mari-meets-mies

I went to see the Marimekko exhibit at Crown Hall on the IIT campus a week ago but kept forgetting to upload my photos.

Seeing the charming, mod designs of Marimekko in Mies' beautiful, light-filled masterwork was really wonderful. It's a small exhibition, but very informative. Layout is a little wonky, but whatever. They have a great video showing old advertising shorts as well as a very nice book available for sale, but as expected, it's much, much cheaper online.

Big surprise: I do have one nit-picky problem with the exhibition. Why were the fabrics not ironed? Almost every single one of the hanging fabric samples had a stiff crease down the center- I realize these things have probably been in storage for years, but could they not get an intern to drag an ironing board out?

Anthropologie has the following dresses on their website, and I'm thinking they can't be that hard to make. Maybe I will find some patterns that will work for them when I take my much-loved three hour bus trip to the fabric store on Saturday. To make matters worse, I left my iPod in a rental car at Midway and they can't find it (Please, you can't find it?? I bet you're LISTENING TO IT RIGHT NOW, JERKSTORE!!) so I will have to listen to all of the crazy loud people on the bus instead of Belle and Sebastian. I even bought one of those FM transmitter doohickys (doohickies?) last time I was at Target so I could listen to the iPod on car trips. You know, I cannot be trusted with things like that. It's the second time I've lost that iPod.

Oh yeah, and the shoes? I just want them.

You didn't think I could visit Philadelphia and NOT take a picture of the Betsy Ross House, did you? C'mon.






Top random favorite things of the week:

1. The old-school walnut address file from Lovely Design.
2. Making lists (making lists always makes it on the list)
3. Talking paintings
4. Scheming about a trip in December to Miami Beach for ABMB since I will no longer be affliliated with a participating art gallery
5. Mr. D. handing me a blueberry pie right when I walk through the front door at the end of the day
6. Looking forward to seeing Seu Jorge on Thursday at Pritzker Pavilion! Brazili-fantastico.
7. My new intern, Linsey, who helping to preserve my sanity.
8. Ginger scones
9. The Dusty Springfield cd I swiped from parent's house last weekend.
10. This amazing interactive gallery map on the Philadephia Museum of Art website. Relive every moment of your exciting, arty visit! Those Duchamps! That kick-ass Cezanne! Find Picasso's early, gigantically important, "Three Musicians" and then complain to yourself (because no one else is around right now) about how it was out on loan when you visited! And please, the small replacement painting (by...who??) that they threw up there looks like they picked it out at random. The huge Leger across the room looks like it will eat that painting. I realize no one is reading this paragraph anymore. I will stop now.

preach it, bob.

Check out this great video produced by the wizards at Pink of Perfection about Renegade. It features a little interview with yours truly, lookin' sporty in the aviators. Har.

Finally got my photos back. Here's a nice shot of my neighbors at the fair, the sweeties from Black Spot Books and Lucy's Vintage. I picked up a really great old Motley Crue keychain from them! I don't know what I'm going to do with a Motley Crue keychain, but whatever.


My fans were very, very popular! I'm glad I spent all of that time cutting those little circles out of cardstock. All weekend long people were coming into my booth saying, "I was told you have fans...."



After NY I went to Philly for a day. My favorite photo is of this sign advertising patriotic karaoke. What?? Brad, when you come visit, we'll hit the Muetter Museum first and then do patriotic karaoke afterwards. Won't that be fun?




This is a very interesting review of Renegade and a nice mention for Betsy Ross, as well. Thanks, kids!

Oh yeah....

...and I forgot to mention that I officially gave my notice at my job yesterday and we're moving to Philadelphia in August. Pass the whiskey. And the classifieds.

My photos from Renegade are mysteriously STILL in the process of being developed...I mean, I know I'm used to digital photography, but seriously, does it really take two full days to cram that disposable camera through your machine? I'LL come back there and do it myself.

So, accept this photo of the loot I picked up in NY instead. You might be able to tell that I hit Pearl River. I had no idea how much fun it is walking around a gigantic Chinese superstore with an 80 year old woman. Go figure.

I also went to the new Purl Patchwork store on Sullivan, and it's awesome. So many beautiful prints. I picked up two things- very pretty, indeed, and now I will add them to the pile of fabric in my workroom.

The extra-good-super-happy news is that they are going to be carrying my patterns in both Purl Soho and Purl Patchwork! woo-hoo!!! Must get working right away to get those out.

The most interesting score of the weekend was at Renegade: a pink Dolly Parton circa "9-5" tote bag by bread by kira. I love Dolly, and watching "9-5" at the drive-in with my family is one of my earliest memories, so I clearly had to have it. I didn't really have time to walk around at all- people could have been selling howler monkeys and bottles of bourbon for all I know- I stepped outside of my booth all of three times the entire weekend, and that was just go to the bathroom and get a coke, so the tote bag purchase was made on the way back from one of those trips, and I was practically running while doing it.

Now, some backstory. The video I posted a few days ago was taken by a very cool woman named Julie who runs Coutorture and Almost Girl. Busy lady. Sorry for not mentioning that before. She came by the fair and was sweet as a peach. I'm just glad there wasn't anything hanging out of my nose in the video although I do appear somewhat sleepy and distracted, but that's pretty much par for the course lately.


Here's my intern, Faith "I have a serger and you don't" Morrison at her portfolio show on Wednesday. Doesn't it look fantastic? I'm so proud of her. She's been a huge help to me this semester- she has sewn a lot of samples, folded patterns, come up with new ideas for future patterns, assisted at a photo shoot, searched out new fabrics for kits and has been a great sounding board for me and my harebrained ideas. Thanks, Faith, and best of luck!

Oh my God. A video of me is on You Tube!!! AHHH!

feats of strength

I'm at Swim Cafe sorting through 600 emails (mostly of the Viagra variety), listening to Roger Miller and trying to remember my name. It's been a crazy five days.

Instead of worrying about my digital camera getting stolen at the fair, I decided to just bring along a disposable film camera (gasp!) and so it will be a few days until I am able to post pictures of the fair and my trip, so sit tight. I did, however, find a few photos of my booth on someone's Flickr site, so there you go.

I regret to tell you that I was unable to get a good photo of a man in McCarren park who was boxing with himself for over 30 minutes. When the fair was almost over on Sunday afternoon and I was slipping into a coma, he kept me very entertained until it was time to pack up and get out of there. Go boxing guy, go! I am working on my impression and will perform it for you if you like.

So: Renegade Brooklyn. Let me say that if you enjoy dragging a 50 pound tent across the length of three softball fields in 90-degree weather, then this is the fair for you!

I showed up on Saturday completely unready for the day. In order to not run screaming, I was intentionally not coming to terms with the idea that I was going to be doing this fair by myself. In my mind the tent, two six foot tables and a chair were going to be carried to my booth spot by fairies. At that point, those items would be carefully and expeditiously set up by a band of magical, cheery elves who also dance in time to Beck's "Mixed Bizness" while working. All of my merchandise would be delivered to the booth by Shetland ponies, ridden by beautiful maidens. Then, Simon Doonan would show up with coterie of talented, gay window designers, who would arrange all of my merchandise on the tables, finishing at 10:45 so I would have time to sit back with a glass of iced coffee (delivered to my booth, of course) and marvel at the beautiful, shady spot that I was blessed with.

This is not what happened.

If Andy and Laurie of Kiku were not as amazingly nice as they are, I would have been screwed. I owe them a kidney. They drove most of my stuff to the fair from Chicago. They delivered the items to the fair each day. Andy helped me put up the tent and get my tables from here to there. They let me borrow their cart so I could get my merch from one side of the park to the other. They provided a heaping helping of moral support. Thanks to them, I was able to get through the weekend. And what a weekend! I got to hang out with some NY friends, met a bunch of new customers, made friends with fellow crafters, did a lot of people watching, and yeah- sold a lot of stuff. The pros far outweighed the cons!

My booth neighbors were great. On one side were the sweeties from Philly who run Lucy's Vintage and The Black Spot. On the other side were the awesome Biggie peeps. They must be credited for coming to my aid when my tent levitated and then almost fell on it's side. I can laugh about that now but it wasn't so funny at the time.

I also met the freakishly nice people from Pink of Perfection, and they took a video of me that might make it on the website.

More later. In the meantime, here are radical cheerleaders.

wee hours

Mr. D. created this lovely painting of me working. Unfortunately, the photo doesn't do it justice. Of all of his paintings, I think I like this one the best. It seems to capture that sad late-night living room light very well, and I can feel how my back felt at that moment after being stooped over that stupid low table for hours cutting fabric.

It's with a lot of relief that I head off to NY tomorrow morning for Renegade- relief because all of the work is over, over, over and now I just have to stand there and sell everything!

If you are in Brooklyn over the weekend, please come visit Betsy Ross in booth 95 and say hello!

I love you, Martin Creed. Especially this essay. And these songs.

I feel much better now.

a fun weekend spent with a bunch of osteopaths and a giant pile of sand

Here's a photo from the weekend we spent at the Michigan dunes for my brother's gradutation party. This image should be titled, "I'm at the Michigan Dunes and it's a beautiful day but I'm really, really hot and burning. Can we go inside now...please?"

The tunic I'm wearing is the perfect shirt for summer, because it flares out so dramatically and doesn't cling to the skin. I got it from my friend Jenny, who says she wore it to grade school as a dress. That's kind of creepy, but really I'm just surprised that it's in such good condition after all of that time. It fits really well, except the armholes are about 1/8" tighter than I would prefer. I think I might try to copy the pattern next week and try it myself. Will post results.

And here's my little brother and his cutie wife Janelle. Matt's now a doctor and actually allowed to treat patients. Unbelievable! Way to go, dude. Now where's that Cipro I asked for? What? You say you'll lose your license if you steal drugs from the hospital? Fine. I'll settle for 50 unwrapped tongue depressors.

we get letters. we get letters. we get lots and lots of letters.

Some people have recently asked about how to make the Betsy Ross #006 Bag hold it's shape better, especially on the gusset piece. I think the answer, ducklings, is Pellon Peltex #70. It is sort of a pain to sew with but will help the bag keep it's shape and look more "finished." You can find it in the interfacing section at your local fabric store. You might also need to pick up a stronger needle for your machine while you're at the store and maybe a bottle of wine, because it takes awhile to get the hang of sewing with it because of it's stiffness. Oh, and keep in mind that it is not treated with a heat-sensitive glue, so you will need Wonder Under or some other kind of fusible material to get it to stick to your fabric- this is also found in the interfacing section.

Let's just say, for example, that you needed to sew Victorian caroling outfits for you and your friends. And let's just say that you needed to make some bonnets. This is a good time to use Pellon Peltex #70. See how handy it is? I'm glad I could help.

Did the FDA ban Picon in the US or is that a nasty rumor? Brasserie Jo claims that they bought the last cases from the US distributor and Curtis won't give me any.

Well, it looks like I have to go back to Pastis. Or take a trip to France.

This post is brought to you by Boots Royal Jelly Soap since I found a package of it hiding away and it put me in a good mood this morning despite being seriously tired and mentally unready for another week of work. I don't know what royal jelly is, but I don't care. It smells good, and combined with a cup of very strong iced coffee, it helped me get out the door.

Spent a very pleasant Saturday evening with K. in Oswego (huh?). Joined The Straight Up High Fives for a couple of numbers on tambourine. Well, I should say they didn't stop me- they may not have been happy about the fact that I just sorta ran up and grabbed the tambourine and started dancing around, but they are nice boys and let me get it out of my system. There was a wedding reception going on in a tent outside the restaurant that was unremarkable except for the amazing DJ who looked a lot like this photo of Yanni- K. let me borrow her camera so I could sneak into the reception to get a photo of him. I think he knew what I was up to, but I was so mesmerized by his long, flowing black hair and fabulous mustache that I couldn't control myself.

In Betsy Ross news, on Sunday I discussed re-working the #004 Hip Blouse with my pattern drafter, Jeanne, at her workshop. We worked out a new grading table for the sizing chart so that the pattern will accomodate larger bust sizes. Unlike other Betsy Ross patterns, it will be a xs/s/m/l/xl/xxl system. It will fit (tentatively) bust measurements of 33"- 49". It's a big improvement from the previous pattern and I am really happy about it and excited to get it finished. Of course, I have some other things on my plate right now, so the blouse is getting back-burnered until next week.

This cannot be emphasized too much.

Thank you smelly, old, creepy pattern. That's some good advice, right there.

They shot him down...They thought he was a monster.

One of the 200 spam emails I received overnight at my work account featured the subject line, "Your future, oak-crested." "Quite poetic and mysterious!" I thought. It's gonna be a great day! Then the next one said, "Hi, oily-looking" and once again I was angry with spam emails.

If you like the intersection where yetis and embroidery meet (who doesn't?) then you're going to like Megan Whitmarsh. I would love to have that icy king kong on a shirt.

Have you ever made something with this fabric? Thank a Finn. Specifically, thank Marimekko. Learn more about the Marimekko company at the IIT exhibit that opens tonight. I must make time to go this weekend!

Sewing and Kitties... a fine combination

I found this McCall's sewing book on Etsy. I didn't think it was going to be anything special aside from the entertaining cover, of course. But when I got it in the mail I was happy to find some really good information- some clear illustrations for various stitches, instructions for shortening/lengthing patterns and some cool dated charts regarding various man-made, futuristic fibers and finishes that were all the rage in 1958 (like Temp-Resisto, Sag-no-Mor, Estron, Celaperm, Arnel, Darlan, Orlon, etc)

There's also some charts about fibers that Nature made. We all know what "cotton" is, but when you think of tulle or damask do you really know what its origin is? What is jersey, anyway? Why are those cats sitting with those sewing tools? What do they have to do with anything?

come on fhqwhgads

Sweet Jimmy did I have a good day yesterday, wandering around....sorta getting things done...sorta just wasting time. It was really nice, and I don't say that very often about days where there's not that much going on.

I went to the Illinois Apparel Industry Board's Fabric and Trim Show at the Mart. It was overall a little disappointing for me, mostly because I don't really need 30 yards of fabric or 6000 buttons, or a special table for sharpening scissors, but it was fun to look around at the new fabric lines. I found a great supplier for zippers, had a strange encounter with a silk wholesaler ("Why you want to make skirts??! I have skirts right here! Woman! I HAVE SKIRTS!") and discovered Liberty fabrics- so great, but no local retailers carry them.

I had a great lunch at Bin 36, complete with the New York Times and a few glasses of 2004 Taburno Falanghina that just magically disappeared from my bill. Apparently I looked like I was "having a nice time" so the waiter didn't charge me for them. Fantastic! I need to look like I'm having a nice time more often. Then I got more than a $100 discount on copies at Staples by pleading ignorance about the oversize copy cost. Fantastic again!!

Back to reality: Renegade countdown: 2 weeks. Let the freak-out begin. Freak-out antidote: the Fhqwhgads video. Summer jam of 2004, 2005 and also 2006.

...in which I become overstimulated and cranky

I decided that altering the bridesmaid dress for a September wedding in is too complicated and important for me to handle properly, I decided to take it to Alfred, a great old-school tailor on Oak Street. I managed to escape after over 30 minutes (fitting took only 4 minutes) since he became infuriated after seeing the J.Crew label on the dress and went off on a tailor-rant about how J.Crew is screwing him and he told them to go to hell. Good times!

A few days ago I realized that I have over 200 envelopes of varying size and color but only a few cards to match them, so I wanted to hit Paper Source so I could make up some sets. I also wanted some red/white striped grosgrain ribbon for a new dress project so I stopped at P.S. on the way home and was sucked into the Vortex of Paper. I managed to keep repeating to myself "You don't need that" and my mantra kept things pretty much under control. I did get a few nice things, including tiny Japanese dinosaur stickers, some dark brown cards with a jaggy edge, smaller white cards to glue onto beforementioned jaggy cards and some little ornamental belt buckles to thread through ribbon that were designed for scrapbooking but are perfect for a waistline (or sleeve?) on a skirt or dress.

I also stopped by the Salvation Army on Grand but the clothes were totally wiped out and all I found was a gaggle of screaming children and a linen tea towel depicting "Life in Ireland"- apparently in Ireland people spend their time spinning wool outside cottages, fox hunting and taking out the "jaunting car." Head began to hurt. Walked home.

I got tomorrow off work so I could attend this. Yes. I know I am a big geek.

Introducing the top you will wear everywhere, everyday, for ever and ever.

Turns out the top you wear you will wear for the rest of your life is a new Betsy Ross design. Who knew?

Our new top was dreamed up by my Intern Extrodinaire, Faith Morrison, a student at the Illinois Institute of Art. She stitched this prototype in a great lightweight black polyester fabric with a subtle raised paisley pattern. It's got raglan sleeves and two bust darts. Raglan sleeves are usually seen on shirts like this. It's hard to see how cute the sleeves are because they are floppy on the dress form. I'll have to get a design sketch made up.

I wore this top yesteday with the blue belt/pin thing and got 329 compliments throughout the day.

Faith says it's a snap to make because of the raglan sleeves. I think this might be the first pattern in our Betsy Ross super-easy line, although I have to come up with a better name than Betsy Ross Super Easy Patterns That Won't Make You Crazy. Taking suggestions.

Also taking suggestions on why a dress form company would name this model "Seawolf."

Hey gang! Let's chart ourselves!

Feelin' good today? Wanna fix that? Chart yourself. That'll do it.

I just found this great indie pattern company called Decades of Style. They have some really interesting designs based on vintage patterns from 1910-50. I think you have to walk a thin line when you start sewing vintage-inspired clothing....if you don't mix these items with other, modern pieces in your wardrobe, you're going to look kind of crazy...

I can't decide which one I want to buy. On one hand, I think I would like this top with kimono sleeves, but that funny one-piece pajama thing is pretty darn cute, even though I'm not positive that I actually know what's going on with it. Looks comfy, though.


This is also a good time to mention something disturbing about big pattern companies. Butterick, McCalls and Vogue are all owned by McCall Pattern Company. Simplicity Pattern Company owns Simplicity, It's So Easy, and New Look. Simplicity also distrubutes Burda patterns.

Of the Big Companies, Kwik-Sew is the only one still doin' that crazy thing it does off by itself. There isn't any originality or change because they are all owned by the same people. Buy more indie patterns, people. You shouldn't be buying this, anyway.

Ok, I'll admit it: I would go back to buying Butterick only for this pattern, even though I have no children. I will borrow a friends' child just to make them wear that monkey outfit for Halloween.

enough already

The Tribune has had three different stories in the last couple of months regarding fanny-packs and how they are cool. Clearly someone in the editorial department of the Tempo section either makes fanny packs or knows someone who does. I'm sorry lambs, fanny packs suck. Except maybe the one on the far right, and is that really a fanny pack? It looks more like some sort of combat artillery belt.