recommended items for February 28.

These items are Highly Recommended today:

Wear a quaint patch from Reprodepot

See the hand-stamped Brazilian fabric show currently at Columbia College in Chicago.

Buy a Fiat Jolly with wicker seats.

Have a mysterious nautical keychain for your keys to hang on.

Vintage blue labels assist you with knowing what is in all of those boxes on the shelf. Doesn't that sound nice?

Mark Bitten's blog will help you decide what to make for dinner and will make you feel very worldly.

Tiffin lunchboxes are more fun than a paper bag. It's even better when the boxes are actually filled with food from Tiffin.

I believe that a tray might help you to restore order in many places around your home.

Paper Source envelopes in Curry and matching flat cards in Gravel is the perfect color combo for February 28.

Good Morning towels will set you in the right frame of mind when you see them in the morning. Bonus: you will also learn Chinese.

Rusk Design Series Wired Multiple Personality Styling Creme: Because the more words in the title, the better it is for your hair...trust me.

fabric report: sleepy owls

I bought this fabric recently- the bright colors caught my eye, but only after looking closely did I notice the owls contained in the design! I thought it was pretty clever and cute.

This fabric is by Tula Pink for Moda Fabrics. She has a very interesting blog where you can see sketches for her designs and learn more about how the fabrics go from idea to production. I find it really interesting to see the development of a fabric design, and I have a feeling you will as well.

*owl drawing courtesy Tula Pink

fabric report: animals on fire

This might be the most disturbing fabric I've ever seen. I know I've said that before, but I'm serious this time.

Japanese folktales are scary.

You can get some of this fabric for yourself from Reprodepot. You know, for a dress or something.

long weekend away....

I'm headed out of town (if the weather cooperates) for a nice long trip- first to Denver and then to Chicago. I can't wait to see my new baby nephew and give him the homemade bibs I made him from the fun book I bought recently, "Last Minute Fabric Gifts." I promise to take photos.

Here's my current inspiration- a fun site called Basic Boutique. They feature a lot of designers I love, like Lewis Cho and Jodi Arnold. I particularly love Loefller Randall, and here's a great babydoll dress. I love that fabric and the way it holds the shape of the dress. Doesn't that model remind you of a John Currin painting?

vinyl coated fabric

How cool is this sailboat blueprint fabric? Bonus: it's vinyl coated, making it perfect for a bag.

In fact, it's perfect for the Betsy Ross #007 Cinnamon's Purse pattern. I like to make it a little skinnier than the pattern shows and use it as a simple laptop tote.

ebay... the gateway to my inner child

Ebay continues to be the place to pick up random stuff that is sentimental. Where else can you find such a random assortment of stuff?



I just bought a full sheet of Indiana statehood stamps. In my defense, I used to have a few of these in my stamp collection, but they were cancelled and I love the repetition of a full sheet. I will frame them and hang them somewhere special, both to remind me of my geeky childhood hobby and also my homestate.



This tupperware set takes me back to the 1st grade, when I would carry it to school with all the little special containers inside. Oh yeah, can't forget about the Strawberry Shortcake thermos.

This knife-pleat wool skirt reminds me of what my mom wore a lot in the 80s. Looks comfy. Shelley Duval wore a similar skirt at the beginning of "The Shining," only in a different color- I watched it last night have I have her wardrobe (which was kinda nuts) on the brain.

I have been interested in picking up a carrom board for awhile. It's a fun game and good for a rainy afternoon- I hate cards and this is a good substitute. It's kind of like a cross between pool and marbles.




Fireball Island is ebay gold, because it's the greatest board game ever made. No really, my brothers and I nearly cried with happiness when we got it. I am not, however, going to spend $75, which is the going rate now. It's a high price, but logical because it's the greatest board game ever made.


This cast iron string dispenser reminds me of my Grandma's house. She always had one hanging in her kitchen.


I have been thinking a lot about quilting lately, and have been trying to decide what pattern to tackle for my first project. Maye a crazy quilt? My mom was a quilter, they were always around, and I think the endless combinations of color and pattern make them interesting. One summer my parents packed us into the station wagon along with a big pile of old quilts. We drove to California, where they sold the quilts to antique dealers. Why? I don't know. But for some reason, it didn't really seem strange at the time.






And finally, I want this set of white Fire King coffee cups for the simple shape, pretty color, and because they remind me of my Great Grandma. I will not buy them, however, as I really don't need more coffee cups.

[Sidenote: This ebay seller is the luckiest- check out that view!!]

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. Buy something sentimental for your sweetheart.

Beautiful textures by Rodarte, Philosophy, and Vivienne Tam. (thanks to Coutorture)

Victorya Hong Runway Show

So I'm finally getting around to posting a few photos from the Victorya Hong runway show I attended last Friday with MB. It was really fun to be able to go- big thank you to the Coutorture people for giving me some press clearance to get in there!

MB and I made it to the Altman building with about 5 minutes to spare, ran inside and snagged a spot at the end of the runway next to the bigtime photographers, who no doubt scoffed at my little digi point and shoot.

Have you been following this season on Project Runway? Victorya was voted off recently, and I was interested to see what she could do with a little more time and money. Result? Some cute things, including some funky metallic zippers running down the back of dresses and some fun, swingy coats.

But there were a lot of not so good things as well, and overall I wasn't really impressed. MB and I agreed that a lot of the pieces looked like what you get at Kohls, only with better material and worn by extremely skinny women. The jackets looked oversized and messy, and the pleated pants were just not attractive. When I see a runway show, I want to see something fantastic, and that doesn't necessarily translate to what is really wearable by normal people. The point is to showcase your design sensibility and then trickle it down for off the rack buyers. I think that she needed to come out of the gate crashing with some amazing designs and I didn't really see that. I just saw some cute things that I think I've seen before.

A note about the models: seriously scary. I have to say that seeing models on tv or in a magazine is one thing, but seeing them walk down a runway is jarring. It was like a series of skeletons with great hair, jangling down the runway in clothes that revealed their pointy little hips and ribs. Something needs to change with this- I don't know how that's going to happen, but it's sick. And having a woman on this season's "America's Next Top Model" that is a size 8 and being billed as a "plus size model" is shameful. Designers know that their clothing looks great on skinny, tall models, but there has to be a line.

After the show, MB and I walked over to the Maritime Hotel to have a drink and were treated to a sighting of Christian and Jack. Unfortunately, we had to call it a night since I had to get back to Philly for work the next morning. That part of the trip is another story for another time.

I am posting more photos on my flickr site for those of you who are interested in seeing what else was in the show! Check it out!

Weekend news flash, Superbowl Edition:

Well... actually, this has nothing to do with the Superbowl. I am participating in a "live chat" on PatternReview.com tomorrow evening to talk about my pattern line. You can find out more about how to participate here. All you need to take part is to quickly register on the site, and membership is free.

I'm excited that I'm now selling my patterns on PatternReview.com, which gives me some exposure to a new audience. I think the site is so great- it's one of those that you can easily get sucked into for longer than you had planned since it's not only about pattern reviews, but for sewing machines, books, and stores.

So last night I went to the Victorya Hong runway show in NY. You'll remember Ms. Hong for her upsetting jeanjackettrenchcoatthing that got her ousted from Project Runway last episode. I took lots of photos and had a swell time, but I need a little more time to get the photos uploaded. I promise a full report soon. I will tell you that this trip involved two rides in two different tow trucks, a glass of delicious prosecco, getting elbowed in the gut repeatedly, running along the shoulder of the New Jersey Turnpike, and giggling at the bar at the Maritime Hotel. It was a full evening. More later, pickles.