Runway Show!

Last Thursday was the Workroom 1.0 event. Local fashion designers set up booths to showcase and sell their designs, and there was also a runway show. This was my first time doing a runway show with hair, makeup, and all that fancy stuff. It was quite an experience!

Backstage was hectic and crazy, but it all came together for a great show. Some of my favorite designers were there, and I got to meet hair and makeup artists, photographers, models, and a lot of other people I don't normally meet inside my sewing/design bubble.

Here are some photos of the event, most of them are by Laur Nash Photography (website and facebook).  Laur is a talented photographer and she's really nice and down-to-earth, which is something I really appreciate in people!

Always the Forest

Always the Forest - by Laur Nash Photography

Always the Forest - by Laur Nash Photography

Wound Menswear - by Laur Nash Photography

Backstage - by Laur Nash Photography

My display - by Laur Nash Photography

Fotoula Lambros Design - by Laur Nash Photography

Always the Forest

Workroom 1.0 Event Tonight!

I'm one of the designers participating in the first Workroom event event tonight! We'll have tables set up to sell our collections, and there will be a runway show too. It's in the TechTwo building, which is the former Dagleish Cadillac Building. There is also free secure parking next to the building, so come out and shop, meet the designers, and enjoy the runway show! It's a free event, door at 6:00, runway show at 7:30. See you there! More info here: https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/321148141252896/

Goals for 2012

2011 was a really interesting year. Even though I took a little hiatus from designing and producing the line in the beginning of the year, there was a lot of growth and learning that happened during the final months of 2011.

Let's recap: At the beginning of the year, I was super busy with music teaching. I just got a job teaching piano at a studio (love!), and it was my first year taking on a high volume of accompaniment jobs for our districts Solo and Ensemble season. So I decided to put Always the Forest on the back burner for a little while so I could focus on music and do a really good job.

Then, over the summer, I began working on the line again. My goals for 2011 were:

1. Pricing - Done! The time had come to develop a pricing formula and stick to it. I had to put my own feelings aside about how much I would actually pay for something, and price clothing items according to a standard formula. It also meant realizing that I myself might not necessarily be my target customer, and that's okay.

2. Get my line in more stores - This one took a different turn- I got my own pop-up shop! I had my very own mini-store at 71 Pop in Midtown. It was awesome because I had a physical place to direct customers to when they wanted to try something on to see if it fits.  It was a really neat experience.  I also decided that consignment might not be such a good deal, and I should look into doing wholesale instead.

3. Focus on online sales - My poor little online shop was dead, dead, dead. I updated the front page, and events, but that was about it. That will be priority this year.

 4. Balance all of the above with my teaching job - Well I didn't really balance it, the scales definitely tipped in favor of piano teaching, and I'm totally fine with that. And this year I'm starting competitions with my students, so fitting in enough time for Always the Forest might be a little perilous, but I'll make it happen. I have some friendly competition in the hard work department, Billy is working 40+ hours a week, going to school full time, and doing maintenance/administrative work for his auto wash. So I'm in good company!

Goals for this year:

1. Maintain the online shop - Post new items regularly, and get rid of items that are no longer in stock. I set up a dedicated product photography space in the sewing studio, so this should be a little easier. But I'm making this one top priority this year. People are getting more used to buying things online, even clothing, so it's important that I keep up with this.

2. Work more with other local designers - There are quite a few designers in the Detroit area that I really admire, and watch their progress to get an ideas of how to grow my business. I'd like to participate more in the growing number of group events, to support the local industry and learn from others. I already have one event on the calendar: I'm participating in the Workroom 1.0 Pop-Up, and I'll post more info on that soon, but I'm super excited about it!

3. Look into doing wholesale - This has been on my radar for a while now, but my main obstacle is how to make a proper line sheet for a store to make orders from when my fabric selections are always changing? This whole recycled fabrics deal is the foundation of my line, and I need to figure out how to make it work properly.

So that's what I have planned for 2012, but we'll see where it actually takes me!

Holiday Break

I'm not the best gift-giver in the world, aside from my very close family and friends, everyone else that gets a gift from me gets the same thing: delicious homemade treats. Actually, maybe that does make me the best gift giver! This year, I made candied orange popcorn and elderberry syrup. I got the idea for gourmet popcorn from Luxirare, and the elderberry syrup recipe was from Mountain Rose Herbs. The popcorn was really easy, just coat it with a mixture of brown sugar, water, orange zest and roll in poppy seeds. I followed the elderberry syrup recipe exactly, except I used sugar instead of honey so it would last longer. For the labels, I used the mitten and branch graphics from Julia Rothman's gift tags (free download at Design Sponge), and added my own text. Designing the packaging is almost more fun than making the food itself. I ended up making about 25 of the elderberry syrup/candied popcorn gift sets, and I felt like Santa packing up the five(!) bags of gifts for the five(!) family events that we went to on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Then we hosted our fifth annual formal New Year's Eve party. I made my dress from a Burda Style pattern. I used their Strapless Gathered LBD pattern #117, and it was super easy to sew up. It's for two-way stretch fabrics, and that saved me from a big sewing mistake I made: the pattern doesn't include seam allowances and I forgot to add them in! Thankfully, it ended up not being a problem since the fabric was so stretchy.

I also wore a vintage cardigan, and neon bow and arrow earrings from Scarlett Garnet as a necklace. I wore black shoes earlier in the night, but changed to these Polish slippers from my grandma's house. Billy wore his thrift store suit and an arrow tie from Cyberoptix Tie Lab. It was purely coincidental that we both wore arrow things around our necks, I didn't even notice until just now!

Now I'm all refreshed and excited to get back to teaching and sewing. I'll be participating in a fashion event in a few weeks that I'll write about soon, and I have a ton of new items that I need to get photographed and put up on the website. And I need to do that before I upgrade my computer from Tiger (haha, I know, I'm terrible) in case the upgrade goes wrong and I have to spend a lot of time putting everything back on my computer. Wish me luck!

Detroit Urban Craft Fair 2011 Recap

I only did two shows this year, and I was lucky enough to be able to participate in my two favorite craft fairs. One of those is the Detroit Urban Craft Fair. This year, it was in a new space, Detroit's Masonic Temple. The space was big and open, us vendors had plenty of room to stretch out.  And the Masonic has a ton of character too! When Billy first got up to the room, he looked at the floor and asked, "Do people roller blade in here?" The Drill room happens to be where the Detroit Derby Girls practice. There was a ton of amazing architectural detail throughout the building, but I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of that.

There were a ton of shoppers, I heard we had over 3,500! I noticed that there were a lot of people from out of state, either just as visitors, or as recent transplants to Detroit. A family I met had just moved here from Portland, and the mother brought her two daughters to DUCF to show them that Detroit has cool stuff like Portland does. I would say she definitely brought them to the right place! A girl from Toronto came up to me and said that her and her friends took the trip to Detroit that weekend and used my guide to the city to plan their visit. I was so happy about that!

I turned my booth space into a mini-boutique, I loved all the space I had. There were a lot of creative displays this year. All the vendors got a free Square credit card reader in their vendor bags, so I set up an account with them to give it a try, and it is so much easier than using the old knucklebusters!

And finally, all the stuff I got! Official DUCF poster, Hell Yeah Michigan t-shirt from Alisa Bobzien, lip balm from Aromaholic, birch bark cardinal ornament by Bettula, and cast iron pan handle protectors from Tourist Park.

I had an awesome time seeing all my returning customers, meeting new friends, and catching up with my crafty friends. I can't wait for next year!

The Small Craft: pop-up craft shop and skillshare

Last month, I went to the first-ever Small Craft pop-up shop. Started by Amy of My Marigold, Small Craft is donations-based craft store. That means it's filled with a bunch of awesome vintage supplies, but also some really nice things (like super fancy yarn and silk noli) too. Until they secure a retail space, they're doing a once a month pop-up at the Trumbullplex Theater. Along with setting up shop, there is a skillshare hosted every month. Last month, it was learning how to knit. I stopped by to participate in the skillshare, and I bought some vintage library book return pouches.

This month, the skillshare is sewing draft-blockers made from ties, to go under drafty doors. There will be cupcakes, coffee and tea. The pop-up shop runs 12-6pm, you can rsvp and get all of the details here.

The thing I really like about this is the variety of supplies they have. You can go to a big chain craft store, but the stuff there is always the same. At The Small Craft, I can get vintage stickers, sewing patterns, library return pouches and other bits of ephemera. And there are the mainstays too: fabric, yarn, etc.

 

The cozy knitting skillshare last month. We were serenaded by a string duo!

Photo by Anne of the Handmade Gift Guide

This is me trying very hard not to mess up my knitting....and failing! Melissa was a very patient teacher though. My knitting project is now sitting neglected, I think I'll stick to sewing.

The website is http://thesmallcraft.com/, I definitely recommend checking out this little shop for some awesome/random/vintage craft supplies!

Things to do in Detroit before/after DUCF 2011

The Detroit Urban Craft Fair is this weekend!!! It's at the Detroit Masonic Temple this year, in the Drill Room on the thirteenth floor. There will be 80 different vendors, weaving demos, and the traveling Trumbullplex Zine Library.

This is my third annual guide to Detroit for those who are coming to the Detroit Urban Craft Fair. This one is going to be especially grand because of two things: a lot of new shops/restaurants/fun places opened up this year (we got three new coffee shops over the summer!), and I am one year older, and have had one more year to find this stuff. People are traveling to DUCF from Cleveland, Chicago, and maybe even farther, so I'm adding overnight accommodations and more evening events to the guide this year. And as always, your ideas are welcomed and encouraged in the comments.



Places to eat:

Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes - I mention this place every year, because it's so awesome! Sweet and savory crepes, filled with ingredients like boursin cheese, spinach, brie, nutella, brown sugar, and fresh fruit. But check out the menu for yourself.

 Motor City Brewing Works - Pizza place with local beers in a really cozy place. They have these delicious herbal sodas, but I'm not sure if that's a regular thing.

Traffic Jam & Snug - A little more expensive, but definitely worth it. Aside from being a restaurant, they're a bakery, a brewery, and Michigan's smallest licensed dairy. The inside is really neat too, lots of different rooms, and an upstairs level.

Honorable mentions: Mudgies (three different kinds of root beer!), Le Petit Zinc (french food), Majestic Cafe, Avalon International Breads(sea salt chocolate chip cookies!), Russel St. Deli.

I tend towards places that use locally grown/made ingredients. Detroit has a lot of great burger places, coney islands, mexican food, but that's not my specialty. If you know of a place that should be mentioned, post a comment!

Coffee shops:

14 East - I ordered a mocha latte here, and they put actual truffle shavings directly in my coffee. Pretty fancy. They also have locally-made macarons and other pastries here. In the same building as Leopold's Books. Open 8 - 4.

image via Crain's Detroit

Astro Coffee - More fancy coffee, right by Slow's BBQ and the old train station. Open 8:30-6pm.

Thistle Coffee - Simpler coffee, friendly staff. When Billy asked if they could scoop some ice cubes in his cup of coffee, they didn't look at him like he was nuts.  This place is also open late, until 9pm.

Cafe Con Leche - This one has been around for a while. Espresso drinks + traditional latin drinks. Mexican hot chocolate, and of course, cafe con leche. Located in southwest Detroit, open until 6pm.

Things to do around town:

Noel Night - Noel Night is like a giant open house for over 60 Midtown venues, go to the website and download the schedule, there's a billion neat things going on Saturday night. Highlights would be: horse-drawn carriage rides, the Reindeer Run (a photo scavenger hunt), but seriously, just check out the schedule, there's a ton of stuff going on.

Image by Corine Vermeulen.

Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit -  open 11-5, you can check out the current exhibition, Considering A Plot (Dig For Victory), examining victory gardens and urban farming.

Pop Up Detroit -  an art exhibition that transforms The William Boydell House with the works of over a dozen local artists. Opening reception on Saturday from 5 - midnight.

Detroit Institute of Arts - I heard the Detroit Revealed photography exhibition is worth a trip, museum open 10 - 5.


Live music: Breathe Owl Breathe is playing at the Scarab Club, 8pm Saturday.


Places to stay the night: 

Hostel Detroit - For $23.00 a night, you can get a single bed in an open room, plus a city orientation by the staff. Gated parking is available, make your reservations online.

Honor + Folly - This one is so brand spankin' new, that this will be the first weekend this bed and breakfast is open for business. Located on Michigan Avenue right by Slow's BBQ, Astro Coffee, and the Sugar House Bar, you can rent the entire apartment for $165 a night. The space is decorated with goods made by Detroit and Midwest-based designers and artisans, and you get a fully-stocked kitchen, wi-fi, and bikes to ride.

The Inn on Ferry Street -  This is another bed and breakfast, for $160 a night, you can stay in one of the four impeccably-maintained Victorian houses, and they provide shuttle services.

If hostels and bed and breakfasts aren't your thing, you can stay at one of the fancy hotels downtown, like the Greektown Casino Hotel ($99), Motor City Casino Hotel ($125), or get really fancy and stay at the Westin Book Cadillac ($219).

For more things to do and places to eat, check out my 2010 guide and 2009 guide. See you at DUCF!