Fun With Fiber

My dear friend Ginger, who is also a fiber enthusiast, is here for the week and we are having fun dyeing alpaca scarves for the fall! Our annual Summer Stitch, Spin and Sip gathering is coming up this Sunday, July 22. What I wanted to showcase was how much fun the dyeing process is.

So here's what the alpaca scarves looked like pre-dyeing.

Please note the floral pattern is old sheets cut up which we used for tie dyeing, and apparent in these photos. We will show you the final results at the Stitch, Spin and Sip.

And a big shout out to Jane - we miss you here dyeing with us. We are taking it to new levels!

Hope to see you all on Sunday for the Stitch, Spin and Sip!

Linda

American Haute Couture

Heirloom fabrics can tell the story of our lives .... Repurposing fabrics is something new to even my generation, let alone those younger, but not new to older generations who did so out of necessity. Thought all age groups might find this blog interesting! A time honored tradition has now become haute couture!

Linda

Our 2012 Fall Fashion Preview Email headliner read as follows:

"NY Fashion verdict is in from Harper's Bazaar! Your grandmother's closet will be at the top of your shopping list this fall with a retro mix of florals and lace, knit tweeds and shawls, fur accents and elegant embroidery, all making the sartorial cut."

No sooner than we had put this in print, a designer customer of over 30 years walked into our store. Actually it was the second time in two weeks, after not seeing her for at least 15 years. Life does get in the way, doesn't it?

Picture a slightly shorter Sara Jessica Parker - same high energy New York style, same passion for what she does. But this visit was different. She carried with her a sweater she had made from some of my vegetal dyed Romney yarns done 25 to 30 years ago. The variegated indigo dyed yarns reminded me of the blue denim ikat and tie dyed scarves I do today. The intricately knit pattern showcased a wonderful range of soft muted colors - really an exceptional sweater, but one she had outgrown years ago, lovingly and carefully stored away. The Romney yarn now felt harsh to me after discovering the softness of alpaca, suri llama and yak, but the intricacy of the knit and the wonderful play on colors was fabulous.

Today, she was bringing that sweater into the store to match it with alpaca hides - the new garment would be a knit fabric and fur vest - the knit fabric re purposed from the size 2 sweater which no longer fit her, although I am betting a gusset to expand it to size 6 would have done just fine. She planned to take the knit fabric and combine with pieces of alpaca fur into an outdoor, uptown vest. I marveled at how "on point" she was with the fashion gurus who set the trends.But then knowing her, why was I even remotely surprised?

The store was bustling with people, and as I often have to when being very busy, I tried to record a mental image of the sweater to mull over later. (My good friend Jen and son will tell you I am NOT a photographer!), but I am very color retentive, so mentally recording color is easy for me. As I write this blog, I am absolutely gaga over what possibilities exist when you tear into your cedar trunks and closets, and merge fabrics from the past with styles of the present.

So to all those of you who take the challenge - send us your photos of how you combined fabrics from the past with those of the present. The story is no longer about your family heirlooms, but about combining old with new. In New York, it's called American Haute Couture.

Yak Round-Up

The first day of our Fall Fashion Preview went very well, with garments leaving our Country Boutique to go on vacations around the globe. So exciting for us!
 

Perhaps, the highlight of the day was for the last group of customers who got to sit on the Event Barn porch and watch as we had a yak rodeo. One of the bulls got loose! Of course he was fairly easily persuaded to go to the female yak barn where there are numerous cute young heifers, but much to his dismay he found he was going to be kept separate from them. The audience enjoyed the yak round up -- after all where in the east do you go to see a yak round up!

After checking on the bull tonight, I just have one thing to ask ... does anyone know how to call yak casa housekeeping? I think he has done some serious rearranging to the bunks in the female yak barn!

 Livin’ life on a fiber farm!

Linda

A Visit to the Millinery Department

Welcome to our newest edition to our website…Our Blog!!

Here, you’ll read about news, happenings and history of WoodsEdge.  Happy reading…..

To all my friends who make hats and to all the many customers who buy our hats….this blog is for you!

Linda

I didn't grow up in the fashion mecca of the world, but even Ottumwa, Iowa had a fine women's clothing store. That must have been where my love for hats began, as I have vivid memories of visiting the Millinery Department with my grandmother. We'd ride the elevator to the third (and top) floor where the uniformed elevator attendant would solemnly announce "Millinery Department." Even as a child, one knew the Millinery Department was sacrosanct. The department was filled with tables displaying the latest fashionable hats; each perfectly perched on its own hat stand. Large oval mirrors sat on individual tables where each guest was guided to a seat.

Ms. Pauline Glover ran the department and always personally attended to each visitor, carefully placing a selection of hats on her seated customer's heads as if they were jeweled crowns, adjusting them to the perfect angle, anchoring them with a hat pin and gently advising which hat looked best with their coat or suit. Oval hand held mirrors were offered to view the hat from all angles. The chosen hat was carefully ensconced in its own hat box for proper storage and to carry home. It was a magical experience for a little girl, and one which made me feel more like a real-life princess than any other.

At the WoodsEdge Boutique and Farm Store, we strive to create an experience for our customers of feeling special. I'm not sure we're up to Ms. Glover's exacting Millinery Department standards, but I know my grandmother is smiling as she always told me on the elevator ride "there is nothing like a new hat to make you feel special."

The hats shown here are original and avilable in are Farm Store!

To learn more about what other pearls of wisdom I learned from my grandmother and how I applied them to keeping my passion alive for fiber, please read the article Nan's Shawl.