Artistry In Fashion, 2013

A report on this year's Artistry in Fashion is a little belated, but I have to say a little something anyway, because the event is SO worth knowing about!

As usual, I took my camera with, but spent all of my time schmoozing with all of the fashionistas,  sewists and creators-of-fabulosity that I kept forgetting to take any pictures.   One sign of a successful event, I say!

At least I have some after-the-fact shots of the goodies I bought.  I spent in restraint, but if $ were no object, oh my gosh is this the place to spend it!  The curated artist booths were SO rife with drool-worthy goodies, from hand-painted silks to recycled clothing,  eco-dyed fabrics, exquisite shaped hats, unusual buttons and notions, innovative jewelry, and positively gorgeous people on both sides of the vendor booths!

The featured speaker and fashion show presenter was Sandra Ericson, director of the Center for Pattern Design, and creator of a truly unique and inspirational line of patterns.   Many of her patterns were inspired by Madeleine Vionnet and Cristobal Balenciaga.  She uses a lot of bias cuts, and a minimum of pattern pieces that require as few stitching seams as possible.   Her designs are "simple" (i.e., not "fussy"), but the way many of them are put together is quite unusual (and sometimes mind-boggling!)  Despite the relative simplicity, the patterns are also designed to be "educational" - Translation:  minimal instructions, meant for the intermediate or advanced sewer. Do check out her site for a much more detailed story of her journey and philosophy.

I bought these 3 patterns (all of which just happen to be Balenciaga inspired):

I've made up the CB Bolero (post coming soon!) and it's a comfy and wearable winner.

I've also made a test version of the spiral blouse - this one is destined to be made up several times!

The Paletot is a half-scale pattern.   I've enlarged it, and can barely wait to get going on it!  (I've lusted after this coat ever since seeing it at the Balenciaga exhibit at the DeYoung a couple of years ago)

My other purchases were earrings.   I was delighted to find that one of my very favorite jewelry designers was selected as a vendor at AIF this year: Kayoko Designs.   I buy a pair of earrings from her nearly every year at the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show,  so I was thrilled to find another excuse to add to my collection of her pieces :)

Elegant Asian Simplicity - LOVE her work!

A very popular booth was A.J's EarDrops - I know at least half a dozen people who bought earrings here - too much fun!

Lightweight, unusual, affordable, and highly wearable - what's not to love???
And check out that cup holder - an innovative (and re-usable) way to display their earrings!

This year the weather was perfect, the food trucks were the best ever, the vendors (of course) were the BEST, and of course, the camaraderie of everyone there made it a memorable and fabulous event.

Mark your calendars now for next year's AIF - September 27, 2014.   Pati Palmer (yes, THE Pati Palmer of Palmer/Pletsch) will be the featured speaker!  I hope to see you there!  :)

Next up:  The results of the CB Bolero...

Artistry in Fashion 2012

Let me start off with a Note To Self for AIF 2013:  Self - Do NOT schedule an event the night before AIF.   Especially if said event keeps you out until 1:00 a.m.   Related Reminder to Self:  You are no longer 21. Nor 35. Nope, not even 47 anymore....and I'll quit there....  (However, the Pentatonix Concert was absolutely worth it!   And my eardrums have recovered nicely, thank you very much)*

After staying out way. too. late., and sleeping in way. too. late., I didn't arrive at AIF until 12:30. That's 2-1/2 hours of shopping/snoop shopping/idea gathering/schmoozing time that was wasted in bed.  But that's OK.   Really.   She says as she reminds herself that she's trying to pay bills off, not build them up......

For those who haven't kept up on posts about this event, Artistry in Fashion is Cañada College's annual event showcasing local designers, some of whom are or have been students at Cañada College Fashion Design Dept. (honestly, I would LOVE to take some of the amazing sounding classes they offer....especially since I have yet to take a real sewing class.   One of these days.......)

Reminiscing on yesterday's good news/bad news post, the good news is that I now know quite a few more of the amazing, creative sewists who show up at this event, and it was wonderful spending time greeting and schmoozing with so many of them!   The bad news is that, between chatting with said amazing creatives, and watching Marsha McClintock's Saf-T-Pockets fashion show, (and her followup presentation on creative accessories), there were booths that I never even got to before closing time!  Good for my pocket book, but I actually brought cash with intent to spend it!     Ah well....my grocery budget benefits instead, which is a good thing (I think....).

One delightful aspect of the day for me was that, when I did spend time visiting with a vendor, and asked them how sales were, every single one of them said sales were great for them!   I so loved hearing that!   As someone who has both sold a few of my own creations over the years, and done my best to support makers of hand made goodies all my adult life, it really makes my heart sing to hear that creatives are doing well in business :)

Here is Susan Krimmer Designs' lovely booth - Sue is a first-timer who did very well (and with good reason!)  She is a local artist who has studied with Wayne Wichern, one of the talented teachers at Cañada College Fashion School.  Sue does not yet have an active web presence - I'll add a link when she does.

Sue's beautiful hats and scarves at the beginning of the day
(photo courtesy of Sue Krimmer)

Sadly, I didn't even make one complete round of all the booths, and all of a sudden it was 4:00, aka, closing time, and booths were being pulled apart :(   However, I had wanted to focus on jewelry, and I did score one gorgeous necklace - which I just love!

This is exactly the sort of long, slightly crazy necklace I just love to wear!

 This piece was made by Judy Thompson-Melanson of TerraLuna Designs (another artist without an active web presence yet)

Look at that beautiful lampwork bead!
(purchased by Judy and incorporated into the necklace)

My other purchase was 3 Saf-T-Pocket patterns.   I was impressed with a pattern I saw reviewed on Pattern Review a couple of years ago, but honestly, I've had a bit of a hard time since then getting past the photos and renderings on the pattern covers, so never bought a pattern.

Until the fashion show, and then seeing the garments up close, and trying them on.   Sold!!!  Marsha is brilliant with pockets, and she's delightful and comfy to chat with as well.   And her pieces are exquisitely sewn!  (an aspect I really appreciate in a professional pattern-maker/designer/sewist)  Not only are her pocket placements beautifully thought out, the clothes are really practical, and also wonderfully embellish-able (that IS a word, right?)

I was happy to be able to try on a sample of each of these garments to determine size, fit, and whether they worked for me - isn't it fabulous to be able to know these factors ahead of time?

I just love me a few good pockets, and I'm always trying to figure out a way to add a pocket to a pocket-less garment, so I cannot wait to dig through the details in these patterns!

Wendy, Rose, Lisa and I, bemoaning the fact that the vendors were packing up,
while we were still ready to shop!

It was a beautiful day, a perfect setting to showcase the vendors, and I already look forward to  next year's event!

*Re:  Pentatonix - who knew that I should have brought earplugs to an a capella concert???  It wasn't the musicians, it was the screaming fans!!!!  For those of you who don't yet know the music of Pentatonix, please DO check them out - 5 UBER talented kids!   Here's just one of them, doing what he did before joining the group:  Kevin Olusola and his cello

An aside:  My (non-sewing) friend Kim and I met my BABES sewing buddy Heather and her hubby at the concert, and after our initial greetings we realized that not only were Heather and I both wearing Decades of Style Shawls from the same pattern, but we were also wearing Marcy Tilton pants from the same pattern!   One of the great things about sewing: our outfits looked so completely different that even we didn't realize it at first :)   The proof:

One more sneak peek at the upcoming project (it will be finished today, I think!)  Yes, I did end up adding some silk screening after all.... :)

In closing, I'm curious....how many of you, like me, have never taken a sewing class or workshop?  And if you haven't, would you like to?  Those of you who have taken classes, what were your favorites, and why?   Inquiring minds and all that.......

Artists and Sewists and Fashion, Oh My! (Artistry in Fashion 2011)

Yesterday I attended my first Artistry in Fashion event, held annually at Canada College in Redwood City - it will NOT be my last time!

Some of the strongest impressions that I had:

• The attendees were mostly women, probably mostly 30-ish on up, and I was struck by the fact that so many truly beautiful women were all gathered in one spot.   Not glossy-magazine beautiful, but beautiful in the sense that they carried themselves with confidence, dressed with attention to detail, and exhibited a creative, artistic flair in clothing and accessories that showcased an authentic attitude of "I know who I am".
• The designer/artist booths!  Oh my gosh - overwhelm!  I think there were almost 100 booths, and every. single. one was filled with amazing artistry - clothing, fabric, jewelry, accessories.   It's juried, and done well!
• The Canada Campus is a lovely one - especially on a warm & sunny day.  The designer booths were all outside (& me without sunscreen or a hat - yikes!)   Apparently quite a bit of construction has been going on there, & I think it will be a lovelier campus when some trees have grown up & brought some more natural beauty back, but it was a perfect place for an event like this.
• Of course, the people/friends/fellow sewists!   It was such a great venue to keep running into people I've met through my local sewing group, meet some bloggers for the first time, and be introduced to some wonderful new sewing friends :)
• I don't think I've ever been to a fashion show before....this may not have been an international runway event, but seeing the designers' works showcased, and Lyla Messinger's patterns presented, was really inspirational!  Lyla was the featured speaker, and while I missed her talk, I made up for it by inspecting everything in her booth (and chatting with her a bit, and, of course, spending some $$ there!)

I could have spent time taking pictures of the amazing work displayed & the lovely women I saw, but I pretty much forgot that I had my camera with me, because it was much more fun to just chat with everyone & play with all the goodies first hand ;-)

What I came home with:

My birthday present!   OK, it's not for another month, but birthdays are supposed to start early & end late anyway, right?  These are  felted scarves from harlequin feltworks, and I love love LOVE them!!!!    Made of all natural fibers (silk and wool), and with eco-friendly processing to boot.  It doesn't get much better than this!

Here are a few of the infinite ways you can drape these scarves:

I can't wait for scarf-wearing weather!!!!   By the way, many of the designers have lines that are carried in museum stores and higher end clothing stores, and the prices at this event are deeply discounted in comparison!  Update:  Holy Crap.   I just looked at the online prices of these scarves.  I knew I was getting a good price, and I'm not even going to tell you how much I paid, but I will say this - if you want an INCREDIBLE bargain on one of these scarves, come to AIF next year!

One of my favorite vendors was the button lady, "Missing A Few Buttons".  She has no web presence, but oh my gosh does she have buttons!  I could have spent a mortgage payment at her booth (readers may have noticed by now that I have a bit of a button fetish - especially if they're vintage)

I picked up a few glass buttons from the 1800's, and my favorite - some Victorian "perfume buttons":

What's a "perfume button",  you ask?  (I didn't know either).   The colored bits in the metal buttons are velvet, and the well-dressed Victorian lady would put a drop of perfume on the velvet, so that she could take a delicate whiff of her nice perfume as she walked through the sewage-filled roads of town.    I think I will say no more.....

And, as I mentioned, I stocked up on a few goodies from Lyla Messinger (LJ Designs):

Some patterns, a fun-looking Tips & Techniques book, and some Riri zips designed by Lyla (closeouts at a GREAT price, so I couldn't resist.....)

I usually avoid posting a pic that's THIS unflattering, but at least you'll get a sense of how quickly a warm, sunny California day can shift to freezing-arse cold evening when the fog rolls in with a chilly wind:

Trying to stay warm with shams...

And I can only dream of looking as elegant and gorgeous as Margy, even with a cold wind whipping our hair about:

Artistry in Fashion, I will return!   Until next year......