Betsy's Birthday Sale tomorrow!

Aww, look at that angelic young girl, full of hope and a love of sweater vests. Well tomorrow, she will be turning 31 and it's time to celebrate! Get 31% off your purchase all day tomorrow..but only if you say Happy Birthday Betsy at checkout. Hooray for birthdays!

Fall Classes!

Fall is approaching, which of course means a new schedule of fall classes! Aside from our monthly basic tote and basic knitting classes, we have some great project classes that we think you will really love.

Pillowcase 9.15.12 
For the pillowcase class we are bringing in a guest teacher! Jackie Blemler is an amazing sewist who e & I have known since before we were born. In this class, which runs from 10-1 you will start and finish one whole pillowcase, decorative welt and all! The class fee includes the pattern, but not the materials. $55.00

 Button Headband 9.17.12
Want a quick and fun project? Make a fun button headband! In this class we will make an elastic headband from start to finish. Price includes materials. 6-8pm

Gumdrop Pillow 10.10 & 10.17
A perfect pouf can really set off a room. Make one in this class! We'll be making one large gumdrop pillow, from start to finish. The class will be two 2 hour sessions, 10/10 and 10/17. Although a beginner level project, you must have sewn before to take this class. Materials + pattern not included, you will get a list when you sign up. $75.00

Advent Activity Calendar 10.13 & 10.27 

We love advent calendar, after all what isn't to love about a crafty item that gives you candy and toys? We are so excited to welcome Alex from Teaginny designs who will teach you to make this fun Advent activity calendar just in time for the holidays! This class is two 3 hour sessions, October 13 and 27 from 1-4pm. The class is $95 which includes the pattern, but not the materials. Once you sign up for the class you will receive the pattern and materials list.

Knitting Colorwork Class 11.20 + 11.27
Confused about colorwork? Always wanted to add a smiley whale to your sweater? In this workshop we will explore the techniques of Intarsia and Fair Isle, learn how to graph a colorwork design and practice working from charts. Make colorwork your bitch! Intermediate level class, materials not included, two 2 hour class session, 11/20 and 11/27 $75.00

We do have more classes to add to the schedule, including Crochet and Furoshiki/fabric wrapping, but we are still working on the details. Of course we can always work with you one on one if you have a special project you need help with!

Hope to see you at some of these classes!

Pinterest Inspiration

I was toodling around Pinterest one day when I came upon this image. I love full skirts like this, and thought they looked great with the sheer tops and super tall shoes. And then I had a thought...wouldn't our black bamboo sweater knit and the new heatwave stripe by Denyse Schmidt make a good replica?

Granted, the heatwave isn't a floral. But I think it has a great vintage vibe and few things make me happier than a combo of black and chartreuse.

 I hadn't worked with the bamboo knit before and it was a little tricky (slick!) but totally worth it because it is incredibly soft. It is sheer and I will wear something underneath unlike the ladies above. For the top I just used an old Burda long sleeve tee pattern.

 The full skirt I made up. I had three yards of fabric to work with. I made a waistband using a heavy interfacing and then pleated the rest of it until it fit. Add zipper, hem and throw on some decorative vintage buttons, and you are done! I can't wait to bust this out in the fall with my black ankle wedge boots. Until then it is on display at the store for one and all to see.

Lotta Jansdotter Bella

Oh, look what I unpacked this morning, some lovely new fabrics by Lotta Jansdotter, from her long awaited sophomore line, Bella. Ideas are percolating!

Favorite Store: Zinnia

This week we hear from our loyal reader Jen about her favorite store. Thanks Jen!

Favorite Store: This is Zinnia, a shop for creative minds in the village of South Pasadena, just 15 minutes north of down town Los Angeles by the metro rail line on the way to Pasadena.

The website tells it all, and has great pix too.

What makes it special: You never know what you will find, since it carries non-traditional craft items, artwork and tons of idea inspiring goodies.

Favorite item you purchased there:  Well, that's hard to say, last week I bought a few vintage sewing patterns from the 1950's, but I won't be crafting with them.  They do have a gorgeous cement floor with old patterns decoupaged to the cement--I'm OK with that if the pattern is missing pieces!

How often do you visit?  I like to wander through the little shops in this district, especially on Thursday afternoons when the Farmer's Market is in full swing. 

If anyone comes to LA, and especially South Pasadena, Zinnia is not to be missed.  It's a piece of old-town Southern California style.

Zinnia
1024 Mission Street, Pasadena, CA 91030
Open Tues-Sun (hours vary)

If you've got a favorite independent store to share, send it our way!

British Museum Reading Room

I think I need to start researching (something, anything) so I can spend my days at the British Museum's reading room. Scholarly pursuits, commence!

Garment District tour

Some of you may know that back in the day, Kansas City was a fashion mecca...it had the largest apparel district of any city (other than New York, of course). Some amazing labels cam out of KC including the one and only Nelly Don. 

On Saturday September 8th the Kansas City Chapter of the American Sewing Guild will be hosting a tour of Kansas City's Garment District along with a trip to the Garment District museum, where we can see the fashions that were made in our own town. After this trip down memory lane we'll be heading up to Westport for a delicious lunch at Californos. 

I think this will be a great event and can't wait to see the museum, I've been wanting to go for years. Tickets for the day are $25.00 for ASG member or $35.00 for non-members. Lunch is included. After lunch you can wander around the Westport Art fair and make a day of it!

If you are interested in joining us on this tour, email me at betsy@bonbonatelier.com

Denyse Schmidt Chicopee!

Denyse Schmidt's Chicopee line is here! Strongly influenced by her childhood in the 70's,  Chicopee is reminiscent of a time when Mary Tyler Moore, The Partridge Family, The Brady Bunch and The Monkees (in reruns) ruled the fashion scene. Needless to say, here at bon bon we love it. Anything that will make us look like a Monkee is aces in our book. Watch out, by September we plan to have a whole fall wardrobe made out of this – plaid skirts and vests a must!

New Series! My favorite store

As a girl who is in love with retail, I am naturally curious to hear about others' favorite stores. So, to satisfy my curiosity as well as give these hard working small businesses there due, I decided to start a series on My Favorite Store.  Today Jessie from Style and Pepper is going to tell us about her favorite store...

Favorite Store: MackeyBlue in Hoboken, NJ

What makes it special: I love this little shop because besides being literally right around the corner from our front door, it's got the most amazing constantly-updated selection of vintage and antique home-goods, clothing and general treasures!

Favorite item you purchased there: For our wedding anniversary this year, we bought this huge gorgeous wooden window with faceted glass panes and a charming patina-ed finish.  The 5th year gift is supposed to be made of wood, and so it was the perfect way to add something from the tradition to our home in order to celebrate such a milestone!

How often you visit: It's only open from Wednesday and Friday thru Sunday of each week, but the owner Karen, does a great job of making sure they have new pieces each week.  If I went that often, I would have any money left, but I can't resist stopping by at least once a month.

Check out MackeyBlue online...there are all sorts of enticing goodies on their website.

Do you have a favorite store you would like to share? Email me and let's tell the world!

Westport Sidewalk Sale this weekend!

The Westport Sidewalk Sale starts tomorrow! I have been digging out goodies from all corners of the store to markdown, and by markdown, I mean super markdown. Look for the $2 vintage jewelry bin, $3 vintage sewing patterns, $1 vintage knitting patterns, The Hall Of Fabric Scraps, and more. This will all be out starting Friday, but on Saturday we are adding 15% off of EVERYTHING in the store, remember that is Saturday only.

Don't forget to go check out other Westport stores as well, I've heard of great sales at Arizona Trading Co., The Bunker, Screentee Gallery, Imagery, Shine Spa, Blo Salon, Wonderland and Mash Handmade! (among others)

Aloha!

I think J and I might try to go somewhere warm and sunny this winter for a little post-holiday vacation. The question, as always, is where. California is winning at the moment but I still have Savannah in my back pocket and Marrakech in case we are feeling spendy. I thought about Hawaii, but there is one problem with that. How could I possibly go to Hawaii when I got rid of this dress years ago?

E, aren't you happy I left you out of this? You had a pretty snazzy tropical outfit yourself...

So, did I ever tell you about the time I had dinner with Isaac Mizrahi?

What, I never told you the story? About how it seemed like a perfectly good idea to fly to New York to have dinner at his studio? A dinner prepared by the one and only Mario Batali? Yes, it seemed like a fine idea. 

See, Emily saw an ad in House and Garden magazine about an Design week they were hosting in New York. She immediately called to tell me that I should buy a ticket to dinner with Isaac (he being a long-time favorite) One thing led to another and the next think I new tickets were bought, and hotels were booked.

 The dinner was at his studio and there were roughly 30 people there. When I walked in and handed them my ticket they were all, "You are the girl from Kansas!" Indeed I was, and they were nice enough to give me a full tour o' the studio.

 There were flower-poodle centerpieces

A band

 People mingling 

 There I am at his table!

 and poodle ice sculptures

 And of course Isaac..

 And lest we forget, the one and only Mario Batali shown here offering me an appetizer, which I was happy to stuff in my mouth.

They were all very impressed that I decided to go his party on a whim. 

 Here I am with two random women..I think one may work at Crate and Barrel?

Anyway, everyone there was extremely nice and even though I am the most thoroughly awkward person in the world I think I managed to make it through the evening without totally humiliating myself. (I think)

Amy Butler Cameo voiles

Guess what we have? 3 gorgeous Amy Butler voiles from her Cameo line. They are just waiting to be made into a floaty dress, or shirt or skirt. So soft and silky and great for garments. They aren't too shabby for quilts either!

Loungewear on the cote d'azur

I would like to go here:

And wear this:

Those stripey pants are fantastic.