READ :: Washington Times DIY craft article

Check out today's article on DIY craft in the Washington Times HERE.

More soon, catching up from vacation!

Dwell On Design

I will be on a panel at Dwell On Design in late June in Los Angeles with my friend Billie the co-owner of Reform school.

VACAY!

I'm on a trip out west that isn't work related which is a little over due. Today I'm in Olympia with my friend Ira and we ended up over at Nikki McClure's studio where Ira was doing some painting. I got to catch up with Nikki as she worked on her new book.

Ira is a sign painter, this is a case he lettered awhile back with his business name on it.

Nikki at work in her studio behind her house

This week!

Tuesday I am doing a private screening at Hallmark in Kansas City, MO which should be a cool experience.

Thursday Handmade Nation premieres in Denver, CO for one night only! Sponsored by Fancy Tiger, information HERE.

Pass it along!

Beautiful:: Watch!

A music video animated from more 700 real wool knits.......

Chic and Simple Sewing by Christine Haynes

Sewing Made Seriously Simple: a book review!

By Cortney Heimerl

Get your copy HERE

When I was learning how to sew, my mother was always my resource for answering the technical questions of dressmaking: What is my size exactly? How do I put in a zipper? She walked me through seam finishing and attaching buttons, creating gathers and making dress details with lace and so much more. I would recommend her as a sewing instructor to anyone, but if the chances of you all making it to Portage, Wisconsin to hang around her farm for a few lessons seems a little far-fetched, I would recommend buying the book Chic & Simple Sewing instead.

The author Christine Haynes, is obviously an accomplished seamstress herself with a penchant for creating precise and easy-to-follow directions complete with descriptive illustrations that glide the sewer from step one to step done in no time. The front of the book is all about starting with the basics. She starts with setting up a sewing area (and finding good ways to store it) and moves on to discuss tools of the trade, fabric choice and sewing pieces that reflect your personal style. Next she describes basic techniques, which happens to be my favorite part of the book. It easily answers the many technical questions that may intimidate first-time sewers and carefully explains all about seams and gathering, buttons and elastic, etc. The techniques are described in detail and even a seasoned pro would love to get her hands on this section as a reference. The rest of the book is made up of the patterns: dresses, skirts, tops and jackets that use the same simple directions as the beginning of the book. The best part? The designs are actually ones that you will be excited to wear. Most are simple enough to make in less than a day, but complicate enough to keep your interest and inspire you to plan your date nights around your sewing schedule. (Hot pink baby doll dress to the movies with Tom on Saturday!)

If you have always wanted to learn to sew your own clothes, this is the perfect place to start. It is fun, informative and incredibly easy to follow. As long as you have the time to learn, I think that this book will create many successful sewing ventures that only my mother could walk me through years ago.

I will be a featured speaker at this event:

Check out their website for additional information on how to register early and get a discount. Also check out information about scolarships and featured speakers, including our friend Rob Walker writer for the "consumed" section of the NY Times Magazine and author of "Buying In: The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are".

Phoenix:: Sunday

I am having an amazing time in Phoenix, there is so much amazing stuff going on here in this city. Off to brunch with my hosts and the Crafty Chica herself, Kathy Cano Murillo. One more screening today at Modified Arts, hopefully it will sell out like yesterdays showing.

I got a great review you can read HERE from yesterday too!

And, if you have a spare moment read this article that was passed onto me about the growing movement of younger foodies in Brooklyn, there is so much crossover with what is going on with DIY creativity in this article HERE.

Pictures and more news to come! I fly home right after my screening and will be in Milwaukee all week catching up on stuff.... Oh and don't forget to do read about the giveaway that P.A. Press is doing for the book below!

Book Giveaway!

Calling all craftatistas!

I know the economy has got us all down, but far from out. We here at Princeton Architectural Press said to ourselves, "what better time then now to give away a copy of Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design?" So we came up with crafty little facebook friend drive, and decided whoever puts the most elbow grease into inviting their friends to check out (and hopefully add!) Handmade Nation on facebook will get a free copy of this beautiful book by the multi-talented Faythe Levine and Cortney Heimerl. Most of you will not need convincing if you have seen the documentary or already read the book, but for those of you who are new feel free to check out a sample chapter we put up at this link http://issuu.com/papress/docs/9781568987873 Here you can see all the beautiful work of Jill Bliss, Nikki McClure, Clarity Miller, Stephanie Syjuco, and Sarah RaRa.

This is a simple little contest to see who can suggest this page to the most friends. Once you suggest this page to friends simply email me, Andy Stepanian at epublish@papress.com and tell me how many people you suggested this page to, at the end of the week I will tally up the emails from you all, read the online stats, and email the winner back to get an address to send the book to. Perhaps I'll even throw in a few surprises.

Good luck and thanks for supporting Cortney, Faythe, and Handmade Nation!

All the Best,
Andy
p.s. Andy works at P.A. Press

Phoenix!

Up at 5am today to catch my flight to Phoenix where it is a whopping 90 degrees outside!

I arrived at Cindy's house where I am staying for the weekend and the Phoenix craft community put together this awesome basket full of local goodies for me. So super sweet!


I'll be at Frances tonight from 6-9pm for a booksigning if you want to come find me!