jumping ship

blogger has been good to me, but in order to consolidate my (up 'til now non-existent) website and blog, i am moving over to the venerable wordpress. please re-direct your RSS feeds and readers to http://hodgepodgefarm.net

it is still a work in progress, but i am really happy with it so far! i owe it all to my good friend christine, of LANYBER, her really cool graphic design blog. we are working together to make the site a one-stop shop for all things hodge podge: the clothes, the book, the classes, the farm... so check it out! i will not be posting here any longer and you don't want to miss out ;n)

hot and sticky

it is unbelievably hot and humid here in the catskills, and i am daydreaming about what i wish i were wearing today. skimpy, loose-fitting whites and creamy, cotton or linen skivvies seem just right for running around barefoot through the sprinklers and drinking homemade lemonade. all of my real summer clothes are locked up in storage; all i'm left with are a few pairs of cutoffs and some t-shirts. not the romantic vision pictured above...

september classes

lena has posted her september classes, including a sewing workshop taught by me, in which we'll make the dress above. that's lena's dress that she made last time i taught this project. isn't it lovely?

brooklyn general has also posted their fall schedule, and i'll be teaching patternmaking there once a month. here are the specifics:

PATTERNMAKING WORKSHOP
Design and make your own clothes! In this 2-hour class you will learn the basic principles of making your own sewing patterns, and make a pattern for either an A-line skirt or a T-Shirt that fits your own unique body. With this foundation you'll be able to sew the projects you envision! Basic sewing experience is helpful to get the most from this class.
Session A: Sunday September 20 @ 10am-12pm (Skirt)
Session B: Sunday October 25 @ 10am-12pm (T-Shirt)
Session C: Sunday November 15 @ 10am-12pm (Skirt)
Session D: Sunday December 13 @ 10am-12pm (T-shirt)
$50/workshop

and you can see the complete schedule here. call the shop at 718-237-7753 or stop in to register.

fair weather

this weekend, august 15 & 16, i will be selling my goods at the Garrison Art Center's Fine Arts and Crafts Fair. i have never been to Garrison before, but i hear it's a lovely setting, right on the hudson river and just steps from the metro north train station. so if you live in the area, come out and say hello! and you city peeps, how about a day-trip up to the country? there are two music stages, tamales and keegan ales, and 95 juried artisans, both traditional and new-fangled. i'll have my own solo booth for the first time ever, and i'm bringing both summer and fall pieces since it's that time of year.

the visionary folks at the GAC reached out to a bunch of us etsians to freshen up the vendor list, so i think it's going to be a really fun mix! mr. smith will be there selling prints of his photos, and my buddy jill will have her scrumptious handspun yarn. looking at the list just now i discovered that my friend julie a.k.a. your secret admiral will be there! also the talented screen-printer alison tauber. some other sellers i'm excited to meet are: cerulean blue ceramics, astulabee, reine, and knit knit.

sayonara

i just finished a new batch of smock dresses which are on their way to japan as we speak. they are going to my friend-and-fellow-recent-nyc-to-upstate-transplant hanna's store in tokyo, which is called HaNNa. i love that the website calls it a 'gentle arts store' which is 'closed irregularly'. i had fun making each one extra-special with crochet, embroidery, or doily stencilling. more like these are in the works for fall!

mr. smith

i don't know if i've mentioned it before, but my sweetie is a photographer. it completely fascinates me how a good photographer can take a photo of the simplest thing, and it just looks so much better than when i do it. richard sent me this collection of images from a visit to the farm a few weekends ago, and i think they capture the essence beautifully!

**sorry if the photos weren't loading for you before, i think i fixed them!**

light and sweet

today's edition of etsy finds featured my favorite linen tunic! i have subscribed to these daily collections of curated items for a while now, and secretly hope every day to see something of mine among the treasures. hooray! today's theme was linen and organic cotton and keeping cool in the summer. check out the entire collection of light and sweet; i'm in great company!

tute, tute!

even though craft stylish had to lay off all of us weekly bloggers back in may (thanks to the screwy economy), i am still writing one or two project tutorials a month for them. i'm kind of into my newest one, for a braided leather headband, and want to make a whole bunch of these if i can just get my hands on some nice leather scraps somewhere! you can always find all of my articles here, and even subscribe to my RSS feed if you like.

i also swapped interviews with my crafty friend kayte of love forever. you can read my queries for kayte and hers for me.

what are you doing this weekend?

there are still a few spaces left in the sewing workshop at lena's and the t-shirt patternmaking class at home ec. (i think the skirt patternmaking class at brooklyn general is sold out, but you can check or get on the waiting list for next time.) so if you have any free time and would like to learn something new this weekend, come and join us! (well, please register first...)

picked my own

we are surrounded by 'pick your own' farms so yesterday gertie and i and our friend jenn went blueberry and black raspberry picking. hallelujah! you may recall that i'm a big fan of the blueberry picking. really, i can't recommend it highly enough if you get the chance. we discovered a volunteer patch of black raspberries here on the farm but it's hard to get enough at once to do anything but pop them right in your mouth. we have red raspberries too in the garden, as well as peas, collards, broccoli, and plenty of lettuce. the radishes are done and the carrots are still growing.

in other news, gert and i both have a nasty case of poison ivy! disgusting stuff; i had no idea it was this bad. i kind of want to show you a photo but i think you don't really want to see it. trust me.

terrariums

i just learned from a secret source how to make my own 'faux' etsy treasuries so here is my first! i have been somewhat obsessed with terrariums on and off since i was a little girl, when i used to have a hermit crab in one. my most distinct memory of that is being told that you can feed a hermit crab ANYTHING (not at all true i'm sure) so i remember putting an Oreo in there. you can imagine what happened... the crab was not interested in the Oreo (!) and it got moldy.

anyway, despite my obsession i've never actually made a terrarium (except for the quickie i whipped up here), but when i find my real home i plan to have lots and lots. compiling these was a fun way to pretend i was actually making my own... aren't they lovely?

two more classes

while i'm in the city next weekend (july 18-19) i'll be teaching two patternmaking classes, both on sunday the 19th. they are separate, independent classes at two different locations, but together they comprise the first half of the 4-week patternmaking class format that i used to teach. in the morning class we'll make a pattern for an A-line skirt, and in the afternoon we'll be making t-shirt patterns. come join me for one or both! we can even walk over the Gowanus canal together in between...

Introduction to Patternmaking Workshop, $50
sunday july 19, 10am-12pm at Brooklyn General (call 718-237-7753 to register)

In this 2-hour class you will learn the basic principles of making your own sewing patterns, and make a pattern for an A-line skirt that fits your own unique body. With this foundation you'll be able to sew the projects you envision!

Supplies:
Paper (at least 3 sheets of 18 x 24" newsprint or drawing paper, or a roll of paper at least 14" wide)
Pencil, eraser, sharpener
See-through 18" ruler
Tape Measure
Scissors (for cutting paper)

Patternmaking 101 Workshop, $50
sunday, july 19, 2-4:30pm at Home Ec (register online here)

If you've always wanted to learn how to make your own patterns, here's your opportunity!
In this 2.5 hour introductory workshop, you will learn to draft the pattern for a T-shirt
that fits YOUR body! This pattern can become the basis for all sorts of styles to augment
your wardrobe. Basic sewing experience is helpful to benefit from this class.

Supplies:
Paper (a pad or roll of newsprint or drawing paper, at least 14" wide)
Pencil and eraser
Ruler (ideally an 18" clear sewing ruler)
Clear tape

free love

the sweet peeps at free people (my alma mater) asked me a few questions over here. it seems like another lifetime that i was a designer there, but they were good times!

new sewing class at lena's

i have been loving teaching at lena's studio in fort greene. her space is lovely and very functional (those cutting tables are a dream!) and the best part is the beautiful vegetarian lunch she prepares for us to eat mid-way through the class. amy's dress turned out great; she went for the simpler elastic neckline. lena took some better photos.

we have a new class lined up for saturday july 18, using this pattern, which is for knits. here are all the details...

sachets

little by little i'm getting it together...

i have always wanted to enclose a little bonus present into the packages i send out for etsy orders. i like the idea of sachets because opening a package and smelling the scent of lavender before you even see what's in there just seems like such a nice treat! so last week i finally started making some and one lucky customer in the UK was the first to get one with her purchase. i had fun playing with the embroidery function on my machine, which i rarely use. from now on some kind of small 'thank you' gift will be tucked into every envelope i send... i have plans for moth-repelling herbs for my woolens, and another kind of surprise for the dog slings.