Art Hoppin' to the Fashion Extravaganza

This just in -

Mountain Ash Design will have a stall at the Fashion & Accessories Extravaganza on Pine Street in Burlington, VT as part of the annual South End Art Hop on September 19th.

This is a great opportunity for me. While on my recent vacation I had some inspired visions of fashion tops I can make by repurposing button-down shirts and choice vintage pieces. It's been somewhat of a psychological (and psychosocial, as my spell check suggested?) obstacle for me to get over these past years - moving into actual fashion design. But it's actually what I've always wanted to do. Three years ago when I decided to start this business with just the HotHolders on deck I was very curious to see how the creative aspect would unfold for me and what I would end up making over time. I've gotten a very enthusiastic and encouraging response from the skirts I've been making this summer (seen here on Colee. I had the pleasure of seeing her in this skirt often during our joint vacation).

I'm excited to gauge feedback from a fashion-centric audience at this event, and to network with the other Vermont designers there. Vending hours at the Art Hop Fashion and Accessories Extravaganza in the SEABA tent will b from 9:30 - 3:30 on Sept 19th, followed by fashions shows in the same tent at 5:30 and 7:00. Hope to see you there!

a working vacation

...but not too much.

I've been away on vacation and spending a few strenuous days putting up the huge string bean harvest that demanded our attention when we got home.

I had a warm, relaxing time in the sun with many of my favorite people on my recent family vacation in Maine. The warmth and sun are significant to me as a Vermonter. We hadn't had two days of warm sunny weather strung together before the second week of August (or so it seemed). It was as if Summer finally arrived once we were on our trip and it didn't let up the entire time. Thank you, Sun Gods!! I promise you many more sun salutations in the future!

While on my annual trip to mid-coastal Maine I spend an afternoon or so on a quest for vintage and thrifted fabrics I can use in my creations. Here are some interesting pieces I scored.


The two on the bottom and left could possibly be for belts, clothespin bags. The two on the top and right for new fashion tops I am dreaming up.

Maybe for aprons, linings for apron bibs...


This is only a portion of the bean harvest, maybe about half or less even.

Basic supplies for dilly beans. (I didn't cook them on the wood stove.) We also froze several quarts (not dillied).

Some finished jars. Well, they aren't really finished until they've had a couple weeks to pickle. Can't wait to taste them then. A few jars in this batch were mixed veggies the kids put together.

VBQ on Aedriel Original

My Custom Virtuous Baby Quilts are featured on Aedriel Original.


Cool! Thanks, Aedriel! I love her plates. Have a look here.

Dearest Dad

I'm off this weekend to the biggest show of my sewing career to date, Art In The Park, produced by the Chaffee Art Center in Rutland, Vermont. The forecast is...not horrible. I always enjoy getting to spend all day outside at a vending event, interacting with the public, getting direct feedback about my goods, getting to know other artists. On Monday, I'm headed to Maine for a much anticipated extended family vacation for 10 days. Ahhh...


No pics to illustrate this craft fair (yet) but here's my adorable father in my kitchen on a recent visit from my parents. I put him on strawberry-rhubarb crisp duty. When he asked for an apron the natural choice was this rock&roll/vintage-y number custom made for me by my Etsy mentor, Joan Strohl of momomadeit.

Competent, cheery men in the kitchen - a beautiful scene we should all see every day. If only I could get Richard to wear a girly apron...
That's a bucket of raw honey on the floor behind Richard, from Honey Gardens Apiaries. We LOVE all of their products.

Etsy spreading more MAD love

Etsy, there you go again spreading the MAD love. This time of the organic cotton batted Virtuous Baby Quilt variety. Thank you.





This quilt of mine was featured in yesterday's daily Etsy shopping guide with a "Light and Sweet" theme that also includes stuffies, shnazzy men's and women's apparel (and lace-trimmed panties), a baby sling fit for a dad, and so much more unique handmade-in-the-USA goodness.



And that's not all. My billfold was included in this sweet Farmers Market themed treasury by Etsy seller MissMooseDesign. It's made from a repurposed gingham shirt and one of my favorite vintage fabrics ever: a smashing 70s print of fruits and veggies in somewhat odd colors with wonderful thin black lines. So glad others appreciate it too. And the farmers market is a great theme!

minor celebrity dons MAD apron for the camera

Okay, Etsy certainly has it's drawbacks, like the fact that it is so swamped with sellers that one must relist constantly to get noticed during customer searches. But the cool thing is that lots of interesting folks do search around Etsy and I've been "discovered" by store buyers, creative xmas card creators, book writers (stay tuned for upcoming post about this) and even Minor Celebrities!

Yes, Tracy Metro (ever heard of her? Nope, I hadn't either, but what a great name, huh?) asked if she could wear one of my aprons during filming of her new cooking show and here are some pics she just sent me. She's pretty adorable. And she's a green fashionista and eco-crafter in her own right.

Nice cabinets, too.

Outdoor Lovers Apron

Items from my etsy shop have appeared in a couple of recent treasuries, including this one full of beautiful warm-toned handmade items:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=68934

skirts!

This is a whole new market for me. And an opportunity to employ a somewhat different aesthetic to my fabric combinations. Different combos seem to occur to me for actual apparel than for aprons. This a a wrap skirt style I am trying out. LONG ties to wrap around a couple times and meet in the back to make a big apron-inspired bow.

To be honest, all the skirt styles I am trying are directly influenced by my concept about aprons. Big surprise there, huh?

Here's a two-piece style. One back panel that discretely ties in the front with light twill tape. The front panel is very apron-like and ties in the back with a big bow.

The two panel overlap at the sides.

I made this one just for me, with an attached apron made from part of a vintage tablecloth.

Skirts ready to bring to market. I sold several of these yesterday in Lyndonville. The bird ones are especially going fast! I may have to buy another bolt.

Enjoy looking! Next stop: My first trunk sale on July 11 in Burlington. I'll be set up on the sidewalk on Cherry Street near Penny Cluse, warmly hosted by Heather Beal and The Clothing Line. Please come by and say hello!

Summer into Fall vending schedule

Where will I be this summer? In my workshop, in the garden, enjoying my beautiful rural neighborhood with my family, friends, and dearest dog, Blacky, some traveling to other beautiful locales to be with family.

And (let's be realistic now)... at the computer.

But many of the highlights of my summer will be on the weekends when I get to interact with the public from the Mountain Ash Design stall at farmers markets, street festivals, and craft fairs. I love these events, the creative growers and artists who are their main draw, and being part of the festive vibe.

If you can't make it to one of these outdoor events in the lovely Green Mountain State (plus nearby Hanover, NH), I am participating in an on-line craft fair right now until July 11.
It's at i heart handmade and you can visit my stall and even say hello here.

otherwise, here's my schedule:

June 27 Norwich Farmers Market
July 4 Burklyn Arts Council Craft Fair, Lyndonville VT
July 11 Trunk Show @ The Clothing Line, Burlington VT
July 18 Hanover Street Festival
Aug 1 Burlington Artist Market
Aug 8&9 Art In The Park, Rutland VT

Aug 29 Burlington Artist Market
Sept 5&6 Mad River Valley Craft Fair
Sept 12 Art Hop Fashion & Accessories Tent, Pine Street, Burlington, VT

Sept 26 Norwich Farmers Market

That's all (WHEW!).

If you visit the Artist Market in City Hall Park in Burlington be sure to look in the alley between City Hall and The Firehouse. There might be artists tucked away in there, including yours truly.

these apron and skirt photos were all taken by my very talented 11-year-old daughter

Tie One On

Great article on apron wearing, both in and out of the kitchen, by Suzanne Podhaizer of Seven Days. I am widely quoted, and it features this sassy/adorable picture of my friend Rachel from The Bobbin Sew Bar + Craft Lounge.
Click here to read!

Talking Kitchen Fashion with Suzanne Podhaizer

This is the apron I wear on a daily basis at home. Here I am looking a bit tough with one of my cast iron frying pans. I took this picture for contrast after taking my make-up off from a particularly girly photo shoot (see below) in March. This apron was an experimental cut with the skirt shaped at the hips. It was one of two aprons I made from one red gingham dress. The bib was the front top of the dress. I took the buttons off and sewed the two front halves together. It is trimmed at the waist with one of my favorite Denyse Shmidt vintage-inspired Flea Market Fancy prints in a cheerful spring green plus a dark, dark shirt collar.


Suzanne Podhaizer, who write about food for Seven Days, got in touch with me today. She's writing about kitchen fashion. We have a phone interview scheduled for tomorrow, but she gave me a couple questions to think about. The words just started flowing so I thought I'd share them here:

How did you get into kitchen fashion?

I've always loved working with fabric. I was also very interested in fashion design when I started. Then I got into quilting. I was making small crazy quilts by putting together all the fabrics I loved into one piece, but I ended up thinking they were ugly, too chaotic. I gave myself the aesthetic challenge of combining just two fabrics in a way that was really dynamic, or wonderfully harmonious to the point that the fabrics really hum together: not boring.

I’ve always been stuck on making objects that have a practical purpose (i.e. I’ve never made a quilt with the intention that it be hung on a wall and not used for warmth on a bed). I think the object is appreciated more and on many more levels when it can be a useful tool or add comfort in everyday life.

So I started making potholders out of two fabrics only about 15 years ago as this aesthetic exercise and giving them away mostly. I was working with vintage fabrics, old bark cloth, interesting prints that were obviously from a different time period and combining them in unusual ways. I started selling HotHolders as a business 3 years ago. My customers have been most drawn to the ones with characters on them: firemen, kittens, owls, day of the dead skeletons, and the pin-ups, so that’s what I make mostly now.

I’ve also always loved aprons. My aprons came about as a marriage of my interest in fashion and the kind of quilt-appropriate fabrics I’m drawn to working with plus my desire to make helpful, attractive objects used in everyday life. I’ve met a lot of women who didn’t grow up using aprons, or their mothers didn’t, but I did. We had a drawer of aprons made by my grandmother, who was born in 1898. It’s not that I’m out to promote a women’s-place-is-in-the-kitchen agenda. Food preparation and clean-up and laundry are inevitable facts of life for most people. When I tie on an apron, I feel purposeful and organized, and they protect my nice clothes. If I feel cute wearing my apron, I’m enjoying my tasks more.

Meanwhile my family life has become more and more food centric over the years. My husband of 15 years and I have always had vegetable gardens, and they have grown every year. We raised lamb for a few years and started raising meat chickens about 10 years ago. It got to a point a few years ago that most of our meals were comprised of food we had grown ourselves. I’d say 70% of what my family of 4 eats year round is from our own land. The stance I have while preparing a meal is less of drudgery and more of profound gratitude and celebration. Tying on the apron to set about making the evening meal is a little ritual, marking a shift in the day away from my work-for-money and towards the task of nourishing my family with food I feel so incredibly appreciative to have available to me. Preparing a meal feels special to me, and having a business making special tools to aid other people in their culinary adventures feels appropriate.

Stay tuned for Suzanne's article on kitchen fashion in her food column in an upcoming issue of Seven Days. Of all the regular columns, I can be most relied upon to read hers, plus the "Side Dishes." Oh, and Mistress Maeve, who is always right on!