auction action

I find it very bothersome that someone would spend 9.2 MILLION DOLLARS on a Norman Rockwell painting at Christie's. But it's true, my friends. That person was probably some old and crusty hedge fund baron, because those folks are doing well right now and war gets them all worked up and patriotic.

There was another painting offered over at Sotheby's by my friend Frida Kahlo. (It set a new record for a piece of Latin American art sold at auction at $5.6 million).


The Kahlo was painted in 1943, two years before the Rockwell. Talk amongst yourselves.



What does this have to do with fashion and design? Umm....nothing, I guess. But I follow this stuff for a living, so it's on my radar.

Wait a second, I do have something where auction and sewing meet. Four important battlefield flags of the American Revolution are being offered later in June by Sotheby's, and they are fantastic. My favorite one features a beaver trying to gnaw through a palmetto. The best part about this auction catalogue is the description of the red/white flag, which is hilarious to me....someone's definitely trying for a raise with this antiquated prose...

"...red and white stripes centered by a painted badge of a winged and fulminating thundercloud......a rectangle of painted fabric which displays within a gold and black border on a red ground a circular black thundercloud sustained on a pair of silver wings and from which dart twin gold and orange thunderbolts."

So, let's just say...that...maybe....you like BROWN....FREAK!!

No, of course I don't like brown...I don't know what you're talking about. My favorite color is blue, just like you guys. Seriously. Pretty, light blue, like the sky. I swear. Brown is for losers.




Ok, FINE, you got it out of me. I like brown. You don't have to underline it. Jerk...

Hot hot Australian Press Mention

Check it out: Betsy Ross press on The Age website! Yay!

weekend round-up

1. Had a really great picnic in Millennium Park on Friday. Afterwards, we all walked by "The Bean," the beautiful Anish Kapoor sculpture and I attempted a reflection photo in the dark.

2. Apparently the average size of American women is 16, according a report printed in the Tribune yesterday. I'm not sure if I believe that, however, since this article is pretty much the same, except they say it's 14. Considering retailers can't decide exactly what is a 14 to begin with, how are they coming to this conclusion anyway? For more chit-chat about sizing issues (I've been following the chatter pretty closely while I re-size Betsy Ross patterns for larger women) skip over to Fasion Incubator. It's a great site.

3. Complained about weather yesterday about 250 times. Went to the movies to relieve discomfort and saw a movie about mutant superhero-type people. There were lots of explosions and a really angry telekinetic woman. If I were a mutant superbeing, I would be called something like The Irritable Fireball, and I would soak up all of the heat in the universe, which is what I'm doing right now. Suddenly realize I will not be cool again until October. Crying a little.

4. Tried to get some sewing accomplished but got hot and frustrated. So I watched Six Feet Under in the back room instead and re-covered an ugly journal I was given lately with a remnant of some cute bird fabric.

5. Note to world: Just because the label says "Aimee D" and that is coincidentally a form of my name, that does not mean that you need to wrap it up and give it to me for a present. I've now seen two garments that "Aimee D" has created and I can safely say that I never want to see any more. Ever.

6. Dug out some vintage clothing I had bought but doesn't fit me (?). I suppose I thought I would fix them up and sell them or something, but never did. So I'll post a few here, and if you want anything, let me know and I'll send it to you. The first is a really beautiful blue and green plaid dress, probably a size 6. It has a few moth holes featured rather prominently, unfortunately. If you know a good, cheap re-weaver, this would probably cost $25 or so. If you want it, let me know.

Umm....I think I had a nightmare like this recently

Who wants to buy a pattern with this picture on the cover? It's terrifying. Man in bunny suit. Creepy children. (aimee cries quietly.)

The Sartorialist continues to be the very first website I look at every day. I love it. It taps into my desire to quietly judge (see previous post) as well as my interest in clothes and how people use them. It's a serious social study.

NYC is like a turkey shoot for The Sartorialist. Even the people in the background of the photos have something interesting going on. Chicagoans love practicality and thriftiness. We love Old Navy. We love Men's Warehouse. And something called Dress Barn. But I guess it doesn't matter where you're buying it as long as you know how to put it together. And brother, we don't know how to put it together.

OOOOHhhhhhoohhhhh oh oh Miss Alissa

Check it y'all, Alissa's bag is up on Etsy. Buy it.

fabric round up

All of these can be found at Reprodepot. I think "Teenage Angst" might be the coolest fabric ever...there's dragons playing guitars and organs and little floating skulls....I'm not sure what it means but it's pretty cool nonetheless.

These fabrics make me want to go into surface design.

Hey, got some free time?

Ok, you can help:

*Take orange line to Midway Airport, buy me a plane ticket with my Southwest credit before they sell out of the flight I want. This will take about three hours.

*Cut out these 74 cardstock pieces into circles. Then glue them to other round cardstock pieces.

*Figure out why Paypal is screwing me. Crush them.

*Squeeze these three limes. Put in cocktail shaker. Add tequila. Add ice. Shake. Pour.

*Tell me what the NY sales tax is.

*Make dentist, doctor, eye and hair appointments. (and go for me, if possible...)

*Take pictures of these 20 fabric swatches.

*Call cops on neighbors again.

*Write a thank-you note to my sister in law for the $20.

*Sew up a few dozen sample garments, send to retail fabric shops.

*Compile press kits, send out to this list of 20 people

*Call my mother, tell her I'm sorry that I didn't call her back right away but it was because I was in Michigan on a DUNE and there was no phone reception.

*Research perfumes for new Official Fragrance. Smell this and this and this. Get back to me ASAP.

*Find out where I can buy Picon locally.

*If you are independently wealthy, lend...no give me $10,000.

*Make tiny paper dolls, all wearing Betsy Ross designs.

*Buy me sewing machine that actually works. What the fudge is wrong with my tension control?

*Make a birthday cake for Mr. D. that is both delicious and beautiful. (I'm going to need you to go ahead and get this done by tomorrow, mmmmK?)

*Go to gym for me (and for God's sake, act like you like it)

*Report my IL sales taxes to the IL Department of Revenue before they start getting really mad.

*Follow me around for the day and every time I try to eat a cookie, smack it out of my hand (and then smack me on the head for good measure)

*Explain to me in simple terms what the String Theory is.

Ok. Great. Thanks....I'm gonna go lay on the floor now.

revelations

You ever notice how if you dream about something nice you are kind of obsessed with it when you wake up? I dreamt about some tasty fruit salad on Saturday night and had to rush to Stanley's on Sunday to get some fruit. After thinking about it all day it tasted really good. Second dream: finger puppets. Must make finger puppets.

As I walk around Chicago noticing little things in a new state of mind (i never noticed that bird's nest! you sell cupcakes here?!! hey, my neighbor's name is Hector!!) I am reminded of a quote by a photographer I admire, Edmund Teske:

"Chicago, I always find you totally
vibrant from the inside."

I have just spent a ridiculous amount of time on this website.

This is a really good quote and it's pretty strange when placed in the context of this image of Betsy Ross....

(Casablanca, 1942.)

confounding interest in movie pick-up lines continues

Rick in “Across the Pacific” with Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor.

Another new Betsy Ross cartoon, this time with a quote I've always liked from "Something About Mary."

New Betsy Ross cartoon, featuring this quote from Jimmy Stewart to Jean Arthur in "You Can't Take it With You." (1938)

Always Be Scheming, Part 252

So I'm currently scheming about adding a "one-hour" or a very simple (make that very, very simple) pattern to the Betsy Ross line. It would sell at at a cheaper price because it will be very bare bones- packaging will be minimal, instructions will be super simple.

Please email and tell me which one of the following things you would want to see in this format. Or if you have another idea, please let me know.

1. Elastic waist 80's inspired dress (hotter than it sounds..check out this Vogue pattern for a comperable example)
2. Drawstring pants (this could be modified to make anything from linen pants to pajama bottoms...) Here's an example.
3. Simple blouse- maybe a tank top shape? I don't have an example for this because I haven't really thought about it. Ideas?

And now, my ducklings, here's a special Saturday treat..... a website that discusses making hobbit outfits. Enjoy, and have a nice weekend!

And now... I sleep.

The #010 Charmed Dress is now officially for sale. Go buy it right now. Even if you're a boy.

$300 for 1.7 ounces. Rejuvenation guaranteed!

I admit: I've used some ridiculous beauty products. I have also read a lot of silly descriptions of what beauty products are supposed to do for you. The Natura Bisse company takes the cake in terms of grammatical errors and pseudo-scientific jibber-jabber. Keep in mind the following paragraph is from a Barneys catalogue. Barneys. You'd think they could afford a copy-editor to get control of this paragraph.

So without further ado, here's the description for Natura Bisse "Diamond Drops DNA Shield" face cream:

"A unique and powerful infusion of energy and Marine DNA technology target the "nucleus" of aging to recapture a youthful appearance it is an exquisite combination of powerful anti-aging ingredients along with the most advanced technology which creates the Diamond Collection guarantee: 100% Rejuvenating effect, 90% Lifting effect and 80% Reduction in wrinkles."


Can someone please tell me what that means? I'm really confused. What is Marine DNA technology? And how exactly do you measure rejuvenation?

Dress comes with optional puppy

Here's one of the zillion photos we shot on Sunday for the #010 Charmed Dress, the newest pattern in the Betsy Ross line-up. Now that I have some photos for the packaging, I can actually sell this pattern. Woo hoo! Look for it on the website in a few days after I get labels printed. This is really a great dress- you can make it in just about any fabric and wear it anywhere- wedding, work, dinner, whatever.

Bonus: I got to hold Callie's new puppy. I don't know what kind of dog he is, where dogs comes from, what dogs do or what dogs eat, but he's awfully cute. That's funny....the photo doesn't show my right hand so it appears as if I have a puppy attached to my midsection.

Callie's the best photographer ever. Go visit her website and see her other work right now.

Ranked #1 on yahoo search for "hamster comic"

For me, a good comic must contain: hamsters, friendly kitties, stolen almonds and a trip to Ikea. Imagine my surprise when I found all of those things in one comic-or-whatever-it-is. The hamsters even take a trip to Ikea that is eerily similar to what my own trips to Ikea are like.

Now I have everything

If you have ever made a Chewbacca tissue box cozy, you need to PUT THE GLUE GUN DOWN.

Thrifty Lists

Things I bought while thrift shopping on Saturday:

1. Awesome JC Penney trench coat. Tag appears to be from early 80's. The lining was a little ripped but was easily mended.

2. Bright blue t-shirt for some kind of police shooting competition. Not for me- for a photo shoot. I also bought a shiny gold belt for the photo shoot that I was pretty sure we wouldn't use but I figured it was good to have around just in case.

3. A burrito (not vintage)

4. Black leather clutch

5. Blue girlie scarf

It was a very productive outing, and I think I only spent $20, not including burrito. The Brown Elephant on Milwaukee Ave. is so great now...I don't know what happened. All of the sudden it's less filthy and disturbing. It's also 100 times more orderly, all of the furniture and odds and ends have been moved to the basement and now there's a separate section for distinctly vintage items- I say "distinctly" because I found the trench coat in the normal coat section, so I think they reserve the term "vintage" for stuff that looks solidly dated, a.k.a. costumey.

Now for things I wanted to buy on Saturday but didn't:

1. shirt with screenprinted Eiffel Tower on it
2. necklace made of bright square beads
3. luggage with skulls on it
4. Holly Hobbie stickers!

Here's a picture of a finished #006 One For All Shoulder Bag made by Alissa. She even put a cute lining in it....

She's going to be selling it in her Etsy shop, so when I get the link I'll post it here.

Speaking of Etsy, check it out. It's a great place to find handmade stuff. You can even sort the items by color, which is kind of interesting. I have a little boutique on there as well.

I've been dying to use this fabric for something, so with a photo shoot scheduled for this Sunday afternoon I decided to whip it into a dress. I think I'm going to get conned into modeling again, but it's my own fault. I don't have time to schedule fittings with a model, and it's much easier to tailor something to my own measurements, which I've done a zillion times now. Plus, I'm selfish and I want this dress for myself. I managed to knock it the body out while watching some "Six Feet Under" episodes (thank you, Netflix) and so that means less to do on Saturday. The lining, zipper and hem remains. Certainly do-able.

I wish I had it done in time for the Luna Fortuna party tomorrow at Columbia (also named "Luna Aim-tuna" or Lunaimee Fortuna......Luna Fortolby?) but alas, it will have to wait for another exciting event. Are you going??!?

twinkle by wenlan

Wenlan Chia, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

I bought this new magazine called Blueprint the other day. It's kind of a cross between Martha Stewart, Real Simple and Readymade. I guess that makes it right up my alley.

They featured this cute dress and then direct you to their website for instructions and a pattern for making it. Doesn't look too hard.... it's basically just two long rectangles with the edges finished and sewn together. I think you slide some heavy cord or ribbon through the top and you're done. Throw a belt around the middle for shape and voila. A dress. I think I'm going to give it a go on Saturday when I need to take a break from other projects. Anyone else want to make it and then compare notes?