luxe

okay, so i got a bunch of books from amazon, a BUNCH and can you believe it…they are all fantastic. i looked at people’s opinions on amazon and i am really impressed. i got this book, the starving artist’s way which came out a few years ago and i hadn’t heard of…have you? anyway, for the art school nerds out there, this book is so cute, for anyone, but it has little blurbs about practically all of my favorite artists and her take on their art as used in decorating, stuff for your home, furniture, and even some really cool recipes, like mole chocolate and chocolate peanut butter cubes and pierogie grilled sandwiches. cool? the only downfall is that there are no photos, you know how i feel about that, however, the website has all kinds of stuff on it that makes it not such a big deal. the book looks like it is written on kraft paper which cracks me up, too. 2 paws up! really cool. additionally, the auther, nava lubelski is a rather accomplished artist that i hadn’t heard of because i no longer keep up on modern fine art, whatever that is, really, but her stuff is incredible. it has lots of crochet and embroidery. really textural and it really speaks to me. it has a really familiar feel to it, like she is my sister or something. i get that feeling about people and their work now and then, it is really odd. so i immediately looked her up and shot her an email. i hope her publisher will do another push for the book, or put it out again, because i think that the diy craft movement has gained so much momentum since 2004 when the book came out that i think it could really go. i am still stunned that i have never heard of it before. anyway, any crafty book that mention the velvet underground, lucien freud, louise b, josheph beuys, frida, paul klee, mark rothko and virtually every other artist that i hold dear, is a go with me. so buy it, it is cheap on amazon.

what else? well, i got sew u the built by wendy guide to making your own wardrobe. it has all of the basics up to advanced projects, and has all of the equipment you need, how to store things, tons of tips and tricks and from my perusal so far, seems really well laid out. the projects build in complexity and each project shows the initial plan with a drawing over the top of it showing what you are adding or omitting. i am a very visual learner, so this is a good thing for me. it also has paper patterns for a basic a-line skirt, a blouse and a pair of pants and then variations on each of those. i like that a lot. okay. next book? i know, i got a lot, but they were at really low prices and i got the free amazon shipping. i got this book new for 18 bucks. it would be 26 bucks plus tax if i bought it at my local bookshop. not too shabby!

next, sew what! skirts which has 16 skirt patterns that are really pretty and straightforward with lots of possibilities to change em up. it seems like you could make pretty much any skirt once you got this figured out. and again, that is how i learn, i am really bad at blindly following steps, i have to understand the whole process, so these books look like they will be perfect. here’s one of the cute skirts from this book:

moving along, generation t one of the tshirt deconstruction books. actually, one of the only ones that got good reviews. the other ones seemed more geared towards teenaged kids or younger. this one has a lot of really cute things that i would wear. there are some bikini and halter tops that are a bit more skin baring than i could do, but if you added some length to a lot of the designs it would be really cute. also, in the patterns, they use pretty much nothing but tshirts, and a lot of the designs would be amazing with other fabrics added in, or just using other fabrics in general. i love the idea of using really cheap fabric and tshirts to learn to sew and actually have cute summer clothes. here is a top i really like… also, thissy skirt… and there is a super cute wrap top, too. seriously, lots of things i would make and wear. oh, and on amazon, i paid around 10 bucks for this book new! at the end of the book is the big finale…a tshirt wedding dress! and it is very pretty, too!

next up, tshirt makeovers which is fairly new i think. here is one from there… and this cute top…
the projects are rated for difficulty, but they are actually very fresh ideas, unlike most of the tshirt books that are just a cut up tshirt and look like a cut up tshirt. some of the tops are skimpy, but i think with length added and maybe some other fabrics added, they could work for most anyone. which is very exciting to me. i may start to get excited about clothes again! i have desperately wanted to design and make my own clothes since i can remember, but had sort of an irrational fear of doing it any way but with a needle and thread. the complexity of patterns and my inability to follow directions blindly also freaked me out. so these new books are so exciting, in case you haven’t figured that out.

i actually got a lot done today, although i feel crummy all of a sudden. i had a very hard time getting out of bed this morning, but once i got up and going, i felt okay. i got orders packed, i dyed a bunch of fiber yesterday, so i braided those, rinsed another batch and dyed a cashmere sweater for a client. the color came out brighter than planned, but it is pretty and looks even from what i can tell. i will post it, although i should have posted a before. it was an oatmeal color before. i did a bit of spinning, caught up on some phone calls i needed to make, realized that my dentist appointment was today not to-morrow. sigh. cooked up some dinner, hung out with jake and attempted to upload photos to flickr, which has been giving me lots of issues and then realized that the flickr uploader for mac is really rather good. you can tag and label everything ahead of time which is pretty cool. but i feel queasy and pre-migrainish so i will finish up here and take a shower.

before i go, some things i have been working on…

and i have some softy patterns i am working on if you wann look at my flickr. oh, and also the new dyed fibers. i will be listing them soon, but if you see something you like, let me know and i will put it aside for ya.

oh, and shannon, aka knitgrrl will be visiting this weekend and i get to see her new louet victoria!! woot woot!

xo
n.