This post is to welcome Jan Nixon to Malvena Pearl’s group of collaborators, enthusiasts and partners. I’ll be presenting her wares at Costume Academy in May. put on by the Greater Bay Area Costumer’s Guild. Here’s a little bit about Jan:
The line of clothing for dogs is coming together. We are drafting and designing patterns, finding recycled and re-usable fabrics, testing possible trims to make canine couture. Currently we are developing three lines of customized dog couture: warm coats for Northern California; fleece and flannel lined, water-resistent rain coats; and coats for working guide dogs. We have also found a number of dog owners who are willing to have their dogs pose for the camera of our staff photographer, Kenneth Cooper Smith, III.
Several of our clients have hairless breeds, such as the Mexican Xolo or hard-to-fit breeds such as bulldogs with wide rib cages and necks; “Heinz 57” mixed breeds with unusual proportions and distinctively-sized bodies, very small “teacup” breeds and very slender breeds, such as whippets.
To inquire about our offerings, please use our Contact Us page to send us your inquiries! Thanks!
If you’d like to use this little application to add your face to a photo from the 1890s, go here
I wandered around the corner to Homespun bike shop yesterday and spoke with Jesse and Ami about their upcoming classes.
They are offering classes on all sorts of interesting topics like how to do worm composting, how to make pie, how to make handcrafted herbal body care products and much more! There may be a collaboration with Malvena Pearl’s Emporium and with the Oakland Needlers in the near future.
In the meantime, click on their photo below to check out their web site and wares!
Here’s some progress on the quilt square, which traveled with me to the home of Ms. C. yesterday. I went to help her paint a mural on her baby’s bedroom wall. The baby is due in a couple of weeks. Ms. C. is the friend who drew a bird a day for many long months in 2010 and has a nice collection of illustrations to enter into an exhibition or two. And she’s going to be a mother very soon.
Here’s the latest:
This quilt square also went with me to my first meet up with four other members of the Oakland Needlers group. What a hoot! They were working on cross stitch, knitting, crochet and hand-sewing projects. I am so glad I was invited. Lovely folks, good conversation, funny stories and advice given and accepted on the “needle arts” or “fiber arts.” I feel like i made some new friends and they are all in the East Bay so that’s wonderful. We meet again in two weeks. I want to have this quilt square complete and in the mail to the project person, Abby at Skull a Day, by next Monday.
I want to let my readers know about a great charity investment they can make to a great local cause. Becky Thomas, who has been teaching role playing workshops at Dr. Comics and Mr. Games in Oakland for 20 years, needs our help. She’s fighting the good fight against breast cancer. Becky’s partner, Steve Kani, designed some very cool t-shirts to raise some funds for Becky’s medical treatments for cancer. Becky teaches math, studies Ninjitsu and works with a number of autistic and special needs kids in the role playing groups and tutoring after school. I feel very grateful for Becky’s work in our community. I am not sure I’d be here if I hadn’t had some wonderful teachers when I was younger. They helped me find my love of history through role playing games and I learned to sew FOR those games. If you’re so inclined, check out Becky’s blog and the t-shirts here.
If you know of other ways to help Becky, please be in touch with her or with Steve through their blog or web site. Thanks!
colored graphite study of flowers 1.17.11
Here’s the latest work I’ve done on the quilt square: the teeth of the skull.
I’m thinking of different stitches I can use to outline it and then make the wreath of flowers and leaves around it.
And here’s another evening of work on it, now with more definition:
Greetings from the Emporium! Happy 2011 to everyone.
Every so often, inspiration strikes to help get me moving to our next endeavor. I will be posting much more often this year as I have been inspired by two sources. I read an article about a project diary called 365 Make Something Every Day and Change Your Life. This strikes me as very similar to the write-every-day strategy for folks who are writing a novel in a month. I’m inspired.
I also have a friend who has been drawing a bird every day. Her work is all over her living room and it’s inspirational. I will Make Something Every Day.
To jump start this process, I began work on a quilt square for a charity quilt. It’s being put together for a non-profit called Becky’s Fund by Abby over at Skull A Day. I’m kind of excited about it because I’m starting small and contributing to a group project. This I can do. I started yesterday.
I have been drawn to the images of Dia de Los Muertos, since I volunteered at the community event at the Oakland Museum. The first year I volunteered, I got to meet the organizers and participants and also was able to participate in the celebration and community blessing. I want to draw upon traditional imagery from that event for this project.
I did some research on images of skulls and went through my fabric collection to find a suitable background fabric. I drew the basic design in chalk and then went over it in ink onto the back of the square of fabric. I want it to be tactile, so I went over this outline with the sewing machine. It’s going to be partly applique and partly embroidery, with ribbon flowers. Here are the beginning photos.
Here are some photos of the completed bonnet. My friend made the lace that I used to trim the inside:
