We are happy to report that our proprietor will be teaching a workshop at Tech Liminal in Oakland on Sunday, June 23, 2013.
Basics of Hand Sewing
Are you interested in repairing your own clothing? Not quite certain what to do with that torn shirt? Never known how to sew on a button? How about patching a torn pant leg?
In this workshop, we’ll cover the basics of sewing by hand. You’ll also learn how to repair and care for worn-out and vintage clothing. By the end of this workshop, you’ll have all the knowledge necessary to confidently sew by hand!
Needles, thread and patch fabric will be provided. If you’d like to bring a garment to repair or transform, please do!
Entrance to Workshop Weekend costs $30; the hand sewing workshop materials cost $5.00.
Malvena Pearl’s Emporium will have a table set up in the vendor room at Costume Academy, held by the Greater Bay Area Costumer’s Guild. It’s a day of workshops, classes and fun for costume makers and for people who design and sew. Tickets go on sale February 1st, via the GBACG web site.
2013 Costume Academy Saturday, March 9th, 2013
10:00am-5:00pm
Piedmont Middle School, 740 Magnolia Ave, Piedmont, CA
Halloween and Day of the Dead celebrations are part of our calendar year. They are different traditions; the the Day of the Dead in early November is a time for us show gratitude for our ancestors. Halloween falls on a number of birthdays for our friends. We celebrate the moment and the passing of the year with them.
Both holidays can be an inspiration to create something unique and share it with others: costumes, headdresses, toys, masks or drawings. The possibilities are endless. Today we show gratitude with this quilt square made for a charity quilt.
We are happy to report that our proprietor will be teaching a workshop at Tech Liminal in Oakland on Saturday, June 30, 2012.
Basics of Hand Sewing
Are you interested in repairing your own clothing? Not quite certain what to do with that torn shirt? Never known how to sew on a button? How about patching a torn pant leg?
In this workshop, we’ll cover the basics of sewing by hand. You’ll also learn how to repair and care for worn-out and vintage clothing. By the end of this workshop, you’ll have all the knowledge necessary to confidently sew by hand!
Needles, thread and patch fabric will be provided. If you’d like to bring a garment to repair or transform, please do!
Entrance to Workshop Weekend costs $30; the hand sewing workshop materials cost $5.00.
We are pleased to share with you a Mother’s Day holiday feature post on one of our sister-sites, Overdressed For Life, by Moya Stone.
The Emporium proprietor was at Costume Convention 30 during Mother’s Day weekend in Tempe, Arizona, with the members of the Wench Posse from North Carolina, Washington state, the District of Columbia and Minnesota. It was fabulous to meet everyone in person and be able to share the fun, live, not just in photos e-mailed and posted on the internet.
We celebrated winning awards in the Masquerade by going to a local pub, hearing live music, dancing and enjoying the nightlife in the college town of Tempe. Our group presentation won a blue ribbon for Judge’s Choice and four of our members won individual ribbons for tailoring. We also met several incredible costumers from Idaho, San Diego and Vancouver, Canada! They received the “Spammy Award” – entitled Go Big Or Go Home — from the MNSOC (Minnesota Society of Costumers.)
Our ringleader, Laura Ulak, has written at length about our shenanigans that weekend over on her blog, called the Eleonora Project.
In the works are plans to attend both Gallifrey (the Doctor Who convention in Los Angeles) and Costume Con 31, next year in Denver, CO. Stay tuned!
As foretold by our guest blogger, Lady V-Jay Jay, the fund-raising performance of Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues will be held on Wednesday March 14 and Thursday March 15, 2012, at the UPTOWN NIGHTCLUB on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, CA.
2012 Vagina Monologues Performance, Oakland, CA
Come on by the UPTOWN on Thursday night for a chance to bid on some great Silent Auction items from these local businesses and individuals
slient auction table, all proceeds go to Bay Area Women Against Rape
Jan brought her amazing, costume jewelry to our table and Ais helped us out a great deal with set up and customers. We had caramels from Bequet Confections, lots of printed inspiration, some hats, The Tarot of the Tailors and a nice selection of Mrs. Greenbalm’s products.
The other vendors were friendly and as always, gracious and fun to work with.
A hearty “Thank you!” to everyone who helped us out and who stopped by to say hello!
I escaped my work for a few days last week with a visit to the 23rd Annual Doctor Who convention hosted by Gallifrey One Network in Los Angeles. I was in my role as “minion” to my Wench Posse team members and boy, did we ever have fun! I got to meet two members of the Wench Posse, Alisa and Nell, who live far outside of California. And I also got to spend time with the lovely Glynnis, whom I met at Costume College in 2009, when I met the lovely Laura Ulak.
We all got along so very well it was our first time, ever, at this particular convention. We had a fabulous time. Alisa has written a nice summary of her Gallifrey experiences here.
I enjoyed meeting other Doctor Who fans from Montreal, Toronto, Boston, Pittsburgh, the greater Los Angeles area and even a few from San Francisco to whom I gave my card. Hopefully we’ll connect through the Bay Area Browncoats (Joss Whedon fans.)
Some of my favorite times at Gallifrey were sitting with the Wench Posse in the audience at panels and feeling what actor Mark Sheppard described so well: the shared love of the creative process that makes Doctor Who. You can tell that it’s really a labor of love on the part of the production folks, actors/writers, etc. That they become like a family and have all these in-jokes. It’s fun to see them banter together and to share these moments. The shared love and gratitude for the show that brought us together was so much “in the air” during the last couple of panels, it was almost overwhelming. It was like going to a really good concert or a wedding, where the entire room was having fun. Even when the question was awkward or silly, it kept moving and somehow, some of the youngest questioners inspired some really great discussions on the part of the panels.
The gratitude — or whatever it was — was a third entity, apart from the speakers (actor/director on stage) and the fans in the audience. I could especially see it/feel it when the eldest cast members encouraged each other, with humor and kindness, during panel discussions. It was there when Mark and his father Morgan and Camille Coduri (who played the character of Jackie Tyler) talked about being recognized while walking down a street in London, and kidding each other about being tough. And when Louise Jameson (actress who played Leela in the 1970s Doctor Who series) shared about her near-death experience, it was really amazing. I got a little teary.
The journey home for me was pretty unremarkable except that a very generous convention-goer named Mike helped me out with the shuttle transfers from LAX to the “Fly Away” bus that goes to the downtown Central train station, and then helped me find my way to the Gray Hound bus station. We shared our experiences of conventions, Doctor Who episodes, the writing of PG Wodehouse and travel. Since I haven’t heard from him via e-mail, Thank You Mike for giving me a hand in a city that was strange to me and for being a friendly and generous non-stranger.
Greetings fellow earthlings! The Proprietor of Malvena Pearl’s Emporium has asked me to do a “guest blog” for you tonight.
I’d like to tell you a little about V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls. Why would you talk about that? Well, I’ll tell you. V-Day is held during this time of year. It’s a time when groups of women get together to volunteer their acting skills, their production skills, their fund raising skills and their sense of humor to make it possible for women’s stories to be shared and for awareness to grow among many people. They raise funds for local non-profit groups who help out women and girls who may have no resources available to them and who need help. It starts with one woman’s story.
As the poet Muriel Rukeyser once asked, “What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open, show it’s anger and call her a lunatic.”
Writer and performer Eve Ensler interviewed a very large number of women about their lives, their bodies and their experiences. She created The Vagina Monologues and many groups all over the world perform these pieces and raise money for local non-profit organizations. We raise awareness of women’s experiences, specifically, awareness of violence against women. We believe it must stop.
I participate by dressing up in a giant, pink suit that I made, and I call myself Lady V-Jay Jay, or Lady Vagina. I talk to people and tell them where they can find out more information. In this role, I am a “lady” who wears pearls, sensible shoes, gloves and carries a purse. I hand out free condoms and dental dams. I ask local merchants to donate prizes to our raffle and/or silent auction. Here’s yours truly posing with the directors of the 2011 show at Brava Center for Women in the Arts:
2011 Vagina Monologues show in San Francisco
I know what some of you are thinking. ‘What’s a nice girl like you going around doing, talking to women about DOWN THERE?!’
“V-Day’s mission is simple. It demands that violence against women and girls must end. To do this, once a year, in February, March, and April, Eve allows groups around the world to produce a performance of the play, as well as other works created by V-Day, and use the proceeds for local individual projects and programs that work to end violence against women and girls, often shelters and rape crisis centers. What began as one event in New York City in 1998 today includes over 5,800 V-Day events annually.
Performance is just the beginning. V-Day stages large-scale benefits and produces innovative gatherings, films and campaigns to educate and change social attitudes towards violence against women” — V-Day web site
If you would like to attend a local production of this show, or would like to support efforts in your area, please e-mail me, visit the V-Day web site, get in touch with us on Facebook. I will be at two performances in my area:
It is on the same day as the all-day NOIR CITY Dashiell Hammett film screenings at the Castro Theater in San Francisco. Mr. Acorn and I will be going in our retro outfits, as we did last year. So, we’ll be meeting early in West Oaklandia to power shop with Lady Heather (minion of Pig) and then head over to the film festival. Here’s one of the coolest posters for a 1932 film that’s on their program web site.
