Wooly Wonders

They had me with "Give Fleece a Chance" The Campaign for Wool website is really lovely and full of great information about this amazing fiber. At the store we've been talking about the need to have wool garment fabrics for quite a while now. We haven't ordered any yet, but I've been doing some research and it's amazing all the different weights, hand, colors and design you can get wool apparel fabric in. And of course there is the yarn. Oh, the beautiful yarn!


By the way, I don't know why I think it's incredibly adorable that Prince Charles is trying to help the wool industry (Not to mention his many other environmental causes) but I do.

Wool Week

It's Wool Week! What, you didn't know that? Well, then I am glad to be the first to tell you. Wool week was started by HRH Prince Charles in response to the challenges that the wool industry is facing. In honor of wool week we will be showing you some warm and fuzzies every day.

Here are some images from Liberty of London's challenge to the students of the Royal College of Art to design their own wool garment.

We've got some gorgeous yarn in the store, and the weather is cooling down. Time to get knitting!

Birthday dance!

It's my birthday today! E and I are off to do fun and exciting things, and here is a perfect birthday video. It's actually a little clip of a whole film of dancing that you can use as background at your next swingin' party! The folks at The Flash Dance sure know how to make a shindig!

Dance Trailer from Chris Poole on Vimeo.

Lady Grey Coat

For the first time in quite a while, I managed to finish a seasonal garment before the season! What a brilliant idea! This year, when fall rolls around I will have one spectacular velvet Lady Grey coat waiting for me. This pattern was surprisingly easy to put together and makes a spectacular coat.

There is a lot of top-stitching on this coat that I think really gives it a quality finished look. Of course there is a lot of pressure with that much top-stitching to be perfectly straight! I used by #10 Bernina edgestitch foot though, so I didn't have much of a problem.

To hem the coat and lining I ended up using bias tape, there was so much flounce to the lining and heft from the velvet of the outer shell that I couldn't get a good hem going. Thank god for the old bias tape method!

Next time I make it I'm going to lengthen the skirt part to just above the knee. I tried a similar style of coat on at Anthropologie last week and really liked the length. Has anyone else made this coat and has pictures they would like to share?

Faction show

Here are some pictures from the Shop Westport/Faction magazine fashion show last Thursday. I'm sure you will all recognize the patterns I used!

This is the Colette Violet top and Ginger skirt. The top is out of Denyse Schmidt diamond chevron voile and the skirt out of an apparel fabric we have.

Here we have my beloved Anna Tunic pattern made out of our organic denim and Liberty Olivia Strange.
Colette makes a reappearance with her Lady Grey coat made from Anna Maria Horner Bubble velveteen.
My other favorite Anna Maria Horner velvet made in the Uptown Coat.
And finally I made the Colette Ginger skirt out of that crazy Biba-style apparel fabric we have. You can't see the scarf I made from the last bit of feather silk that we had over the summer.

I thought my frantic sewing would be over after the show, but now I want to finish a dress for this weekend (J & I are going to the Pearl Jam festival in Milwaukee) and I have a couple of things in mind for England. I've also secretly resigned myself to these projects not getting done. I think it's better that way!

All pictures by Faction Magazine

Kaffe Fassett

Guess who is coming to town? Why, one Mr. Kaffe Fassett! On October 7th he will be speaking at the Nelson, and on October 8th, his right hand man, Brandon Mably is teaching a knitting workshop at The Studio.

Tickets to the lecture at the Nelson are $25, and you can call The Studio to reserve them. 816.561.4466.

Call for Vendors!

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that tickets are finally on sale for the Haunted Mansion Costume Ball that I am helping with. What I forgot to mention is that I'm working on a vendor market for the Ball! (you know me, if I'm going to be involved, there will be a crafty market!)

Anyway, we are looking for vendors for this market, the event is on October 15th and it's going to be FABULOUS! If you are interested in a booth please email me at betsy@bonbonatelier.com.

If you are not interested in the market, then go buy tickets to come to the ball! And let's get started on some costumes!

Thanks!