Emily's yoga jacket

 

Thank you, Emily, for commissioning this purple version of the Urban Yoga jacket.  I had a great time making it especially for you and I hope you enjoy it as much! 

um... no thanks.

If I make dresses that look like this...  maybe someone would have the heart to ask me why.  And then, maybe I'd think twice about it.  At this point in my life designing clothing, I hope both of these possibilities would come to pass, but more so, I hope I never make dresses that look like this.  (One exception:  costume production).

Found this dress on the internet during random browsing...  Yes, this is a style available as a contemporary product.

All I can flatly say is, "wow."

Also, this is the first time on this blog that I am writing with a critical voice.  I'm considering not completing the post.  No, I'll go ahead and publish it as an example of what I don't do.

buying fabric

If buying fabric were easy, my job would be all play!  It's true - buying fabric is kind of agonizing for me...  It's not because I don't love fabric and wouldn't love to have all the fabric I could ever have.  The problem is 2 parts - 1. my budget is tight (tight is good for a lot of things... except my budget) and 2. there are so many choices for fabric out there awesome and awful, and I often feel I have to sift through it ALL before I find the good goods.

I'm happy to say that Pickering International, an eco-friendly and sustainable fabric supplier based out of San Fransisco made my day today!  I've been looking for sustainable and/or organic fabrics since I won the grant for $500 I said I would spend on said fabrics.... and it's been a journey.  Learning about the fabric - from bamboo, recycled plastic, hemp, organic cotton, etc. etc. has been awesome and I'm even more inspired to use the fabrics I want to use!  Finding a good supplier of these fabrics (there aren't many) was challenging, but Pickering meets my expectations and more with some beautiful fabric choices.

So, my budget is amplified by a nice grant from YES PLEASE MORE AND I've got 2 handfuls of gorgeous fabric choices!  How great to avoid sifting through too many choices of not enough quality and to be more easily able to purchase what I need! 
Yahoo!

p.s. these photos are fabric swatch images from Pickering International, Inc.'s website.  Top:  hemp/organic cotton Indigo denim, Middle: hemp/silk charmeuse, Bottom: soybean & organic cotton blend jersey