DIYStyle’s first show at NY Fashion Week was Rosa Cha (yes I will always remember THIS show–my first runway show in Bryant Park !!). He designs some of the most amazing swimwear I have seen. For Spring 2010, they showed lots of lattice work, exposed zips on cover-ups & tops, polka dots… grey/blues, black, yellow & orange. The play of stripe with the dots, and the orange and yellow intertwined together in the weave of the lattice work on several of the swimsuits was striking. Rosa Cha certainly brings a fashion edge to beachwear. I love it !!!

Love this back zip in this beach dress. And the contrast stitching design.

So retro, polka dots…….

Stripes with black, sexy “edgy” nautical

 Check out Rosa Cha Spring 2010 collection. Swimwear’s certainly haute here!

Gossip Girl has become the absolute go-to show for the latest fashion tips and trends. So much, that designer Anna Sui has decided to create a line inspired completely by the show to sell at Target stores nationwide. There has been so much speculation whether or not this line is going to be pulled or not. Rumors were swirling that Target execs weren’t keen on the idea of supporting a line which is inspired by characters who are into drugs, sex and partying. BUT, after all of this “gossip,” Anna Sui and Target spokespeople have given official word that it will INDEED be hitting stores on September 13th. No word on whether the garments will actually appear on the characters of the show. I could care less if the collection was featured on the show! The clothes are to die for either way.

I’ve looked through all of the pieces and I can’t pick just one favorite. Whether it’s Blair, Serena, Jenny or Vanessa; I love them ALL! I’m so happy someone thought to do this line, especially at a store like Target! Here’s a little peek…

I also found this flyer on the CW’s website. So if you live in New York, you can be one of the lucky ones to see the collection EARLY!

That’s all for now! XOXO

It’s almost that time of year! School is starting again. And you know what that means…back-to-school SHOPPING! Now, even though I am a 22 year old senior in college, I probably shouldn’t be getting this excited about school shopping. But, I am. For me, school shopping for college is WAY more fun because I can actually shop for clothes! I don’t have to wear a private school uniform anyyyyy longer. Unfortunately, I hate to say it, but I really am missing my plaid skirt. But I am in luck! Plaid is BACK and bigger than ever. I have been seeing it absolutely EVERYWHERE. Whether you want to prep it up or grunge it down, either way will work!

Plaid has been popular for the majority of the summer. Paired with a great pair of distressed jeans, it can be a great go-to outfit. Just take a peek through your boyfriend’s closet for some inspiration and maybe borrow a shirt or two! He’ll never know. Whether it’s a boyish fit or a more feminine fit, you’ll definitely look cool and casual. Heritage1981 and Forever 21 have both of these styles in tons of options.

Gossip Girl has always been known for showing the classy, more sophisticated way to wear plaid on the characters of the show; very school-girl chic. The trend will definitely be moving on into the Fall. YAY! The Twilight inspired line from Nordstrom featured on InStyle’s website shows an amazingly hot plaid jacket that is PERFECT for this season. It’s also EXTREMELY affordable! I’m loving it for sure.

Target and Anna Sui are working together to create a Gossip Girl inspired line that will be available in stores and online on September 13th. I don’t know about all you other fashionistas but I’m counting down the days on my calendar! NY Mag has released the look book here. The plaid ensemble below is inspired by Serena’s chic style. How fabulous is it?! Be on the lookout for this line because it is going to fly off the racks.

All of this chit-chat about plaid has really given me the urge to dig out my school uniform! I’m off!

When I first began to design my senior collection almost a year ago today, I never would have dreamed that it would have turned out the way it did. Before I even began to put pencil to the paper I thought about what I like to design. I love designing and sewing swim wear as well as weekend wear outfits. I knew almost immediately that I wanted to design resort wear. I researched trend reports for the next year and envisioned my collection to be very girly and almost whimsical. With general ideas in my head, I headed to New York City’s garment district to find the fabric to match my vision. My fiancé and I had spent two whole days searching for something that would inspire my designs. At this little hole in the wall store, there it was, hanging in the window. This gorgeous piece of dusty pink tulle with embroidery and hand sewn black and copper feathers on it. It came in a five-yard panel and it started as the base of my entire collection. Immediately I pictured it as skirt on a cocktail dress. After that we visited Mood Fabrics and I was lucky enough to find a crock embossed leather skin that was the exact shade of dusty pink and copper finish to match the tulle and feather piece.

That was my jumping off point. That night I started sketching many possibilities that could come from this combo. As part of our class assignment, we were to sketch many many designs for each garment you were to create. The professor then eliminates the sketches til you have just a five for each garment. Then those are fully rendered in a fashion illustration and matching flats. The critic chose this sketch below for me to create. In just a short seven weeks everything was patterned and fitted in muslin.

This garment was one of my last to pattern. I made all of my muslins out of tulle and pleather vinyl. For this garment I had a total of six fittings. I had first patterned this design with bust and waist darts but changed it to princess seams soon after the second fitting. It fit the bust much better this way and eliminated some of the bulk in the leather. My model Katie was great. She came in so many times so that I could fit her and make quick changes on the muslin and pattern.

When it came to sewing the leather, it was definitely a challenge. I had never worked with real leather before and it handles differently then pleather. After making this garment and other pieces with leather I learned what tools, techniques, and finishing worked best. I will talk about these tools and show you the techniques and finishings I used in an upcoming vodcast. This pic above is Katie on the runway at our Stephens College annual student fashion show…….she looked fabulous!

Shopping online has always been one of my guilty pleasures. I’m usually just browsing, but if I find a good sale I won’t pass it up. Browsing different websites is also a great way to find out what the growing trends are for the season.

Forever 21 is one of my favorite stores that tends to knock-off some higher end looks. There is actually a link on their site to a page that gives you the option to shop by trend. Also, don’t forget to check out their fairly new couture line titled Twelve by Twelve. This top below is fabulous with a pair of leggings and it’s only $36.00!

When I’m feeling eclectic and in the mood for something “urban” I’ll stop by UrbanOutfitters.com. They have a great sale selection on the site. The top below is very L.A. I could definitely see Nicole Richie walking down Robertson Blvd. in this tank, paired with some denim cut-offs. And the best part about it, you ask? It’s only $10.00!!! Can’t beat it.

One of my favorite lines of clothing is Free People. The look of their clothing is so care free. It’s simple but they find a way to make everything look very put-together. I love,love, love going on their website and checking out the new looks tab at the top of the page. It gives me great inspiration for looks I can put together with garments that I may already have in my closet.

I hope you enjoy these sites!

“Market Day at Stephens”

Boy has this been a long semester!! Graduation is finally over (YEAH!!!!), and it’s been so crazy busy I have not had a moment to slow down at all. Just to give you a quick update of my last semester at Stephens College, from January to March I was working on five ensembles of my senior collection. It consisted of 11 garments total! I worked with a lot of fabrics and trims that I had never worked with before, including LOTS of feathers. Senior collection is all about getting the most experience you can out if it, so crazy me choose a ton of different fabrics. All together I worked with swim lycra, bamboo knit, stretch linen, embroidered tulle, leather, stretch charmeuse, silk charmeuse, china silk, and silk chiffon. We worked on fitting a lot of our garments last semester in muslin but it’s not always exactly the same result when you get into the final fabric, so I also worked on fitting these garments so they looked perfect. Our entire senior collection was turned in seven weeks after we started, and immediately after we began our portfolio’s and a computer aided manufacturing class. I have learned quite a bit in computer patternmaking, and hope to be able to continue this after my training here at school. We began to learn this program sophomore year but this was a more intense seven weeks of it.

April 4^th was Jury of Selection, where all of my garments were judged by industry professionals from companies like Abercrombie & Fitch and BCBG. This day decided what got into the Stephens fashion show. Then (finally!) on April 18^th we had our Annual Stephens College Designer Fashion Show “Avant Cirque”. The show had a high fashion circus theme, and opened with a choreographed high wire type act—it really was very cool. I was juried in to show three ensembles from my senior collection (you’ll get to see which ones soon), my wool tailored coat and dress, and my rejectamenta (the poker card dress).

Avant Cirque Opening Act

Rejectamenta “Poker Card Dress” for Breast Cancer Awareness

Tailored Coat and Dress

And……April 18^th will always be the best day ever because not only did I get to display all of a years hard work to 1,200 people but……… my boyfriend PROPOSED to me that morning before the fashion show! I was so surprised, and I did say YES!

Even with all this going on somehow I have managed to keep up with work at McCalls. There are more cool, fun patterns on the way. I look back at this year in awe and do not have a clue how it got all done! In my next post I will show you the garments I had in the show one at a time with my sketches, so keep a look out for them coming soon!

Allyce

Do you ever find yourself questioning your designs, whether it be color choice, pattern or style??? Wow, I do all the time! You know just looking at something straight on never seems to give me the “true” look of the project. So, what I use to do was stand in front of the bathroom mirror, hold the design up and try to decide if I thought it was worthy. That helped…somehow it gave me a view that seemed removed from the project. But it didn’t always give me the help I needed…especially if no one is around for a second opinion.

Now, what I have found, is that I “audition” my designs with pictures. I use my digital camera and shoot photos of the project. Like last night, I was working on a quilt and needed to decide the borders and whether to use rick rack or not. So, I photograph the quilt with a green border only, a green border and black rick rack and a green border, rick rack and a second black border. Then I sat at the computer and auditioned the photos. There is something about seeing the project on the screen that makes a huge difference. I selected the green/rickrack/black borders. Not, what I thought when first just looking at the project. And guess what, I am extremely pleased with the outcome!!!

You know I wish I had some great explanation as to why this works…it just does. And, it works every time! So, try it out next time your not too sure about some aspect of your project…see what a difference the camera can make.

And, hey it is January, no big holiday celebrations taking place, so get sewing and enjoy!!

While I was working on completing my tailored coat and dress, I was also designing my senior collection, sourcing fabrics, writing my brand business plan, creating my mood board, and customer board. In addition to actually designing the collection we work on the business angle too. We had to completely map out our new fashion design company & brand. This included writing a 50 page business plan detailing market research, designing our brand logos and hang tags, as well as our plans for the company. We also had establish a theme for our collection and do a lot of trend research. My company name is “A King Designs” (a play on my name) and the theme for my collection is ”Country Lust”. Here’s the introduction to my collection: For Spring 2009 season “A King Designs” is presenting a collection of Country Lust garments that is inspired by elements of nature including feathers, butterflies, natural wooden buttons, and leather accents. The collection will include several knit garments as well as woven garments including silks and sheers. Country Lust color palette consists of rose pinks, vivid violets, copper, gold, baby blue, chocolate browns, and white. “A King Designs” will be producing garments that are free flowing and comfortable. These garments are fit for a vacation free from constraints.

I found a lot of my fabrics for my senior collection in NYC when I was there visiting McCalls, so I was lucky enough to be able to focus on my sketches and boards in this initial process. When I started designing I had to focus on what market I was designing for. “A King Designs” is a young designer, resort wear company. We design for a woman 20-30 years old who has upper class income. Our products are designed for the customer who is looking for trendy clothing to wear in resort destinations such as the Hamptons and Nantucket. Our customer is a woman who wants to be noticed and her style to shine through her clothing. “A King Designs” clothing is rich in texture as well as constructed from quality fabrics, for the customer who is concerned with detail.

For my senior collection I decided that I wanted to make two swimsuits with cover ups, two dresses, and two weekend wear outfits. We created our portfolio of designs and an amazing critic came in and choose what we were going to make for our collection sketches. Now I’m in full swing, completing all the patterns for the designs, and next semester all of these will come to life (after TONS of sewing!). Stay tuned for my next blog to see what my designs are!

I picked up this new “fashion” book the other day, mainly because of it’s title. The “Eco Chick Guide to Life: How to be Fabulously Green” is a book devoted to how to be eco-conscious AND a style maven at the same time! In addition to giving the reader a primer in what an Eco Chick is…..”means doing good while having a good time doing it: it is NOT about depriving yourself, but about rethinking how we live our lives, and living better…..more creatively, more passionately, and more consciously.” Wow. I want to be an Eco Chick!

Really. With chapter titles like All About Eco Fashion, Reduce, Reuse, Accessorize!, Squeaky Clean and Toxin Free, Feed Yourself from the Earth (not a Box), and Pets and the Planet, this light read (can you tell I’m on a track of easy reads) is just the thing to inspire you to go green. The author, Starre Vartan, gives lots of resources and examples of how to really make the Eco ideas “stick”, in a way that does not shout treehugger. Now don’t get anxious here….while I do like my trees, I still want to look fab walking down the street, and have my nest well dressed too. Starre shows us we can live eco-conscious and not sacrifice our sense of style.

Even if you don’t have time to read the entire book (but once you start you’ll get hooked!), check out the “Green Shopping Basket” sidebars, chock full of places to pick up eco goods, and the “Eco Quickie” tidbits scattered throught the pages.

Sounds like a perfect set-up for my 2009 New Year’s resolution………”I vow to (try to) be an Eco Chick!” Will you join me?

Cindy

I just picked up a new book, perusing the shelves at my local Barnes & Noble, looking for something fashion minded and an easy read. Here’s what I ended up with…..”The One Hundred” is the new book by Nina Garcia, of Project Runway and Elle magazine fame. With the subtitle: A Guide to the Pieces Every Stylish Woman Must Own, I figured I had better get the scoop on what these pieces are, and see how many of them (if any!) I already had in my wardrobe. Even if you don’t read & take to heart Nina’s fashion insight and advice, just the illustrations alone from illustrator Ruben Toledo are entertaining and fun.

To my surprise (and relief) I did have a few of the must have’s on the list in my closet, but I am definitely lacking in several areas. I guess it is time for some revamping on my part, and a good excuse to do some Fall shopping. The Fashion 101 sidebars sprinkled throughout the book give you a bit of fashion history and industry background, tidbits that may help you out the next time you hit that fashion category at Trivia night.

Pretty soon it will be getting cold here, and curling up with a good light read like this one will be a welcome treat. And, be sure to check out the interview we did with Anna Maria Horner that we uploaded on Saturday. Her new book “Seams to Me” is a cute spin from her already super cute fabric line. Find it on the shelves this month, as it makes it’s debut. Congrats Anna….it’s fantastic!

Cindy

I traveled to so many places this summer…it has been exciting and inspiring, getting ideas for my Senior Collection. My favorite place of them all would have to be New York City. The last week of my summer break I took a nine day trip to visit the big city. I had a few goals in mind for the trip. Here is my list”

1.) Shop for senior collection fabric in the garment district.

2.) Have a great meeting with McCalls.

3.) Use what I have learned in my Pre-20th Century Costume class to identify garments on display at the MET museum.

4.) Learn the subway system enough so I will ride it on my own.

5.) Add to my collection of 500 inspiration pictures that was assigned for my senior year (that has not been a huge challenge especially being in so many different places).

Boy was I in for a wild ride. First of all, I stayed with some amazing girlfriends (love ya Julie & Danielle!) who love the fashion industry and were so great about teaching me about the city. My adventure began at the MET museum. It had been recommended by Kathy (at McCall’s) to be sure to see the Super Heros exhibit. It was a very interesting presentation of garments that were inspired by the super hero movies. These were the actual costumes used in the movies. The experience didn’t stop there. I ended up walking around the MET for six hours pointing out to my friend the name of every garment from the Egyptian period through the 19^th century that they had on display. I had just finished taking a summer class in the history of costume, and it was really incredible to see in person what we had been studying in books. A few of my favorites: seeing a sheath dress from the Egyptian period completely constructed out of beads, a Greek Ionic Chiton (modern day tunic) and himations (a large cloth used as a wrap) carved out of stone into amazing statues. You may think I’m crazy but I had fun hunting down 3000 B.C. fibulas (the world’s first ever safety pin–before people even sewed clothing together). I also got to view a few of my favorite painter’s works. I love Andy Warhol and Roy Linchenstein, and seeing their work in person was really cool. One down, four more goals to go.

Next I spent two whole days shopping for fabric in the garment district. The first day was discouraging at first because I didn’t have good direction except that I was looking for knit prints. We went to a ton of stores on 37^th and 38^th street between 7^th and 8^th avenue. They were small “hole in the wall” type stores. It was great to get a lot of good swatches so that I could go back for what I wanted if I needed it for my collection. Towards the end of the day I fell in love with this one piece. Picture this: dusty rose pink tulle with embroidery that totally covered it in sage green, lavender, and dusty rose. Then the piece is covered in black and brown feathers with a natural color bead at the top of each feather. It was an exquisite piece! Feathers are so hot this season and I plan to design a cocktail dress…….this would be perfect. I thought I wasn’t going to get anywhere in these small independent stores but I did, and I bargained with the guy to get a great price. One main collection piece, more to go! After that I went to Mood Fabrics. There I found some notions that could be used on my garments as well as my mood boards for school. I bought a piece of leather that was a pink embossed alligator with a pearlized finish. I plan on using it for the cocktail dress bodice piece or small accent pieces. The next day that I spent in the garment district was with great success. I went to B&J Fabrics and found a great but pricey silk charmeuse print that made my day. It was the perfect color palette and the look I was going for. On this shopping trip I also was able to find my chocolate brown wool coating fabric for my tailored coat.

My next goal was not too hard to achieve. For my senior collection we were assigned to take pictures that would inspire us for our garments. It could be anything from architecture to nature to garments. Walking the streets of New York gave me lots of photo opps. The window displays were incredible. My favorite was Dior’s window! It had a carriage in the window with suits and dresses on display. Being a visual merchandiser would be fun but hard work! I also always get inspiration from Betsey Johnson, so I had to go to her store off of Madison Ave.  I almost camped out on their doorstep for the rest of the trip once I found out that she just lives right around the corner from her store! That would have been too cool to meet her.

I was super excited for our McCalls meeting. I felt like I had been preparing for the meeting for weeks. I prepared boards, sketched, and bought some supportive sample garments. I was so excited how my boards turned out and the great samples I found, I even found some great swatches of the fabric that I thought would be perfect for the garments we were proposing. Everyone seemed pleased with McCall’s decisions, so look forward to more great DIYStyle designs for 2009! Thanks to McCall’s hard work to making our dreams come to life! Only one more goal to achieve!

Julie & Danielle had explained the subway the first day that I arrived, so I was able to take the subway the whole trip. The girls live in the East Village so it was good practice taking the subway all over the city instead of taking cabs. I feel like being in New York for that amount of time helped me to prepare to be a better designer. Through inspiration, great fabrics, seeing in person a history of garments, and working in the offices of McCalls for a day really has helped my creativity and motivation as a design major. I will definitely be back in NYC soon!

Allyce

Wow. I have been just engulfed by design projects from the moment I stepped back in the door at Stephens. This is my senior year, and boy do they have us off and running! I just completed this Rejectamenta project, and thought you would like to take a peek. The challenge is to make a garment from all recycled materials, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness. Our garments will be judged by a jury and some will go on display at the Komen Foundation annual conference.

My theme is “Don’t gamble with your life….get regular mammograms”. Unfortunately the pic does not do it justice, it looks way cooler on a model with the headpiece, necklace and train that makes it all come together. When we get some professional model pics done I’ll be sure to post one.

For now I’m onto finishing a tailored and lined wool coat, and matching dress that is due shortly, sketching hundreds of illustrations for my upcoming Senior Collection, and sewing my heart out at every turn. I’ll try to come up for air once in a while to give everyone a quick up date, but for now just send me lots of positive energy………it’s going to be one challenging and exciting year in fashion design school!

Allyce

Amy Butler is a fab friend of DIYStyle. See what she has been up to…….she’s one busy (and talented) lady!

Cindy

From Amy:

It’s been an incredible summer! The season has been full of many exciting launches and loads of new product development. This is one of my favorite times of year! My gardens explode and I love watching the drama unfold before my eyes, it brings me so much joy, I love hanging in the garden in the evening at the end of a long day. The Lotus bog is soothing and if feels wonderful to be surrounded by lush plants in bloom. All the hard work in the spring nurturing the beds really pays off! I was able to extend my “August experience” this year with the launch of my newest home decor collection of prints for Rowan…. “August Fields”.

The collection is made up of four diverse color stories celebrating the inspiration of gardens and wild fields in high season. Everything peaks in August! Poetic combinations of elegant natural prints and modern textures make it easy to mix and match designs for your next home dec or fashion project. Here’s a sneak peak below with some fun shots of my AF photo shoot last weekend at my friend Brian’s house! I’m using AF for everything! Bedding, pillows, bags, ( of course right?! ) and clothing. My friends here at DIY Style will appreciate the fashion focus with this collection! I’ve made tons of beautiful garments. Check out some of the shots.

In the first shot above my friend Andrew captures Jesse in one of my new dress designs! And his beautiful shots follow!

Drenda is wearing on original necklace made by my dear friend Kim Mettee. You have to check out her Etsy shop…… amazing, crazy cool jewelry. She uses rare materials and gems to create her organic and spirited masterpieces. Thank you Kim! I love to work alongside my friends and loved ones, it makes the creative process even more thrilling and rewarding.

Here’s Mr. Butler caught red handed in one of my sets! We had an incredible day of shooting. Just the night before he had a rock and roll show with his band the Black Owls! I don’t know how he looks so rested…….. he’s my Dave!

Here are my friends Christina and Nichole shot by Mr. Butler just a few minutes later. The girls are wearing my new apron design made out of August Fields!

Here’s the props room with all the details and goodies to embellish my girlfriends.

I’ve staged all of the props and accessories by color stories….. of course! Everything on hand to style my ladies!

The details in and of themselves tell a beautiful story! Color explosions everywhere! I love it!!

Another long awaited addition to my fabric mix has also launched this summer! Amy Butler Solids. The material is beautifully woven with a gorgeous feel, my solids come in both home dec and quilting weights to coordinate with all of my print collections with Rowan. The pretty colors will enhance and compliment any project and are sure to stir your creative passions! I have a fun mix of projects on my web site that feature both the home dec and quilting weight collections. I also have a great free quilt pattern you can try……. I named the quilt after my friend Thea, she’s a wild creative fire! I just love her. You can grab the project as a download under my “free patterns” section on the site.

This month I will be introducing my newest quilting and fashion weight collection for Rowan. The line is called Daisy Chain and it is embellished with artistic flourishes that give a nod to our free spirited past! Daisy Chain is filled with earthy chic prints with a modern folk feel that harmonize in the four zen like color palettes. These romantic prints are perfect for fashion, home dec or quilting projects. I had a blast creating several fashion pieces to show off the range! It’s the best when all of my worlds collide…… color, prints and fashion. Building the story with my style shoots is one of my favorite things to do. This shoot we invited our friend Andrew Baasch to take some pics with Dave. The results are amazing! You’ll have to check back on my web site soon to see all the gorgeous inspirado! Enjoy!!

Drenda above models my Angel Dress and Christina is styling in her Daisy Chain head scarf, lounging on my new Daisy Chain quilt. The quilt will be a FREE pattern on my web site soon! I can’t get over the color of her eyes and how she blends so beautifully with the navy DC palette! These shots were captured by Dave…….. gorgeous Mr. B!

One of my most recent product launches featured my new GIFTWRAP GREEN collection with the Giftwrap Company. The line is made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper and is printed with soy inks. The line includes gift wrap, bags, and giftcard boxes. I’m very proud of this partnership with the Giftwrap Company, we worked very hard to create an ecologically sound line. It’s incredible to be able to offer a green alternative to gift giving and entertaining.

Alongside the gift wrap & bags, we’ve developed an eco line of paper tableware (plates, napkins & guest towels) that coordinate. The plates and napkins are printed with 100% soy ink, plus the plates use a water-soluble coating so that they can be rinsed and recycled too! I had my family for the 4th of July and it was great to rinse the plates and then toss them in the recycle bin. The plates are very sturdy as well as stylish! The perfect combo!

I told ya I have a lot of fun Projects and books releasing this season! I love my new Little Stitches sewing book! It’s lavishly illustrated and inside you’ll find charming and contemporary projects for the nursery, baby wear, soft toys, and many more surprises! The projects are designed for babies 0-12 months and their mothers, featuring beautiful photos of the finished designs by our friend Colin McGuire. It was fun to produce these little treasures, and I think you’ll find many projects in here for all the wee ones in your world.

Here are a couple of my favorite projects……. the Cheeky Monkey Laundry Bag and the Sleepy Snail with removable Shell Pillow. The other detail I love about the book is that I rated the projects by difficulty level so you can ease right into a project that’s perfect for you. This is a keeper! A great book to keep on hand for gift giving!

I wanted to give you a little peek at my upcoming December launch of Midwest Modern 2! This small release includes brand new prints to compliment Midwest Mod 1. Here are a few shots from my camera that I took during our shoot at Brian’s. Luscious and floral inspired! You also get a peek at my new apron pattern for Fall!

I hope you’ve enjoyed our time together. I sure have……. thanks for spending a piece of your day with me and my dear friends at DIY Style! DIY Gals……….Keep doing what you’re doing and sharing all of your lovely inspiration and ideas. What a fun, creative and loving community we work in! Thank you everyone!
XO Amy

Worn out deck cushions? Well, that was my dilemma, and after shopping the stores for new replacement cushions (eeek-the prices!!), I decided on what I thought was the smarter option…slipcover them myself! But whoa…have you seen the prices on that treated outdoor fabric?! It would have cost me more to cover them with that than to buy brand new cushions. I knew there had to be a better option, and after some sleuthing, I found my solution!

A local department store was clearancing out their outdoor tablecloths (treated for sun, water resistant….AHA!). Used as my “fabric” this was a fraction of the cost of the outdoor fabric I just could not afford. So I bought the largest tablecloth they had, and some coordinating inexpensive natural colored canvas, and made slipcovers for the cushions. It’s a super simple design, made with an opening like a pillow sham, to insert the cushions (the opening sets under the seat where it won’t show). I added some matching ribbon ties, and now I can slip them off for washing and storage when I want.

I even went back and bought the matching tablecloth that zipped around my umbrella, and now I just need to hem it to fit my curved oblong deck table. All for WELL under the $200 the other fabric would have cost! Now with deck re-painted, I feel like we have a brand new outdoor space. And the weather has been so nice here lately in the St. Louis area, I’m hoping to enjoy some breezy evenings lounging with a glass of wine after a long day here at DIYStyle!

Let DIYStyle know what you have been sewing this summer, and what you’re wanting to sew for fall. And, we’d love to see some pics too, so send them along. We’ll even post some of your projects in upcoming blog entries–so send us the results of your creative endeavors! I can’t wait to see what you have all been busy with.

 Cindy

I had so much fun at this seasons Quilt Market! I have gone to all the quilt markets (two per year) for the past few years and this one was especially interesting. It was also memorable, because I got to spend time with Melissa in her hometown. It was neat to see some “faces” (usually we’re on the phone or email from across the country!) I catch up with only at this show.

My favorite fabric designer, Phillip De Leon from Alexander Henry Fabrics, had some really great prints that were new for the upcoming season…young looking cotton prints great for a little pop in your wardrobe. I was honored to do two demos of projects from my book at Krause Publications and Brewer distributing. I showed buyers the projects from My Style, My Place and gave away signed copies. It was really cool to talk to people about the young customers that come into their stores and what they have to offer our age group.

I also got to catch up with my good friend Mark Lipinski the editor in chief of Quilter’s Home magazine. I’m not skilled at quilting but I love his magazine (if you haven’t checked it out, you should)! I was also really excited that Robert Kaufman debuted their new line of knits! I love working with knit fabric. They are a fabric company that specializes in wovens, (I even used their fabric in my book) and now they make knits too. My favorite part about market was doing my very first schoolhouse presentation! I had the opportunity to present my book to buyers, show the projects, and Melissa and I presented our McCalls patterns.

Market is a great way to connect with what’s new in sewing, and this trip was perfect for that. If you ever get a chance to attend a trade market, GO! It’s really cool to see all the new stuff that will be in the stores in the coming months, and to talk with the people who design all of it. Too cool!

Allyce   XXX, OOO

Hi Everyone!

I’m finally done with finals and out for the summer! YEAH!! I actually got that tailored jacket done…I never realized how many hand stitches you can fit in a jacket. I also got all my fittings done for wool tailoring next year! I feel like I have accomplished a lot this semester. And, I’m now officially a SENIOR!

Another thing that comes every year around finals time is a meeting with our instructors for next year. As seniors, our main focus will be on our senior collection, so we had a meeting to cover what will be involved in that and expected of us. As an “unofficial” assignment we are to make and keep a senior collection design journal over the summer. This includes collecting items that inspire us whether it be a candy wrapper or a picture of a cool building. In addition we are to start collecting fabric swatches that we like and think may work too. For our collections we are to pick a theme, customer, and market. I am not sure exactly what my theme or customer will be but I will let you know (I hope to get inspired, now that I have a bit more time to slow down). I will keep you updated on how my journal goes this summer…maybe I will even let you have a peek!

Allyce xxxooo