Monday, January 29, 2007

are your ears cold?





winter has finally set in here in nyc, and i sent out the last of my crochet hats to treehouse and hannah clark just in time! they are all made in snuggly mixes of wool, alpaca, mohair and other fibers, and of course they are all one of a kind. the ones with the super textured curly locks popping out are all made with my favorite yarn, ozark handspun. so if you still need a winter hat, you'd better head out and scoop one up while you can...

Thursday, January 18, 2007

it's a jungle in here


the sky has been pretty grey in brooklyn this week, and the temperature has finally dropped to somewhere in the vicinity of normal. but inside my apartment, the overly-efficient radiators keep the climate at around 80 degrees, and i don't complain! my sewing table is sort of a jungle and it makes me very happy to work with green leaves and a few blooms around me! here are 2 more of my 'quickies', a yoga mat bag (which i have needed since starting back to yoga in november) and a simple little t-shirt with waistband.




this is a longer project i did this week; i pulled this embroidered hanky (napkin?) out of my treasure chest and built a shirt around it. i want to do more like this for spring as i have collected hundreds of vintage textile bits and bobs. i love using pin-tucks to create shape through the waist without seams.

Friday, January 12, 2007

why resolutions are controversial


during the last few weeks i have started noticing how many people are really against the whole concept of 'new year's resolutions', because they end up feeling crappy when they don't stick to them, so they just don't even try. i've been feeling so excited and inspired for all the changes, projects and general improvements i plan to make in 2007 that it seemed to me like everyone else is way too cynical. well... i got off to a pretty good start last week, but this week i quickly fell off the project-a-day wagon. BUT, i still love this idea so much (and i've received so much good feedback about it) that i'm not going to beat myself up about it and give up... that's be too easy. i just have to accept that if i get a sudden freelance project with a very tight deadline (i sewed 3 samples for a friend's book in 2 days) i may have to put some things on hold! i mean, it's not like i wasn't still making things, right?
so anyway, the tank above was made the end of last week. i will probably dip it in tea because i don't really like wearing white. and it's intended to be worn under things, not really on it's own, so i took a picture of it under this little overdyed vintage bed jacket i'm in love with...

...and this is the other cami i made, over the weekend or monday, can't remember exactly. i've been thinking about camisoles a lot, i think they are going to be my key item for spring, and i like the idea of making them longer so they can be worn under all of the short-but-sweet little vintage things we all have but don't wear now that our jeans are so low because we don't want our bellies hanging out all over the place.

so although i got off track a little this week, i resolve to get back on track next week (i decided this will be a monday-thru-friday thing, and if i miss a day or two i can make up for it on the weekend.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

resolution #1

make something every day! in 30 minutes. start to finish. i haven't totally fine-tuned the rules, but so far, so good!

this was yesterday's project (jan 3rd). ok, so it's just an old thrifted philly fire dept T to wear to the gym, but i perfected this knitted waistband technique i've been meaning to try. all you do is cut little slits in the shirt and then knit them together and it looks so cool! plus it gathers the waist in nicely...


i got a new dress form! well, she's on semi-permanent loan from a friend. she needs a little reconstructive surgery (she did time at FIT in a past life) but i like her. so this was today's project... a wool jersey top made from pieces that were just laying around; no cutting!

the best thing about this project-a-day plan is that it just might get me posting every day, or at least every other. we'll see.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

happy new year!

yay! it's finally january. i have been waiting for months to get here! the sales are over and i can focus on all of the projects i have been putting off forever, because since august i've only been allowed to make thing to sell. i am feeling extremely inspired and excited about moving forward and putting all of my resolutions in action. but i will post more about those later...

these are some pics from the 2nd sale i did, the one organized by sodafine. i wish i took more photos of the space itself (a gorgeous old bank, one block from the east river) and some of the other amazing stuff being sold, but i never did. i did really well with the wool wraps i made, (that's a purple one on the mannequin above). and i finally made a couple of fleece dog pouches like the one i carry gertie around in all the time, and actually sold one.


kelie from
cinders and i did a swap: this hood for one of her lovely paintings that i had been dreaming about since her opening. it's not this one, but this is another one i like from the gallery's website.

my other best seller besides the wraps were dog sweaters; who could resist with gertie doing such a good job modelling on the table? there was nearly a scuffle over this dotted sweater; two people wanted it but fortunately it only fit one of the dogs!