Stitchless in Seattle

We made it! We're here! Actually, we made it here almost FIVE weeks ago and we're still living in a hotel (dog and cat included), a few miles away from the house we're trying to buy. If we had known back in May when we put in an offer on the house how hard it would be to get it, we would have just rented. BUT! It looks like our diligence is finally paying off and if all goes as planned (which it never does) we should be in our new house this time next week. Weirdest summer ever.

I miss my stuff. I miss my sewing machines (plural) and my fabric. I miss being able to walk into my studio and make things. My greatest accomplishment this summer has been coming up with activities to entertain two kids living with limited clothes and toys in a hotel room. Thankfully, with a new city to explore it hasn't been too difficult. We've found every thrift store and playground in the vicinity, several lakeside beaches, free movie mornings at the local theater, farmers markets, and a beautiful trail lined with blackberries across from our hotel. Despite not having a place to call home, we love it here so far.

I started a new blog - Out and About Around Seattle (*with kids) -  chronicling our adventures around the city. A Patchwork World will from now on be reserved for all things crafty and kokoleo. Hopefully soon, once I get my new studio set up I'll be posting regularly here again. I've been bouncing around design ideas and can't wait to see what comes out of kokoleo with a Pacific Northwest influence.  It seems as if every other aspect of my life is (finally!) undergoing a transformation for the better, it's only fitting that inspiration and creativity will follow.

Things I'll miss about Los Angeles

That last post was kinda sad. I don't want to give the impression that we've just been sitting in litter feeling sorry for ourselves these last 5 years, on the contrary, we've had some wonderful times. If it weren't for our time here we wouldn't have Kali (thank you Glendale Humane Society)...

and Bella (thank you East Valley Animal Shelter)...

and probably even McKenna...

This city has a lot to offer and practically every weekend we explored someplace new. This blog captured a lot of the good stuff, and these are the things that I'll miss...

Destinations – Griffith Park - ponies, merry-go-round, and trains, the old zoo, the Observatory, the Greek, Hollywood and Highland, Pig and Whistle, Lucky Strike, Santa Monica Pier, Melrose Trading Post, Anarkali, La Brea Tar Pits, Sunset Strip, the Fashion District, Chinatown,

The Getty, Rose Bowl Flea Market, the Blue Room, Bigfoot Lodge, NoHo, Universal Studios, the Metro, Dodger Stadium,

Victorio's, Tonga Hut, Montrose Harvest Market, Venice Beach, 99cents Only stores, the Grove, the Americana, Disneyland, the Hollywood sign.

Surrounding areas – the Pacific Ocean,

Malibu, San Diego, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Big Bear Lake,

Lake Arrowhead, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Sequoia National Park, Yosemite, Joshua Tree.

The mountains, even though they're dusty.

Parks and trails – Mt. Hollywood, Runyon Canyon, Stough Canyon, Wildwood Canyon, Lake Balboa, Tree People, Franklin Canyon, Pacific Park (all of them), Hansen Dam.

The L.A. Craft scene – especially those involved in Felt Club, Bazaar Bizarre, Patchwork, Craftmas, Swap-o-Rama-Rama and Holiday Cheer.

Hollywood estate sales and yard sales galore. All the stuff I found and turned into kokoleos.

Thrift stores – American Way on Magnolia, Veterans Thrift Store on Sonora, Goodwill on Hollywood and Sunset, The Family Store on Lankershim, Charity Thrift on Vanowen.

Good Mexican food - Fish tacos, De La Rosas, margaritas, “wagon wheels” (what are these called?) with chile and limon.

My church – St. Michael's All Angels in Studio City. I hadn't been to church in years, but this one reminded me why it's important – because there are nice people there, with kids that my kids now call friends, doing good things for the community. And there's coffee and doughnuts too.

And last, but not least - our friends, scattered across the city.

I hope we cross paths again.

Things I won't miss about Los Angeles

One week left and then I... am... outta here. I'm ready. Our house is sold (for $180,000 less than we paid for it 4 years ago), our clutter has been purged in yard sales and onto charity trucks, the moving company has been called and the date is set (July 12th). Hopefully, God and banks willing, our new house in Seattle will be ready to move into by then. Nothing left to do but hurry up and wait. Driving around, I can't help but think of all the things I'm not gonna miss about Los Angeles. Here is the list I've compiled:

The blaring sun.

The lack of decent clouds.

The SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN symbols on t.v. weather reports.

The dusty mountains. I want them to be green.

The smog that often obscures those dusty mountains.

Helicopters. The sound, plus the wondering, Why are helicopters circling my neighborhood? With a spotlight? That can't be good.

The traffic. And the daily mini-heart attacks I have while driving in it.

The cost of living here. Gas, food, housing, utilities, taxes.

Not being able to speak Spanish (fluently) or Armenian (at all) , and therefore not being able to communicate with the parents at my kids' schools, or my neighbors, or the people that I meet when I'm walking down the street (the people that I meet each day).

The lack of sidewalks in our neighborhood.

Taggers and crappy graffiti, or worse - taggers who tag on murals and good graffiti.

Our money pit "rambler" and its maze-like layout.

One story houses.

The perky busted, botoxed, lipoed look of certain ladies carrying large coffees and wearing oversized sunglasses and tiny yoga pants.

Obnoxious *bling* - swarovski crystals and expensive labels, tinted windowed Hummers and Land Rovers and their sparkly hubcaps - they don't impress me much.

The juxtaposition of *bling* against poverty.

Litter.

Sherman Way, and its miles of endless smog shops, discount furniture stores, marijuana dispensaries, water stores

(huh?), strip clubs, and adult book stores. I'm not against these places per se, but when these signs are all my kids see on their way to school, it's just sad.

Van Nuys.

The major studio executives and management that pad their salaries by eliminating artist and writer jobs, just to outsource them overseas for inferior quality. The fact that many of these artists and writers are our friends. (Read Erik's take here.)

Jay Leno. I'm with Coco.

Cutbacks, layoffs, double-digit unemployment. I suppose this is true of a lot of places right now, but seems acutely evident here when coupled with the cost of living.

Broken dreams in general. Projects abandoned before they could flourish. The fact that these are dime a dozen. The resignation that comes over time. Damn, I'm getting depressed now. I'll stop. Tomorrow I'll talk about all the things I'll miss. The upside to the blaring SUN SUN SUN SUN is that the outlook always seems bright despite the circumstances.

Happy Indie Day!

Sage loves the crafts in Family Fun magazine. (Thank you Aunt Cheryl for our first subscription years ago.) When it arrives in our mailbox, he immediately grabs it and then spends the next hour reading it cover to cover. Last Christmas I found a Family Fun book of projects and I swear he was more excited about that book than his brand new Wii. When a holiday approaches, he always gets it out and attempts one of the projects. Today, in honor of the 4th of July he turned his sister into Lady Liberty.


He even made his own flag.

Now that's a patriot!

Last Call for kokoleo in SoCal...

I'm gearing up to do one more SoCal show and it's this one:

Sunday June 6th at The Road Less Traveled store in Santa Ana. Patchwork will always have a special crafty place in my heart because every show I've ever done has been a blast. I'm looking forward to showing all the new stuff I've been making and getting some nice one-of-a-California-kinds to take with me to Seattle.

Erik left today to start his new job and find us a house. The wheels are in motion, people! We're really gonna do it.

Stop! Pajama time.

Of course, I haven't forgotten my boy. I sometimes make things for him too. He's a little pickier though, and wants nothing to do with my sundresses. I cleaned out Sage's closet recently and realized how much he's grown this past year. Clothes he used to wear all the time are now way too small. When I noticed his belly button and ankles peeking out from his favorite skully kokoleo pajamas, I knew it was time for a some new ones. So I made him these:

It's always nice to have a good soft sturdy pair of pajamas. Coming soon! Kokoleo pajamas.

I also made him that Wacky Packages pillow in the foreground given to me by my friend Susie at this yard sale last year. It matches the poster behind him. This is our nightly view of him - comfy in bed with stacks of books around him, reading for hours if we let him (not on school nights though). Captain Underpants, Hank the Cowdog, Magic TreeHouse, Goosebumps, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Eregon, plus books about animals and insects and oceans and the human body, and occasionally still some oldskool Dr. Suess and Shel Silverstein. He devours them.

Behind him, beside the Captain Underpants Super Diaper Baby poster, is a cross-stitch my bff since elementary school Carrie Mahle made him when he was born. In front of him is his trusty Blanken, now faded and frayed and falling apart. *sniff* My boy is growin' up!

I've been trying to take lots of pictures of these kids in this place lately, because pretty soon we'll be in a new place. It's official - we're movin' out! Adios Los Angeles... Seattle, here we come!

Dress-A-Day #7: Pocahontas Sundress

Okay, so I missed a day there. I also never got around to making her a 7th dress so I decided to let her pick out one from my rack of recently made kokoleos. She chose this Pocahontas one.

Despite my issues with Disney princesses (over-commercialization, myth-marketing, beauty standard-warping) and my issues with the company (damn outsourcers), I found a few nice bedsheets (Jasmine, Ariel, Cinderella) that were begging to become sundresses. When I found this Pocahontas pillowcase I immediately thought of this native American print fabric I have in the same color scheme.

McKenna hasn't even seen the movie Pocahontas, she just liked this dress because it reminded her of the doll she got on our vacation to Death Valley last month.

I love listening to her play with her dolls. She does all the voices and acts out all sorts of scenarios. It's the cutest thing in the world when she says, "Hey Daddy! Wanna play dolls wif me?"

... and he does.

Dress-A-Day #6: Three-tiered Butterfly Skirt

Okay, this one's not a dress, it's a skirt, and my favorite that I've done so far. Sometimes instead of getting the prototype, my kids get the cream of the kokoleo crop.

I streamlined the multi-step process that goes into making a tiered skirt and made a few more last month (coming soon). Having a well-behaved serger that does what it's supposed to do helps. Still, they take about as long to make as a sundress does since there's so much fabric involved. Lots of fabric makes for good spinability.


Happy Mother's Day! Here's hoping you get the chance to dance today.

Dress-A-Day #5: Patch Print Pillowcase

It's a bit surreal to see my daughter running around in the bedsheets I slept on when I was her age.

This wasn't mine though. I found a full sheet set in mint condition at an estate sale and got it because it reminded me of mine. This must have been the bedsheet to have in 1970-something because I know a lot of people who had them. I made another pillowcase dress and I'm currently working on sundresses from the sheets. I also have a sheet in the brown color scheme, and plan to do a fall/winter collection. I'm all about nostalgia.

I was reading my old blog posts tonight and reminded of the time when McKenna wasn't walking or talking. It seems like ages ago. Gone are bibs and cribs and bottles and diapers. Nowadays she's into dolls and dancing and things that are pink and fancy (much to her brother's dismay). She idolizes Sage though, and has been known to wield a mean sword and growl like dragon or proclaim that she's a pirate. Arrrr.

I don't think I'm a very good photographer. I look at other blogs and my photographer friends' albums and see vivid colors and good angles and lighting. I tend to photograph directly into the light. That, or out of it, which makes for weird shadows. Oh well, you can't really postpone things for perfect lighting when your kid is willing and happy to let you photograph them.

Dress-A-Day #4: Cherry-topped Cupcakes

My previous attempts at attaching skirts to shirts were not up to kokoleo standards, but I got it right this time, and then I made a bunch more (coming soon).

There's only one dress like this one though, and it's McKenna's because that's all the cupcake fabric I had. The embroidered cupcake on the top is from a Sublime Stitching pattern I stitched when I took an embroidery workshop taught by Jenny Hart at Reform School. I blogged about it here last summer.

You know those old Reese's Cup commercials where someone with chocolate stumbles into someone with peanut butter and they realize it was meant to be? That's kind of what it was like last month when I found that cupcake I embroidered... I instantly thought of this new cupcake fabric I got... and then all the cherries reminded me of this tiny pom pom trim I have... and that's the same color of this shirt I saved for just the right project... and before I knew it I was at the part where I sew in the label. That's the best part.

She found these underneath the Japanese plum tree in our yard. She said, "Look! These look like these!" They really do.

She loves this swing. But she hates going slow. She wants to go "Fast!" and "High!" and "Higher!" and "Way up into the sky!" It gets tiring pushing her sometimes. The next 3 pictures are for the grandparents who live on the other side of the country.


If you scroll up and down over and over, it's kind of like you're in our yard pushing her.

Dress-A-Day #3: Patchwork Easter Sundress

I forgot to show the first sundress I made for McKenna last month. While shopping for an Easter dress, I remembered that I can make dresses for little girls - I should make one for my own daughter. So I did. Here she is with her brother Easter morn before church:

Yeah, I said it, church. After 15 years away from it, I finally found one I like - St. Mike's Episcopal in Studio City. We've been going there for over a year now and the kids actually look forward to it every week. It helps that there's a group of fun boys Sage's age and a few girls McKenna's age and an awesome playground and good food at coffee hour. Beyond that, it's nice to be a part of a community that does good things for the community. I'm so happy I found it. It renewed my faith (literally) in organized religion.

But I digress. Back to the dress. My mom had visited the week before and bought me this vintage spiderweb pattern quilt top at a quilt show we attended. I went back and forth between having her make it into a quilt (she's good at that) or making it into sundresses and other things. It was a little difficult (emotionally, morally) cutting into someone else's hand-stitched handiwork, but damn if it doesn't make for an adorable dress that looks way more difficult to make than it really was.
My mom made that quilt.

It's hard to see in those pictures, but I embroidered a heart in the middle hexagon. It's open at the bottom though, so it's also an M, for McKenna.

These shots are from our photo shoot afternoon last week. It's been worn and washed twice since Easter.

I strive to make my sundresses sturdy.