Let's run away together.

We just got lovely pictures from Jenny's San Francisco elopement. She's wearing Thread's "Liddy" minidress in ivory duchess satin. So fresh and pretty--I think the dashes of lipstick red are genius. Congratulations, Jenny.

Thistledown dress.

A new one for the shop...white silk shantung with pinked ruffles. I do love this little dress--for a rehearsal dinner or a dash to the courthouse...

New boleros in the etsy shop...

Finally!

silverfeatherflower.

I'm back in town, and whipping up a few little accessories--this one's my current favorite. Silver vintage velvet millinery flower, silk tulle, birdcage veiling, feathers, pearls.

Gingham getaway.

It's nice to have new things before I go on a trip--little soaps and shampoos, a new book to read, music I've just discovered. Fresh supplies give each journey a unique scent and sound. I stitched up this little top so I can have something new to wear when I'm traveling next week (undisclosed location--no internet or email!). Gingham linen. See you in a few.

Little Shrug on the Prairie.

Kirsten gave me her mother's prairie-style lace and cotton wedding dress to see what I could make of it...
...so I made this little guy. The front is made from the dress bodice, which had lace panels and pintuck pleats. The ruffle collar came from the sash ties, the cap sleeves from the deep Victorian cuffs of the original long sleeves.
The back was made from the skirt of the dress. I poached a little extra lace from elsewhere on the dress to spice it up. And it needed a few little shell buttons, I think.

Checks, dots.

Swiss dot hair accessory and a handful of corsages for Brittany--her bridesmaids are wearing green check skirts, so I thought it would be nice to bring in a fresh bit of gingham. The swiss dot echoes the trim on her dress--can't wait for wedding photos so I can show you that one!

Let the games begin.

I love this time of year, when wedding pictures start to make their way back to me. Stephanie and I never met in person, but we worked together on a custom organza "Dreamland" bolero for her beach wedding.
Isn't she a dish? Oh, and he looks nice, too. Thanks, Stephanie!

For Chelsea, Forever Ago

Chelsea is a talented floral designer, stylist and all-around tastemaker whose fresh and inspiring blog, frolic!, is a daily read for me. She and I collaborated on a photo shoot recently, and I can't gush enough about the styling job she did. I marveled at her ability to take my inarticulate mumblings about what I was going for, and turn them into such a pretty story. The least I could do to thank her is make her this dress:


It's a riff on something she mentioned liking, made up in my current fabric favorite--grey striped linen. I think she needs to wear this dress to the farmer's market. Wicker basket not included. But then, being Chelsea, I'm pretty sure she has the perfect one already.

Slipper satin - saved!

I'm terribly excited about this dress redesign for Leila. The original dress, her grandmother-in-law-to-be's (still with me?), was also worn by her future mother-in-law for her own wedding. Leila wanted to honor tradition, but it was soooo much dress. It had a high neckline, billowy leg of mutton sleeves with lace cuffs, a peaked 1930s waistline, gathered skirt, and truly the longest train I have ever seen. The whole dress was made from drop-dead glamorous slipper satin, and it weighed about 10 pounds.

What I did: dropped the lace neckline and bound it with a narrow bias strip of the satin. Recut an A-line skirt from two of the original skirt panels. Fashioned a new waistband from the leftovers. Made fluttery lace sleeves from the cuffs. Abbreviated the train by about 6 feet. Reattached the original covered buttons and loops. Made a modern dress out of a retro relic. Hurrah!

Bright, joyous, flowerlike.

Ruffle bolero and custom dress embellishment for Kate. Organza, lace, tulle, vintage millinery flowers, pearls, petals, treasures.

Forecast: sunny with a chance of burlap

Still recovering from Sunday night's Forecast fashion show (hosted by the Portland Mercury). Thanks loads to lovely models Ari, Amber, Bree and Rachel. Extra gratitude goes to Amber, who cheerfully endured the scratchiness of this burlap beauty:
Those are Stumptown coffee bags, in case you're wondering. 100% organic!

I love all my brides equally...

...and then there's Alli. When Alli came to me with her amazing dress idea, I was so excited...this is truly my dream design. Cupcake meets collage. Ruching and ruffles and lacy loop-de-loops...piled over floating layers of organza and taffeta...
SO much fun. And yes, many, many hours with the needle and thread. But to see this girl strike a pose in her perfect party dress, it was worth every stitch. Thanks, Alli (and her lovely mom, Zoe), for choosing me for such a special project. I had a blast.

First proof.

A first look at the photo shoot I did yesterday with a pretty amazing dream team: photographer Lisa Warninger, stylist Chelsea Fuss, accessory designer extraordinaire Myra Callan (of Twigs & Honey), and model Anna Adams (also to be thanked: the Ace Hotel for letting us strew our old books and paper scraps and wire baskets and bits of lace and spools of twine and silver teacups and blown roses every which where). I so often feel like I don't have time to schedule photo shoots (so much coordination--so many moving parts), but I'm SO glad I took the time to look up from my needle and thread to work with these amazing ladies and give my dresses a chance at their close-up. More to come!

My Campari Safari.

First, let me say that "Campari" is not an easy color to nail. Too red and you get cheap lipstick crimson, too pink and it's prom fuchsia fantasia. Also, finding a textile that will suggest the color of a liquid is nearly impossible.

That is, until you consider silk organza.
Probably my favorite fabric of all time, a silk that's weightlessly sheer, gauzy and romantic, but also vivid, crisp and full of attitude. Organza has snap. Organza has dash.

Campari-colored V neck silk organza party dress with wrap sash, full skirt and deep hem. For Clara's 30th. Bottoms up!

Citron Pressé

I'm color-obsessed in general and yellow-obsessed in particular. But with a new year and a new spring, I think it's time to retire (temporarily) the shot-of-citrus screaming-meanies yellow of my past. So I have a new love--that cloudy, custardy, sourish, old-fashioned pale yellow--the perfect tart yellow of French lemonade. And what's Frenchier, fresher, and more lemony than a ticking stripe? I messed around with the color in Photoshop for way too long, trying (failing) to get the color just right. You know what I mean. It's the new yellow. And it's delicious.

A light refresher.

Trusty shop assistant Clara has a big birthday coming up, and I've promised to make her birthday dress (okay, I basically begged her to let me make her birthday dress). On one of her recent trips to Rwanda, she picked up a sixer of pre-mixed Campari and soda in the Kigali airport. When she got back she bestowed a bottle to me. You know where this is going. I've decided her dress has to (has to) be the color of Campari. Do you love this color as much as I do? Not red, not orange, not pink...and yet, all of those things. Playful, charming, and a bit effervescent--just like Clara. Now, off to find fabric...