stories from my red thread life
Tickled Pink
Normally I avoid pink when I’m choosing fabrics for a new season. It’s so overdone, so painfully gendered, more about being pretty than powerful, sweet rather than strong and playful, and more imbued with symbolism than perhaps any other colour when it comes to dressing our children. My customers often tell me that they’re on the lookout for anything other than pink! But. As the mother of three girls, there have been times when each of my daughters wanted everything to be pink. And when I’m designing, I occasionally fall in love with a print that features pink, if it’s strong and vibrant and gorgeous. There are so many amazing variations on the colour spectrum, so many interesting combinations and juxtapositions. Last month I found myself facing some gorgeous pink fabric, a lovely eco-blend of soy and organic cotton in a deep rich shade of fuschia. It was a stunning match for a cotton hearts print I’d been saving for the perfect occasion. How could I resist? And so I made a special dress in 100% pink, in honour of Valentine’s Day, and I offer it to you in all its pinkness, proudly. Turns out I can do pink after [...]
Fabric Gymnastics 101
When I first made the transition from sewing for the love of it to starting a business, I had a lot to learn about production sewing: planning for the best use of precious fabric with minimal wastage, ideal pattern layout, and sewing as efficiently as possible without losing any attention to detail. Because I love to use beautiful, high quality (therefore expensive) fabrics, pattern layout is of special interest to me. Ideally, to maximize yield, fabric should be non-directional so the pattern pieces can lie both up and down, and the print should be consistent throughout. Breaking all of these rules in the name of beauty over function, I recently fell in love with this fabric from Japan. This fabric would certainly make beautiful curtains, but how could I use it for clothing? The answer was instantly clear to me, and it determined the design of two of my new pieces for Fall: As you can see, the skirt is cut from the upper section of the fabric with its soaring birds in a woodblock-print style, simple and elegant. The dress is cut from the lower section, centering the birds on the chest regardless of pattern size. The lowest section [...]
Welcoming Fall with Open Arms
For as long as I can remember, I’ve cared very little for fashion (and yes, designing clothing for a living I am well aware of the irony). Living in Toronto with its climactic extremes, I’ve spent most of my life seeking comfort over beauty: keeping warm and dry during the long chilly winters and cool and protected during the scorching summers. But my interest always turns to fashion in the fall, my favourite season, with its cool days, beautiful transformation of trees and the resulting carpet of leaves underfoot, and more relaxing pace after trying to squeeze every drop out of our too-short summers. Throughout my childhood our family rented cottages every August, and it was then that I developed my interest in tweed, wool, and all things Fall. My mother bought an array of August fashion magazines (the only month she bought them) and on rainy days I pored over the images of stunning models decked out in beautiful fabrics that I coveted. The rich, earthy colours and natural textures had me in a thrall. This year I was very fortunate to find exquisite fabrics for my Fall season that put me in a similar state of joy, and [...]
Welcoming Fall with Open Arms
For as long as I can remember, I’ve cared very little for fashion (and yes, designing clothing for a living I am well aware of the irony). Living in Toronto with its climactic extremes, I’ve spent most of my life seeking comfort over beauty: keeping warm and dry during the long chilly winters and cool and protected during the scorching summers. But my interest always turns to fashion in the fall, my favourite season, with its cool days, beautiful transformation of trees and the resulting carpet of leaves underfoot, and more relaxing pace after trying to squeeze every drop out of our too-short summers. Throughout my childhood our family rented cottages every August, and it was then that I developed my interest in tweed, wool, and all things Fall. My mother bought an array of August fashion magazines (the only month she bought them) and on rainy days I pored over the images of stunning models decked out in beautiful fabrics that I coveted. The rich, earthy colours and natural textures had me in a thrall. This year I was very fortunate to find exquisite fabrics for my Fall season that put me in a similar state of joy, and [...]
Anatomy of a summer craft show
You drive toward a big park on a hot summer day, anticipating a great afternoon. The first thing you spot is a sea of white tents, the identical peaked roofs betraying none of the treasures this makeshift community is housing. As you approach on foot, the cluttered bursts of colour reveal themselves. Whatever you’re seeking, whether it be small treasures like locally made treats and jewelry, beautiful things for your home made from glass or wood, a piece of art, or an unplanned discovery and an enjoyable walk, you’re likely to find something you love and meet some engaging people. When I was setting up my tent at my very first outdoor craft show (the Cabbagetown Festival in Toronto, still one of my favourites) my first thought was “who are these people?” Some seasoned exhibitors came from far and wide with large trailers, traveling to a different community every weekend like creative nomads. Others seemed less sure of themselves, some showing their work to the public for the first time. I had rented my tent rather than buying one, not convinced this was the best place for me to be showing Red Thread, but willing to give it a try. [...]
A sneak peek into the future
Ok, maybe that title is a bit lofty. But I thought I would give you a quick look into how each season’s designs come together, in case you’re interested in that sort of thing. First of all, you should know that if you plan to sell clothing through any stores, each season has to be designed pretty far in advance. It’s currently market season for the Fall/Winter season, which means that sales reps and designers are busy showing Fall samples for the lines they represent at wholesale shows around the world. Most stores do their Fall/Winter buying in the early Spring, so everything needs to be designed, sewn and photographed by February at the latest. Fall clothing starts to ship to stores in August, which happens to be the same month that the Spring/Summer lines for next year are at market (they ship the following March, which is – you remembered! – Fall market time). Confused yet? I used to sell all of my work myself, at great shows like the One of a Kind Show in Toronto, and my online store. Those were simpler days – I bought an assortment of fabric I loved in whatever quantity was available, [...]
From the mouths of babes
Who really knows what children think their parents do all day? Do they understand what our jobs are? Wonder if we enjoy working? Just before going back to school this week, I found a huge pile of schoolwork from last term in my 10-year-old daughter’s knapsack. One page caught my eye – an assignment analyzing “Media Text.” The piece she chose to analyze: the Red Thread Business Card (she redesigned it first, adding several lovely images she drew of girls posing, wearing dresses). At the end of her fascinating analysis, she is asked for a personal opinion of the media piece. This is what she wrote, letter for letter: “I will totaly buy her stuff and I think her form of media is remarcabel, it has a message, what phone number and email, where to order and when and why and who from, she macks lots of money and she is happy!” I can’t stop smiling.
If a 6-year-old could design her own clothing, what would it look like?
A few weeks ago I mentioned to my sewing students in my youngest group (6-7 year olds) that I was planning to design a special dress for Valentine’s Day. My comment was followed by a lot of excited chatter about what this dress should look like, followed by a sudden cry of “Get us pencils and paper!” After a flurry of drawing they presented me with their designs. Each designer described her vision and I applauded their efforts. Here’s what they came up with: hearts and hearts and more hearts (and dogs!) Stay tuned to see the final design. Thanks for the inspiration!
On sewing and kids
During 2009, I tried something new – teaching classes in sewing and quilting for kids (and a few very enthusiastic adults). Since January I’ve taught more than 50 classes, and it’s been quite a learning experience for me (and hopefully, for my students too). Before I became a parent I knew I loved children, but I didn’t really appreciate their amazing unique qualities until I had one of my own. Likewise, I always knew that children were innately creative, but I didn’t realize how unique their creativity is. I also didn’t realize how much sustained focus they can bring to a task when they’re deeply engaged. It’s pretty fantastic to watch a 7-year-old practice a brand new skill (even something mundane like backstitch) by creating a wild pastiche of intersecting shapes, or to see a vibrant piece of patchwork take shape in the hands of a 9-year-old concentrating so intensely she leaves the animated conversation and goes somewhere else. And then there’s the surprised look of mastery, the gratifying “wow, I actually made this” moment. This past Spring and Summer, some of my sewing kids decided that the little “stuffies” they were making in class were too cute to keep [...]
Showing my cards
I’ve been holding my cards pretty close to my chest lately – usually at this point in the year I’ve revealed all of my new designs for winter, invited all of my customers to visit me at the One of a Kind Show, and fully updated my website. It’s down to the wire, after all. In two weeks I’ll be in Guelph at the Fair November Show for 4 days, and then straight to the setup for the One of a Kind Show in Toronto. So what am I doing? Well, I’m sewing. I’m sewing dresses, but I’m also whipping up some lovely soft baby quilts (more about them later) and I’m having a great time sewing cards! Who knew that sewing fabric to paper could be so gratifying? As you might well imagine, I have a lot of fabric. And when I really love a fabric, I can’t throw out the scraps (my husband would tell you that this is NOT a good thing). So I’ve been sewing patchwork cards. The fronts look like this, but each one is different: And the backs are each stamped with the Red Thread proverb. They look like this: I love the way [...]
Pink vs. Blue
As the mother of three young girls and a designer of clothing for girls, I spend a huge part of my day immersed in the childhood world of girls. So when my customers started complaining a few years back that they were having trouble finding great clothes for boys and wanted me to design some, I first told them to check out the great stuff for boys designed by my friend Carol at Kid Brother, and then I started thinking about creating some clothing for boys. I knew that flowers and pink would be out of the question, of course, but I didn’t realize how strongly social constraints affect parents of boys when shopping for clothing. Now, one year after designing my first small collection of boys’ tees and pants (see images below), I remain fascinated by the fact that parents are quite adventurous when dressing their girls, and often conservative when dressing their boys. The thing that stumps me the most is bias against colours, which I perceive as mostly gender-neutral. Why is blue a more masculine colour than red or purple? Why are bright colours considered more appropriate for girls than boys? Why are dots less masculine than [...]
Pink vs. Blue
As the mother of three young girls and a designer of clothing for girls, I spend a huge part of my day immersed in the childhood world of girls. So when my customers started complaining a few years back that they were having trouble finding great clothes for boys and wanted me to design some, I first told them to check out the great stuff for boys designed by my friend Carol at Kid Brother, and then I started thinking about creating some clothing for boys. I knew that flowers and pink would be out of the question, of course, but I didn’t realize how strongly social constraints affect parents of boys when shopping for clothing. Now, one year after designing my first small collection of boys’ tees and pants (see images below), I remain fascinated by the fact that parents are quite adventurous when dressing their girls, and often conservative when dressing their boys. The thing that stumps me the most is bias against colours, which I perceive as mostly gender-neutral. Why is blue a more masculine colour than red or purple? Why are bright colours considered more appropriate for girls than boys? Why are dots less masculine than [...]