Monthly Archive for July, 2009

Creative Stimulation – and a bit about the heat

Published on July 30, 2009 in Creative Stimulation. 0 Comments Tags: , .

It’s been 40Degree (107F) here in Portland this week and being outside is NOT an option. We are happy we decided to have the AC unit built in before we bought the house so we are able to keep somewhat comfortable. BUT it’s still far too hot to sleep upstairs where the cool air hardly gets up. So we have set up our sleeping quarters in the basement. Leona loves that we are all sleeping in one room again, jumps up and down our bed with her shrill shrieks and very excited that something new is going on. And we are actually getting to get some use out of our Media room. I have been picking Leona up from daycare before nap time because it’s just too hot for the little one. She even started to develop a bit of a heat rash. 

I took some time to sift through my magazines to make sure i keep some of the most inspiring articles.

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Love the typo on the left! I found these lovely articles in cookie magazine. The dresses on the right are about $150!!! I know i would have been guilty for buying one or the other during my working mom life. And i have -been shopping at Fred Segal for Leona. Now i’d rather make them myself…but isn’t that much more fun anyways? 

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I have been in love with calk board paint for a while now. We haven’t applied it yet to any of our walls but will do it eventually. This is just a really lovely example. 

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And once we have really a lot, lot, lot, lot of money, a huge house with spacious, light and airy living room, i’d go with above seating arrangement by rochebobois. Maybe I have been living a bit too long in Hawthorne area, as this is definitely getting a bit hippy – but stains won’t show as much as on our beige woven couch. And it’s more fun for kids. However, if we’d still be living in Germany i doubt i’d even look at anything like this. Well – you never know.

Stay cool everybody!

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Creative Stimulation – fabric printing

Published on July 27, 2009 in Creative Stimulation. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

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Since having started to sew again, i have had a renewed interest in fabric prints and printing techniques. Of course i used to work with printed fabrics a lot at Columbia Sportswear for Outerwear prints and nike and adidas on athletic prints. I always considered myself more of a ‘basic with a twist’ gal, keeping my wardrobe mostly solid and shying away from all-over prints. The prints seemed to ‘eat me up’ so that nothing was left of me – so overpowering they felt to me. Things started to change when i worked on Columbia’s global Snowboard line. Unfortunately it wasn’t possible to use ‘edgy’ prints as the collection had to be very sellable and commercial. And Columbia isn’t Volcom after all. Things started to ratch up a notch once i had Leona. Little snotty nose or dirty fingers and hands wiped on my solid garments always showed in stark contrast. This is when i started to look more closely into prints. Now that i got into sewing again and picking up lots of quilt cottons, i got really interested into the fabric printing matter. If you have looked at my project log, one of my goals this year is to design and print my own fabrics/designs. Leona has so many things she loves that i would like to capture for her. I’d like to explore printing by hand myself but also digital printing through Spoonflower. A really inspiring book for this is Lena Corwin’s ‘Printing by Hand‘. Her blog is here – i have been following it for a while now and love her selection and style sensitivity. I also found some cool pics on flickr by Ashima71 who explores hand printing here and here. 

Above one of my latest finds, Patterns in Fashion by Macarena San Martin which is not available through amazon (hear, hear) but you can get in here through Powell’s books in Portland. This book provides a CD with 50 photoshop jpeg files to work with. Some of them are obviously copyrighted but still something to play around with and still very inspirational.

I also found another book that provides more of the technical side for digital printing. More to come on this one later this week.

Tackling the backyard beast

Published on July 23, 2009 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

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Ohoooo, my arms and back are hurting. I am a bit exhausted but in a good way. I have finally started to tackle the ‘backyard beast’. Let’s talk more about the beast then the backyard – you couldn’t really call the small grass/weed strip around our house a backyard. None the less, it was planted with lawn (sawd?) about 2 years ago. Which wasn’t the best idea considering our house being built green. Needs constant irrigation in summer, doesn’t like shady spots, and doesn’t soak up the water well enough in the Pacific NW winters. The weed took over big time and after battling it out for a while, we decided we needed a different solution. 

Karen Schwartz from Schwartz Garden Designs created a planting plan for me which i am now willingly executing. As i don’t have any idea about native plants, their growth, pros and cons, i felt i needed some guidance and found it in Karen, a former colleague of mine, who after quitting her job as a materials analyst is working on becoming a full time landscaper. We devised a plan to create a ‘zeroscape’ garden, which after the first year of being planted will only need watering ONCE a year. And still look beautifully colorful and vibrant, giving our house the needed ambiance. 

For today, the basis is laid: I cut down the remainder of the lawn around the house, dug out any deep rooting weed and covered everything with black plastic to create intense heat during the hot summer months, thus sustainably killing off all growth underneath. Once done, we’ll decide more. To create an elevated planting bed, i dug out all lawn roots and weed and started digging the border which will prevent growth coming from the neighbouring property. Once that’s done i will install a cedar edge fixed with stakes. 

As all i can show right now is black plastic covered areas and raw soil, i am staying with a photo of Karen’s design for me. And will update on the progress over the next couple of weeks.

Goodies from Japan – Part 3 and 4

Published on July 22, 2009 in Handmade and Sewing Japanese. 0 Comments

I admit it. I am obsessed with japanese sewing patterns. It’s actually all i want to do right now. I ordered another book – Stylish Dress Book – with only women’s pattern. And they are beautiful! It’s hard to decide which one not to do, but i will tackle them one after the other.

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My version of the dress one on top left is already finished! I had a beautiful ikat in my stash and it was only 10 cm less then the pattern description requested. So i gave this a go with some minor cutting layout changes – i had to rotate the ruffle 90 degree or else i wouldn’t have had enough fabric. I added some simple side seam pockets to the dress – i am a busy mom and i always need to have a tissue, debit card or key handy. I’ll have to think of a solution to fix the pockets as the elastic in the back pulls the side seams back beyond where the natural side is. Therefore the pocket bags are pulled to the back too. I think i’ll either topstitch them through and through to the top layer, or are going to rip them out completely. We’ll see. I like the style but while wearing, i like to add a thin belt either on the natural waist or just below the bust. 

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A very inspiring version of the dress – and beautiful photography, mind you – can be found here from Bluebirdbaby.

Two other projects that are finished are the little girl dress version of the adult skirt i blogged about here 

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and the sundress worn by my cheeky offspring.

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As the pattern is a bit too big for her (that’s a theme of mine – everything i make for her is too big! i get the feeling i am making stuff just for the sake of making) i increased the ruffled part on front and back by 3 cm total each. Next time i’ll make this dress (and there will be a next time for sure) i’ll sew the the front and back bias tape first and have the shoulder straps come from the armhole, not the front and neck line. The way it’s done now, the straps tend to glide from her shoulders. She doesn’t seem to bother much but the other way round will hold up better as long as she’s so little.

Wrestling with the Needle

Published on July 22, 2009 in Handmade. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

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Wohoooo! I have managed to wrestle it out with Tunic Top from Oliver+S. I must be doing something wrong but for some reason,  i mess something up somehow. Sewing this particular top, the Lining pieces didn’t match up at the side seams, they were about 1 inch both sides too short. After i tried to butcher a solution together with extentions and bias tape, i gave in – i  ripped the seams back open, re-cut the lining pieces and reassemble the garment after i had already partially sewn it. It was a bit of a needle game but i was able to conquer in the end.
I have  to say i learned a lot today – even if the tiny garment took me almost 2 days to make. But i am getting better and learning every day.  

I used Heather Rosse’s Uniqhorn fabric from Kokka from Japan. I got it here on Hawthorne at Cool Cottons. It’s an adorable cotton double weave, very delicate but perfect for this kind of weather. Unfortunately, it’s a bit too big for L. So no better photo for now. But i have to say, it turned out cute, and i can’t wait for her to fit into it. Might be next year.

Backyard Bliss

Published on July 22, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

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Our little deck off the bathroom has been a deserted zone for far too long. Even though we don’t really have a backyard space to call a garden, we have hardly used our little deck to hang out. This year however, with more time at hand, i felt the urge to really work on making this place our little haven. 

First up, we needed some furniture. Our home is built with green practices and furnished it with items that follow the same ethos. Of course we were looking at wood but couldn’t find anything that had a size to fit the space. Until i went into Dig Garden Store in the Pearl. Below some pictures out of the Fermob Catalogue, a company based in France, who makes real functional and lasting outdoor furniture. The photography and the styling in the catalogut is superb, very inspiring, vivid, vibrant and colorful. The items aren’t cheap, but there is a 3  year warranty and the styles can weather every weather and are meant to be kept outside even in ice and storm. It’s even recommended not to cover them in a protective plastic foil. Quite outstanding we thought. We liked the design and thought about the pink version for an accent – but finally decided against it. We wanted to buy a color that we won’t get sick off – and so we decided to accessorize with plants and flowers to get our accent colors in.

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Here how the space looked before and after, with furniture and plants. More plants to come soon.

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Now we finally use our ‘tree house’. And we love hanging out there and watch little L. is watering the plants. “Mo wata pees!”

February Lady in July

Published on July 15, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

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It is mid of July and i casted on a Merino Wool sweater.

The pattern is so intriguing and an absolute novelty to me that i couldn’t wait. It’s completely knit in one piece, no sewing except for two little under arm slits. When i found out about this, i knew i just had to make one . I was able to snatch up some beautiful bluish grey marl yarn for the project at Twisted on Broadway at 25% discount! I love that!!!

Hmmmm, the yarn is sooo yummie. Imagine yarn so springy and just flows like butter through your fingers. It’s called Dream in Color and has a lovely variegated grey tone that’s so my style! The pattern for the February Lady sweater is an adaption from the February Baby Sweater from Elizabeth Zimmerman’s ‘The knitter’s Almanach’. And available as free download on ravelry. Pamela Wynne, the designer/converter of this pattern could have made a fortune selling the pattern. But she’s a lovely lady and didn’t. But when i read through her instructions, i completely bought into following her recommendation, and  bought the Knitter’s Almanach which i find quite enjoyable to read.

I am still in love with the project, even though i had to unravel parts of it twice. First when i noticed that the raglan increase on the left front had shifted and created an uneven an jagged raglan line. I debated with myself probably for about 10 more rows weather i should unravel and fix the. In the end, i decided to take it apart, i knew i wouldn’t enjoy wearing the garment if i knew of it’s fault. And i had to remind myself that it’s not a race to get to the finished garments, it’s about the journey getting there. And so i am sitting next to my husband in the evenings knitting while we watch a bit of TV and chat about the events of the day. I don’t knit during the day in the summer months. I prefer playing with my sewing machine and spend the time with my husband in the evenings.

Goodies from Japan – Part 2

Published on July 15, 2009 in Handmade. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

 

japanese skirtLast week a posted here how excited i was about the two japanese pattern books i purchased the other day. Today i am happy to say he first two projects are already finished – yeay! Monday was a day totally dedicated to sewing. Initially my friend Katie and i almost got killed by a Volkswagen bus on our way to the Fabric Store (i was consumed in our conversation, he had right of way but was traveling far too fast! Thank god nothing happened, but it showed me how lucky i am and that i just have to be more alert!) Once we got to Cool Cottons everything was forgotten. We bought what we needed and headed home to my place to set up the sewing room. We worked our way for the reminder of the morning and lunch hour – and by the time we headed out to have a bite to eat, we were done! The drawstring skirt on top right was pretty easy with merely 4 square fabric pieces sewn together with gathering of the lower skirt part. A drawstring pulls the skirt together at the top. I enjoyed the simplicity of this piece and was so happy to have found the cotton stripe fabric. And it’s completely my style. From the left over of i should be able to make the smaller version for L. Super cute matching outfits :-)

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The second project from the magazine was this little ruffled mermaid dress with Heather Ross’s fabric. I used plain white cotton bias strip for the straps. I tried to find some bright pink solid cotton but couldnt’ find a matching color. The dress turned out a bit too wide for her on top as she’s only about 80cm tall where as the pattern calls out 90cm height. Well, will take the top part in a bit further tomorrow but was eager to write about it anyways. A perfect little dress for us to go on our Spain vacation later this summer. i believe i have enough fabric to make her a little matching sun hat. More later

My little Artist

Published on July 10, 2009 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments Tags: .

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I wanted to share some of the most beautiful artworks Leona has been doing at daycare the last couple of months. They are all beautiful and i started a folder to keep all of them for the future. But some are so vibrant and energetic that they deserve better. I’ll be starting a little art gallery that will be moving from our fridge door to proper frames into our breakfast nook. I have to admit that i am actually using L’s art above for a logo and CI for a daycare center i am volunteer-working on right now. More about that project at a later date. 

Here a couple more:

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Goodies from Japan

Published on July 10, 2009 in Handmade and Sewing Japanese. 0 Comments Tags: , .

 

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Last week two gorgeous Japanese sewing pattern books arrived! You have no idea how excited i was when i saw the package in my post box. I have been researching japanese pattern books through the internet for a while and got really inspired especially through the Makesomething blog. If you haven’t read it yet – do so, Karyn’s work is absolutely gorgeous and reading her blog is so inspiring! She has the perfect job! 

Above book is Girly Style Wardrobe. A selection of stylish girls patterns. Even though not having english or german instructions seemed a bit intimidating at first. The book is clearly structured and the styles are named by letters so that the patterns on the sheet are easily identifiable for our eyes as well. The japanese are very visual, their instructions are step-by-step illustrations so it should work without too many problems.  But judge for yourself in a couple of weeks. I can’t decide yet which of the patterns to do first, but love the little 3/4 sleeve shirt – will need to get some shirting fabric because all the quilting cottons aren’t really appropriate. 

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I bought some light weight quilting cotton at Cool Cottons from Heather Ross’s Mendocino collection. It’s a fishy mermaid squid design – and want to transform it into a simple little sundress from another japanese pattern magazine that arrived at the same time as Girly Style Wardrobe. It’s a pretty nice concept – Girl and Mom designs in the same pattern book – Mama and Girls Summer Clothes. The designs look quite simple – am looking forward to get going on it.

I bought the two books through Yesasia and ebay. But through Pompadour Craft Cafe it’s much easier, the selection and prices are better! I had a sizing question and emailed her, she responded quickly which made the whole process very pleasurable.

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