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No Photos of the Tulle Dress I’ve Been Working On!
I love posting on Twitter my projects in progress. For the last two weeks. my Twitter feed has been filled with posts about a tulle wedding dress restoration and alteration project that has been dominating my house. And by dominating, I mean that there is tulle EVERYWHERE. Many have followed along, and have been asking, begging for photos. Unfortunately, there are no photos. I took on this project as a favour for a friend (I have exited the wedding dress world for the time being for the most part), and because occasionally, I like a crazy challenge. The thing is, this is someone else’s wedding dress. Now, I am sure…
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Tell Me Your Favourite Colour Garter Giveaway
Garter #1630 is the number that I am on today as I write this post. Don’t ask me how many flowers or dresses I’ve made; I couldn’t tell you. For some reason I started writing down each garter I made, and being a bit obsessive compulsive, I couldn’t stop. If you have followed my progress, you will know these garters; I made my first one in February 1999 for a Valentine’s Day show, and they have never stopped selling. I recently opened my ribbon box to create a custom set for one of my long-term shops in San Francisco, and noticed that a ribbon order is long overdue. As I…
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and on to the next thing
If you have been following my Twitter feed lately or have visited me at Crafty Wonderland or talked to me in person recently, it is no secret that I am working on an exciting new project: CORSETS. And you may say to me, but Kirsten, you have already been making corsets for years. True, true, but these are different. These are steel boned traditional waist reducing corsets. Each has three layers of fabric, spring and spiral steel boning, and tons of handwork. My great-grandmother Bachan taught me how to sew when I was three. She hand basted everything with a needle and thread, and I thought that was totally crazy…
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Why I Am No Longer On Facebook
Some people are early adopters, I am an early abandoner. This is the blog of my business, but what follows is a personal post. It contains information that may contradict the gal you know online. That is okay. She will continue on as ever after this post. I am writing this because I have been asked too many times: Why do you hate Facebook and why did you leave? Here is the true sordid tale: It gave me pause to leave Facebook given that I had cultivated an audience there, but that audience was also the reason I felt that maintaining a presence there ate at my soul. I should…
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six and a half costume notes
Once again I was asked by Miss Lisa Degrace (if you remember the giant skirt in Flying Iron) to design costumes for her new production called Six and a Half. Her character “Lily” goes out into the world where she encounters people who could be real or apparitions. I put Lily in a red dress; in part as a reflection of her personality, and to separate her from the world she enters. Red reminds us that we are alive, and that she is alive in the land of dreams that she is traveling in. Her red contrasts her from the people she encounters who alternate in between being people, ghosts…
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Satsuma Mandarin Ice Cream
I know that this isn’t a cooking blog. Last year I received an ice cream maker for my birthday, and I have been experimenting with recipes and posting about them on Twitter. I have had many requests for recipes, so I may be posting more of the best of them here. This recipe has a quite subtle lovely flavour of fresh Satsuma mandarin with a little warmth from the Grand Marnier for a light holiday dessert treat. 1 pint (16 oz) heavy cream1 pint (16 oz) whole milk1 cup sugar4 egg yolks3 Satsuma mandarins (juiced)2 T Grand Marnier In a saucepan gently heat the milk and cream. Whisk in sugar,…
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vintage slip
after weeks/years of “too busy” and fretting over my aged wardrobe, i decided to spend the weekend making some things for myself. here is one of my finished projects: i have been enamoured of vintage slips forever. you know the ones: black taffeta, cut on the bias, great for layering or wearing on their own. i have loved many to death. the inevitable rips that are repaired and modified and repaired until the whole things is tattered and in shreds. they languish unwearable in my closet, because i cannot bear to throw them away. whenever i go to vintage or thrift stores, i am constantly on the lookout for a…
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LAST DAY
SATURDAY 7 AUGUST IS MY LAST DAY AT 323 NW 6th we will be open from 12-6 yes, in all caps. come by, take away some sample pieces at amazing prices. and if you come to view this post afterwards, here’s what is happening (until you hear otherwise). i am NOT going out of business. what i am doing is taking a bit of time to regroup, and focus. first up: my wholesale and online etsy store will continue as usual. there will be a couple of days where i won’t ship (monday and tuesday 9-10 august), but after that i will certainly be filling orders on time as always.…
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i am slow.
or at least i feel like i am slow. in actuality, i am pulled in too many directions, so something is always left to the wayside. in this case it is my blog. i have had many people comment that i haven’t posted in a long time, and that would be right. my convoluted sense of how things have to be done has led to a strange list of conditions i put on myself when it comes to posting here. the first one of them is photos. i am an awful photographer. you might disagree with this until i tell you that i don’t take many of my own photos.…
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december craft show madness or how much is too much?
this is the state of my floor as i prepare for shows 2 and 3 of this weekend. since friday: 50 feather hairpins (3rd photo, some sold) 10 feather pieces (added to the pile in the 2nd photo), several plain flowers (lost count of how many), goodies and coupons for sunday’s handmade nw formal show, organizing the vendors for the p:ear show next weekend, and probably more, but i can’t remember. my mantra for getting everything done, and it’s working: one thing at a time from start to finish. here is the short list of shows: 12.5 Sunnyside Environmental School Holiday Bazaar 11a-4p 3421 SE Salmon Street to raise funds…