So I get a call the other evening from a vintage shop owner who knows me well and she says: I got this really odd coat in and I think it has your name on it. I take such calls seriously. Went in the next day and scored the above-pictured divine asymmetrical muslin garment by Ivan Grundahl. For $20. Perfect fit.
At home I did some research and found out that Grundahl is a major veteran designer from Denmark, whose work is coveted by avant garde fashionistas the world over.
Here are a bunch of photos I found online… his collections are consistent over several years… neutral colors, lots of black, romantic, gothy, asymmetrical, lots of tulle, often shown with clunky gun-boots. Swoon.
Here is the lovely back of my Grundahl coat. I’m going to guess that it is a few years old, came from a ready-to-wear collection, and likely sold for about $400+ new. SCORE!
Did I say something about no longer doing custom work? LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE. Pictured in this post, a custom mixed media necklace commissioned by a group of lovely midwestern ladies for a mutual friend who is beautiful forever. Happy Birthday, Amy.
Vintage silk sari fiber from India, wire, glass beads, vintage rhinestone chain and buttons. Hand forged clasp.
And a gorgeous vintage chandelier crystal focal. More of these pretty necklaces might just be available at So Charmed soon and large lucious photos are available for viewing on flickr.
Foyer between designfarm office and so charmed studio: The Molly Shrine, featuring painting by Carrie Mitchell (center) and self portrait collage with braids by Molly (age 7ish).
Entrance to basement at bottom of stairs: One of several household baseball shrines.
Dining room: Flowers from the BF. Weekly. No, I’m not kidding.
Bathroom upstairs: Favorite bling photo for Jody Pearl’s weekly JaM blog post.
Bathroom upstairs: Favorite bling photo #2 for Jody Pearl’s weekly JaM blog post.
Bathroom upstairs: Favorite bling photo #3 for Jody Pearl’s weekly JaM blog post.
Bathroom upstairs: Yes, it’s the back of the toilet. Yes, that’s a book entitled “Zen Judaism.” Yes, that’s a kleenex box cover handcrafted by Bethy in the shape of a piece of coconut cake.
Bedroom: The cavalry is coming, ie, Jodi’s boots. Details added 4.14: From front to back: Molly’s old riding boots, Fly London, my oldest boots, pole climbers by NaNa… have been all over the world with me, blue vintage riding boots, burgundy vintage riding boots.
Bedroom: The cavalry is coming Part 2, ie, MORE of Jodi’s boots. Details added 4/14: from back to front, thrifted Frye engineers, Fluevogs from SF with coolest blue lining, thrifted Harley harness boots… fit like a DREAM and were nearly new when found, newest boots: Frye tan lace ups.
Those of you who follow my ramblings on Facebook and my pins on Pinterest, know that I’ve taken a sewing detour of late and have been making the prettiest little dresses using Jody Pearl’s Piece of Cake frock and tunic pattern. Pictured above is my favorite cake to-date worn by me, and featuring a crushed velvet top and yardsale damask (art deco) skirt. Not to mention vintage French faux-fur trim… it is quite the confection! You can see the rest of the cakes in progress and finished/worn over on flickr.
Meanwhile, I spend an inordinate amount of time scouring the world (real life AND virtual) for textiles; a recent post highlighted an obsession with Japanese prints and I’ve been haunting my local thrifts for curtains and bedspreads! This post will highlight fabrics found on Spoonflower; an incredible web site that allows anyone to design and upload/sell their own textiles. And there is truly GORGEOUS stuff to be had.
One of the coolest things about the cake dresses is pairing the fabrics so I’m going to upload these images in order of possible pairings. I love odd color combos and on Spoonflower I seem to fall in love with some very macabre, outre textiles!
First pairing of flies and skulls. Second is a pair by the same artist and I actually like the similarity of color with the difference in imagery… busses and telephone wires.
Above, an odd rococo pairing with squids ‘n roses (like guns ‘n roses only better)! Apologies for not linking all the swatches, they are easy to find by searching Spoonflower and ARE linked over on my Pinterest Craft Board.
Cities (Tokyo) and wolves… I LOVE this pair.
Bones! Scary Forests! The mind reels with possibility. Spoonflower, btw, is print on demand. They offer eight fabric choices and you can obtain a swatchbook for just a dollar, which I’ve done. The fabrics are pricey (but I think it’s worth it to support the designers), starting at $16.20 per yard for quilting weight Kona cotton and going up to $34.20 per yard for silk crepe de chine, which I will NOT be ordering. For the cake dresses I recommend either the Kona, or (and especially) the linen-cotton blend which will be similar to the Japanese fabrics I’ve used and work really well to hold pleats, giving the frock nice fit/form.
Hey local peeps! In what can only be described as a truly rare event in my life, I’ll be making a public appearance at the lovely boutique Art & Soul, in downtown Washington, DC, for their April Girls Night Out event, this Thursday 4/5, 6-9 pm.
My jewelry will be for sale at the shop, including three sets of bangle stacks. Pictured above, Cake Bangle Stack, which features vintage rhinestones and millinery in a sugary confection.
Should you prefer your jewelry spicy rather than sweet, don’t miss out on Bombay Bangle Stack, pictured above and below.
Owner, Marjorie, also acquired the Everywhere You Go Bangle Stack, formerly listed over on my site, an elegant grouping to accompany you on adventures.
All of these boho gypsy-esque bangle stacks feature vintage sari silk ribbon from my collection along with an assemblage of curated beads, charms and other goodies. Hope to see some of you at Art & Soul!
A few weeks ago I posted about a terrific pattern I’d discovered; a dress called the Piece of Cake (by Jody Pearl of Sew Outside the Lines). Pictured above is my dress in progress!
The hardest part of this (I think) is the slight altering to the pattern that I worked through this week. I went between sizes for the top, and opened the front neck and arm holes a little. Super easy, really.
You may remember my excitement over Japanese fabrics I’d located on etsy, and yes, I did end up ordering some. However, for this first dress, I don’t want to start cutting into $18 per yard (GASP) linen, hence the above pictured mid-century table cloth I dug out of my dining room sideboard. It’s really lovely! And I was able to avoid the holes! The top fabric looks mid-century, but I’m not sure; it may be reproduction. It was a pair of pajama bottoms — already cut up a bit — scored at a yard sale.
I’m going out to buy seam binding tape (any ideas for color??) and if you missed by facebook post on how to sew seam binding, here is a terrific and very funny video on the subject:
This is truly just so exciting and fun. I am enjoying it immensely and finding that I mostly do have the patience to do things slowly and with care. Sewing commences this weekend… wish me luck!
Lots of artists struggle over the concept of creative voice… you know, that indefinable thing that makes your work your own. I seem to have a handful of voices, which makes me either versatile… or schizophrenic. And, either way, it’s ok with me; in fact I embrace the idea of taking various directions with jewelry.
This week I attended an important client event where I wanted to bring along little thank-you gifts for my three contacts… smart, gorgeous women whom I adore working with. Since the event was a dressy downtown DC affair, I thought I’d go the pretty route instead of the quirky route.
Each pair was designed specifically for the recipient. There are crystal embellished freshwater pearls, heavily faceted cut glass Czech beads in amazing colors and even some 18kt gold vermeil findings. GLAMOUROSITY!
If you love corsets but find them awfully expensive, here’s a great simple corset you can make yourself. With NO sewing! I saw it in a shop window here in Takoma Park and immediately thought: I can do that!
The most challenging part of this project is locating the vintage army surplus spats you’ll need. The ones I used are from WWI and were scored on Etsy for about $20. I’ve seen them on ebay as well, sometimes as much as $40-$45… still not prohibitive and lots less than a corset which will run you hundreds (not that I would know :).
Step 1: Acquire a single pair of spats. Step 2: Lace them up. You have just made a gorgeous steampunky corset.
A note about fit… the spats tend to be small through the curvy waist part. My teenage daughter can fit into this with the front nearly laced closed, and she’s a skinny minnie, size 0-2. On me (30 waist, size 6), the front is pretty open. I was dubious about the cloth fabric laces in the front… but it turns out that it really works if you’re going to wear it more open, as it forms sort of a “panel” in the front (as shown in middle photo). And I do like the girly color with the manly spats. So, I think 30-31 waist might be the maximum for a single pair of spats/corset. HOWEVER, there’s nothing that says you can’t add another pair, lacing up the sides… right?
Oh, and that furry neck thing in the top photo is a collar I knitted. Another no-brainer of a project for the craft inspired-yet-impatient/challenged!
Some supplies get used as quick as can be. I’d been visiting and longing for those vinyl record beads from Africa forever so once I got my hands on them, I had to use them immediately. The pink btw, is bright neon.
The vintage black buttons look like vinyl records to me, they are art deco and were purchased long ago. I have a tupperware container of buttons for each of about 8 colors. A sorting exercise when I was buying the buttons in bulk from ebay. It really does make them easier to use and was fun seeing each and every button in the large lots.
No idea where that little glass smiley bead came from, have also had that in the stash forever. So I wore these out last night to decide whether I could part with them. For now, I simply have to keep these. They really express how I feel about the world, in a way that I just can not describe.
To see these photos full size, visit my flickr page.
My work for designfarm takes precedence during the weekdays and this has been a slammed week, with no time for jewelry other than the site launch.
Finally, with things winding down on Friday afternoon I took a break to run errands and found myself at my local bead shop — S&A Beads — in Old Town Takoma Park. Manager Zoe had restocked the tiny shop with so much amazing ethnic tribal and glamorous gemstone stuff, I was dazed. Pictured at the top, vinyl beads in brilliant neon colors and above, gorgeous leather tassels, all from Africa. SWOON. If you’re in the tri-state area, swing through and visit S&A. Sunday is great, the Farmer’s Market will be set up out front (year round) and soon will be brimming with fruits, veg, flowers, baked goods etc.
Here’s an cool jet black beaded sequined tassel I picked up at Value Village when Molly and I stopped by after her orthodontist appt this week.
On the same VV run, picked up these hideious earrings which I can’t wait to disassemble and reconfigure.
But the main reason for the trip to VV was hunt for Bollywood bangles, and my No.1 thriftstore did NOT disappoint.
It makes me happy having this stuff strewn about my desk while I work on my graphics deadlines. That way the supplies can continue their job of talking to me about context. My favorite time for making jewelry is Saturday morning. I almost always get up early, caffeinate, then gather up the supplies and head for the studio. What’s your most creative time?
