The Worlds Prettiest Nightgown, From LuckyFish of Brooklyn

Every summer I scour New York City for tee shirts from one of my favorite local designers, Jann Chevitz of Lucky Fish. Jann finds the most stretchy-soft and perfectly fitting tees and tops and screenprints big bold graphics onto them, all just accross the bridge from me in lovely Gowanus, Brooklyn. TC loves her shirts as much as I do, and he is crazy picky about this sort of stuff.

I used to find her stuff at local indie craft fairs and high end shops, but its become so popular that nobody has anything in stock for too long. Two summers ago I trekked to Williamsburg for the Renegade Craft Fair on what turned out to be the hottest day of that season, because I heard a rumor that Lucky Fish would be there. The fair was held inside what had once been a giant swimming pool, really just a big concrete dish with a reflective surface, compounding the problem of it being too hot to begin with. I felt like one of a thousand unknowing ingredients baking away in a very crafty, very large, lasagna.

I started to lose it after walking through two aisles, becoming so cranky that when I reached the Etsy booth and its alarmingly perky little hostess and her greeting of "HI!! Whats YOUR favorite CRAFT??", I may have answered "drinking all of your water before I yak all over your mailing list clipboard". By aisle five I was in a veritable trance, which ended abruptly when someone almost knocked me over in his hurry to assist a friend, who apparently had just fainted while waiting in line at the Mr. Softee truck. Still, I pushed on. You can imagine my dissapointment at not ever finding Jann or her wonderful shirts. I came home with slight heatsroke (plus an odd sunburn on the underside of my chin) and a only a small, random, assortment of owl themed bric-a-brac, drank two mojitos with extra mint and went to bed at six thirty.

This summer I wasn't taking any chances. I called Jann directly and invited myself over to her Brooklyn studio. I happily bought enough tee shirts to justify interrupting her afternoon (which is a lot, this is one busy and in demand lady) including one of my most favorite designs of hers that is ALWAYS out of stock in the stores she sells to: her butterfly. I think I may have mentioned to Jann that I loved the idea of wearing the design under my little cotton blazer, to bed, etc, and wondered out loud if she had ever considered printing on silk. A few weeks later, I got an email from Jann about a special little silk chemise and camisole that she was working on for me. I convinced her to let me post it here, and to take orders from my readers. I should add that this is not, in any way, a paid endorsement. I have every intention of paying full price for my nightie. I am motivated, however, by selfishness. I firmly believe that in this age of discounters, importers, and cheap goods, we must support the designers, retailers, and manufacturers that we value in every way possible. Also I never want to spend another day wandering around the inside of an empty swimming pool looking for the perfect tee shirt.

You can order a chemise (perfect for summer sleeping) or a cami (so so so great with jeans and a little cardigan) directly from Jann at Lucky Fish ( these are a special run and aren't pictured as options on her site, just tell her that you are a reader of my blog). The nightgown (or "chemise") comes in s-xl and costs $62, the cami costs $46. Both are printed by hand in Brooklyn.

Far Far Away Part 2: what didn't make the cut.

The problem with this post, from the get go, is that I am not entirely sure why certain prints get scrapped. In the case of this first print, newspaper boats, I thought it was a sure thing. It was meant as a complimentary print for the Owl and The Pussycat (which is part of the final collection, but not in the gray color pictured here) but I thought it stood up pretty well on its own. I, however, am not the expert on what will sell, much less what will sell in Japan. I actually really want newspaper boats on wallpaper.... I need to work on that. Meantime, I am adding this print plus a few more to my collection of Keds sneakers over at Zazzle.

In the case of the next two prints, the problem was a little more obvious. My Snow White print became one of those huge, over developed prints that nearly killed me. I got a little too caught up in the story. The artwork is so big, in fact, that I have to show it to you in three swatches. First, my little lumberjack dwarves:

Next, my overly tragic Snow White. I liked the image of her getting woken up on the forest floor, the morning after the woodsman lets her run away into the dark forest. The idea for this artwork came from my husband. I tend to wake up grouchy, with an anxious cat and dog staring me down. When I do finally get up they follow me around the house until I feed them. TC likes to say that this little scene reminds him of Snow White, except with more profanity.

One of the problems with this artwork is that I spent so much time on it that I started to hate it a little, and then I couldn't figure out what to make as a complimentary design. I liked the idea of making a print that showed all of the laundry that Snow White would have to do if she moved in with the dwarves. Brooke eventually talked me out of an underwear-based design (she is often the voice of reason) and Denyse was the one that thought that Snow's bra and undies would likely have little apples on them. 

and then, of course, I realized that the underwear would only make sense if they showed up in the print as well. 

It was well past deadline when I realized that I still had a weeks worth of work trying to get the repeat to look right, so I put the group on hold. I can't say for sure that Snow White will end up on fabric, but I think you will likely see her again.

Meantime, her underpants, along with all of that awful laundry, are now gracing Keds sneakers over at my zazzle store.

Little Cricket, Big Ego

OK, Percy has locked himself in the bathroom. He's sensitive to begin with (and a little defensive, in my opinion) so you can imagine how difficult it is for him to reconcile the fact that only five people have been able to correctly identify the four prints in which he appears. He was expecting a higher number, apparently. You should have seen him last night, sitting cross-legged in front of the computer screen, glass of rose in hand, absolutely deflated, shouting at the world in his little cricket voice. He's blaming me, of course, for not making the prize "important enough". I would like to avoid spending the rest of my day arguing with a cricket (I do have a job), so I'm upping the ante in hopes that more of you will rifle through your stashes and impress him with your vast knowledge of all things crickety.

So here goes. In addition to the custom Keds sneakers, the sampling of Far Far Away 2, and the signed copy of Weekend Sewing, I'm adding three yards of fabric from my Mendocino line. I have most prints in my own personal archive, so I'm sure we can find something that you like.

Contest rules are below, in the last three paragraphs. Good Luck! And please hurry, we only have the one bathroom.

A new logo, a new website, and a big CONTEST!

First things first. I have a new website.

Now, moving on, there is someone I want you to meet. His name is Percy and he is my new logo. He's looking right at you.

One of the things a good graphic designer will tell you when you are designing a logo is that it must, as its primary directive, appeal and have relevance to others and communicate your message, your brand. Choosing an image that has significant meaning primarily or solely to you is, at worst, an act of self sabotage, and at best, missed opportunity.

Well, just TRY telling that to Percy.

Percy is convinced that everybody loves crickets. Its hard for me to be unbiased too, I've always loved them. The old houses I grew up in were never air tight to begin with, doors and windows were left open in the summertime, and so the sound of crickets was a year-round constant, inside or out. Whenever I would visit a tidy, airtight house, the first thing I would notice was the quiet. The distinct lack of crickets. I had sort of forgotten about that, having lived in increasingly more airtight houses since, but then I stumbled across this perfect sentence and suddenly remembered.

"In China, crickets are a metaphor for summer and courage.."

The rest of the story, if you want to know more about how Percy and his friends ended up on my wall, is here.

FIND THE CRICKETS AND WIN A BIG PRIZE!

But what I'm really interested in knowing is what the rest of you think of Percy, and wether or not you have seen him before. Maybe on a fabric print past? I can think of three prints - a Munki Munki print, a Free Spirit print, and a KOKKA print - that all have crickets hidden (and not so hidden) in them. Sometimes, FYI, crickets look a little like grasshoppers.

If you can correctly name (or describe) these prints by no later than June 1st, your name will be entered into a drawing, where you will have the chance to win a pair of Keds Sneakers made from your choice of any of my past fabric prints ( a few exceptions apply, but not many!), a generous sampling of my new fabric line, Far Far Away II, and a signed copy of my book, Weekend Sewing.

But ssshhhhh! No helping! It will be more fun that way.... email your answers to me directly. Remember, I have to recieve your answers by June 1st in order to enter your name in the drawing... and good luck!



Introducing Far Far Away II

I'm so pleased to bring you this preview of my newest fabric line, Far Far Away II. I have been referring to it as "chapter 2", because it draws from the same volume of fairy tales (as the original FFA) but with some new characters and plotlines. The line officially launches for the wholesale market at Quilt Market in May, and should start showing up in specialty stores soon afterwards. If you would like information on ordering the line for your store, you can contact Lisa at Seven Islands Fabric.

The base fabric is a wonderful linen, with a natural color and slightly hand-woven texture. Its a bit heavier, a "bottom weight", if you will. Perfect for decor and heavier clothing. The line has three colorways, all of which compliment the original Far Far Away color-ways. Here they are, in no particular order: Meadow, Plum, and Aqua.