"Shuz"

"Those shuz are MINE!"

Baby shoes are really hard to make!  I know you're looking at these little buggers and thinking, 'how hard can it be to take apart a pair of Robeez from the thrift store and sew it all back together?' (Hey wait, that's a good idea).  

Well, since I just always haaaave to line things, these are lined, with a gray suede sole and have 4 different fabrics in them.  Now, if I had an industrial straight stitcher that could power through all this without demons, surely it would have been much easier.  Maybe I should talk nicer to my machine in these times of trial- where I'm holding 4 layers of different fabric together with different stretches and sewing around the curve of the baby-sized heel.  I always berate it.  I'm totally brandist and make remarks about how if I had a Juki instead of a cheap Singer, I wouldn't be having this problem.

Anyway. Shuz.

For the baby boy:

 

Hard to get a shot with shuz in action, but here's a close one (/pegleg).

Quilted Wood Playmat

After I lost that battle with t-shirt bindings around my baby quilts, I re-upped my commitment to conquer them and bought a bias tape maker.  Ingenious little invention!  It is SO satisfying to run that bugger along and iron out a perfect bias tape.  Mmmm.  Hot.  I mean, like actually hot.  Be careful of the iron.  You can get a little hypnotized watching that razor sharp fold peel out of there.

So I had to figure out what needed binding.

Wife: no.
Phinny: no.
My post-twins girth: yes
Babies: yes, (with swaddling blankets, of course)
Playmat: yes.

Playmat.  I used that sweet-ass wood drawing fabric I had from the cushion-gone-goblin and made a quilted playmat where in, LISTEN TO THIS: quilted along the drawn lines of the fabric print.  MacArthur Genius Grant, I'm coming for you. 

And, though it's a shame to put chambray onto the back of anything because it is so purdy, it is also makes for an awesome secret surprise to put chambray onto the back of something. 

 

 

HA, binding!  I win.  I WIN I WIN I WIN I WIN.

I Am a Very Fancy Artist

I am not a very fancy artist.  Though I used to think I wanted to be.  The day I matriculated at the University of Chicago in the Master's Program for contemporary art, I left all notions of craft and actual art-making behind in favor of putting my brain on a conceptual treadmill.  I'll tell you about the day I quit:

One student, Mince, let's call him, turned in as his semester final a twenty page long list of everything in his studio.  All my professors were standing around scratching their chins, contemplating this tidal wave of unbridled genius.  One said, "Now, let's talk about what Mincent meeeeeaaaaans with this list."  When they came to me, I said, "It means I should quit.  Like, right now." No Master's Degree from The Committee on Visual Art.  AND THAT'S HOW I WAS GONG TO MAKE THE BIG BUCKS, GUYS. 

So since then, I've been on a slow trek down from the pretentious peaks of high art.  I used to be self-conscious, in a way, about a love of craft (both in the work of contemporary artists I'm drawn to, and just craft for the glory that is something well-crafted).  But that's over now, and I get my kicks out of loving on all of it.  I see the germination of high art forms in the simplest and most mundane craft work and I can also appreciate the craft that is inherent in certain contemporary works that may at first seems off the cuff and careless. 

So it brings me to some recent work on textile panels.  These here I made.

I was really interested in the strong feeling of satisfaction I have with these and the influences I was channeling when I designed them. 

OMG, I just had a revelation that the color is totally and exactly Matthew Barney Cremaster!  I loved that work once upon a time.  And I think the composition is a little bit Anni Albers, little bit Clay Ketter?  Anyway, it's really fun to see all the compartments in my brain for design, craft and art bastardizing one another.

I am tired now because I have so many children.  I better stop writing.  Suddenly.  Before I say something stupid.  That above paragraph is starting to show the strain of sleep deprivation.  Goodnight.

I Totally Want a Pair of These Cashmere Pants

But my butt is too big.  It would never work.  And, in the words of Dr. Suess: "In an mere ten paces, there would pills in very unsightly places!" Oh well.  I'll just keep making them for bebes.

Because HELLO, so cozy!

 

I learned something very important making these.  That if a pattern is well designed (and this mother better be- you may recall 2011 Battle of the Frontal Butt), that it will be great on a few different baby body types.  I originally created this 12-18 month pants pattern for Phinny when she was shooting up and slimming down.  I haven't changed it here.  (Yes, my not-yet-5 month old son wears 12-18).  I just made sure the waistband was ample for chubs, and let them be long so he can grow into them.  I think that even with the extra length they look right.  I am pleased.

What I'm Seeing Lately...

Periodically I need to post links to other stuff so I can follow the trail of my recent inspirations.  You will like this.

Vera Neuman scarves, which I came to know from a link on my friend Libby Vanderploeg's site.  She likes good design, I like good design.  Exciting things will happen.

This particular image is linked from the Uono Design Blog.  Jeeeaaalluuzzz:

Next, conceptual objects and installations by the duo Mischer'Traxler.  They are based in Vienna and make gorgeous things in very inventive ways.  Like these vessels, which are constructed by a machine activated by viewers who are curious about the productions process.  The more the audience shows interest, the more the machine applies color as it wends the reedy spirals into a pot shape.  That's the short description- the long description can be found on the duo's website.  But I didn't read the whole thing, because you know sooner or later you'd run into words like "dialogic" and "hermeneutic".

Gray Label children's clothing: "Organic Clothing for the Little Minimalist".  Hilarious.  But beautiful.  Here's a snippet of my daydream featuring a little Minimalist: "Mama, can I wear Elmo with Agnes B. or does that clash?" "No, that's bad, wear your Helmut Lang, honey."

Handsome Griffin, who clearly knows his color.  He knows that lavender is the most killer accent to yellow and charcoal.  Throws in a little orange because he has that kind of confidence.

And then you know, sometimes you get a Two-For-One deal, right?  Well here's another picture of my baby son then:

(He enjoys to mix styles high and low- here with an everyman's chambray button down, paired with some japanese-inspired harem cords.  Daring little man.)

Industrial rolling canvas basket.  Someday I'm going to have one of these in the house, and I'm just going to roll it through all day long and fill it up with anything that gets in my way (including small children) then leave it at the door for when Julie arrives home.  At which time I leave to go have a very dirty vodka martini with Rachael Burs.  I think you can agree that it would be incredibly useful.

 

AtSwim-Two-Birds blog and the crochet work of  Renilde Depeuter.  Namely, these seat cushions and pot holders.  Yes, I am in love with pot holders.  Because her color work is flawless and amazing.

  

And finally, my new heros, dutch design duo Scholten & Baijings.  I am so uncontrollably in love with almost everything they design.  (Also, with THEM, hello.)

I would eat crushed glass if it was designed by them.  If you want to drool all over yourself, look at their website.  You will notice some pretty sneaky work on the thumbnail images there, by the way.  So rad.   I have been looking at it until my eyeballs dry out.

My eyeballs are dried out.  Goodnight.