BIG NEWS!

so i knew this day was coming 

but i cannot believe it is actually here! 

i am thrilled to share with you all that i have landed my dream job. 

check out the company here.

the whole reality is still sinking in.

i have a lot to say...

but most importantly thank you all for your support!

come have lunch with me

don't you just want to have lunch here? i do. i have been SO sick for the past 3 days but am getting well. also i have big news tomorrow...so check back in.

its cold and snowy today, dress appropriately!

crochet for spring

saying that i love anything that is embellished sometimes makes it sound like i love gaudy beaded tops from the 80's. not at all. sometimes embellishment just a beautifully simple detail. love this top from anthropologie. 

get it here.

for my roommate...

my roommate has filled our apartment with flowers. and it is lovely. yesterday and today she has been under the weather. so when i saw this picture which reminded me of her i wanted to post it as a little get well shout out. 

garment district

i have to share this beautiful video by the new york times about garment district workers. i am always trying to explain how amazing the factories are that still exist in new york. these are not sweat shops, they are highly skilled people working for families that have owned these companies for generations.

please check it out here.

rain

it's raining in brooklyn today...and probably other places too. i ventured outside for that interview (which was disappointing) but now i am home safe and warm. these first weeks of spring are shaky...rainy and cold is not fun. but unlike rainy and cold in november there is hope for warmer sunny days coming. i am going to make myself a green tea and work on my quilt. a perfect rainy afternoon.

big interview today

i think i have to admit here that the full-time freelance thing is not working. i am just not making quite enough money. i can pay my bills and rent but that is it. no money left over for health insurence, savings, or having fun. so for the last month i have been appling to jobs. i have had a few interviews. but today i have a big one. a position i really want, for a company i really want to work for. so please send me some good thoughts!

quilt

i previewed my quilt last week when it was just a huge pile of 2x2 squares. it has come a long way since then. i actual started this quilt two years ago but at some pointed it got abandoned and put in a box under my bed. but after doing that baby quilt i was thinking how i wanted to make a grown up quilt...and then i kind of remember; wait i already started one. so i dug the bags and bags of 4" squares out from under my bed and started again. 

my in-progress quilt

i don't pretend to be a real quilter. my quilt is what they would call a crazy quilt. crazy quilts actually have a rich history. the most famous group of crazy quilters are the women of Gee's, Bend Alabama. starting in the 1920's these women developed there own distinctive style of quilting. derived partly out of necessity and partly of pure creativity. their quilts were made completely of found fabric; old clothes, bed sheets and worn table clothes. but the best part was that they did not feel limited to the finished rectangle. they started quilting and when they finished the quilt was done.

Gee's Bend quilt (1962)

my crazy quilt is just simple squares, not so free and inspired as Gee's Bend. but it is definitely found fabric. i have my 8th grade graduation dress, my parents bed sheets, an old pair of corduroys and a plaid bandanna from my moms childhood...as well as lots of fabric from my time as a dress designer. so far all the squares are sewn together but i am waiting on the batting to come in the mail this weekend. hopefully i will be able to finish and share it next week.

quilt

i previewed my quilt last week when it was just a huge pile of 2x2 squares. it has come a long way since then. i actual started this quilt two years ago but at some pointed it got abandoned and put in a box under my bed. but after doing that baby quilt i was thinking how i wanted to make a grown up quilt...and then i kind of remember; wait i already started one. so i dug the bags and bags of 4" squares out from under my bed and started again. 

i don't pretend to be a real quilter. my quilt is what they would call a crazy quilt. crazy quilts actually have a rich history. the most famous group of crazy quilters are the women of Gee's, Bend Alabama. starting in the 1920's these women developed there own distinctive style of quilting. derived partly out of necessity and partly of pure creativity. their quilts were made completely of found fabric; old clothes, bed sheets and worn table clothes. but the best part was that they did not feel limited to the finished rectangle. they started quilting and when they finished the quilt was done.

my crazy quilt is just simple squares, not so free and inspired as Gee's Bend. but it is definitely found fabric. i have my 8th grade graduation dress, my parents bed sheets, an old pair of corduroys and a plaid bandanna from my moms childhood...as well as lots of fabric from my time as a dress designer. so far all the squares are sewn together but i am waiting on the batting to come in the mail this weekend. hopefully i will be able to finish and share it next week.

generosity...

i am kind of at a loss for words today.

 i have been the beneficiary of amazing generosity this week. 

firstly...my boyfriends mother is a hospice nurse. it is an incredibly emotional profession and she often becomes very close with the families of her patients. one of her neighbors who she helped care for passed two weeks ago and the family asked her to help then clear out her house. this woman was a life long crafter. from sewing clothes to quilting to beading. she had done it all and had collected and organized her supplies for years. she had a specific love of beads. she bought them from craft stores and cut them off thrift store garments. and then carefully sorted them into bags by color. so my boyfriends mother packed all her beads into two large boxes and sent them to me! to inherit this trove of beads is overwhelming. i look at the bags and see years of inspired projects. i am so thankful that she thought of me and took the time to send them. <3

secondly... i am helping my dear friend with her wedding. she is also a designer so it is more like a collaboration and is completely inspiring. we  were thinking about doing an embellished sash or a hair piece to go with her wedding dress. the ideas are flowing. on a recent business trip india she picked up all these beautiful metallic trims to use. we will not use all of them, so she is letting me keep them! i am so excited to incorporate these into some garments i am dreaming out.

feeling so thankful!

brooklyn

i tell people all the time that moving to brooklyn changed my life. i always knew i wanted to "live in new york city" but what that actually meant was beyond me. i moved to manhattan in 2007 and it was great. i had two lovely roommates and a nice but tiny little apartment in alphabet city. but something was missing...i toyed with the idea of moving back to philadelphia my home town. instead i moved to brooklyn in the summer of 2009 and can honestly say, i will never leave. i am not sure how to exactly explain how a neighborhood could make me feel so free...maybe it is the commute over the bridge where i can see the whole city i call home...maybe it is the 10 foot high ceilings in my apartment...maybe it is my friend Aziz who owns the bodega on the corner...or maybe all these things. spring is coming in brooklyn...

lonely

some days i really don't know what i would do without my kitty cat companion.

jade plant

my friend Becca has a green thumb when it comes to jade plants. her tiny manhattan apartment is filled with plants growing in all different containers from large planters to small tea cups. it gives the apartment the most amazing feeling; winter through summer. it  is warm like a greenhouse during the cold winter...dry and airy like the dessert during the hot summer. Becca was kind enough to give me a small plant so that i could start my own jade garden. a few months later one plant has become many. 

wanna get married?

i won't lie; i love wedding blogs. when my friend Amanda got married a few years ago she told me about all these blogs she would look at for inspiration. i just got hooked. i am not getting married or planning a wedding. but nothing is more fun that looking and pictures of the "happiest day" in someone's life...a girl can daydream, right? anyways, the talk of the wedding blogisphere is Anthropologie's new bridal line BHLDN. love this untraditional dress.

check it out.

a project for your weekend.

i have to share this super cutie project posted by one of my favorite west coast bloggers Bleubird. today she shared how to make this beautiful flower crown. it makes me just ache for spring. i hope to go to Michael's Crafts this weekend and pick up supplies for this project.

check out instructions here.

preview...

so i am not sewing an article of clothing this week. 

but i am sewing something else. 

here is a little peak at the beginnings of the project...

can't wait to share the final project next week!

napkin sketch

i got a request for the napkin sketch that started the baby quilt

...clearly i took a lot of liberties. 

last tidbits of fall 2011 shows...

i loved Hermes Fall 2011. it made me actually look forward to the fall...

baby blanket...

there is nothing that makes me more happy than making something with my hands. its more than just sewing. cooking. doing someone's hair. making a necklace. there is something about using my hands that brings out the best most peaceful side of me. 

i got to do something new this past week and collaborated on a design project with my boyfriend. he is an amazingly talented architect. but i totally got him out of his comfort zone when we work together on a baby quilt for his 4 month old goddaughter. from his rough sketch on a napkin at bar we came up with this...

goal for the week IV

the past two weeks have been hard. the flow of freelance work has slowed down and though i have had some job interviews nothing has bitten yet. its really easy to get down at a time like this. but i have always done better when i have something creative to work on. this weekly goal of sewing has been a huge help in  staying positive. even though i am not working i am doing something productive. last week i made a fun and simple skirt which i know will be a go to in the spring. it is a metallic moire with a fun exposed velvet zipper. can't wait to wear it with a white t-shirt and sandels. 

...back!

sorry the long absence! i have a list of excuses that cumulatively kept me from blogging but they all seem kind of lame right now. that being said i have been busy and have lots to share. firstly i kept my weekly sewing goal the past two weeks. so firstly here is a tunic top and made and added embellishment too.