Three words: Japanese craft books. It's a bad scene for me- I love the photography and the great ideas but cannot read a word. I like to look at them for inspiration, because even if you don't want to buy the book, if you have some experience you can probably make something similar. Like this embroidery pattern- you could freehand a design in pencil and then wing it. I think this would look cute on a pillow case for a little girl's room.

I really love this linen tape designed by Shinzi Katoh, a big name in Japanese design, and think that it would be great as seam binding on a bag or the inside of a jacket.

I would love some of the fabric on Shinzi Katoh's website, especially the quilted fabrics, which would make great blankets. I love the section about the three cats, Poireau, Celeri and Calmar.

want

Ghostie stamp from Paper Source.

On un-decorating

I love this Candida Hofer photo. It reminds me a little of a Wes Anderson movie set. (Have you seen "Darjeeling Limited" yet? My girl Upma and I are in starry eyed for Waris Ahluwaria.)

I have organization on the brain as I continue to box and file and stash in our new place. Part of the problem is that I've barely been home- lots of "visiting" with friends (as my grandma would say), art shows, meetings, etc. Hopefully this weekend Mr. D. and I can nest a little bit- maybe watch some movies and get some shelves up. I totally botched up some metal wall anchors the other night and am scared to continue with the shelving project without his help. Aimee + drill = unpredictable.


I saw these funny canisters on the Jonathan Adler website and would love to have them on my counter- imagine the looks on your friends' faces when they come over and see a canister for "quaaludes."




You know, this makes me realize that I need to probably mature a little bit in terms of decorating. My taste in art and deco stuff tends to lean to the area of "whimsical" too often. Nothing we have really matches, because I can't decide what I like. I wish this were not the case with our living room, because everytime I see six different colored pillow cases on the sofa and mismatched strange furniture, it drives me bonkers. There's an old litho of some chicks fighting over a month hanging next to a drawing my friend Jonathan did of a man with six arms. I guess having no distinct decorating plan is, in fact, my decorating plan. Reading blogs like Design Sponge kind of crack me up, because the rooms I'm seeing could not be farther than what is the reality in my apartment, mostly because I never have the time or money to deal with it. So right now I'm going to try to do the best I can with the Ikea shelves and the craigslisted sofa, and treasure the artwork I have that is by my talented artist friends....and maybe pick up a quaaludes canister!

fall project

I just saw this skirt from Anthropologie on a second-hand/vintage clothes website called Plaid Pony. Cute for fall, eh? Those appliques are so easy to make and sew on to a simple black skirt. The only trick should be keeping this from looking too dowdy, so be careful.

I think you should try this project this weekend. Myself, I'm headed out of town for a wedding in Maine (woo hoo!), so I'm out of here with my scarf and jacket (it's in the 50s up there!).

See you next week.

the thing

"Making THINGS is hard work, you have to move your arms and torso around, sometimes even your legs. But that’s what’s cool about making things, as opposed to making the words that represent them."


Miranda July

I want The Thing quarterly.

ok.

Do you ever feel like you just totally missed out on something that you were supposed to have noticed? I feel like that sometimes, and I'm trying to determine if I feel that way because I never noticed the thing or if I simply forgot about it, because I have the worst memory ever.

For instance, today when I read on Wikipedia about OK Soda, which apparently debuted in 1994, which when I would have been paying attention about new colas. It was a Coca-Cola product, apparently. Their exploitation of post-grunge culture for corporate gain is certainly true and their list of 10 OK related comments listed below is annoying, but of course I'm drawn to the Charles Burns drawings and the typeface on the can like a moth to flame.

Now, here's a little quiz for you. Decide which one of these statements, compiled by the creators of OK, is the most irritating to you. Keep in mind these statements are intended to be about soda. It's close, but I'm going to have to say that the worst one for me is #5, with #3 coming up close behind.

1. What's the point of OK? Well, what's the point of anything?
2. OK Soda emphatically rejects anything that is not OK, and fully supports anything that is.
3. The better you understand something, the more OK it turns out to be.
4. OK Soda says, "Don't be fooled into thinking there has to be a reason for everything."
5. OK Soda reveals the surprising truth about people and situations.
6. OK Soda does not subscribe to any religion, or endorse any political party, or do anything other than feel OK.
7. There is no real secret to feeling OK.
8. OK Soda may be the preferred drink of other people such as yourself.
9. Never overestimate the remarkable abilities of "OK" brand soda.
10. Please wake up every morning knowing that things are going to be OK.

There's been:
- frantically putting things in boxes
-moving boxes in a truck to another place
-slowly taking things out of boxes
-piling empty boxes on new patio
-etc

Although the nuts and bolts of moving really stinks, for me the real fun part starts after the move, when you get to hang the paintings and arrange the books and shop for new rugs and so forth.

We're living in a very small apartment (slightly bigger than the last one, but barely) and so we have to really think about how everything is going to fit. And when you're trying to run a sewing pattern business off of the bottom row of a bookshelf, you have to be really smart about organizing. All of the thread goes in one big bowl. All of the glue goes in that jar. All of the bias tapes goes in that tin. Patterns have to be carefully separated into different boxes. It's like a big puzzle.

I also have been paying more attention to home design blogs and magazines. Our bedroom needs a lot of help, so I'm hoping to pick up some ideas. I just saw those beautiful photos of Gwneyth Paltrow's Amagansett home from House and Garden Magazine....loving her bedroom! (pictured above)

Tomorrow I'll be teaching my very first sewing class, a "make your own skirt" class, at Cloth and Bobbin. I'm excited. I think it will be interesting to witness people using my patterns, which is something I've never really done before. I think it will really help me understand how functional they really are. I hope to pick up some ideas of how to make the patterns better during the class.


I recently found a website called Linnet from the Design Sponge website. It features linen fabric, thread and patterns to make items like dresses and aprons. The photos are so pretty, and I really, really want to learn how to crochet one of those beautiful, delicate scarves. Has anyone tried something like that?









My Great Grandma Miller was always doing crochet. She would make tiny little sweaters and dresses for my Barbies as well as thing to decorate her home. The potholders featured on Linnet remind me of the things she used to make. I don't think I ever stopped to think about just how long it must have taken her to make all of those tiny clothes for my dolls.