Winter Spring Design Camp Classes!

Made-by-Kids Holiday Sale!

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Fall and Winter Design Camp

Camp Prescott for Dolls!

This may be the first ever sleep-away camp for dolls!
Two of the campers that attended my 18" doll camp put this wonderful camp together (they are under the ages of 13 by the way!) I think this is one of the best ideas I've ever seen - kids or adults! Of course dolls need time away from their human families and a little R & R - we have two going from our house hold.
They have great activities planned - cooking, horseback riding, kayaking, crafts - and a bus with specially designed safety seats that will pick them up and bring them to camp. The camp is five days and four nights for the most excellent price of $12 (if you have a second doll it is discounted at $10)
I can't wait to see the photos!

Designs for Lucy Activewear

The first print designs I drew for Lucy are in the stores now! I am really excited about how they came out. I can't wait to see the other stuff I worked on. Here are a few of pieces shown on their website

Design Camp Back to School Collection!

Three of the young designers wearing their designs!

A group shot after our fashion show last Friday!

What a fun camp! Monday we were briefed by the Apparel Trend Director of Fred Meyer Stores on the trends for Back to School. She told us the trends that were "in" were babydoll tops with vests and leggings, big buttons, and bright colors. She made us some great trend boards, and after she left, the kids designed their outfits, took their measurements and chose their fabrics.
The rest of the week was dedicated to creating the outfits - all the kids made at least two garments, some made three, and everyone had an outfit to wear at the fashion show on Friday!
All the campers agreed that making clothes from a piece of fabric was a new and exciting experience.

Design Camp Session 5 added!

OPEN HOUSE!

Doll Camp a Success!

Making doll clothes this week was so much fun! All the campers finished a skirt, kerchiefs, pants, and a top for their dolls and then wrote and performed plays with their fashionable designs on the last day.
I had so much fun working out the formulas for the patterns that I am inspired to draw them and post them here.
We are off to see the new Kit movie to celebrate.

Doll Camp Day 1

My campers had no idea that Doll Camp was actually going to be Math Camp! All my campers learned how to use a measuring tape today and figure out the measurements for their dolls. Then they calculated those measurements for tiered skirts and made patterns. Whew! It was a day of patience and concentration. I am so proud of them!

DIY Camp Denim Etc. Projects

Last day of camp was today. We spent the last two days working on denim projects, cutting up jeans and pants and making them into skirts and bags. The creative juices were flowing! We worked on embellishing our designs after we finished them. Bob did a cool demo - he drew with the tailor's wax as a resist and then used the fabric spray paint to create cool images. The kids dug it and he drew pictures for all of them.
The last day I challenged them to use all the scraps in the scrap baskets to make monsters. I told them any scraps left I would sew onto their clothes. A few of them weren't sure if I was kidding or not!
It was a great week. Up next, 18" doll clothes camp. Meanwhile I will be drawing like mad to finish up some projects I have in the works.

DIY Camp Pillowcase Projects

I have the best summer job ever -- teaching kids how to make clothes! This week has been a blast! Tuesday we re-purposed pillowcases into tops, skirts, bags, and a baby dress. The kids got to sew by hand and on a machine, some for the first time... They learned how to make a casing with elastic pulled through it, measure an outseam, and best of all they got to experience what it feels like to wear something they made themselves. Pretty cool!

I took my daughter to the drug store to get ponytail holders so she could show me the idea she had for making straps for her tube top. Her actual idea was even better than I initially described: I though she meant to use hair bands, when she intended to loop hair ties together to make the straps. If you look closely you can see that she sewed buttons on her top so they would be removable. Brilliant!

DIY Design Camp Day 1

What a great day! Camp was so fun! The kids were amazing and creative and enthusiastic - I feel really lucky to get to do this.
My 9 year old daughter can't fall asleep tonight because she is thinking about how to remake her clothes! She just came up to me and told me an idea for taking her fabric head bands and making them into shoulder straps for a top. Go for it!
We made garments out of a pile of random t'shirts I had. One of my favorite moments today (there were so many!) was when one camper decided to drape her design on a mannequin instead of drawing it, and when a 7-year old boy got to use the "machine with a knife!" It was also fantastic to see the kids develop their ideas and create them. I can't wait until tomorrow...

Obsessed with Lions!

I can't believe Design Camp Starts on Monday - I am super excited! The studio is almost all rearranged for Session 1, DIY camp. After a few trips to the bins, I think I have plenty of supplies. Scored a ton of cute 60's sheets and pillowcases, lots of ts and jeans, and a few bed skirts and curtains. We are going to have so much fun!
My volunteer next week is the illustrious Bob Smith (I know he has a blog, but I can't find it!) He teaches art workshops at Glencoe Elementary and is a great graphic designer. I worked with him at Nike ages ago, so it will be super fun to hang out again.

Lions are latest inspiration obsession. Here are a few lions that make me happy:

Birdcage on Apartment Therapy!

It is nice when your friends like the stuff you make. It is even nicer when they post it on Apartment Therapy! Margaret, editor of Thereby Hangs a Tale sent in this photo of frames her dad made for her and you can see one of the birdcages Tanya & I made in the corner.

Thanks Margaret!

Repeat after me...

Just happened upon Spoonflower - a little co over East that is printing digital yardage for those of us who need to have our own designs to make stuff. I am so excited about this resource, but you have to be invited right now while they are getting up and running. I really hope I make it on the list. I have a show in July and my printer here is not able to do it right now.

Amy Ruppel also told me about a great tutorial that Julia Rothman gave recently on how to make a textile repeat the old fashioned way. I found it on Design*sponge if you want to check it out. You can also do this in photoshop using the offset filter (for those of us who also do computer design)

I decided to work on some designs for Clothkits as my first project with my new Adobe CS3 software that the team over at Fred Meyer gave me. Here is one of the designs I submitted for the Clothkit contest. I was inspired by good old fashioned calligraphy. I can't wait to do more designs like these! Maybe I will go in this direction for the July Show at Garnish.

Clothkits are Cool

Do I really need another reason to wish I was British? I LOVE Clothkits! Again, while I may be late on "discovery" I am thrilled to have come across this on the Angry Chicken blog.
Here is an exerpt about Rob Ryan's skirt design Hold Me for Clothkits:
The wonderfully talented Mister Rob creates his magical shadow illustrations by snipping and cutting away. Hours and hours of painstaking work to make something that is just exquisite. This unique design has been created exclusively for Clothkits. Hand silkscreen printed in London.


Clothkits, based in Sussex, was originally set up in 1968 by Anne Kennedy.
Here is the best news of all! They are having a contest for a new design and the deadline for entry is August 1st.
Gentlemen - start your engines!

Artisan Quilts

I may be late to discover Mahar Drygoods, but better late than never! I was doing a search for something else and came across these two amazing artisan quilts they had featured in their gallery on their website. I am inspired!

Storybook Silhouettes a collaboration by Joyce Nichols and Eli Bailey

The Bohemian Forest, a collaboration by Stephanie Dosreis and Eli Bailey

Design Camp 08!

Register now for summer camps!
I am excited to announce we will have design camp at our studio this summer! These camps are open to kids ages 8-14 and there will be 4 sessions. There will be two sessions of DIY design/clothing re-dos, one session of designing for 18" dolls, and one session where you will design and make a garment ala project runway.
Click on the flyer above to get all the details.

Sunbonnet Sue

I was inspired to design an entire new fabric collection and my put together some ideas for a quilt pattern today. I am not a quilter - yet...but I am inspired from the show this past weekend and know I can come up with some cool designs!
Here is what inspires me right now: Sunbonnet Sue, Churn Dash, and the illustrations of Bertha Corbett Melcher. Enjoy!

Tall Textile Designers!

Gee Wiz - these fabric designers are tall! I'm pretty tall, but standing next to Amy Butler, Heather Bailey, and Joel Dewberry I felt like a little kid! Those guys are stuperstars - and so nice! It is cool that they are all here in Portland

Violet from Kung fu Bambini sent me a blog post that Anna Maria Horner the designer of Garden Party wanted a tour of Nike. I introduced myself to her and told her I could work that out for her. Her husband is a runner and really wants to see the grounds. They were super sweet. We talked about Nashville, where they live and they know Katy K from Ranch Dressing.

Star Struck at Fabric 2.0 Party

Its Quilt market here in PDX. Designers from all over the country are here showing there new collections for Freespirit, Michael Miller, Moda...I went to a "meet-n-greet" with Violet from Kung Fu Bambini at Oba in the Pearl Last night and met the coolest designers! When they asked me what I did I told them I was a "wanna-be" I've designed textiles for 15 years, but I've never had a line of fabrics with my name on it. I am telling the universe now - that is what I want!!!

Here is a sneak peak from a new Freespirit Designer Melissa Averinos www.yummygoods.com She had the best business card - it is printed canvas with a totally cute design to make something with. So fun!

I'm off to market now and will post about it tonight.

Star stuck for now...
m

Splashy Florals

One of my lastest obsessions are 1950's polished cotton splashy floral prints. These are so beautiful and lavish looking. I would blow them up to a huge repeat to make them look modern, and not too retro. These make me want to get out my brushes and paint.

Henny Penny Birdcages

My friend Tayna had an idea.
"Lets make birdcages out of tree branches and we can make the bases out of the tree that fell in my yard last year and felt mushrooms and squirrels and owls and birds!"
oh my!
Here are the fruits of our labours which were displayed as centerpieces at an auction and in the store windows at Henny Penny, Tanya's children's clothing store in the Pearl District in NW Portland
www.hennypennykids.com

My First Amy Ruppel!

OMG, I did it! I bought an Amy! I have a big design crush on her - well, so does everyone I know around here!

I met her at the design sponge event at DWR in the Pearl that Violet from Kung Fu Bambini and I went to. I asked Amy to donate a painting for an auction I was working on for Juvenile Diabetes and I vowed that I would save up my money to buy an original.

She said her next thing is to create fabrics. Her background is in screen printing, so I can't wait to see what she comes up with.

Check out her awesome designs on her website here
http://amyruppel.com/

Laundry Studio Prints

They create the most amazing prints at Laundry Design Studio! I was lucky enough to get to work with them on a collection of prints they premiered at PV. They are cutting edge and super talented. Here are some of the prints they feature on their website (none of these are mine though!)

Hula Mula Girls collection

We Love Hula Mula!!! It is the girls collection from the hip design team at Knuckleheads. I designed some cool vintagey prints for them including this mod houndstooth and cute anchor print

baby star debuts little dipper collection

The little dipper apparel line from babystar debuted today on their website. I collaborated with them on these modern designs and am really excited about this new collection.

Check out their collection here
www.babystar.com