1 hr time + patience= my own vegetables

Home grown!!!!


My first sugar snap peas......I am thrilled.  
As I write this I am snacking on them right now and urging on my plant to produce more.  
I celebrated with a cocktail which is a habanero infused tequila with grapefruit and a few shakes of yuzu.


Nice way to relax at the end of the day.

Cut and Dye

I found a roll of fantastic wool fabric in small store in Astoria and bought it for less than a $1 a yard!!!!  It is cream and has a modern circular pattern woven into it.  The creme color doesn't fit into my overall scheme right now so I dyed it grey.  For added texture I cut and applied navy wool squares.

Springing into a new direction

Time to take charge and start growing for myself.

Utilizing the fire escape for herbs, plenty of basil for tomatoes grown in the front of the apartment.

This half of the steps are not used so I made heavy canvas bags with a screened bottom,

to grow tomatoes, snap peas, lettuce and whatever else I can fit.

Nowe Buty - that's Polish for new shoes!

This is something I always wanted to do. You know when you see shoes that are funky but really, they just look like someone glued cute stuff all over them. To top it off, they can sell for up to $300. That's when I say, "I can do that". Finally, I had a pair of shoes that I loved so much because they were comfortable and made my leg look great.
I could walk 30 blocks in these! But look at them, they got so scuffed and battered. Of course these were too good to let go, so.....I glued some cute stuff on them.

I covered the heels in black leather, the body in a khaki twill cotton and edged it all with a metallic blue leather I recovered from a vintage leather coat. As a matter of face ALL materials were re-claimed from something else.

The toggle buttons happened to match the body color and was a perfect way to top them off.

Tie Dye Lives! This texture is back to enjoy.

This was a basic hoodie which was

never worn but now, after wrapping

a few rubber band around it and

putting it into a black dye bath,

it has a fantastic new look.

Next was to try other techniques. I wanted to put a pattern in specific, controlled spots. I was always mesmerized by the pebble method where fabric is gathered around a pebble or bead, wrapped to secure it and resist the dye to get these great circles.

In a cinch....

Two new belts made this week.

Texture can make a simple accessory so much more.

Here the embossed reptile pattern, in ivory is an

elegant pairing with the subtly color flecked wool band.

And what about STUDS?

still sexy....

becoming a classic!

Always new projects coming in!

I love the requests my clients

make, it keeps me interested

and happy. Putting the word

out that I wanted to focus more

on home furnishings...I have

been busy the past few months.

Making this slipcover for a dining

room chair now makes it an

addition to a new baby's room.

These accent pillows were a testament to patience but a big payoff. The silk charmuse was stitched on to a layer of fleece giving it a quilted feel. The stitching was done in shades of brown and green silk thread, giving it another layer of luxury.

For those who live in pre-war apartments, you may be familiar with the lone light bulb in the closet with a long chain hanging down. Just by replacing it with this tasseled silk light pull, the closet looks a bit more worthy.

Selling in Union Square

Summer bears many fruits.... and these are some of mine.  These pieces I consider my "fizzing berries rising to the top".  

I have been working on so many projects this summer that the best thing for me to do is to go down to Union Square to sell them.  I hope you can make it and I will let you know what day it will be.  

Cute, cute, cute!  Anything small is just adorable.  These are some thumbless mittens I made for a friend of mine who just had her first baby.  Totally easy, pretty quick and the yarn was a dream.  I did this with Koigu yarn, which is a handpainted yarn spun in small quantities.  My master knitter friend, Brooke always supplies me with great patterns.  My next project is something I can wear myself, however I am sick of doing socks, scarves and blankets.  I am looking to do a modern shaped vest with all the wool I got while I was in Italy.  

While I was in Umbria, I found a little knit shop.  Couldn't speak more than 10 words in Italian but managed to sit and speak with the owners on my many visits.  I even had a few conversations with "Mama", someone's mother who just sat in a rocking chair to have company during the day.  It always amazes me how language is not necessarily a barrier when people have the same interests.  Of course animated body language is a huge plus. 

Spinning straw into gold

I love these beads, they remind me of strawgold, a beautiful straw color with the luster of gold and luminousness of ribbon candy.  Putting these multi strands of beads onto the rings makes this a nice way to pair another texture to the beads, whether it is a textile or leather.  It also makes it convertible in length making it more versatile.

Paris flea find

Visiting Paris in 2005, I found these bronze cast claws and feet.  As soon as I saw them I knew what I wanted to do.  Of course I packed them away, moved and forgot all about them.  

Until this week.

inspired by AvroKO

Discover NYC when everyone is away

The city is so nice and quite on the weekends now, so we have been having a great time checking out many different spots in the city.  This past weekend was a trip to the Museum of the City of New York.  Here were paintings by ANDREW BERRIEN JONES, an artist from the West Village. 

I was just mesmerized by them.  What a simple concept, to capture these beautiful details.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE.  

Camo Ribbon Belt

I am something of a personal seamstress/designer for my friend Jen.  I love it when she comes to me with an idea for something that she wants but cannot find.  She LOVES camo, and wanted a fun ribbon belt for jeans.  

This is what I made for her.

This cuff makes a statement

I made this for a birthday gift.  

This is a 4" high cuff made of faceted glass beads, round glass beads and shells.

It may be a bit heavy because of the glass but it really does dress up the arm when wearing a simple summer shift.  

Wearing two will give you Wonder Woman powers. 

re-purposed shower curtains

This thing, the blog I mean, is like exercise.  You do it for a bit and it feels great.....then you stop for a day or two and bang!  It is three month later.  However it is not as if I haven't been busy so I am going to post a lot of stuff all at once.  For now I wanted to show the way for me to use up tired shower curtains.  Some of them are made from a nice sturdy cotton and after numerous washings they have a great faded look.  So just cut off the grungy bottoms and there you go, nice yardage for large MARKET BAGS.

I also use the nylon liner as a liner for the bag that way if any spills happen then it will be easy as pie to clean up.  

These are quick, cheap, easy and a great way to recycle a huge piece of fabric that one would otherwise throw out.  

Tank Top Jeans Necklace

 

After a little break from taking a trip out west I am back with a clear head and a lot to do!

I really wanted to finish this necklace and put these beads to good use.  The black beads are faceted glass that came from several different vintage necklaces, the large blue beads came from Paris and round lapis beads used as center accents.  

The color comes off much better in the second picture!

Winter hat has a new identity

This was a really fun project.  This hat was given to me with a request to make it into a handbag.  It was handmade by my client's mother and she really wanted to put it to use all the time rather than seasonally.  

After a few attempts at integrating this ribbon (which happen to go PERFECTLY), this is what I ended up with. 

a cinched drop carry all with an adjustable strap that can go from wristlet to over the shoulder.   Enjoy Clarissa!

Great with a tank top and jeans.

To detract myself from the fact that I am not keeping up with my yoga I thought some new accessories would be a great way to brighten things up.  

As soon as I saw this Lanvin necklace it reminded me of a piece of my Mom's that I have been hanging on to.

There are two white enameled pieces that came from a necklace and the little "birdie" black and white bits were vintage earrings.  

They are a bit chipped but I love the tracery quality and it reminds me of garden furniture from the 70's

....but I am not so sure about the contrast of the black and white, but I do love the big blue glass beads (I got these in Paris), so I am definately going to keep those.  

Might have to ditch the white pieces and do something else with them. 

to be con't.....