My Swag

So, I usually make things in anticipation of a big event, we know this. I make things for my kids and their birthdays, my family members at Christmas, my beloved friends and their offspring. I figured that Blogher should be no exception and now when people ask me what my blog is about I can just show them.

Instead of posting about what I am going to wear (I mean, I already showed you the shoes) I am going to show you what I made. The first thing is a backpack bag.


I know I hate purses; the bumping on the hip, the sliding off the shoulder. I know I love backpacks. But I might look a little weird in heels sporting a Jansport, you know? So I combined a few patterns I have tried to make an awesome Dia de las Muertas infused piece. It is a little slouchy, a lot expandable and came together with moderate hassle.

I love the fact that I remembered to add a flat bottom as I will be fitting my SLR, a pair of Rainbows (because I figure I will wear those heels for about 15 minutes) and a bit of lip gloss and such. There is a giant front pocket to hold the myriad of cards I will collect. I like it. I also need to finish it because I did not remember to sew the cord into the side seams. Easily rectified... I think.


And then, New York, August and humidity. I know these factors will combine in a way that by 3 p.m. I will look similar to Don King. I remember when I lived there and the hair frizz, boob sweat, and 'didn't I just shower?' feeling. So my concession to the hair is a Alabama hair band; comfy, wide enough to hold back some of the exponential hair bomb and pretty.


There is never anything wrong with stitching a little.

And my cards did come. I went with Moo, little chips. Cost and er, the importance, swayed me in this direction. They have a nice feature that allows you to upload from Flickr, choosing photos from your stream.




I like the, but there are a few that were cropped poorly. I swear it was not my error so I might have to speak with Moo about the printing. For the most part I am happy; I have something to palm and I have yet to detect any proofing errors. I struggled a bit to find words to describe me, but who doesn't?


So, do you see anything that I missed? Laura? Please tell me I avoided profanity and spelled my blog correctly.

And last but not least....I am in the process of sharpening my rusty jeweling skills. It has been years since I have picked up the tools but my sister, an amazing jewelry designer, gifted me with a pile of pretty.


I see a Superhero inspired necklace coming about from this....I need something to rotate as I rarely take off the one I do own right now.

Somehow, the making has made me feel much more like Myself. And after spending a good portion of the weekend cleaning up my work documentation and playing at the beach with the boys (By the way, three years olds and kite flying? A big challenge), I now can feel excited about the trip.

Who knows, I might even have a little Secret Mission planned for NYC. So, I'm off....almost.

From the Road :: VII

This space had been a bit devoid of craft as there has been considerable less making than I assumed would happen. Something about travel and transitions and taking care of boys, well, it pushed making aside a lot. But I did put up a few pictures of the simple Thorpe inspired hats that I made for the nephews here. It actually felt pleasant to be knitting with 100% wool due to the cooler weather. The design is top down to ear flaps to icord, really simple but so cute. Both came out generously sized but that just insures if they go into the dryer at some point they might come out fitting.

The real road friendly projects have been my stitching. Before we left home I played around with the technique of washing out some of the stenciled fabric. Er, not so pretty, but a start. I also cut a bunch of Mylar stencils to use if the whim struck me (more like if I found the time). One plan was to alter a well made tshirt that sported a seasonal holly leaf. I used a appliqué relief, just cut out the painted flower and stitched it onto the front. It was fairly intricate but rewarding. I practiced beading a bit and fell in love with the technique.

The tshirt fit a little odd so I slashed off the neck line and armbands and find myself the owner of a new favorite. Very nice.


I sported it a bit at a festival paired with my skirt. A little much but I love the fit of the clothes I am making lately and it is hard to censor.

(I intentionally left this big so you can see the gorgeous-ness that is the creating from my sis and brother in law> So awesome, right? He made all the woodwork, she did all the sewing. If you see something you like, email me or comment, everything you see is for sale.)


And yes, I hit the hula hoops again. This time I had this pair in tow...




and I even hula’d with my niece riding my shoulders. That was an experience, she was loving it the whole time but hula hooping is work.

The last is my favorite. I wanted to make something special for Em for her birthday and this was a little late but came together in time for her to wear to her craft festival.


It is a stenciled and quilted headband, I used a scrap of stencil and a sharpie and then stitched inside. My favorite part was the rose beading on the edges…a new love.

I seem to just keep finding them in this medium.

All this stitching prompted me to join a new group, the Slow Summer Stitching group on Flickr here. Jennie, my sister in all this stitching, directed me and now I feel as if it is open season. The quilt that inspired me is calling my name and I love that it is just a square at a time. So, just after I finish this new project, another up-cycle tshirt (they are all I wear, you know)...

Then, I will start some quilt pieces. Or a piece for my other sister. Or, or, or...just too many possibilities.

If this does not convert you into a hand stitching, jersey wearing fanatic, than reading Natalie’s latest book definitely will. Now go to it and stitch, I sure am.

May Day :: Stitch Stitch

I risk sounding like a broken record, but I would risk anything to continue to talk about Alabama Chanin. There is something about it that is just so good.

I 'almost' finished my skirt this weekend. I had hoped to have it together for the party last weekend but it was not meant to be. Instead I wore my first piece, the Bloomers swing skirt. I remember last year at this time I was immersed in the stitching and that is when this love affair began.


It is a little difficult to describe it, but my friend Jennie and I liken it to crack. Good crack. The projects initially seem daunting...there is the stencil making and the painting and the cutting and the stitching. But it is something you can fall into and as with anything beautiful, the deeper the practice, the more the reward.


I wore my skirt today 'almost' finished because it is a thing of beauty. I love this piece as much as any of the others and with the making, I feel as if I have learned new lessons. Patience to let each stitch come when I have a few minutes, strength as my fingers become increasingly skilled, process as I try new methods of stencil cutting and painting...and the fact that a thimble is a very good thing when working with felled seams.


Meeting Natalie a few weeks ago and having the opportunity to thumb through sample books and witness the seemingly perfect stitching created by the hands of craftswomen, it shifted something in me. I realized just how generous this woman is to share her method of making with us. She created something from the impetus to change fashion, consciously left behind an industry that called her work excellent and returned home to support her community and her artistic self and then turned around and opened the doors to the knowledge, opened then wide, and invited us in to try it.


I felt terribly shy when I went into the trunk show, wearing my Bloomers skirt. All of a sudden doubt about my ability to make this stuff descended and I almost turned around and left. I get a little weird around people I really really admire. I did go in and almost immediately Natalie commented on the skirt, acknowledging that I had made it from the ground up. I stopped feeling shy and just decided to feel amazed. Standing in a room full of racks of couture Alabama Chanin pieces will do that to you. Right then I decided a few things ::

} I renewed my vow to live in jersey as often as possible.
} I want to always have a piece of stitching in progress to turn to when I need to make.
} We are going to the Doo Nanny next year in Alabama to share in a community of like minded artists. And apparently, the land it is held on has snakes and swamps and lots of good things the boys will like (this according to Natalie).
} I am making a version of this quilt that was hanging up at the trunk show.


} Someday I will make it to a workshop so that I can sit with others stitchers for a weekend and practice this most satisfying work with women (and men?) just like me.

And I want to share with you too. I know a lot of you reading are makers and I want to encourage you to try your hand at this making. It is powerfully beautiful stuff and once you get started, you may never stop. Thank Natalie for that...

And for the super great news that a third book is coming out next March. Just in time for me to bring it to Alabama for her to sign. Now, go here to get her books or go here to see some awesome gifts for Mama Day. I am getting the Mom shirt for sure...it says it all.

April :: Finding a Flow

Before Tim and I had kids we were wanderers. From job to job, place to place, state to state. Between us over the last 15 years we have been dozens of places. I am never so happy as when I wake somewhere else, usually with dirty hair but always clean hands.

But somehow in all those wanderings, we never found the Big Sur coast. It was always skipped in favor of a faster route that would take us further. This weekend certainly changed all that. And now we know what the writers and artists are all enamoured of....what the magic of that place feels like.


It was one of those rare Flow experiences, where very little was planned but everything fell into its right place without effort. The moments of the day felt meant to be from my lovely meet up with Natalie Chanin in Berkeley to the wild storm we brought home on Sunday.

I will have to write more about the Chanin trunk show later, for now sufficed to say Natalie is one of the most gracious and lovely souls I have ever met and we chatted about small children, stitching, coast roads and 100 foot vaginas.

Her slow Southern soft drawl just about slayed me. I spent an hour or so literally fondling the heaps of samples books, marveling at the precision and beauty on display. It was hard to leave but I am now resolved to spending a week in Alabama at one of her longer classes...damn the cost.

Then we headed out from Berkeley in the lovely afternoon sun, beating most of the weekend traffic and ended up in Monterey, smack dab in the middle of the city at a public campsite surrounded by trees, providing of hot showers and a raccoon visit or two. We made it to a fantastic beach with 30 minutes to spare before the sun dipped down to meet the ocean. Back in our former life we were sunset chasers, always searching for that special light that happens as we go into the gloaming of the night. Friday it just presented itself and we happily stayed on the beach shooting in the cold air until the light failed.



Saturday we headed into Carmel with the intent of shooting the mission Carmel before heading south to Big Sur but we found ourselves with over an hour until the Mission doors opened. Signs on the small streets led us to estate/garage sales where we kept running into treasure after treasure :: phones and steins and free pristine cigar boxes and creepy Jack in the Boxes. After collecting as much as we could with the meager cash at hand, we headed into the Mission.

There is a set up here in Flickr if that sort of stuff interests you.


I could walk around a Mission all day and find cracks and crevices to shoot. It was quiet and we were able to play with the rented lens to heart's content...half the shots are Tim's but I never take the time to give the credit. If it is really good, it is his. See?



The rest of the day was spent on the coast...finding spots to stop and rest from the relentlessly winding road, finding moments to catch and hold. We rarely went far from the car as many hikes are closed due to fire damage, but we found enough. I have never declared myself an ocean person but how I love this ocean, this coast. I could feel a rich wild contentment seep into my bones as we walked on the coast, watched the grey and brilliant blue green meld and reform, listened to water rush.








And in all these moments of Flow I had time to look to this man, the partner that once wandered and then settled in with me, and that was a good good thing.

It has been a rough few months in the background and this was a balm and a gift. Far from romantic...no honeymoon suite just sleeping in the back of the Subaru in a campground with hot showers. But that is how we do it...always have and probably always will. God, what a great man.


Now, of course, we are back home...home made all the sweeter and lovely and special for the having been away. It was oddly comforting to know we can still find that Flow, that place where we two fill it completely enough, that the children we have made have not created a void between, rather enriched the fabric of our lives. And upon return, finding a pair of boys excited that we had come back, chattering non stop about their weekend adventures and wondering heavily about ours.

Next month we are leaving for a month on the road....a different experience, I know. The pair of soon to be three year olds will guarantee a different trip...but I cannot wait. And I am hoping the Flow finds us somewhere along the road for that trip. Please god.

Full Big Sur set here.

And yes, we are ridiculous. And no, we were not drunk. Just giddy on kid-less-ness.

April :: Points North

Tomorrow morning Tim and I are heading North for a few days. First to Berkeley to see Natalie Chanin and finally be able to touch and feel her work in person.




Then down down down the coast, Big Sur style. It might be a bit gloomy, cloudy, cool and rainy but I do not care. We need a little bit of a break from the norm right about now.

We are heading out with a rental lens. Canon 24-70 2.8. Last time we rented a lens we ended up buying it. Dangerous practice, this lens renting. I played with it a bit today to get the feel. Know what it feels like? Heavy. Whew. That thing packs on the pounds. But, oh, how I love the results.




(Mildly disturbing window installation in Pasadena)

(Don't ask me why they are sitting on the sidewalk. Sigh.)

And before we head out, I did manage to finish a task I set for myself. All birthday invites inked up and ready to be sent out. More on that next week.


See you Monday. Happy trails to you.

Silhouette Stitch Shirt :: A Tutorial

I do not know what it is about the boys growing up. It is making me a sentimental mess. First I start by knitting them school vests though school is months away and we are talking two days a week, not college. And now I am making up projects that secure them to my chest, a place they never really took to until recently (ah, the explosion of toddler curiosity and my non-functioning breasts).


One thing I have wanted to do since having children was make shadow silhouettes. Really, it seems like one of the real perks of parenting, to freeze on paper the sweet cheeks and perfectly rounded heads and place them in a classic frame. The execution of the shadow silhouette eluded me until recently. After a failed attempt with paper on wall and a flashlight, it dawned on me that a photo would work just as well. Here is a project that developed from my desire to freeze my boys in time. Hope you enjoy it.

Shadow Silhouette Stitch Shirt

This project takes a few steps but I am beyond pleased with the result. Unabashedly sentimental, but sweet in its own way. It borrows heavily from my favorite book, Alabama Stitch Book.

You will need to gather a few things ::
- T Shirt
- Scrap T shirt (I used one of the boys tiny shirts)
- Tracing paper
- Freezer Paper
- Fabric Paint
- Thread and Needle

Step ONE :: Create silhouette

I took a profile picture of each of the boys then printed it as a 10x10 photo.

Then I traced their outline and TaDa! Instant silhouette. I used the copier at the library to shrink it to tshirt size but I hear tell there is a new fangled machine called a scanner out there. And something called Photoshop you might want to mess around with.


Step TWO :: Create Freezer paper template

Now, lay your freezer paper over your outline and trace the image again then cut out the outline carefully preserving curves and hair wisps etc. I use a cutting mat and straight razor to make sure the details stay clean and sharp.


Step THREE :: Prep and Paint Shirt

Lay your freezer paper on you T shirt, centered and straight and iron lightly until paper adheres to shirt.

Apply paint to shirt, making sure to place an extra piece of paper inside the shirt to avoid bleed through of the paint. Let dry.


Step FOUR :: Stitch

Cut a piece of scrap t shirt to layer behind your shadow image.

I used black on red, another nod to sentimentality as it is from one of their small worn shirts. Make sure your scrap is a bit bigger than the silhouette image.

Pin scrap in place behind the painted image.

Use needle and thread to straight stitch around image. Make sure to catch both layers of tshirt in the running stitch. Also make sure to add eyelashes because baby eyelashes are essential in shadow silhouettes.


Step FIVE :: Cut and Finish Shirt

Carefully cut through top layer of t shirt and cut away silhouette, leaving a thin bit of painted fabric. Be careful not to cut through backing layer, I make a cut in the center then carefully cut from there.


Turn shirt inside out and cut away excess backing fabric.

And there you have your own way to wear your heart on your sleeve, I mean chest.



I have plans to use the silhouettes for some other projects. I recommend you keep an original template just to have forever.

(You may have noticed I had to draw in Mr mace's lips. We cannot dislodge the dot from his mouth for the last few weeks. Well, we can, obviously as we are the ones in charge (guffaw) but the most terrible of whining ensues and I am just not up for it lately. So, I fudged the lips, and you can too. You have my permission. Pick your battles, that is what I say).