Noguchi fabric

Have you ever felt like sometimes a fabric comes along that really just matches your style and personality? I feel like that with this new fabric by Alexander Henry called Noguchi (named after one of my favorite artists), and I will probably use it to re-do the pillow covers in the living room to match with my new floor cloth.

I have to get said floor cloth done first. There's been two color changes and a major design, and now I'm out of paint and have to hit Pearl today to restock so I can finish. Homestretch.

A tale of fine china

First it was Target and their Isaac Mizrahi. And then there was H&M with Karl. And now Kohl's has recruited Vera Wang to un-dork-ify their clothes. And I must say, these items are pretty cute. Now when my parents get me a Kohl's gift certificate for Christmas (as they do nearly every year for some reason) I will know what to buy. I used to only get socks and underwear, but now I might get some of these well-considered, inexpensive clothes. (Thanks to Fasshonburu for the tip.)

And now, a little bit about our Thanksgiving:

A little over eight years ago Mr. D. and I tied the knot in our hometown. We were only 22, but we felt very grown up when we registered for some lovely china we saw in a department store. I was in love with them: the rich ivory color, the platinum accent band, the weight of the tea cups, the shape of the saucers. I imagined the numerous, refined dinner parties where I would have occasion to use them, with roasts and complicated desserts and after dinner coffee in the living room.

After the wedding, we were thrilled to find out that my parents and grandparents had purchased them for us. We opened one of eight boxes to inspect the booty, and then put them away. We moved them four times- two of the moves were across state lines. They have remained packaged in their original boxes the whole time, completely sealed and never used. A couple of the boxes even had the original gift wrap on them. I guess we never thought there was an appropriate moment to get them out.

So this Thanksgiving, when I found out Leya was expecting eight people for dinner, I decided we should finally break out the fine china. I am so glad we did. The classic, simple design of the plates looked so pretty against the colors of Leya's whimsical tablecloth, and we had so much fun using them for the first time in our adopted home with our new friends. I would have never guessed eight years ago that these circumstances would be the first time they would be used, but it seems very funny and sweet.

(The photo at the table before dinner was taken by Curiousbird. Unfortunately, we didn't get any of the rest of the place settings, but you get the idea. Check out her flickr site for more good shots from Thanksgiving and mine for a shot of our friends playing Guitar Hero.)

impending chaos

I don't know about you, but as much as I love the love "the holidays" there's always this impending sense of chaos in my head like a clash of cymbals.. don't get me wrong, I love the parties, and the gifting and the cooking and the seeing my family (oh my God, it's been a year since I've been home to Indiana) but there's still this trepidation.

This year, instead of fixating on making all of my gifts at home an cooking up sweets to bring to my coworkers and the nice people who work at the copy shop, I'm going to BUY COOKIES and BUY GIFT unapologetically. Look, if I REALLY was going to make you a handmake robe like I wanted to, I would have started it in August. But I didn't so you're getting this one from the store. And for your new baby? Ain't getting a handmake bib like I wanted to make. Going to get the cutie one I saw at Foster's today.

This photo above is from a funny site called Chicken Crap. My younger brother sent it to me, and I burst out laughing when I saw it, but I think it's because that's kind of how I feel like my life is like. Totally bizarre and interesting and inexplainable. Wholesale orders, late nights, running around and then going to my day job and selling ridiculously expensive paintings but still coming home and folding patterns. I'm coming to terms with the unexplainable aspect of it all and embracing that I will most likely never have a conventional job situation.

On a different note, I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving at Leya and Dustin's with friends- a full day doing nothing but relaxing and playing board games and laughing. I feel like I've been looking forward to it all year. Hope your Thanksgiving is also spent with the ones you love, and being able to spend the day being thankful...among other things....for just being and having this moment. Have a good one.

Right, Mrs. Robert Stack is a busy seamstress.

Things Of The Moment, just in case you were wondering:

1
Song Stuck In Head The end credits for The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. Incidentally, the closing credits are so awesome- I love the designs made with the dots to look like lights. But seriously, this is not a song that you want running through your head, with all of the cymbals and whatnot.

2
Unfinished Project On My Mind: My floor cloth. Or "canvas rug" or "floor canvas" or whatever you want to call it. The point is, it's languishing in the middle of the living room floor, where it's been for about three days now, and I can't deal. The design isn't how I want it to be, so I'm dragging my feet on finishing. Painting takes a long time, especially when you're doing stupid tiny circles on leaf shapes. Hopefully things will gel up and I will post a photo.

3.
Blog I'm spending too much time on: Do What Now?

4.
Favorite Buffy quote of Season Two:
Oz: [on the phone] Aunt Maureen? Hey, it's me. Um, what? Oh. It's, uh... actually it's healing okay. That's pretty much the reason I called. Um, I wanted to ask you something. Is Jordy a werewolf? Uh-huh. And how long has that been going on? Uh-huh. What? No, no reason. Um... Thanks. Yeah, love to Uncle Ken.

5.
On the stereo:
Gogol Bordello live in concert, thanks to the All Songs Considered podcast.

I have a few things to report:

1. I have a few new retailers, and in the hustle-bustle of moving and getting organized, I failed to do a proper shout-out. I'm very proud to announce that you can now find Betsy Ross Patterns at Bobbin's Nest (Santa Monica, CA), Z Fabrics (Portland, ME), online at Volksfaden.de (based in Germany) and very soon at Brooklyn General in Brooklyn. I have a few other things in the works. (Rubbing hands together and laughing mysteriously)


2. I am a blogging partner with Coutorture, which continues to be a very interesting website and great source for links. I could spent hours on the site. They also recently sent me a great smokey eye make-up brush kit from Sephora that rocks (great present idea, by the way) and you know know how great it is to get presents in the mail, so I'm officially in love.

3. I'm teaching another class at Cloth and Bobbin in Narberth in January (this time for pants), so keep your eyes peeled for the schedule, which will be coming out soon.

4. My friend Alice just launched her new line of laptop sleeves, laptop bags and make-up bags and they are fantastic.

You may have been her around in the past at craft shows- her company name is "Flicka" (like girl in Swedish). She is a veteran bag seamstress and craft show queen. But I have to say, her new bags take the cake. Not only are they super cute, but they also really well made- very sturdy and with plenty of foam for insulating your laptop. These bags will be your alternative to the boring, somewhat creepy, black laptop sleeves you find at Office Depot.


* The image at the top of this post is from the volksfaden website... I love the way she's collaged these prints onto old photos. great idea.

ikat

Ikat is everywhere I turn lately. According to Wikipedia:

"Ikat, or Ikkat, is a style of weaving that uses a resist dyeing process similar to tie-dye on either the warp or weft before the threads are woven to create a pattern or design. A Double Ikat is when both the warp and the weft are tie-dyed before weaving."

But there are different kinds of Ikat- Indian, Guatemalan, Indonesian, African..... all with different characteristics and patterns. It can be made into saris, ritual objects, couture clothing and pillows that you buy at Pottery Barn.

I found a nice selection of traditional ikat patterns on the Silk Road Fabrics website. I like #12 (above) and can picture it becoming a skirt that would look with tights in winter.




I also found some beautiful, thin ikat fabrics at Uzbek-Craft and learned that Uzbek ikat fabrics are woven by hand on narrow looms. These ikats are generally 15.7” to 23.6” wide. I love this whimsical mustard, ivory and pink example and would use it as a scarf.

life whizzing by

First of all, can I just say that I love this weather? It kills me- the leaves, the crisp air, the cozy sweaters, the smell of people burning leaves, the foods that are in season- everything about it. Perhaps it's because I'm extremely prone to the romantic, but still.


Sometimes, it's really great to be able to spend a really quiet weekend at home and get a lot done while still relaxing and appreciating the time of year and just being. This was one of those. Keep in mind that my "weekend' is from Sunday-Tuesday because I work at an art gallery, so I'm still in my weekend.

I'm a bit of a social butterfly, so I tend to fill up my schedule with dates with people, fitting in what I have to get done in between those meetings. Because of this, I am constantly busy and kind of prefer it that way....but that gets tiring and I need to recharge. This seemed like a good weekend for it.

This weekend I set some un-rules. The un-rules are:

1. If I don't feel like doing it, don't.

2. Do something creative. Anything.

3. Cook something

Admittedly, these are pretty loose rules, but for someone who's used to putting unnecessarily strict rules upon herself, this is great! So here's what happened this weekend:

1. I got to use spray paint. I love spray paint. I decided that my sofa's wood veneer was clashing with the ebony table Mr. D. made a few years back, and so I spray painted in black. That was fun! Photos forthcoming.

2. I watched eight episodes of the second season of Buffy and watched three movies.

3. I stayed in every night and I woke up when I wanted to each morning. I love sleep, so sleeping as much as I want is a not negotiable for a good weekend.

4. I went to a Japanese grocery and ate a gigantic plate of curry chicken.

5. I made a mobile, inspired by Leya. I used some old postcards I had collected as well as some paper snippets from old projects. I was looking for something interested to go above the bed, and there it is.





6. I drank a lot of coffee. And wine.










7. I started working on a new pattern. So excited about it!! It's going to be a really easy, one-hour pattern that you are going to love love love. Here's a little hint.











8. I drove up West River Drive and it was just what the doctor ordered. The leaves were changing, the road was clear, the music was good. Such beauty, and I get so caught up in my own little stupid dramas.

9. I bought a mini-bottle of Marc Jacobs perfume, which I have been coveting for awhile. Finally had a few extra bucks (thanks to a class I taught) and spent it on liquid confidence. Love. It. It makes me feel good, and that's why perfume is the million dollar industry that it is. It makes me feel good.

That's about it...except that I'm on my way to my standing weekly Quizzo date. After we came in first last week, we're all studying geography and Seinfeld trivia and history to seal our status as the team to beat.

i will rest easy tonight and wake up ready to face my week tomorrow.

slipper mission

Inspired by Jenny's post about Japanese Craft Book slipper patterns (and these great photos), I decided I wanted to make some slippers in the coming weeks for Christmas presents. Despite a slipper-making tutorial I created for Chicago Magazine a few years ago, I don't think I really know what I'm doing. So I started looking for patterns (in English!!) that will help me achieve my goal and I found these hilarious patterns...


















Here's a link to some materials for "slipper grippers," the stuff you put on the bottom to keep your feet from slipping around. Why use plain white when there's this cute stuff?

Wow, I've been totally incommunicado lately- sorry about that. I've been spending my small amount of free time either working on some new graphic design for the patterns and working on some new kits or enjoying the season by hitting the Italian Market, sittin' on the stoop to hand out Halloween candy with friends, or watching spooky movies with Mr. D.

However, Christmas is around the corner, and I'm imagining some great handmade gifts I want to make, so there's craftiness around the corner. Right now I'm plowing through some other work that has to get done.


I went to Fredflare.com to look for this talking Japanese watch I want, but I got distracted by this cute dress, which I might try to make this weekend- it's a very simple cut and an elastic waist...can't get much easier than that. I think the charm lies in the fabric...

Enjoy the crispy fall weather.