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.