I love green gingham! and some new aprons

~I had a tiny piece(half a yard or so)of this green gingham. I made three aprons, bouncing off this sweet gingham.....The other apron not shown was the second version of a cross back apron design I have been working on . Somehow I forgot to photograph this apron. I think it was because I actually made it for myself (so I would photograph it later...right). I took lots of crazy chances and used some favorite irreplaceable vintage fabric, it was a little shorter and made to be used as a craft apron ... BUT the market was slow Saturday and I really like the gal who wanted my lil treasure....it is a little embarrassing really! I cannot believe I took no photos of it ~pine pine pine......

~ anyway this is the first version of the Tie-less apron
It has a cross over back. .... it has all kinds of little flaws but the fit is good and I like the pockets a lot .I also love the vintage edging I used ...I just love this tape that my Cinda found for me......She has the sharpest eye and terrific taste(she also supplied many of my buttons and the beautiful rose table cloth I used in several aprons seen here today....thanks cinda)


~This apron was made later and echos some of the design ideas from the lil' treasure apron, but it is a half style and would move smoothly from the kitchen to the Kraft room. This is an apron design I have been thinking of for my self (although this particular one is not for me).

...the skirt is an embroidered linen(lalalalaove it)


....I used the tiny bit of green gingham I had left to make the ties.I found the beautiful rose button amongst my new vintage buttons and thought it made the perfect little "belt" buckle for the skinny ties waist.
....the rose button echos the pretty rose on the pouch style, three panel pocket .... I really love this apron. I have been wanting to make some simpler aprons with skinny ties.

~I made this one with the tiniest scrap of that farm table cloth I use for several aprons last spring. ....pretty Czech glass button



......the very last scrap...So long little farm. You are loved
~I also made this chili lady apron. ....It uses all new fabrics... and some cool vintage buttons from my replenished stash.
....I think it is a sass-a -frass, cowboy eye catching, lil' #



~So I am trying to set up a new online store and having a heck of a time trying to figure out what will work for me. I am trying out typepad for a little, but I am not excited about the store thru paypal option. tell me what you think it is here.

Another option is using Big cartel. That is what I have added to this site at the top right. This is their free version so I had to sort of jank up a store front that I created using a flickr slideshow. If I were to actually go this route I would (hopefully) have a better (More accessible storefront) as well as have more photos of each item. Anywho, any and all feedback is desperately sought. All this cyber research, has got this crazy southern belle as confused as Georgia swamp gator in an Alabama lake

Inspiration...ilaria margutti

"Embroidering is woman.
It shows the process of the womans' nature without saying a word.
Like Penelope did, every woman weaves her own expectations, her body, her way of living according to her own desires, following patterns and rules made by herself.
According to these contents, I have decided to deal with embroidery, not only as a technique but also as an action with strong existential contents"

This work by Ilaria Margutti.
The title of the installation is Mend Me
I found this inspiring installation while perusing, Design for Mankind. Her lines and content are incredibly moving . It is the beautiful details of her work that I am overwhelmed with. Sorry I could not include the detail photos but go to her link her words and images are fantastic.
I believe, through meditative needle work that women have mended themselves for centuries. I love the implications of this homage as well as the visual experience her work delivers.

I am in the new Craft!! VOL 10

I am pleased as pie to tell you finally....Way back in September I was asked to turn My Fabric button Barrette tutorial into a quick craft by Craft magazine.


I am thrilled to say that my Quick craft is in the latest issue of Craft Vol 10 !

Look Inside >> Volume 10

If you subscribe now you get started with volume 10. The new Craft hits newsstands on February 10th. Locally you can get a copy at Book people, and Barnes and Noble.
YAY!!!!

Baby its cold outside.

Yay central Texas weather ! Friday highs were in the low 80s Saturday the high was in the 40's!!!!????? Daddy had to bring me a big thermos of hot tea at the market...
....Because his crazy Georgia peach decided this would be a perfect day to start back up at the market. I do really well in freezing cold,cloudy weather, right?
Anyway we are back ....and it was very cold. Not alot of people stopping too look at clothes in cold, cloudy, windy, weather, however I did sale a hat to my good pal ...she wears it well.
I was happy to keep my new Teapot apron for a little longer...

...I 'm a little teapot short and stout!
..and here is my cup with my earl grey


~I have also been working on panties for valentines day ... here is a little panty and tank set I finished just in time for the 40+ temp.~ I added some lingering holiday barrettes.... and an orphaned pin cushion to my stock this week.~as you might have noticed from the barrettes, I finally got some new"old" buttons and was really enjoying them this week.






~Daddy printed some of his airplanes on some ts and onesies this week, I just love them!

so that is the post view ...hopefully next week will be warmer.

handmade books ~memory keepers

I received a wonderful book for my birthday called How to Make books By Ester K. Smith of Purgatory Press.
I am quite thrilled with this gift because although I had a very productive year artistically last year I feel like aside from photos of finished pieces I have no record of my creative process. The book has great projects most are books that I have made in some form but the illustrations and fresh Ideas are all new to me and quite inspirational. I am especially keen on her cloth book examples~ For me the process is not only a reason I make art but also I find the process (esp thought evolution) to be an artistic entity in itself. In many ways I needed a break from all my "art" thinking. I needed to learn and practice the craft of sewing, but I am really beginning to feel a need for a visual/artistic synopsis of my sewing endeavors to help create depth and define boundaries.

~I love handmade books. They combine so many making methods that I am inclined to. I got my first sewing machine to help in my book and print making projects. I love the conceptual implications as well as the basic form and structure of books. The endless combinations of materials also draws me to the art of bookmaking. I have always kept journal/sketch books to help me record Ideas and sort through daily life.

~ This book was produced in my first formal book class that I took in the summer of 97 with Judith Golden ,at the University of Arizona. It deals with lost love, lost self, and loss of morale.






When I first started printing I used these journals so much that the lines between my prints and the journals became hard for me to draw. To me the prints were just not as strong without some of the information that I had in my journals. For this reason I started trying to combine some of the info from the journals with the prints and I fell into the world of art books. This was somewhere around 1995-6. I really got into bookmaking in graduate school; creating books as on their own and as accompaniments to installations and even some performance pieces.

~ this book was produced from ideas and materials used in a project that dealt with consumption and our relationship with the products we consume as well as how consumer culture effects personal relations
I continued bookmaking as a means to collect snippets of my thoughts and practice my love of drawing and collage long after I lost access to a press.

~this book I made in 2002 , It was traveling(Mexico) journal and also included alot of my frustrations with the state of the union in the aftermath of the 9-11 as well as what I was doing to help heal my own soul






~In the last year I have found myself in a position for the first time(in my adult life) without a journal book. And aside from my handmade cards I stopped making books as well.
I consider my handmade cards to be very much in the same category as my books, They are little tiny books that people give others in order to send a message.

~These two little cards are from last week
In October I started a journal that I will not let turn into and address book( my 2 journals from burger's first two years have both turned into address books)
I am not sure why I have been on a journal hiatus maybe part of i is this blog. I also think that burger and I have been so close it has been hard for me to be introspective.
Any way, this is the first post about books , I have many many books to share. these are just the first three. It was difficult for me to photograph them (but fun), Trying to show something virtually that is built to be a tactile experience is and interesting challenge.

~It is funny in the last few weeks I have made contact with a lot of my past. I pulled out my stash of handmade books in order to start documenting them with my camera and I had a flood of memories wash over me. I am the first to admit I have a horrible memory. I jokingly call it my coping mechanism. I am thankful to have all my books that give me little glimpses of my former self. It is interesting to me because at the time it was just a way for me to try and communicate with the rest of the world my perspective. Now 10 years later I am using them to communicate with myself.