A Year O’ Screenprinted T-Shirts

I’m a bit late in posting these pictures, since I had to go to Pittsburgh for Quilt Market (check out photos of the cool stuff I saw over on Project 95‘s Facebook page and detailed write-ups about new releases that I’m posting on FabTalk; True Up is also continuing their great coverage of Market–thanks to East Coast Stringer Mary Beth, so make sure to check out that awesomeness as well), I had a bit of a delay in downloading these photos of a special project Josh and I worked on together.

Susan‘s sweet little girl, Pearl, turned one about two weeks ago, and since she’s just about the coolest kiddo ever, we had to make her something special. She’s growing like a little wild weed, so we thought that a year of unique hand screenprinted T-shirts would be just the ticket. Josh and I each designed two. Check them out below.

This T-shirt is Pearl's size right now, and my original design. Since it fits currently, I anticipate that it'll have maybe a month of use before she's bursting out of it. It's the Steel Bridge, which is my favorite bridge in Portland. I designed the artwork and screened it in a metallic pewter color. I'm planning on turning this design into a letterpress piece as well.

This is one of the shirts Josh made. It's a monkey/gorilla stencil from the Stencil 101 book, and Josh made it glow-in-the-dark. To work with glowin-in-the-dark screenprinting inks, you have to first put on a base of opaque white--we learned that the hard way. Once the white is dry, you overprint the white with the glow-in-the-dark ink. Everything's better when it glows, right?

This is my other contribution. If I timed it correctly, it should fit Pearl right around fall--the start of the next Portland Trail Blazers season. It's the phenomenal Brandon Roy, guard for the Portland Trail Blazers, All-Star, All-NBA 2nd Team Member and all-around fabulous player and person. Pearl has a Brandon Roy jersey that she wears on game days--which coordinates with her Trail Blazers socks. I'm thinking that at the rate she's growing, her jersey may not fit her all season, but the T-shirt can hopefully fill in the wardrobe gaps next season. I neglected to take a picture, but the back of the shirt has an appliqued Blazers logo on it. I owe Pearl a pair of Trail Blazers pants to go with it, but I want to wait until fall to make them, so I can get a better idea of the sizing. This is my original design, and actually part of my letterpress project. It's neat seeing the image in two different mediums.

Josh's second contribution was the biggest hit of all of the T-shirts--"I brake for hummus." Pearl's favorite food is hummus, so Josh made the largest T-shirt a snazzy gold printed shirt proclaiming her loyalty to garbanzos, tahini and garlic. 'Nuff said.

Happy first birthday, Pearl! Can’t wait to make you four more next year!

~Sarah

Shameless Self-Promotion – We’re in Stitch Magazine!

Have you seen Interweave‘s awesome special magazine, Stitch? We loved it when the first issue was released–it’s defintiely a magazine for folks who love to sew and create. Well, the second issue of Stitch features a lovely article by the marvelous Susan Beal, and she interviewed Sarah for her article “Print Me,” which is about how to customize your sewing with DIY screen-printed fabrics. And, also flattering, little ol’ Sewer-Sewist was listed as resource for those aspiring to screen print at home.

Stitch is on newsstands now–it’s a great magazine and Susan’s article is wonderful, featuring loads of interesting and inspiring folks who are screen printing at home.

~Josh & Sarah

More Buttony Goodness

Some of the original projects from "Button it Up." I got to pick a necklace to wear during the event--I sort of felt like Angelina Jolie borrowing fancy jewelry for the People's Choice Awards.

No, it hasn’t gotten to be all buttons, all the time here, but Josh and I have both been sick with various bugs–again–so we still haven’t had much of a chance to do much in the way of projects or photograph a few (now) oldies for Sewer-Sewist. I’ve also not had a chance to take pictures of my progress on my colossal project for my letterpress class through PNCA’s Continuing Education program, but I’m going to go to some printing tomorrow, so hopefully, I’ll have an update for you soon! (Hint: My big project is looking like it’s going to be bad-ass.) Anyway… I just had to share some of the pictures from last night’s awesome event in support of Susan Beal’s new book, Button it Up. (Yeah, I’ve mentioned it once or twice.)

Three of my button hairclip creations. I love these. They also reminded me that I need to accessorize more often.

Susan’s event was at the Best Bookstore in the World (aka Powell’s Books here in Portland) and was loads of fun. Not only did we get to hear all about buttons and check out the original projects from the book, Susan brought along the supplies for a really marvelous little project–hairclips embellished with buttons. It was so fun getting together with folks and working on this simple project. I honestly think I could have made button clips all night–if I’d had my way, they probably would have had to kick me out of Powell’s, clutching the tube of Dazzle Tack in one hand, vintage buttons in the other.

I love the clip on the right--Michelle snagged those buttons out of the pile and said, "These so look like you." And she was right. I wore this clip around today.

It was also lovely getting to catch up with some cool folks from around our area–and it reminded me how fortunate we are to live in a community that really fosters such creativity. In addition to Susan, I got to chat with the undeniable Queen of Craftiness Diane, Knitter Extraordinaire Lee (who also took the crown for “Best Dressed”–check it out), Baking Phenom Caitlin and my fellow member of the Blazers Craft Posse (yeah, we definitely need T-shirts), Michelle. (Y’all know about my love of assigning random nicknames to people, right?)

Three different sets of fingers digging into a rainbow of buttons.

Oh, and Caitlin and I “styled” this part of the display.

It's sort of hard to believe all these beautiful pieces are made with something as simple as buttons. It kind of blows my mind, even though I've seen a number of the items before.

I totally think that we knocked it out of the park–we could totally get jobs doing window displays at Anthropologie based on our skills here.

It was loads of fun, and reminded me of the importance of taking a bit of time to do something simple, like make a little hairclip for yourself. I felt a nice bit of creative revitalization, and I think everyone else did as well.

Don't you just want to plunge your fingers into all those buttons and play with them?

You can check out all of my pictures from the event over on this Flickr photoset.

Also, there’s still an opportunity to come do some buttony crafting with Susan and pick up a signed copy of her book. The Best Fabric Shop Ever (aka Bolt in Portland’s awesome Concordia neighbor, right on Alberta Street) is hosting a book event where you can also make a bit of buttony goodness to take home next weekend. As a double-bonus, everyone who buys the book at the event at Bolt will get their own sampler bag of vintage buttons to take home–so you can get started with your own button projects right away. Get the details here and here. As a triple-bonus, Bolt is a unique independent sewing shop, so if you haven’t been there before, you’re in for a real treat.

~Sarah

Buy This Book: “Button it Up” by Susan Beal

Cover of "Button it Up," by my awesome pal Susan. Aside from the fact this is a unique new book, I really love the cover. I am a terrible one for judging a book by its cover, and Taunton did a lovely job with this design--it's very eye-catching and energetic.

I’m not even going to try to pretend to be unbiased in this review, I’m just going to try to give you a bunch of reasons why you should buy my friend Susan Beal‘s awesome new book, Button it Up: 80 Amazing Vintage Button Projects. While I’ve only recently amassed a collection of buttons (thanks, Bryan), I have always loved buttons, especially those of a vintage nature. This book, will certainly get your mind going about how to utilize the buttons in your collection in new and different ways.

Susan is a true button aficionado. Button it Up begins with a sweet introduction from her about her button memories as a child, playing with both of her grandmothers’ button stashes. As I was getting ready to write this post, I looked back on some of Susan’s old West Coast Crafty posts about this book, and I was struck by how many comments on this post in particular connected with a similar memory. It seems that there is something nearly universal about a childhood fascination with buttons, and this book is a warm reminder of that.

If you’re familiar with Susan’s jewelry-making book, Bead Simple (a well put together and highly approachable book, if you’re interested in jewelry making), you’ll appreciate that Button it Up follows a similar format–lots of great “recipes” (that’s how I think of them) for making unique projects, this time using buttons. This is definitely one of the strengths of the book–it gives you all the tools you need to unleash your own creativity–not simply replicate a project from the book. Also like Bead Simple, Button it Up is really enhanced by the presence of some really talented guest designers that bring their own flair to some unique button projects.

This simple pendant could be customized in any number of ways using vintage buttons you've found.

Since Susan’s a jewelry designer extraordinaire, many of the projects (did I mention there are 80 of them?) are jewelry designs. I love the idea of showing off a love of sewing by creating jewelry with sewing’s most varied and fun notion. Buttons really are the accessories for our clothing, so why not have them serve as our, well, accessories?

The simple plastic circles combined with retro buttons come together as a fun necklace.

Love buttons, but aren’t familiar with jewelry making techniques? No fear here–the introduction to Button it Up covers all the basic skills. Materials such as wire, chain, glues and findings are all discussed in a very straightforward manner, so you can feel very confident flipping to a project you want to try out and knowing that the resources you need to be successful in your project are right there in the book. As someone who hasn’t messed around with jewelry making since I was a teenager, I’m very grateful that this instructional section is so thorough.

Definitely my favorite design in Button it Up -- circle chain combined with vibrant red buttons create a new take on the old school charm bracelet.

But it’s not all jewelry–there’s something fabulous for any maker who loves vintage buttons. There are chapters devoted to both “Housewares” and “Accessories, Embellishments and Gifts.” Since a number of the vintage buttons I acquired are singletons, these projects are great because they mostly don’t require matched sets of buttons, as do a number of the jewelry projects (although, in fairness, you don’t need matched buttons for the jewelry projects and quite a few are pendants, etc, that don’t need multiples). These are a few of my favorites from those sections:

A simple embellished T-shirt looks fresh with a cluster of unique vintage buttons sewn on--almost like a nouveau brooch.

These hairclips are simply charming, and--depending on the buttons you use--could be elegant for adults or fun and playful for little ones.

Sigh... Someday, we will decorate for the holidays and make wonderful handmade items to celebrate the season. I love this button wreath. (So if anyone wants to make it for us--since we're so crummy at the whole holiday spirit thing...)

I love that this toy features covered buttons--which is one of my favorite button styles, since I'm such a fabric lover. Could this owl project be any cuter? I don't think so.

I’m sure that there will be lots of reviews of Button it Up in advance of its official release date this coming Tuesday, so I’m not going to belabor the point about how fun and inspiring all of the projects are. But as I was looking through the book, I was struck by something else, something more practical: The projects in Button it Up are extremely accessible from a financial perspective. I own a lot of craft books–mostly sewing, printmaking and funky DIY-type books. Looking through a lot of those books, many are not particularly sensitive to the costs of the projects, and have a fairly high cover price. It’s not something that I’ve really thought about before, but given the current financial landscape, there’s something appealing on a very practical level about an inspiring book that helps empower you to create with what you have. Not only is the cover price of Button it Up very reasonable ($21.95 list), but there are 80 projects in this freaking thing. 80! That’s 27 cents a project. And looking through the supplies you need, these are items you may already own–if you’re a button collector or a sewer/sewist who tends to pick up a card of buttons here are there to have on hand–or can easily find at rummage sales and thrift stores and in the bulk jars at your independent fabric retailer; the things you may need to purchase are basic, easy-to-locate, inexpensive items like glues and wire. That’s really refreshing. In fact, because of this, I think Button it Up would be a great resource for a crafty afternoon with friends or family–have a potluck, bring some buttons to trade and share and use this book to create some fun, affordable, one-of-a-kind projects together. Sounds fun to me.

If you’re local to Portland, Susan’s having a couple of fun events for the book. The first will be at Powell’s on March 20 at 7:30 p.m. and the second will be in our ‘hood (Whoohoo, Concordia!), over at one of my favorite places in the world, Bolt Fabric Boutique on Alberta on March 28 at 4:00 p.m. Susan tells me that she’s got some simple projects planned for both of these events, so you’ll be able to make your own button item to take home with you. Anyone who buys a copy of the book from Bolt will get a vintage button grab bag and I hear there will also be an awesome door prize as well (I’ve been to the Bolt events before–the door prize is always amazing.). Finally, Susan’s set up a web site for Button it Up that you’ll want to check out.

Honestly, even if Susan wasn’t a friend, I would tell you to go buy this book (at your local independent bookstore, if it all possible).

~Sarah

Bingo, Bango, Bongo!

That post title doesn’t really mean anything, but it’s a quote from the great Bill Schonely, the best play-by-play announcer of all time. When someone would do something really awesome, The Schonz would randomly shout, “Bingo, Bango, Bongo!” There were other things, too. Like, “Rip City!” or “Ocean to Ocean…” or “Lickety Brindle up the Middle.” I listened to him call Portland Trail Blazers games on the radio my whole life, and no on will ever be as awesome as The Schonz. Seriously, Josh and I saw him walking down the street last year and I literally started hyperventilating. He’s that rad of dude.

Anyway, this post is about a T-shirt I screen printed and embroidered, but you’re going to have to humor me a bit while I digress…

I'm not a crazed fan! Really. I'm not. I swear.

It’s been well established that I’m a crazy fan of Portland Trail Blazers basketball. And keep in mind, Trail Blazers fans are a special breed of crazy in general, so that’s saying something. This season, we are actually season ticket holders. We have seats waaaaaay up in section 322 to each and every game this year. This is going to sound cheesy, but this is actually a life-long dream of mine. When I was a kid it was nearly impossible to get tickets. When Josh and I moved back to Portland, no one was going to the games, because of the whole Jail Blazers thing, and we were able to score all kinds of free or deeply discounted tickets (great seats, too). So we went a lot. (An aside: for the longest time, I thought that if I was at the game, the Trail Blazers couldn’t lose–it wasn’t until Portland played the stupid Clippers that season that I attended a Blazers’ loss.) That year, 2006-07, was Brandon Roy‘s Rookie season–he eventually become Rookie of the Year, Ime Udoka made the team (he’s a Portlander) and Nate McMillan was coaching. The vibe was changing, and fans kind of knew that it was Zach Randolph‘s last season before he was traded. Portlanders knew the team was changing–and something good was going to happen. Then Portland won the #1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.

It was amazing.

Blazermania was back.

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