The second side...

The Design Director always wants to be in the photos.

Today's project

Trying to come up with good gift ideas for the Design Director's many
birthday soirées... We made this one today modeled after one Great
Grandma made for me a few years ago.

I have the coolest friends (Poor Pitiful Pearl)

So, by now, you know I love love love patchwork, assemblage, vintage, quilted artwork of nearly all kinds. I love it in my house, I love it on my body.... I love to make it, buy it, sell it.

So there's no question why I love Poor Pitiful Pearl. Shauna at PPP used to live here in LA and was a friend of a friend... I fell in love with her work and immediately began buying her skirts and tops for myself and Miss M. We love it.

I love that PPP is all about recycling, I love the style and flair that she has, and I think Shauna is a fabo' designer. (I've been meaning to write about her for the longest time)

Here are some of her images, and some of my own PPP possessions (I'm currently waiting for my 2nd PPP skirt - a short one)...

I have to admit, though, that I have had the hardest time figuring out ideas of ways to use our own scraps (which I instruct our seamstresses to NOT throw out the scraps so we can use them in our bags, etc) in wearable ways that don't emulate or draw away from PPP's fabulous style and language...

...but my ideas are coming to fruition and I hope to start taking some of my new sketches to reality in the next few months for some one of a kind scrap skirts of our own. They will not look like PPP's skirts, though - so you'll have to buy these from her.

Couture and scrapbooking... my theories

So I haven't been sewing this week, but I have been trying to "catch up" a little with my scrapbooks. I am two years behind in all of our family albums - as well as the kiddos' albums, so technically, I believe that makes me 6 years behind.
But not to worry - I am the speed demon of scrapping and I have very low standards with how these albums will look... I like to think of it this way...
a few years ago I read that one of the big name guys (I think it was Karl Lagerfeld) in design couture said that he never wasted his creative juices on dressing himself and wore only black as a result.
Well, in that universe, I am the Couture designer of scrapbooking, then, I guess...
I waste NONE of my skills making works of art that will sit in books on shelves - though I have to admit, I even recently bought a scrapbooking book because the designer (really, ARTIST Ashley Calder) who wrote it was so skilled and inspirational to read about that I have it around for eye candy... (It's called SCRAPTASTIC - I know, the name belies its artistic value, but the work in it is lovely, really art and poetry together)
here are some images from her book...











So I am punching it out this week, trying to catalog in three different places -
the past two years, which I am still not quite sure I have survived.

In the meantime, though - my head is germinating and LOVING some new ideas I have for skirts... ooooooooh... more on that later.

Too hot

I've got a zillion ideas and projects that I want to work on, but I
can hardly function in this heat. I'm just a porch dweller today.
(this morning we hit up every store with a/c that I could think of...
In LA you don't always need a/c, but the days you do need it hurt!)

Wow. It is really hot.

skirts on sale

in the mindset of "spring (really, summer) cleaning"...

I've put some skirts on sale at our etsy store...

Quilts make me happy

I was given this vintage quilt, and another as well - as a part of an early inheritance from J's Grammy.
I treasure it already. The fabrics make me dream and I just freak out every time I look at the hand stitches that hold it together.
Amazing.

check out our ETSY shop

okie dokie.
so i finally got around to doing an etsy upload tonight.

I now have new baby slings up there, and some of the funny doorstops, a few one of a kind skirts, as well as some swaddle blankets that I have made for years, but never had on the site!
check it out...

www.libertyworth.etsy.com

washable... what it is worth?

hey there...
taking another poll...

what do you think about the ability to wash your Libby Dibby skirt (in cold water and line drying) instead of drycleaning?
Is it worth a few dollars more a skirt to you?  If so - what is your minimum and maximum that you'd spend for that feature?

We're thinking about offering some of the patterns with that care option, but the prep on the front end is considerable.
let us know.

Doilies 3

Doilies 2

Doilies

I was taught to hate doilies growing up... But now I can't help but to
pick them up every once in a while when I find them at vintage shops.
This one is shaped like a teacup, an I've wondered for years what to
do with it... Finally, I just put it on the shelf... I'll take and
send more photos of uses I have found.

manifesto - (it's long!)

Those of you who know me on a personal level,
have probably heard me say my creative mantra...
"I refuse to knock anyone else off"

If you have designed something and I like it,
I will not make it for myself to sell to others,
I will buy it and congratulate you on your good taste,
but I will NOT rip you off.

This comes from a number of reasons:

1. I believe in small businesses and small business owners. My family of origin has a small 10 person toy design business that has supported the families in it for 30 years.
I love the idea of people doing what they want and not just running on the proverbial treadmill of corporate business.


2. I believe that creativity is sacred. My dad owns hundreds of patents and trademarks... Ideas are sacred. They are clearly gifts... When I take your idea and make money off of it without giving credit where credit is due, that is stealing money out of your pocket. My dad has products that he invented where by some error on the manufacturer's part, a patent wasn't renewed - and voila! everyone and their mother makes knock-offs. It hurts more when you grow up watching it happen to your dad.I'm okay with improving things, "building a better mousetrap" ... i.e. Libby Dibby skirts are made from an altered and improved vintage pattern. - but to take someone's design and pass it off as my own seems really wrong to me, mostly because...(see below)


3. I believe creativity is plentiful.I once read a quote and can't remember which famous person in history said it (perhaps Ben Franklin or Thomas Edison?) and it goes something like this... "creativity is conscious of its own abundance and is not jealous"I love that. I didn't know if I believed it when I first read it, because I knew I struggled with jealousy over other artists, etc - but I decided that if God made everything, He certainly could make enough talent to go around. I decided to believe it.


4. I believe that the true test of genius, talent, artistic skill lies in the ability to do something original and do it well.

5. I love true artists of all kinds. I love the idea of people doing something for the love of the game, be it baseball or knitting and I love the idea of helping the little people make their way in this world.

J says that I am a little militant about this. I don't make things that I know I can make simply because I don't want to rip someone off... but I just can't help thinking that someone, somewhere made that and put all their heart into making it original and I want them to succeed.

That's why I get a little flustered when I see people online trying to make "fibby dibbys" (no joke, that's what they've named them)... not because the wrap circle skirt was my idea... but because they are intentionally trying to take what we are working so hard to build slowly with our hands.

Now I know that mimicry is a form of flattery... and I know how fun it is to see something, like it, and then go home and make it... but selling it as my own idea... that's a different story.

I've recently relaxed a little in some of my rules. I've liked an item of clothing so much that I have made a second one like it in another color - but then, when someone wanted the second one... I directed them to the original designer. I'm allowing myself to make things for myself, but I want to not just copy others... I want to create new things... and being pushed out into the world of the unknown isn't all that bad.

your comments are welcome

Hey folks!
I heard from 4 of you this weekend alone- people I see daily, see once a year, or see never... I'm so glad to hear that you are reading this blog daily (some of you even more than once a day!)!
It's great to know that I'm not writing in a vaccuum, sending my thoughts out to nowhere...

All that to say, thanks a lot and that I would LOVE to read your comments and hear your thoughts on what's going on in the world of Libby Dibby Stuff (and all the rest of what is in my head)

thanks again.
libby

Doorstops

Okay, I love these so much that I think I have made 8 already and
given 5 away. Not only are they cute, functional, and a great way to
use up scraps, they don't hurt when you stub your toes on them.
M and Z think their really kiddie ones are the coolest. And they love
walking to the local store for the 10lb bags of beans.
Thinking of making some for my etsy site. (www.libertyworth.etsy.com)
should I?

Salvaged t-shirt

Miss M outgrew her Snow White shirt, so we cut out Snow White and
sewed her onto a new shirt!
A little zigzag on the sleeves and hem, and suddenly we have friends
asking where we got such a boutique-y shirt.

Fancypants #2

Last night's project

Okay, so my friend came over last night with some holey jeans she
wanted to patch up, so we turned it into a jean project night...
At the end of the night, we got into buttons, which - of course - have
to be used in much moderation... And these pants, who have been
awaiting some ornamentation, finally got their fix.
When she emails me photos of her pants, I'll post them...
This got me thinking... I think I want to maybe do a Summer Camp for
women... One night at a time, and call it "fancypants" ... Where women
would bring their jeans and pants and we could do embellishments on
them... What do you think?

Today's smile

The Design Director and me

So we were off to another princess birthday party last weekend - this time for 4 year old twins, and I decided I didn't like the gifts I had bought for them...

ahhhhh.... well, the 3.5 year old Design Director and I got to work... and we made these with some fun supplies we had laying around here.
of course, she had to have one as well... but the fun part was that she did make a lot of the decisions herself - 4 flowers in each garden, since they are 4, which colors, which buttons for the sunshines... we had a lot of fun putting these together... and they didn't take all that long.

The best part is that we found another use for Great-Grandma's yoyos... so we carry more of her treasures with us through life, and pass them on to other friends.