Observation Point

I am writing to introduce you today to a new website by my dear friends

Gilda Davidian and Stefani Greenwood, Observation Point. A collection

of their observations, musings and photography, from what I can see so

far it looks like a pretty great site. The two are retiring their previous site

A Collection Of, but one of their last posts where they interview each

other is probably my favorite. These girls are amazing, their creativity

blows me away!  Above two photos by Stefani Greenwood, bottom
photo by Gilda Davidian.

Silk Dress

Hoping everyone had a wonderfully restful 3 day weekend. I did a 5K Foam Run!

For this weeks sewing project I used a wonderful silk crepe de chine that I found

at the crazy fabric jobber downtown. I used the pattern Built by Wendy 3964.

I wanted a dress that would be versatile for traveling. I was pretty happy with the

result. The only thing that I can say about using the silk is that the sleeves are a 

bit more floppy than those on the dress that I made from cotton.

Musee Rodin

Happy Friday! I leave you with some images from the Rodin Museum in Paris,

which was one of my first stops while I was there. I am a huge fan of his work as well 

as the work of Camille Claudel, who sculpted the piece in the last image. 

Another miscellaneous fact about me, I was once a sculpture major at art school!

Home

I found this lovely pic of Malibu Creek State Park here, and was instantly transported

to my teenage home in the Santa Monica mountains. We lived just a few minutes drive

from this location for more than 15 years. My time spent there was full of wildflower

picking, bird watching and outdoor painting and sketching. I miss it so much.

(apologies for not being able to find credit for the photo..)

Tea Dress Part 2

This weekends project is another version of the previous tea dress that I made,

this time with a more baby doll look and a white collar. I drafted the collar following the instructions

in the Built by Wendy Dresses book, and used the vintage 90's pattern Easy McCalls 5422,

which I saw on Burda Style, then quickly found online for sale. I think this is a great

silhouette, anyone looking for a cute baby doll should try this pattern.

Allo Allo

Speaking of Paris, here is a great video from Land of Nod Inc., gives you 

the feeling of having a quick trip through the city. Enjoy and happy Friday!

Aurore de la Morinerie

Above illustrations are by the very talented artist Aurore de la Morinerie. 

I was lucky enough to take an illustration class with her last summer

in Paris while I was doing The Arts of Fashion Master Class.

It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.

Check out her website here.

Beach Tunic

For this weekends project, since I was running low on time I chose an item that

had been collecting dust in my closet as a UFO. For this stripey beach tunic I

made the pattern, tracing off a garment that I had. I did not add as much sheering

around the neckline as I would have liked, but all in all I think that it came out OK.

And of course, it fits perfectly into my color palette!

These Kathleen Whitaker earrings (bought for me by my sweet beau Will)

came from the Echo Park Craft Fair, which was a lovely place to be

on a Sunday afternoon.

Echo Park Craft Fair

Happy Friday! I am super exited about the Echo Park Craft Fair happening this

weekend.

 Linens from Rachel Craven

 Flowers from Tigers to Lilies

Booties from Beatrice Valenzuela.

A Sad Good-by

It wouldn't be my blog if I didn't post about the worlds sad loss of

MCA, Adam Youch, of the Beastie Boys. Most of what I have read about his passing

fails to mention his deep spirituality which he expressed so beautifully in his music.

I found comfort from this loss and a recent familial loss as well, in the lyrics

above from his song "Flowin Prose".

The hand pic is a message from his fellow Beastie Boy, Ad Roc, Adam Horovitz

and can be found on the Beastie Boys website.

Colette Patterns Violet top No. 1015

Finally, I have made something I will wear! I highly recommend

Colette Patterns No 1015  Violet Top. Seen here unfinished, minus

buttons and a hem. The pattern was easy to use, my first time tracing

the whole pattern instead of pinning and cutting out the paper. And this

top fits perfectly into my  Colette Color Challenge Palette. Yay!

Happy Friday

Happy Friday Everyone! The pic above is from the Free People blog, I think this
dress would be a fun project to use lace. And guess what, the crazy fabric store
(mentioned below) had tuns of lace! On other fronts, this weekend apparently
will be a supermoon, the biggest full moon in 18 years. Check out my friend
Gilda and Stefani's wonderful blog A Collection Of  to learn more fun facts about it
and see their wonderful photography from the Los Angeles I'm Yours website.

Crazy Shopping

I used to make a small line of purses and handbags, and one of my
favorite things to do was shop for fabric at the jobbers in down town
LA. I would get such a high from finding  a great color and a fun lining
fabric. I decided to stop by one of my old haunts, and I was not disappointed.
I found some great lightweight cotton voiles and batistes in my color palette
colors! The place is on San Julien St. and 9th near the corner in down town LA.