More Fun

"I got married in a T-shirt wedding dress"

…so read the subject of a recent email. I eagerly opened the email from Molly, a DIY lady who recently got hitched by the lake. Her husband had gotten a copy of Generation T for her for Christmas before they married. She loved the wedding dress idea (Tying the Knot, project #108) and decided to use the skirt pattern for the bottom of her dress. She paired it with a different top from the book (Bow Me Over, project #39), tie-dyed the skirt, went to the lake, and got married in a T-shirt wedding dress. Congrats to Molly and her beau–and thanks for sending a photo!

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[ 3 Comments | Posted on September 5th, 2008 ]

Events

Brooklyn Flea

Green Glass from Brooklyn Flea

Mr. T and I finally made it to this weekend’s Brooklyn Flea-and the inaugural scavenger hunt! The rules are simple: If you find one of the three posted items first, you get to keep it. For free! Needless to say, we were not very good scavengers that day, mostly because we were so distracted by everything there was to see. We explored every tent, every alley, sampled the oh-so-delicious Mexican street ices (cucumber jalapeño and blueberry mint…mmm!). And we walked away with some treasures of our own:

  1. A beautiful green glass jar to sit next to our Exide battery jar (originally known and used as a “Voltaic Accumulator”), above.
  2. Buttons – I can’t resist them! Some I bought to add to a vintage coat, some I’ll add to a new hat that needs some embellishing, and the last two I think will make charming rings. (I’ll keep you posted…)
  3. A necklace with colorful glass teardrops hanging from three intricate chains.

Okay, so most of the treasures were for me-but Mr. T played wingman as I did my best negotiating!

While we were there, we stopped in to say hello to our friends Amy and Jae, the delightful proprietors of Greenjeans “libre”. Check out Amy’s blog to get to know what they’re all about!

We’ll definitely be back soon-we like a good game of hide and seek, and want to test our skills on the next scavenger hunt! Click for more information on the Brooklyn Flea.

[ Comments Off on Brooklyn Flea ]

Other Projects

If you build it…

Lately I’ve been decorating my non-existent studio. In my mind, it’s quite a darling space-high ceilings, white walls I can decorate with bold-colored posters and framed fabrics, huge windows that let in lots of natural light, and with enough room to decoratively display my growing collection of vintage sewing machines and typewriters. And though this space has yet to be discovered (by me, at least – let me know if you’ve seen it!), I’ve strangely been “gathering” items to go in it. A poster from the London Design Museum. A drafting table from a friend’s sidewalk sale. My pop-art Frida prints. The vintage globe from eBay. The mica lampshade from Florida (I love lamp?)…

Oh, a girl can dream…but for now, I make do using the floor of our small apartment, swapping out my laptop from our shared desk to make room for the sewing machine on the occasion that there’s a pair of pants to hem or a T-shirt to refashion!

What does your dream studio look like? And ooh, let’s make this desert-island-y: If you were stranded in your magnificent design/work studio, what three items would you have with you?

[ 6 Comments | Posted on June 12th, 2008 ]

Other Projects

Stitch It

Let me preface this by saying that I first learned embroidery when I was seven–my mom taught me some basics and I stitched the outlines of a few white clouds on a sky-blue pillowcase. During my tween years, I laid down that thick embroidery needle to pursue embroidery floss in a new way: macramé friendship bracelets and hair wraps. It wasn’t until I took a class with Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching a few years ago that I really got back in the game. I made a Day of the Dead sampler in the class and immediately set to embroidering two ties for my brother (with his band’s logo) and dad (with the golden ratio) for Christmas that year.

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In any case, I’ve had to wait to post this, my most recent DIY project, so I didn’t spoil the surprise. Mr. T turned 30 today and I finally got to share the project that, with more than a few setbacks, took me more than a year to make. It started as a Christmas present, then was pushed to an anniversary present, then a (29th) birthday present, then a wedding present, then back to Christmas, anniversary, and finally…birthday! Mr. T loves to cook-he likes to chop and mix ingredients like I like to cut and sew. But he doesn’t have an apron…and you know I can’t settle for just a plain old apron. So I thought: What does an English-teaching food-lover need from such a garment (besides keeping his clothes splatter free)? Combining his love of syntax and symbolism with his love of sautéing and seasoning, I set out to find quotations from some of his favorite writers and chefs on the subject of food, eating, dining, cooking, and other related exploits, and freehand embroider them across the bottom of the apron. Whew, did I ever bite off more than I could chew! (So to speak.)

But here it is, already complete with some sauce splatters, and despite the blisters on my fingers, I’m quite proud!

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[ 7 Comments | Posted on March 28th, 2008 ]

Media

Current TV

Here’s a video from my artist-in-residency at Garanti Gallery in Istanbul, Turkey. The program, part of the show “Hackers and Haute Couture Heretics” was organized by Otto von Busch as part of his doctoral work. Each week a new artist or group of artists turned the gallery into a craft lab with workshops in fashion upcycling, hacking, engineering, and more.


[ Comments Off on Current TV | Posted on January 18th, 2008 ]

Other Projects

Happy Valentine's Day!

My neighbor recently invited me to a “Panty Exchange Party” for Valentine’s Day–where every guest is secretly assigned to another guest in advance of the party, sizes are exchanged, underwear style preferences are shared (thong, brief, boyshort), and the rules are laid: each guest brings two pairs of underwear for their assignee, one “sassy” and one “sweet”. For sassy, I found a nice lacey pair to gift, for sweet, I bought a pair of plain cotton undies from American Apparel and embroidered her name on them! (Apologies for the bad lighting in the photo, the undies are pale yellow with eggplant embroidery floss for the cursive and avocado green for the flower.)

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If you’re interested in throwing your own underwear exchange party (sorry, the word “panty” has the tendency to make me cringe a little), here’s how:

About two weeks in advance, email everyone (for comfort, start with ladies only!) who you’d like to participate to see who’s game. When they respond, make sure they include their underwear size and style preference . Once you have a complete list, invite a third party (someone who’s not participating) to act as the moderator: She draws the names and creates the secret matches (you should only know the name of the person you draw, not the person who draws you), then emails each party participant at least a week in advance so everyone has ample time to purchase, make, or decorate her two pairs of undies. On game day, wrap your two gifts with the recipient’s name on them. One person starts by opening her gift, and tries to guess who it’s from!

[ Comments Off on Happy Valentine's Day! | Posted on February 14th, 2007 ]

Adventures

Renegade Chicago

Here are some pics from in and around the booth this past weekend at Chicago Renegade. Thanks everyone who came out to the Tee Party! Some Broken-hearted tees (project #2):

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Emma made a T-bird halter (project #47) with her mom and two BFFs made Comfort Corsets (project #7):

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And here’s the Tee Party booth, homemade banner and all!

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[ Comments Off on Renegade Chicago | Posted on September 19th, 2006 ]

More Fun, Other Projects

Making the Banner

In preparation for the Renegade Craft Fair (September 16 and 17), I made this banner in the back courtyard (every booth needs a proper banner!). To make the stencil, I enlarged the font, printed it on multiple sheets of paper and taped them together in sequence. I carefully cut around the edges of the letters using a craft knife, removing the inner letter.  I laid the stencil over the white fabric and weighted it down on the corners. I sprayed a light coat of red paint over the letters and black around the edges (the outer edge of the stencil provided a clean edge). After the paint was fully dried, I carefully peeled away the stencil to reveal “Generation T.” Ta-da!

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[ Comments Off on Making the Banner | Posted on September 8th, 2006 ]

Media

Uncommon Threads

This week, my sisters and I flew out to California to film two episodes for the DIY Network’s show Uncommon Threads hosted by Alison Whitlock. We refashioned seven white T-shirts into a wedding dress (Tying the Knot, project #108), which will premiere next January 2… Here’s Ariana wearing the dress against the green screen.

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And here we all are (Sophie’s holding the bouquet made with T-shirt rosebuds, project #90 Nip It in the Bud).

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And we refashioned T-shirts into a sleeping bag stuff sack, a Road Trip skirt (project #64, which Sophie is wearing in the group photo below), and car mats for an On the Road segment.

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Thanks to our pals over at Campfire Goods for donating many of the T-shirts we used in the segments!

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[ Comments Off on Uncommon Threads | Posted on August 16th, 2006 ]

Media

Good Day New York!

Happy Fourth of July! The folks at Good Day New York had me back for a beach-themed Tee Party. Bikinis and tank tops and beach blankets, oh my!

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[ Comments Off on Good Day New York! | Posted on July 4th, 2006 ]