May
01
Guess what, my fellow fashionistas and Project Runway-lovers? Last Saturday, I got to meet the fabulous fashion icon, Tim Gunn! Tim hosted a complimentary fashion show in Kansas City, featuring the Spring 2012 collections from Kate Spade
and Lucky Brand Jeans.
I loved all of Tim’s fashion wisdom and advice during the show. My favorite Tim tip was to make a simple outfit “wink” by adding a funky, flourescent accessory. And at this show, there were plenty of funky accessories!
Astroturf bag by Kate Spade:
Straw hat with convenient built-in sunglasses:
Make a simple outfit “wink” by adding a fun accessory! -Tim
Everywhere I turned there was another photo opp, so of course I snapped quite a few pictures. Here are some of my favorites from the show:
I loved the great show of color in so many of the new designs!
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Feb
22
Coats & Clark is looking good for their age… This year the leader in thread and notions celebrates their 200th anniversary! Way to go!
Besides being a long-time fan of Coats & Clark, I’m excited to celebrate this major milestone because of my muse, Mary Brooks Picken. Mary worked with Coats & Clark on a number of projects during her career, beginning in the 1930‘s. She wrote booklets, helped in product development, and assisted in promotional campaigns. You could say she was something of a brand ambassador for Coats & Clark. I have quite a few pieces of her work from Coats & Clark in my Mary Brooks Picken collection, and they always serve as a great source of inspiration to me!
Mary’s connection with Coats & Clark is also the inspiration behind the Vintage-Inspired Modern Style Design Challenge — of which Coats & Clark and SINGER are sponsors. You can celebrate this history of creative collaboration by designing your own look for the chance to win threads and notions from Coats & Clark as well as a SINGER sewing machine and Indygo Junction patterns and books.
You can explore the inspiring history of Coats & Clark for yourself through their new online history museum. Did you know that in 1812— when the Clark brother opened for business— that sewing thread used to be sold in skeins, like yarn, and that the modern spool was not introduced until much later? Do you know what the “O.N.T” on vintage Clark spools stands for? Check out the history gallery to learn more, or download the history timeline PDF!
Part of my collected Coats & Clark history includes some wonderful illustrated vintage ads. Keeping the charm of the period art, I turned these images into labels or tags and now offer them on my website TheVintageWorkshop.com. This collection, plus tons of other vintage labels and ads are on the cd collection, “Sew Crafty”. You can also purchase them individually. The Vintage Workshop blog offers daily free images too! Here are two examples of the Coats & Clark cards:
Happy 200th, Coats & Clark!
Nov
11
How tech savvy are you? Social media diva? Facebook fiend? …Or maybe a little unsure of how to approach the ever-changing world of online networking?
You might think that social media is one topic my hero, Mary Brooks Picken, doesn’t have much to say about. But think again! (more…)
Oct
24
Are you using your sewing machine to its fullest potential? So many sewers share a fear of venturing beyond those same basic stitches. You might think, for instance, that you have more control when hand stitching a small detail rather than letting your machine do the job. Sound familiar? (more…)
Oct
18
I remember when I was a little girl, I used to think that anyone my mom’s age or older was old. This included my school teacher, the mailman, baseball players, sales clerks, etc. I now have an 11 year old daughter and I am sure she sees me as old! But just as I have learned and hopefully my daughter will learn, “old” is not defined by one’s age.
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Oct
11
Do you dress to impress? Or do you dress to express? Perhaps both.
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Sep
23
If you’ve been following my blog and Facebook lately, you know that last weekend I was in St. Paul, Minnesota for the second annual gathering of The Creative Connection — a wonderful weekend of keynote speakers, workshops, panel discussions, and networking with (mostly) women entrepreneurs in the creative arts industry.
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Sep
05
If you didn’t already know, September is National Sewing Month, and I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to recognize it. Mary Brooks Picken, entrepreneur and one of America’s premiere authorities on sewing and fashion in the 20th century, has been a constant source of inspiration to me and my work. As I reflect on all that she accomplished during her career, I feel there is a new light shed on the impact that sewing has had on women’s creativity and ingenuity throughout history. Mary and the Woman’s Institute offered a platform for woman who shared a passion for sewing and needlecraft to connect. Today the American Sewing Guild and Burdastyle offer organized sewing clubs that allow for similar connections. So, in honor of Mary and this month’s occasion, here is a little history lesson of some of her contributions. (You can click the timeline below to see it at full size.) (more…)
Aug
15
It’s no secret that I greatly admire the life and work of Mary Brooks Picken. I’ve shared with you many of her words of wisdom, helpful advice, and thoughtful stories. She was constantly at work on one project or another, and had a seemingly endless well of knowledge to draw from.
One of her best and longest-lasting projects was the Fashion Dictionary, first published in 1957. (Multiple editions were published later, the latest being in 1998.) While the dictionary was not published in its complete form until later in her life, Mary started collecting individual definitions much earlier when she was a teacher at the American College of Dressmaking in Kansas City. To make sure her students were keeping up with their studies , any one was ‘fined’ if she could not remember the definition of the term the second time she was asked. With over 11,000 definitions in the dictionary, you can get an idea of Mary’s high standards as a teacher! (more…)
Jul
29
“Vintage Wisdom, Modern Voice” —I say these words a lot, but I want you to know that their sentiment comes directly from my soul. This phrase is, to me, a way of summarizing everything that I think about when I am collecting, researching, and sharing my discoveries and thoughts with you.
My passion for all things vintage is in my very being. Collecting the wonderful crafts, textiles and stories from the incredibly strong women that came before us enables me breath life into the stories and opportunities that I share with you today.
We can learn so much from the skills and talents of our mothers, grandmothers, and the women that raised them. I thank them everyday for the wonderful legacy of their home arts that they have left for us to learn from. That is the “Vintage Wisdom” that I so adore and draw from as my source of inspiration.
“Modern Voice” is taking those creative discoveries and tweaking them so that they are meaningful and relevant for today. My website, Indygo Junction, is a resource for patterns and ideas inspired from history and redesigned for today’s women.
Vintage to Modern: I found this vintage dress at an antique show, and it became the inspiration for Indygo Junction’s Day to Night Dress (IJ907)
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