We’ve been on a pretty blissful eastern Oregon vacation for the last week and off the computer and the cell phone circuit, but I’m back in Portland and loving this gorgeous summer-fall weather… I’m already thinking about Halloween costumes and making a new quilt and tempting stuff like that.

I also wanted to let anyone local know that this coming Sunday (September 20) I’ll be part of Crafty Writers Talking, a panel with Alicia Paulson and Diane Gilleland over at Hollywood Library on books, blogs, craftiness and everything in between. I am really looking forward to it and honored to be on the panel with these two superstars, and would love to say hello if you can make it! All the info is over here and it starts at 2:00.

I’ll be back with more crafty stuff later on this week too… it’s been a crazy end of the summer but I have gotten to do a few things I’m excited about!

p.s. I recently made the not-so-fun decision to change all my photos of Pearl to friends and family only on flickr after an incident where one of them was taken off the site and republished without my consent. Things are resolved now, but I do have a bunch of holes here where the formerly public photos were — I’m leaving a few up where she is a small part of a larger photo for now, but that may change too. So please bear with me while I do some blog-mending over the next while, and my apologies in advance if the re-edited posts all show up on readers again or anything like that.

I got a copy of Christine Haynes’ lovely book, Chic & Simple Sewing, a little while back and had a chance to sew myself one of her pieces — the Retro Shift. It’s one of my favorite dresses ever!

Christine gave me some advice on grading the pattern up slightly. (I’m about a size 12 in ready-to-wear sizes, so I just added a little width on each side of the front and back pieces following the cutting lines, but used the L collar piece provided in the book’s patterns as-is.) I made a simple sash to give it some shaping, but I really like the way it fits without it.

I added a layered set of vintage buttons and some tucks to my neckline too. When I have time to sew for fun again, I’m definitely making another one, but this time I think I’ll make the Back-to-School version, which has sleeves and (optional) patch pockets.

What I love about Christine’s designs is how utterly adaptable they are. I was able to change the size of my dress pretty easily, and the simplicity of the lines on many of the pattern pieces give you an idea of how to adjust them to fit you in either direction. Even more, I love the custom bits and pieces you can add to her basic shapes — they make the clothes totally yours.

Diane sewed herself the Back-to-School dress and it’s gorgeous!

She used vintage fabric from the Kitten and added a casing with a drawstring tie belt as well. So cute. I also adore the fabric flower she’s modeling here, from her wonderful book, Kanzashi in Bloom.

I saw Karissa Jo’s fantastic Baby Doll dress in the Chic & Simple Sewing flickr pool and just loved it too.

She made it as an anniversary dress, and added some very cool modifications, like custom pockets and contrast fabric, which you can read more about here.

Meanwhile, Christine has some fantastic sewing classes lined up at Jenny Ryan’s beautiful new Home Ec. store in Los Angeles!

She has some amazing classes for fall: Sewing 101, Baby Doll Top, Reversible Wrap Skirt, and a couple of others.

And Jenny is throwing a party tonight to celebrate her beautiful new space — I wish I could go!

Lots more details are here, and Jenny says:

Our Grand Opening Celebration is Friday, September 4 from 7-10pm. We’ll have snacks and drinks, and there will be fun crafty surprise giveaways to boot. Be there!

Home Ec. Silver Lake
3815 W. Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles CA 90026

Linda has been in town all week (she and Paul finally left today, we were sad to see them go) and we’ve gotten to do all the fun Portland activities you only treat yourself to when you have visitors! Among other adventures, we got waffles, Thai food, biscuit sandwiches, gelato and ice cream cones, and of course plenty of coffee… plus there was some knittn kitten, yard sale-ing, long walks, Powell’s, yarn shops, and a little barbecue over here with buddies in the lineup. Linda has a nice post with a few photos here — she and Paul did lots of great Portland things on their own, too. Since my laptop is currently full to the brim until I transfer a good chunk of my towering iPhoto onto an external drive, and everything I’ve snapped recently is trapped on my camera in the meantime, I have borrowed some favorite pictures of the week from Lee, Paul, and Linda.

To celebrate the release of Crochet Adorned, Linda did a super cool crochet 101 segment on AM Northwest, and at her lovely Powell’s event last week we not only learned a few tips, tricks, and secrets, but we got to see the whole array of her beautiful book projects in person… such a fun evening! Lee got some great shots of Linda at the famous wooden-book podium,

and the many pretty things she brought to show us.

Linda took lots of questions at the end of her talk. As a total beginner (I have crocheted two bead and wire necklaces using only the foundation chain stitch thanks to Diane), I asked for her recommendations for hooks and she suggested Clover Soft Touch, which are ergonomically designed for working comfortably. I was also curious to know what her favorite projects in the book were, and she mentioned her lovely Butterfly Apron and this gorgeous Lace Bowl.

Seeing all of her projects out was so inspiring! I was really looking forward to her flower crochet event at Yarn Garden on Saturday — the first time I saw her book, I was instantly drawn to the beautiful flower designs (like the Garden Party Cardigan on the cover) and her comprehensive stitch and motif dictionary is an incredible resource.

On Saturday afternoon, we all settled into the front room at Yarn Garden and I snapped up the recommended Clover Soft Touch hook (size G). It was so comfortable to use, even an hour in (thanks Linda!), and after a few experimental practice loops I was on my way to flower-constructing.

Linda gave all of us super-helpful one-on-one instruction and we got to crocheting. She had some colorful sample pieces out to show, and plenty of stash yarn up for grabs. Of my neighbors at the table, Kathy made a hot pink flower, Caitlin’s was blue and mine was orange. I was by far the most junior crocheter on board but I started to feel so much more confident on petals 2 and 3 — with Linda’s tutoring, I was actually double crocheting! Just a few repetitions and a satisfying pull on the yarn tail later, I had the sweetest little five-petal flower made and a bright blue button picked out for ornamenting it. Yay!

Linda’s book is such a treat — a lovely array of ideas for turning something you already have into something you love with delicate updates and pretty touches, from beginner-friendly to delightfully aspirational. I’m so excited to keep going and make more flowers… and trims… and granny squares (my necklace in all these pictures is a Lindamade original!). One of these months, after lots more practice, I even hope to try my hand at that gorgeous thread-crochet bowl.

You can see lots more peeks at the book on Linda’s blog and in Diane’s, Lee’s, and Natalie’s reviews. And Alice is giving away a copy of it today — hop over there to leave a comment and enter to win!

I hardly ever get to use all three of my mighty Oregon, Washington and California tags for a single post, but today is an exciting exception!

Here in Portland, we are in for a treat tonight: Linda will be at Powell’s at 7:30, talking crochet and signing copies of Crochet Adorned! You can also check out this interview with her on the Oregonian’s knitting blog, and her live segment on this morning’s AM Northwest show — and she took this lovely photo of her book while visiting the Rose Garden yesterday. So pretty.

I’ll be writing more about her beautiful book tomorrow with some photos from her event…

And tomorrow night August 14, Ryan Berkley has a fantastic art show, Creature People, opening at Schmancy in Seattle!

I wish I could make it in person, but luckily for those of us not in the Evergreen State there will be plenty of online awesomeness to admire.

And all weekend, Handmade Nation is showing at Cinefamily in Los Angeles! Woo hoo!

Check out the Cinefamily site for lots more info on the gift bags, giveaways, book signing, mini-craft fair, and more!

If you go:

Linda Permann at Powell’s, 1005 W. Burnside St, Portland
Thursday, August 13 at 7:30 pm

(and at Yarn Garden, 1413 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland on Saturday August 15 from 1 to 3 pm)

Ryan Berkley at Schmancy Toys, 1932 2nd Ave, Seattle
Friday, August 14 from 6 to 9 pm

Handmade Nation at Cinefamily, 611 N. Fairfax, Los Angeles
Saturday, August 15 at 12 noon and 7 pm
Sunday, August 16 at 3, 5, 7, and 9 pm

Caitlin alerted me to the ice cream social in Piccolo Park tonight — it’s part of National Night Out so you can get to know your neighbors! The free ice cream cones are up for grabs from 6-9 pm. Sounds awesome.

We’re hoping to go right before Diane’s book event at Powell’s tonight — can’t wait!

Wow, flickr tells me that these pictures are two and three years old. Obviously I need to be taking more pictures of ice cream, starting tonight…

It sounds like there are tons of neighborhood events going on across the country tonight — maybe there’s one in your zip code too!

I got my copy of Diane Gilleland’s beautiful new book, Kanzashi In Bloom, recently and I couldn’t wait to try some of her lovely projects! Lucky for me, Diane and I are in the same town, and she offered to come over and kanzashi with me… bringing vintage fabric, buttons, and a little tiny iron with her for good measure. I snapped some photos of our crafty morning and my little finished flower — my first one ever, and I just love it!

We started out by cutting squares of fabric (I picked a lively, tiny vintage print) and prepping them for petal-making. I love that the raw fabric square is almost exactly the size of the finished flower — crafty alchemy!

A quick press with the mini-iron later, they were ready to fold. (Diane’s book has wonderfully clear step-by-step photos and instructions — these are just a few snaps of my process as we went.)

Folding the first petal felt like magic! I love origami and using fabric instead of paper was a really cool experience.

And in just a few minutes, I had eight of them pinned and ready to join! A neat stitch and pull later, they formed the sweetest flower-petal circle.

Then it was time to choose the center button (I am into buttons, and the red moonglow round was just the thing) and hot-glue a little circle of fabric down to cover the back.

I love my little flower! It took me a few days to decide what to ornament with it, but Diane looked awfully cute holding it brooch-style with her pretty new dress… so that’s what I did, too.

I’m excited to make some flowers in different sizes and colors — maybe some tiny bright ones for hairclips, and larger and summer-ier colors for brooches or stitching right onto a handbag. Kanzashi in Bloom illustrates so many possibilities for projects to make with the flowers, as well as invaluable tips for choosing fabric and deciding on details like centerpieces and petal shapes.

You can check out lots more kanzashi excitement at the book website, and in the flickr pool of reader projects! And if you’re in Seattle this weekend, Diane will be at Urban Craft Uprising today (Saturday, August 1), showing everyone how to make kanzashi from 12:30-1:30 and then signing books from 2-3 pm. I’ll be there too, and would love to see what you make! The projects from her Twisted event last week are so charming.

And then she’ll be back in Portland for another book signing at Powell’s Books downtown this coming Tuesday, August 4th, from 7:30 – 9:00. Locals, be sure to mark your calendars!

I’m very excited about heading up to Seattle for Urban Craft Uprising on Saturday!

I’ll be signing copies of Button It Up (plus a few copies of Bead Simple for good measure) from 1 to 2 that afternoon.

And from 2:30 to 3:30, Kristen Rask and I will be doing a super fun crafty demo together, Button Mania! You can make yourself some button hairclips or sewn accessories in your favorite colors — we’ll have all the stuff you need for both projects and you can wear your new fanciness home!

There will be tons of other crafters and authors there, too, including Diane Gilleland, Becky Stern, Jenny Hart, Jennifer Worick, Brookelynn Morris, Tonia Davenport, and Moxie. Check out the crafty demos and author signings schedules for all the details. I’d love to say hi so please come by if you’re free!

And I am thrilled that some of my favorite crafters like Berkley Illustration and Ex Libris Anonymous are on the vendor list.

Hope to see you Saturday!

Hooray! Diane’s beautiful new book is out today!

I have a copy right next to me and I can attest that it is just gorgeous. The array of projects is lovely, and Diane did such a nice job making the techniques and embellishments clear and easy to understand. I made my first kanzashi a few days ago with vintage fabric and a moonglow button, and it was so much fun. (More on that next week, with lots of photos…)

Check out her pretty new book site, too! Congratulations, Diane!

I’m so excited that my friend Megan Nicolay is doing an event at Powell’s tonight for her new book, Generation T: Beyond Fashion. I snapped this photo in the window at Powell’s last week…

I have to run, this morning is the first day of my class (after an amazing weekend in the same space piecing quilt squares and thinking about color all the time) but I’ll be back with more about the Denyse Schmidt workshop soon and I hope to see you tonight!

If you go:

Megan Nicolay at Powell’s
tonight (July 20) at 7:30 pm
1005 W. Burnside
Portland, OR 97209

I haven’t had much time to craft for fun lately, but lucky for me, I just got a copy of Diane Gilleland’s lovely new e-book, Weaving Un-Loomed, and those sweet little projects are tempting me left and right! I learned how to weave on a cardboard loom at summer camp one year and I loved it. I remember that we dyed our own yarn with natural materials and then tried out different patterns and designs, I know I have my first triumphant little project somewhere…

I wrote a bit more about Weaving Un-Loomed as a special post for CraftStylish, and Diane gives a great introduction and overview on her blog post announcing the book, too. It’s a collection of five very different and very cool off-loom weaving projects, along with a comprehensive beginner-friendly how-to, about a zillion great tutorial photos, and a super-helpful resources section. You can buy the project tutorials individually or as a full book length, and Diane is also offering up a free download of one sample project on her announcement post — check out the last paragraph for the link!

As I mentioned over on CraftStylish, my first project will definitely be the Ribbon & Burlap Tote. I love the off-center cross of ribbons woven into the fabric, and the total simplicity of the design is so appealing.

In the meantime, while I dream of weaving, I have my very own in-house crafty inspiration — Pearl has started doing her very own art projects at school, and it’s been so much fun to see them all! I love her finger-painted tree the most. But the red-and-green I-don’t-know-what-that-is is very cool too.

I got her her own set of toddler-friendly crayons for our mini-vacation this weekend (more on that tomorrow!) and I’m planning to make her some play-dough, plus I’m on the lookout for some nice bright finger paint to add to our home art studio.

I have two little cotton smocks my grandmother sewed for me and my brother to paint and glue and make a mess in, so I’ve unpacked them from the big-kid-clothes box and I’m thinking it’s time for a crafty-toddler playdate with one of her buddies soon! I have some burlap and ribbons ready to go, too, so hopefully we can all do some fun little projects together. I could use some more summer camp in my life!