creepy and disarming. I am very excited to see a performance in a few days of dancers who will wear the suits and perform some kind of freaky-soundsuit-dance. If you can, you really should go see this show.

I felt a little bad for Jeanne Dunning, who also had an opening one room away, but since her work doesn't feature strange human-sized twig beings, her exhibition was deserted. Too bad, because her work really is interesting, but in a much different way.

I am pretty tired after three days of art/art/art/work/more art. The antidote seems to be eating a lot of junk, cleaning the house, watching movies and Betsy Ross busywork. Basically, stuff that takes zero brainpower.

Oh, and R.R. 1 will now be carrying Betsy Ross tote bag kits! Yay! For $25 you get the pattern package and fabric. It makes a great gift! I'm excited to have Betsy Ross stuff at R.R. 1, since they have a lot of great products and are such sweet ladies. The store so awesome- it's in an old apothecary and is really beautiful. Check out images from the shop on their website.

a summary of yesterday: free stuff + not so free stuff

I'm not real coherant right now as I am super worn out and a little brain dead after last night's mega-city-adventure. First, I killed some time at Brasserie Jo with a pastis and a free sample from Curtis of something called Picon Biere, which is delicious and might be the perfect summer cocktail. Anyone ever heard of this? Well, if you haven't, order one. It's tasty.

I headed over to Art Chicago like everyone else to witness the spectacle and to gossip about the Blackman debacle. Everyone seemed exhausted and irritated and it appears as if all the booths might have finished installing about five minutes before I arrived. Those Korean dealers looked sooooooo mad. I felt bad for them. Eh, I'm sick of talking about that art fair- it's been non-stop art fair drama for the last week and I'm even boring myself by talking about it.

So I moseyed down the aisles and then skipped out to meet N. at the Nova Art Fair, which was much more interesting. It makes me laugh, however, that the organizers were trying to sell the City Suites as a "boutique" hotel...that's just a bit of a stretch. There are lots of interesting galleries exhibiting and it was much more interesting than Art Chicago. But then again, the smaller, raggy-taggy fairs always are. I definitely recommend checking it out this weekend. Where else are you going to see this? N. liked the painting with the big shaggy monster that said "Dear Diary" below it, but I can't find an image.

After that there was some free drink/people watching/dance spectacle at some club no one's ever heard of. At 10 I remembered I hadn't eaten dinner and it was a school night, after all. Went home and reintroduced myself to Mr. D., who I've seen for a total of 20 minutes over the last week.

Tonight there's more of the same. Saturday more of the same. Sunday.....there will be sleeping and pancakes and reading the paper. And I will not get out of my pajamas for the whole day.

you're a million ways to be cruel

On a really sucky morning, one of the best ways to pull yourself out of a funk is to watch the Ok Go video for "A Million Ways" that was circulating awhile back but continues to entertain. Dance, boys, dance!!

I've now watched it two times. Still makes me feel better.

...and I didn't even pay her to say that!

This review of my One Hot Skirt pattern makes me feel really good. Rock on, girl.

postman goat fabric

The Kitty-Craft website will make you hate American fabric shops. (if for some strange reason you didn't already...)

I don't know what I would do with fabric that features "Postman Goat" but that really isn't the point. The point is that "Postman Goat" fabric exists somewhere. And it turns out you can get it (from Japan), but it might cost you a million dollars in shipping. I need to open a fabric store.

The good news is that there's a lot of great pictures on the website from books they sell, which means some free inspiriation.

I'm intrigued by this strange fabric with this illustration of a boy and a girl that says "My girlfriend.....Is my boyfriend?" That sounds like a very complex personal problem.

free to be you and me!

Rosey Grier is awesome!

Check it: he wrote a book about needlepoint, sang a song called "It's Alright to Cry," his cousin is the ultra-hot Pam Grier, he's an ordained minister and he served as a bodyguard for his pal Robert Kennedy. Oh right, and then there's all of that football stuff, you know.

You just gotta love a man who will let himself be photographed relaxing with his panda bear needlepoint project.

Noli me tangere.

Ask anyone in my family: One of my most well-loved phrases as a wee lass was "Don't touch me." This phrase was directed at pretty much everyone. It was funny then.

I feel like I have to drag it of storage today, unfortunately. This time it's dedicated to all of the fool pervert men on the train who think that they need to be touchin' me. Here's what's going to happen: I'm going to start screaming at you. Then I'm going to summon superhuman strength and shove you off the seat into the aisle. Then I will continue screaming obsenities. People will think I have Tourettes. Children will be scared. We will both be shaken. It will not end well.

So please.

Please.

DON'T. TOUCH. ME.

Playing basketball in pumps

Can we talk for just a minute about how Tara Subkoff (of Imitation of Christ fame) is designing shoes for Easy Spirit now? And we can also discuss how they are really, really expensive for being Easy Spirit shoes? You're getting some cute shoes, yes, but they are still EASY SPIRITS. They're made in the same place Easy Spirit shoes are made. They still have the Easy Spirit logo in them and they come in an Easy Spirit box. You still have to fight the vomit rising in your throat when you give your credit card number to EASY-FREAKIN'-SPIRIT.

In summary, the same company who makes these shoes designed by Tara "Cooler than You" Subkoff also makes these, which I'm pretty sure my grandma wears.

And here are two photos from the IOC spring collection. Didn't I go to high school with those girls? Ew.

it's funny 'cause it's true.

ahhhhh, women.

don't wake me, i plan on sleeping

So far this morning there's been:





















































I'm tired already.

Steady As She Goes

Ok, fine. I'll do it. I'm gonna participate in Renegade Brooklyn in June.

The forces of the universe are just too strong. I can't fight them.

First a friend offered to let me stay in her Soho studio that weekend. Then an Easter miracle produced a flight-voucher-super-jackpot. (Managed to score major voucher $$ despite the fact that I refused to let the skeezy desk clerk buy me a drink at the St. Louis airport sports bar. Very tricky, indeed!). So can I really say no?? Still wondering how it's all going to come together, but it will, and I guess it's not worth worrying about now, eh?

So now let's get excited! Renegade! Brooklyn! June! Yay!!!

All of that yelling made me sleepy. Well, it's a combination of Renegade excitement, 4 mile run, big dinner in stomach (Easter ham!!), Betsy Ross developments, getting over traveling last weekend, etc etc etc.

I did finally finish the bubble skirt, although I have to say it is a lot more difficult than it looks. The gathering must be exactly spaced or else it looks ridiculous. The gathering must also be done on a perfectly straight line all the way around the skirt or....you guessed it....it looks ridiculous. And when you're dealing with yards and yards of fabric to gather, there's a lot of room to screw up. I think I'm going to have to rip out some sections for re-stitching, but for now it's hanging on my dress form so I can enjoy it. I might also try to make some kind of waistband for it so that it hangs a little more gracefully on the hips.

Betsy Ross updates: New A-line skirt pattern coming out this week (phasing out old sizing chart slowly but surely), #010 Charmed Dress instruction booklet at printers and photo shoot coming up in a few weeks.

auction action

Thanks to a tip-off from Batts-Pierre, I have been enjoying browsing an upcoming auction of items from Scalamandre ....their press release sums it up quite nicely:


"Scalamandre, the much-loved American manufacturer whose name is recognized the world over as a premiere source for luxury fabrics and wall coverings, is unfolding a new chapter in its 50-year history. For the first time ever, the company will offer selections from its extensive archives of custom designed silk, inspirational art work, historical fabrics from America's most famous restoration projects, and a wide variety of important artifacts from the Scalamandre offices and the Scalamandre Textile Museum that during the 1950s and 60s was located on Fifth Avenue in New York City and became an important destination for designers, decorations, and fabric scholars."


In addition to an exhibit about silkworms, you can bid on the original loom trial for the Kennedy Blue Room chairs, factory equipment, beautiful fabrics and some really awesome wallpapers.

And while you're on the site, check out the awesome photo gallery on the company's history. Here's a photo of Adriana Scalamandre Bitter punching jacquard cards (or acting like she is for the sake of a nice press shot).

The Love Bus??!

The Chicago Tribune reports today (on the FRONT PAGE, no less) that I ride the "Love Bus" every day to and from work. I had no idea. The report says that "It's a place for people-watching, friendly conversation and maybe, just maybe, a place to find love."

Let me say this to those of you with romantic notions about public transit: the 66 bus is not about lovin'. It's about: people touching you, people touching your stuff, kids sneezing on everything, cockroaches, people screaming at each other, very bad smells, people urinating on the floor, and finally, people splattering lasagna and salad all over themselves and others. You can't make stuff like that up.

Why was I not consulted for this article? And seriously, can someone please tell me why it made the front page?

Renegade Brooklyn

I have been accepted to participate in the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn (June 17/18) and am trying to figure out if the idea is feasible or not. It's such a great fair and I think it would be a lot of fun, but the idea of flying out there with all of my stuff, staying in an expensive hotel, trying to get to Brooklyn each morning with beforementioned stuff, setting up the tent/stuff by myself and taking care of the booth by myself for two days is....a little daunting, to say the least. What do I do? Will Betsy make the journey to Williamsburg??!

print crazy

I don't know what it is about this scrolly-baroque black & white print that I love so much, but I'm a moth to flame when I see it. The comforter can be obtained at your local Target store, naturellement. Stupid Target.

Furthermore, Target used this awesome orange wallpaper in a recent advertisement and got me thinking about all of the new cool wallpapers available (that's a long subject for another post), and then I got all depressed about living in a rented apartment and being surrounded by white walls.


















But back to the baroque pattern. I purchased some brown/cream fabric recently in a similar pattern, but haven't decided what to do with it yet, mostly because for some retarded reason I only bought one yard, so that greatly reduces the options. Maybe it would be a nice lining for a bag.

Pizza?! Now that's what I call a taco!

Apparently it's Random Tuesday:


Have you seen the "Taco Town" commercial from SNL? Please go to YouTube.com and watch it immediately. My stomach hurts from laughing about the taco wrapped in an authentic crepe, then wrapped in deep-dish pizza, then wrapped in a blueberry pancake.


I need to know more about Philip Guston. Every painting I see by him I like him more and more. We have the catalogue to his retrospective a few years back, so I'll start with that and then maybe read Night Studio, a book about Guston written by his daugther. I like memoirs.










In a high art vs. low art moment, I present you with some sort of Jehovah's Witness-meets-Highlights Magazine illustration I found while doing some research for a client today. The painting features some really wholesome 4-H'ers washing a cow. Gee, this really takes me back to my 4-H days. Except my brothers and I were washing sheep and not cows. And we weren't in a field, we were washing them on our driveway, which is pretty weird, come to think of it. And we were a lot dirtier. And who's that girl with the dark hair?

Actually, this painting bears no resemblance to my childhood. Nevermind.

can't you talk about basketball or something?

And just when you thought I couldn't get any geekier, I am really interested in learning about lacemaking right now, since someone recently told me that the last lace factory in the United States just shut down. Anyone know if this is true?

I found a great website about lace and saw this awesome lace star. I know myself well enough to say that I really, really want that star, but I'm pretty sure that I don't want to commit to learning how to make it.








Geek item #2:
I found this nice source for buttons, but just please trust me and use this link- don't look at the home page.

I love the illustrations on these old button cards. You can see some nice ones in person at Tender Buttons in Chicago, one of the coolest shops in the city (and rather strangely located at Oak and Rush). I recently bought a nice set of squirrel buttons there. Yes, I know I don't really need a set of squirrel buttons. I went there looking for a match for a button that was lost at the cleaners and they didn't have one, so I figured it was a consolation prize.

Somebody get Taschen on the phone

I think a great book would be all of the characters you see on the street in this city. Over the past five years I have come to appreciate these mysterious souls, and apparently I'm not the only one. Stand outs include:

1. The Walking Man (AKA: Walking Dude, Hair Guy, Greek Gentleman, or The Lonely Wanderer). I can't believe someone has a whole gallery of photos about this man. I am partial to image #17. It captures his mysterious style- hand in pocket, gazing into the distance, always in action.

2. The Bridge Dancer. Tita and Stube have seen The Bridge Dancer on a number of occasions since they live near where he lurks, but I have only seen this dynamo one time. He has a very complicated dance that he performs for people on the Architecture Foundation's boat tour, using a sequined jacket as a prop. If you ask nicely, Stube will perform his dance for you. It's a delight.

3. New Bauhaus Guy. I am not the only one who has spotted this gentleman in the River North neighborhood. Two friends have described this same man to me, although they call him Blueprint Man. He's an older gentleman who wears fantastic suits (he has a very fetching orange one for summer) and is always walking around the neighborhood with blueprints- is he a courier of some kind? He gets on my bus sometimes in the morning with rolls of paper, always smiling. I am charmed by his inability to stand up on a moving bus and his winter hats that look like they were purchased 40 years ago. He really looks like he stepped out of a different age.

4. The Hi Bike Guy. I'm not going to mince words: I don't like the Hi Bike Guy. He crosses my path about once a week, waving his arms, weaving all over the place on his heavily decorated bike screaming "HI!" at people who have just woken up. It's jarring.

4. And everyone knows my favorite is Puppet Bike.

Saturday bubble skirt project

First, let me just say that although the overall tone of this is going to be negative, I'm learning a lot, considering I went about this without instructions. Now that I've said that, I would like to say: Stupid, stupid #$%^ bubble stupid skirt.

Interested in making a bubble skirt out of the #008 Twirly Skirt and #005 Sharp Skirt patterns? Here's what I learned.

1. Cut the circle skirt pattern out of fabric you want for the outside, making it slimmer than you normally would- you'll have to do this by eyeballing it. I found that cutting it to it's normal full circle proportions gave me waaaaaay too much fabric at the bottom, causing a lot of cursing while trying to gather it under. Eyeball it- just keep in mind that it's pretty hard to screw this part up- just cut it slimmer than normal, and you can always cut more off later if you think you still have too much fabric at the bottom. Ah yes, and I cut it longer than the pattern too. I think it was 32" from the waist to the hemline. You'll need this extra length to give the bottom of of the bubble skirt it's....bubble.


2. Sew the circle skirt together like you normally would, including putting in the zipper. The nice part is you don't have to worry about facing, because you'll be putting in a lining.

Sew the pencil skirt together out of your lining fabric of choice- I'm using some remnants of a really soft black cotton I used for a dress awhile back. Again, ignore the facing and obviously you don't need a zipper. Lay the pencil skirt on top of the circle skirt with the circle skirt RIGHT side out and the sharp skirt WRONG side out, because you'll want the right side of the fabric of the lining facing the body when you wear it. Sew around the waist. Stuff the pencil skirt into the skirt, finish the ends by the zipper, and top stitch around the waist to keep everything nice and neat.










3. Now you have to decide how long you want the skirt. I decided to measure down from the waist 18 1/2" inches. Turn the skirt inside out and mark a line on the lining fabric with a fabric pencil or a line of pins. This is the line where you will make your gathers. To to do the gathers, fold the outside fabric under about 1/2" and then pin at this line, gathering the fabric tightly as you go. I would pin it all in place and then try it on to make sure it's going to hang nicely- not twisted around, and also at the length you want. Sometimes it's misleading because of the volume of the skirt at the bottom. Try it on!! Make sure that when you are securing the gathers to the lining fabric (preferably by hand, because it's nearly impossible by machine) that you are sewing the gathers to the lining ONLY and not to the outside fabric.






Also, please listen to me now, baby lambs: make sure that side seams are matched up and the outside fabric is evenly spaced around the skirt before you start sewing. There's so much fabric that it's easy to get off track. I spent three, count them THREE Sopranos episodes handstitching these #$%^ gathers in place only to find that they weren't laying straight, making the skirt look like it was being twisted around my body. So I ripped out half of my stitching and that's where I am right now. Half the skirt is stitched, half is hanging there, all pathetic and unfinished. I suppose I will finish it tomorrow because right now I'm kind of irritated and it's time for dinner and I've got low blood sugar so I'm gettin' moody.





I did try it on to see what's happening with it so far and I have to say it's going to look pretty nice when it's finished, even if it does kind of look like I'm wearing a Rorschach Test. I think I might attach some black grosgrain ribbon around the waistline to give it a more finished look. We'll see. I have some muslins I have to sew tomorrow for sizing tests and so I might not get around to finishing this by the end of the weekend. Needless to say, this project is taking a little longer than I thought it would.

Um....ok.....

I finally got a copy of "Simple Chic," a really cute Japanese pattern book. I'm glad, however, that I'm going into this with a fair amount of sewing experience....here is a scan of the instruction page to make a suit jacket.

One page of instructions for a jacket. In Japanese. I'll give it a try and let you know how it goes....I think this is one of those instances where you make a muslin first.

Friday Stuff: A List

1. I dreamt about joining the army last night. It was even more disturbing than the zombie dream I had earlier this week. I couldn't decide if I needed to bring my own linens and towels.



2. If you are the type of person who likes to know what you're getting into beforehand, here's a preview of the work that will be on view tonight at the Corbett vs Dempsey/Dusty Groove opening. My photo is on the left, Margot Bergman's pink bunnies are on the right. Keep in mind I'm not exactly sure what's going on with the bunnies, but I like them nonetheless.





3. I ended up buying this fabric from Cia's Palette recently, and I'm in the process of making it into a bubble skirt. The outside will be made with the #008 Twirly Skirt Betsy Ross pattern, while the lining will be made with the #005 Sharp Skirt Betsy Ross pattern. It's a little experiment and if it works well I'll post instructions on how I did it. I think all it will take is gathering the fabric at the bottom and securing it within the lining by handstitching- how hard can it be? I cut out the fabric last night while watching the rest of "Menace II Society" with Mr. D. He was annoyed at all of the paper/fabric/cutty noises coming from the floor, but since the movie is mostly gunshots and yelling, does it really matter?

Keep in mind that if you are interested in making the bubble skirt (or a circle skirt, for that matter) it takes a lot of fabric. I think I ordered 3 or 4 yards and used almost all of it, because I had to fold it in a funny way to be able to cut the pattern on the fold of the fabic rather than have to have seam lines in the front/back of the skirt. Of course, since the skirt is so full, seams aren't a big deal, but if there is an obvious print, like this fabric, it's nice to not have to worry about matching up the print while sewing.

4. I present you with The Most Terrifying Fabric Print Ever Created. It's on sale, folks. Stock up.

Photography exhibition

I have a little photography show opening this Friday at the Dusty Groove. It is curated by my friends at Corbett vs. Dempsey, a great gallery on the third floor of the same building- Dusty Groove has them put together little shows every so often that coincide with whatever is going on upstairs at C.vsD. It's interesting to see the artwork side by side with cool LP covers. Hey, and while you're there, you can buy a portable turntable and that one Tropicalia cd and some rare soul albums. Oh, and you can buy one of my photos, too- I almost forgot.

Corbett vs. Dempsey has a big opening that night for Margot Bergman- I got a little preview of the show last night when I dropped my work off and it looks really interesting. If you are in the neighborhood (Ashland, just south of Division), please come to the opening and say hello. I'll be upstairs trying to get Margot to give me a deal on my favorite painting.

man on the street

I love this guy's blog. It's so interesting to see how people put clothes together. There are endless possibilities.

love. him.

Have you SEEN what Dries van Noten is up to lately? Yes, some of it is a little Les Miserables, but the things below are really fantastic.

My birthday is one month from today. Talk amongst yourselves. Just kidding..... sort of.

New retail store!

We just added a new retail store in Australia! It's outside of Sydney and it's called Material Obsession. Thanks to Kathy and Sarah's interest in my patterns, I have a retail store on another continent. How exciting. Their shop looks fantastic and I think the patterns will fit in well. Thanks, ladies!

Check out that cool "Indian Blanket" kit under the Wonderful Wool heading. Looks like fun, no?

Looking at their site makes me want to start quilting. I've always been surrounded by quilts (remind me to tell you sometime about my parents' California quilt-selling scheme) and love putting fabrics together and coming up with designs. Maybe if I was talking to someone while working the handstitching wouldn't seem so tedious...anyone want to start a bee? Check out these quilts from the website of a quilt dealer in Kentucky.

you know me i take everything so seriously

I think this ceramic bird thingy rocks! It's broken and wobbly but it carries my scissors and pens and makes me happy. Thank you Salvation Army, you done did it again.

straighten up and fly right

A really great way to start the week is with a torrential rainstorm while carrying master pattern sheets for 10 blocks. Then throw in a little scalding coffee and some people actin' up on the train. I'll go ahead and cap off the morning with a few links to some other hings that are bothering me:

1. Jeans to pray in
2. Desperate Housewives merch
3. Cell phone rudeness
4. Tornados
5. Out of 500 proposals by area children you're telling me that the new CTA branch is going to be called the PINK LINE?

And now for the antidote. There. Allllll better.

Oh yes. And this is a fascinating article on the "Women's Battalion of Death." Read it. Learn!!

Mythical Beasts

Tita, Stube and I took the Shamrock Shuffle 8K, chewed it up and spit it out this morning! It was a good goal for me to work towards, work-out wise. The only negative part of the race was the fact that we didn't have time to put the "Mythical Beast" tattoos on. Here's a still from a movie Mr. D. took at the mile 4 marker, just in case you thought I was making it all up to sound healthier than I actually am. I tried to add a link right here to a great "Arrested Development" soundboard featuring Tobias yelling "HUZZAH!" but the internetweb won't let me. Oh well. Just imagine Tobias yelling that right......now.

I finished a lot of half-started projects this weekend, including tackling the really offensive state of my workroom- I guess a messy workroom means there is a lot of creative activity going on, but it was becoming impossible for me to even walk in there without feeling stressed. It's hard to keep a 10' x 10' room looking tidy, and even harder when you're running a small business out of it. I put new hooks up to handle clothing samples, reorganized all of my supplies in new storage boxes, did a lot of tedious receipt filing and financial paperwork (played new Eagles of Death Metal cd while doing so to combat boredom) and organized pattern stuff.



I also managed to finish altering this blouse. It was originally a dress (mid 1950's?) bought at the Salvation Army for $3 a few weeks ago. I was drawn to the beautiful blue silk shantung fabric and the great pleats in the back at the neck. However, from the waist down the dress was very, very unflattering. I cut it off to just below my belly button and I think it will be great with a pencil skirt. It also looks nice with Mr. D's painting, don't you think?

donde estas?

It's been such a long time since I've been let loose in Target since it's not really close to our house at all, so since we had a car today, we headed up there for a a couple of boxes of cheap cereal, cat litter and about 15 random things we didn't really intend on buying (potting soil?). I inspected every product Target was offering for sale until Mr. D. forcibly removed me from the store. But wait, before he threw me over his shoulder, kicking and screaming, I noticed that the very same shoes pictured here are also offered at Payless for $8.99. What's up with that? I didn't know Target and Payless were in cahoots...did you? Oh, and while we're talking about Payless, these are some of the ugliest shoes I've seen in awhile.


Target is now carrying Real Simple products, inspired by the aesthetic of the magazine. Sure, the magazine is kind of boring and obvious in a lot of ways, but I'm attracted to the colors and the clean design of these little things.

Maybe Target will do the right thing and require their pharmacists to provide women drugs they are legally prescribed whether they agree with the prescription or not. When that happens I can shop at Target without feeling guilty the whole time. Shame, shame on you Target. Shame on me for that matter.

Bought lots of toffee for myself at Terry's Toffee. Terry, you craft a fine piece of toffee. I love you.

Bought a cannoli for Mr. D at the awesome, old school D'Amato's on Grand. They have this great old cash register that is ridiculously loud and jingly and would most certainly crush you to death if it got shoved off the counter for some reason. Cool. Love my neighborhood!