Design Studio Tour
But first, let me distract you with photos of the 1940's blouse I made from a vintage pattern. That button hole is hand-knotted by yours truly. If I was a different person I would conceal the real reason for having taken such tremendous pains (a lack of button hole technology) and let you think I made all my buttonholes by hand for the pure joy of going blind for detail. Hand knotting a button hole is something I think most people hope not to have to do, but I take pleasure in knowing that if an apocalypse were to occur, I would not be reduced to letting all my shirts flap open in the breeze just because there's no electricity: I can make a button hole in all circumstances.Very handy skill for a Victorian too.
It's fortunate for me that I got so fat because this shirt is white. You may not immediately apprehend the blessing in this. I will therefor paint a pretty little picture: Angelina is a woman of many talents; eating salad without splashing dressing on herself is not one of them. Coupled with her inability to keep whites white in her laundry, there could be only one fate for this pretty little blouse had she been able to continue to wear it over the years: YELLOWY DOOM.
This portion of the Design Studio Tour has been brought to you by the charming Vintage Wardrobe Project being brought to life by Bitter Betty. This segment is meant to give your eye sweet memories that will linger in your cornea for the duration of the tour.A couple of things have come to my attention in the blog world lately:
An abundance of cupcakes are being baked all across the world and I have gotten to eat none of them. They are uncanny in their ability to show up absolutely everywhere, just like religious groups do, only tastier I imagine.
Everyone but me has written a book, is in a book, has read a book, or is looking at a book their best friend wrote right this minute. I just want to say
Everyone is showing off their gorgeous studios and since I am every bit the design prodigy as Alicia, Heather, and Whats-er-bucket over at Inside a black apple, I really feel you all deserve a little look-see into my den of magic. But please, don't be intimidated by my professional space. I want to inspire you, not make you feel like an insignificant slob. So please, come in,
This is looking right into the magic space, the inspired decorating can be attributed to all the time I spent apprenticing in the decorating department of --------(the name is too elite to share here). You'll notice a lot of wood tone in my space which I chose for it's aura of deep calm and meditative surface, you know, cause looking at wood is a little like sitting in a forest full of trees, the only difference being that now they're all dead. Which partly contributes to the deep calm of my creative space.But no one can truly create without a little anger and power. That's why we asked the land lords to paint the red color. I find I work at my best when I feel like a bull in a calm forest being flagged by a matador that I can only see out of the corner of my eye. It brings out the passion in my work.
I like to mix antiques (preferably roughed up by a move or two) with my 
I think it makes people feel a little more at ease in my august presence when they can see evidence that I am a mere mortal, like them, which is why I like to leave some thread and serger scraps on my table. I also leave thread out for the same effect. It has a very calming effect on people.
There have been a lot of shots of tidy shelves recently on blogs showing "creative spaces" (whatever), but I find that I work better when I can't find things. It stirs the emotional creative pallet to bring up ideas that would otherwise be stifled by neatly folded felt.
I think leaving piles of semi-folded projects on top of precarious surfaces such as garment racks adds a kind of racy element to my studio, like: this is a place where ANYTHING can happen. It has an architectural appeal as well. I wouldn't be surprised to find that the Guggenheim was designed after seeing piles similar to this.
And lastly, here is a shot of life as it truly is. Yes, folks, I hide nothing from you. Nothing. I am not ashamed to be a human who eats take out and drinks lattes. That's why we haven't set up a trash service for our store yet. We want to keep things real around here. With so many (two) artists and writers around here, it would be easy to lose ourselves in ego-soaked air. But we keep it real.I hope you enjoyed this tour. Always remember: You can have what I have, it just takes a little less effort.
Labels: design studio, vintage shirt project