s/s 2012

  

photos by Jen Causey

A new Wiksten collection, available mid to late June.  More details soon...Plus jewelry and ceramics coming to the shop.

behind the scenes

photos by Jen Causey

I'll be posting the collection photos later in the day, but in the meantime...

Here we are behind the scenes of our little Brooklyn photoshoot for Wiksten.  Jen Causey was the photographer.  I worked with her twice before, for the Makers Project and for a Martha Stewart article.  I love working with her and was eager for her to shoot some of my clothing.  I met the model Rachel Smith at a trade show back when she worked for A Peace Treaty.  Cynthia Vanis, on hair and makeup, was recommended to me by Shabd.  After I hired her I realized she also did all the awesome braided hairstyles (mine included) for a Shabd/Mociun fall presentation awhile back.  And last but not least, my two amazing stylists were Katie McClain and Jennifer Sarkilahti.

coming soon

photo by Jen Causey

sample sale update

My little sample sale will go live here at 6:00PM CST.  That's 40 minutes from now!  This has been such a crazy week, not much time to devote to this.  I want to get this stuff cleared out of my studio to make room for summer pieces.  Headed off to NY next week.  Only a few more days to get the collection done.

brooklyn tweed

photos by Jared Flood for Brooklyn Tweed

Have you seen the Spring Thaw lookbook from Brooklyn Tweed?  Brooklyn Tweed is a yarn company that makes my favorite yarn of all time.  Their new lookbook is full of the most beautiful knitting patterns!  You can view the whole thing and purchase pattern pdf's here.  I'm kind of obsessed with it--wish I could drop everything and make all of the pieces right now.  Jared Flood, the owner of the company and designer of many of the patterns, also takes all of the photos.  Aren't they gorgeous?

pottery at south willard

All photos from South Willard, pottery by Michael Frimkess + Magdalena Suarez Frimkess.

Found some beautiful ceramics on the South Willard website today.  Can I have those as prints on dresses also, please? 

online sample sale + business musings

Wiksten is having a small online sample sale next Wednesday, May 2.  Majorly reduced prices on one-of-a-kind items.  Pictured above are a few of the pieces that will be for sale.  There will only be about 6 items up for grabs, and they will all be size M.

I'm still doing a spring/summer collection, which will be available in June.  It's a very scaled down version of what I wanted to do, but sometimes life just gets in the way, you know?  I was a little heartbroken about it at first, but I've since come to terms with it and am grateful to be doing any collection at all.  One of the reasons for my initial disappointment was that this is probably going to be my last real ready-to-wear collection.

Here's the deal: I've been frustrated with my clothing line for awhile now.  I love designing but don't get to do much of that.  I'm so busy sewing, packing orders, and running my shop that I don't have time to create.  It's always been important for me to make the garments myself, but since I'm the only one sewing I can't make enough garments to supply the demand.  My business model is one that always results in disappointed customers as well as me being overworked.  I've thought about outsourcing the work to a factory, but I believe that isn't work that I would enjoy.  I have friends who do this, and I know how it goes.  I don't want to spend my time managing production.  It's just not for me.

In the meantime, my sewing pattern business is booming.  Turns out making sewing patterns is a better way to make a living than sewing garments.  Thus my pattern business has kind of taken over my life and given me even less time for the clothing line.  And the sewing patterns bring it all back around to what this is really about.  The idea of making!  People making things!  Not a factory making things that we buy.  (Not that there's anything wrong with that.  I love many factory-made garments that I own.  Handmade is what really excites me though, what I'm passionate about.)  I'm crazy about the fact that people everywhere my age are sewing.  It's cool to sew again.  Amen.  There's nothing like that feeling of wearing something that you made yourself or that someone special made for you.

So while my business is growing faster than ever, that involves some changes and growing pains.  Having a clothing line was always my dream.  But you know what?  My head is full of dreams.  Always has been, always will be.  I'm excited to try out some new things.  Starting in July, when all my work deadlines are over, I'm going to take a couple of weeks off and just start over.  I'll write a super kick-ass business plan, reorganize, and recharge.  Maybe hire an employee?  I'm still going to continue to sell my own patterns and handmade goods from other designers in my shop, and I'm sure I'll still sell some of my own knitted and home goods and the occasional limited edition ready-to-wear dress.  And there will be collaborations.  But changes are happening.  I can't wait.

easy dye project

Last summer I dyed some muslin bags and string just for fun.  It was such a quick and easy project and so satisfying.  I sent some of them to my friends, used some for birthday gift packaging, and the rest went out to my customers with their shop orders.  I'm looking forward to doing more fun little projects this summer when I have more time.  For the past year I've been itching to try some natural dyes because the colors are just incomparable, plus the ingredients are less toxic.  I think dyeing muslin bags again would be a great way to experiment. 

easter hike

In the midst of what has seemed like a sh*t storm, Joe and I decided to leave behind our worries and endless to-do lists for a day to spend some time together in nature.  We don't do this enough.  Mainly because we're workaholics, which is something we're trying to change.  It's easy for me to get comfortable in a routine, even when that routine involves 12-16 hour workdays.  Speaking from experience, I can say that this does not lead to a satisfying life.

Looking at people's blogs and Instagram photos can be intimidating at times, can't it?  (I'd say on a good day it's inspiring and on a bad day it's intimidating.)  Because here are all these people seemingly doing it all and having it all in a beautiful, perfect way.  It's hard to tell if that's reality or if we're only privy to seeing things from one angle.  Because no one wants to post pictures of their incompetence or that time when they felt truly unlovable.  I know I don't.  But I can tell you right now that I can't do it all, and I don't have it all.  There are times when I feel lost and filled with worry, and I don't feel like I'm enough.

It's times like these when the only thing for me to do is to try to reconnect with life's joys.  For each person it's different, but for me it's nature, spirituality, exercise, intellectual conversation, learning, creativity, cooking.  The list goes on.  When I go into survival mode I totally shut down those parts of myself.  It's time to start nurturing all of the parts of myself.  Funny how going through bad times makes us really look at ourselves.  Unfortunately, most of the time it takes burning out to get me to reconnect.

So Joe and I hiked and we talked.  All day.  Then we went home and ate a ton of Indian food.  It never tasted so good.  That was three days ago, and my legs are still so sore that I can barely walk.

Yesterday I started volunteering at the animal shelter in town.  Guess who happened to be at orientation, also signing up to volunteer?  The one vet tech at the animal hospital who was really kind to me through Seymour's hospitalization.  Seymour gave her hell, and she was so loving to him in return.  I never got the chance to thank her because I was crying so hard the last day we were there.  I got the chance last night.  By the way, the shelter and the animal hospital are not affiliated.  It was a total coincidence that she was there.  I felt really nervous about trying something new, but having her there made me feel instantly comfortable.  As far as the volunteering goes, it was wonderful.  I was basically covered in cats!  Adorable cats desperate for love.  It felt healing.  I almost brought them all home with me.

By the way, Sophia hasn't been doing so great since Seymour's death.  She's been withdrawn and stressed-out (over-grooming, scratching her face until it bleeds, not eating much).  I was so worried that I took her to the vet (a place that I didn't want to go back to for a long time), and I've tried everything to give her love and help her feel better.  It seems that she just wants some space for now.  Hopefully things will heal with time.

in memory of seymour

new shop arrivals

I don't know about you, but I'm totally ready for some cheery spring color and pattern in my wardrobe.  Today I stocked the shop with some beautiful new things for spring from two of my favorite designers--Shabd and Primoeza.  Free domestic shipping on select pieces.  Use code SPRING12 for 10% off your order of $200 or more through April 2nd.  Also check out the changes to my return policy and new list of sewing pattern stockists.

a farewell

I want to thank all of you for your comments, e-mails, good wishes, and prayers for my cat Seymour.  They've meant everything.  Seymour passed away today.  I did not think this would happen, and especially not so soon.  It's hard to say goodbye to him because he gave me so much love and comfort in my life, but I'm glad he's not suffering anymore.  Joe and I loved that little guy so much, and we miss him dearly.

collection scraps

Hello.  I've been a bit distant, but it occurred to me today that I miss being in this space.  I wasn't planning on blogging at all today because, well, it's a rough week and I'm busy.  I am working on my taxes.  This is the worst time of year for me because I always put it off until the last minute.  Now it's beautiful outside and birds are chirping, and I am loathe to be inside working at a computer on the worst thing ever.  Taxes.  If you run your own business and do your own books I'm sure you totally understand what I'm talking about.  It's a lot of work to do, work that you don't get paid for.  And it's frustrating.  I do like business and math stuff though, so it's got that going for it.  But I think it goes without saying that I like designing better, so I'd rather be doing that.

Ok, tax rant over.  It's a stressful part of life, we've all got to deal with it, whatever.  Which brings me to the main focus.  I was hesitant to post about Seymour's illness because, well let's face it, he's a cat.  Some people hate cats and some people just don't understand having a special bond with a pet.  Although I was raised to dislike cats (by a family full of people allergic to them), when I met Seymour I changed my mind.  Getting my first cat turned me into a full on crazy cat lady.  Since I work at home, I spend all day every day with my cats.  There are days when the only living beings I see are my cats.  Joe is at work ALL THE TIME.  Lately he's been doing these 28 hour shifts in the ICU at the hospital and then coming home the next day to sleep during the day.  These cats keep me company.  They're a big part of my life.  Even imagining anything bad happening to them could easily bring me to tears.

So the worst happened on Wednesday night, and Seymour was rushed to the emergency animal clinic.  The vet put him under anesthesia, catheterized him, and performed an expensive medical procedure.  They put a feeding tube through his neck and kept him at the hospital for a couple of days to monitor him.  I got to bring him home on Friday night, a little earlier than expected because he was being fractious and just wanted to be at home.  It's been so hard to see him suffer.  I cared for him for two days, which was pretty difficult to be honest.  It involved tube feeding and giving medications every few hours (to a very difficult patient), as well as just following him around to make sure he was going to the bathroom.  I didn't get much sleep.  He started doing better, although he mostly hid under the bed the whole time, hating my guts for putting him through all of it.

Yesterday he took a turn for the worse, and I had to take him back to the hospital to have the exact same procedure done again.  He will be at the hospital for another two days, and then I'll resume the home care regimen.  This is all I've been doing lately, and when he's away I'm too distracted/worried to get much work done.  It's been an emotional roller coaster because the vets keep freaking me out by telling me all the diseases that Seymour could have, and then they give me good news, and then they give me bad news again.  The fact that Seymour needed more medical attention yesterday kind of made me lose hope.  We've spent nearly every penny we have on this.  If he has another emergency we will not have the money to cover it.  That's my concern right now.  The worst case scenario is that if he doesn't improve when he comes home this time we will have to put him to sleep.  At this point his kidneys are really damaged, and we don't know if that's temporary.  I spent the entire day yesterday just crying.  Even in public.  I totally lost my sh*t.  At the end of the day I poured myself a whiskey and settled in on the couch with Sophia (thank god for her) to watch one of my favorite movies.

I usually don't share most of the personal stuff that goes on in my life here because this blog is mainly about inspiration and making things and my business.  I've blogged so many pictures of my cats over the years though that I thought it would be appropriate to share that Seymour was ill.  The kindness of your comments made me glad that I did, and that bit of extra support has really helped me get through this.  Thanks so much for that.  I've gotten a couple of incredibly sweet packages in the mail too, and I just can't believe how lucky I am.  The kindness of these gestures just made me cry even more yesterday, but in a good way.  Of course, everything made me cry yesterday.  I do feel a bit patched back together today after having fallen apart at the seams.  I am however sporting some major under eye circles.  It's lovely, let me tell you.

This is becoming an age of one line tweets and Facebook status updates, so if you've made it this far in the post I applaud you!  Usually when I write posts like this I delete about 2/3 of it.  But today I actually felt inspired to post some tiny scraps of fabric from my spring collection.  The collection isn't done yet, and after the events of the past week and my resulting financial situation I'm not sure if it's going to go anywhere at all.  But I have done quite a bit of work on the fabrics and designs, so I thought I could at least share a snippet.

my seymour

Seymour's in the hospital right now, and I miss him so much.  Everyone knows he's my best buddy.  I love Sophia a bunch too, but I've never had a bond with a pet quite like I have with Seymour.  I really hope he can come home tomorrow.

downloadable patterns

top photo by Karyn, whose shop The Workroom will soon be carrying my patterns
bottom left photo by Kristina
bottom right photo by Elena

Downloadable Wiksten sewing patterns are finally here!  It's been a long time coming, but now you can buy files of my patterns for a cheaper price plus no shipping cost.  You don't even have to wait because you can instantly download the pattern, print it out at home, tape the pages together, and then cut out the pattern.  The files will work for A4 paper (yay, international customers!) or 8.5xll" letter paper.

Pictured above are a few of my favorites that customers have made from my patterns.  Have you seen the Wiksten Patterns group on Flickr?  Customers can join and post photos of their work made from my patterns.  It's such a fun group for sharing inspiration, and I always enjoy seeing how many cute versions there are out there.

new pattern stockists

photos of fabrics from Superbuzzy

So excited that Superbuzzy, one of my favorite online fabric stores, is carrying my sewing patterns!  Now you can buy your pattern and fabric at the same time.  Imagine how cute the Tova or Tank would look in one of these Japanese fabrics.

I'm also pleased to announce that the Textile Arts Center is teaching classes using my patterns and is selling them as well.  I love TAC and wish I would have taken a class there while I lived in NY.

primoeza

I got my new Primoeza sweater in the mail yesterday!  It's blue, my very favorite color, but the style is the same as this one.   Elizabeth does gorgeous work, and she's definitely on my shortlist of favorite knitwear designers.  I'm pretty excited that I'll be carrying her scarves this spring in the Wiksten shop along with my own collection.  Primoeza is based in Australia, so this will give those of you in the U.S. a domestic shipping option.

soap, towels, and dresses

I'm working on about ten different projects right now, so I'm a bit behind on updating my shop.  Today I've added the new Saipua soaps here.  Hope you like them--I sure do!  The lavender is really calming, which is such a treat for me right now because of my stressful schedule.  

The shop is also stocked with the new dishcloths and tea towels.  Joe and I have been working over the past eight months since we moved to really make our house into a home, and it's special handmade touches like this that I love.  I hope to share more of the things we've made for our home soon.

Last but not least, I have *just* enough fabric left for one Anna Dress and one Helen Dress.  They'll be available tomorrow morning, made to order.  Once they're sold out I won't be able to make any more.  I've really loved making these dresses, but it's time to move on.

3191

I love winter, I really do. Sometimes it gets to me though, and I get a bit of the winter blues. This year my issue No. 5 of 3191 Quarterly was a comfort. Stephanie and MAV are the best at finding the good things about each season and presenting them in a beautiful, thoughtful way.  When the days are cold and grey, it helps to leaf through my issue and remember that wool socks and hod toddies make it all worth it.  (I swear I cured Joe's cold with Stephanie's hot toddy recipe!)  

As you can imagine I've been eagerly awaiting issue 6, which has just been released today.  Can't wait to get it in the mail so I can make MAV's Chocolate Stout Cake and Stephanie's hanging planters.

happy valentine's day!

 I made heart-shaped sweet potato biscuits with caramelized shallot and sage butter for the occasion.  This was the first time I've made biscuits that turned out well, and they tasted amazing.  Love this recipe, found via Unruly Things.