A quick post today- select fall styles are on sale in the online shop! Free Shipping too! If you had an eye out for any of these styles this year:

Mastermind Dress was $220, now $140.

Moxie Moxie Dress was $240, now $150.

Super cutie Susie Q blouse was $180, now $120.

Tallulah blouse was $190 now $150.

Tsarina Dress was $295 now $190.

I am getting started on a press section for the site:

Click on the pic to be transported to updated ABOUT page and lot’s of fun info and pics!

Some more fun news:  Miss Universe Canada contestant Christine Adela White-

has put together a super FUNdraiser benefiting her candidacy, the SOS Children’s Villages and the Ride to Conquer Cancer. There is also going to be a fashion show to get everyone pumped for spring! Let me know if you would like some tickets, facebook event details are here:

From Geek to Catwalk: Fundraiser for Miss Universe Canada 2012

Christine is going to be wearing lot’s of my designs while on the competition circuit and I am going to be doing her gown! I think she will let us do a follow along social with the big reveal pics of her on stage in May. Good times ahead.

One more little treat! My good friend Jill and her husband Chris got to visit the White House and the Pentagon because Chris is a very big deal (Coast Guard of the Year big deal!) and she toured around, looking adorable, in a couple of my designs:

Hugging Michelle Obama!

Touring the Pentagon:

Have a great weekend! I will be back next week!

For Spring 2012 I took my tailored, city girl aesthetic and rooted it in an out west color story. The main colors I pulled from a version of Aesop’s fables that was illustrated by Arthur Rackham. I always thought it was so funny when the animals wore clothing and I put one of my favorite illustrations on my wall.

I also pulled in a lot of country style elements like bold topstitching, beautiful buttons and patchwork and a few nature inspired shapes to create cowling and swirling seam lines.

I focused on layers and separates. Of course there are still a few special occasion dresses but most have a draped silhouette or can be worn with a blouse or wrap to make an interesting evening wear statement.

I wanted the collection to be able to mix all together so that guided a lot of the design.

I also wanted the collection to have a really 3-D look on the hanger, nothing flat. I do woven blouses every season, for spring I moved all of the seam lines into curves and swirls, like the bug’s shells pictured on my wall, to create that 3-D hanger effect on even streamlined, fitted pieces.

The city wardrobe on a road trip idea really comes through in the silhouettes. A tailored element mixed with a draped piece makes a really easy to wear, modern silhouette.

The idea of pairing that silhouette with a vintage color story and some nostalgia inducing details seemed fresh and appealing.

Hope you enjoy the collection! Photos are by Eileen Soo shot in beee-utiful Vancouver.

Last week I collaborated on a photoshoot with Robyn from Shibang Designs. She has started making beautiful custom bridal clutches; made to order and match with any wedding color story. She took some great pics of Christine White (hopeful Miss Universe Canada, facebook here!) wearing a couple of my bridesmaid designs and carrying the lovely clutches. Here’s a few shots to start your week off:

I also started a little bridal tab that you can get to from the homepage. I will be posting new styles throughout the wedding season. Have a good Monday!

I teased this post a couple days ago and its finally here! I used the quilted cotton jacket as a jump off point for my very first foray into leather jackets. I put a lot of hours into this one over the weekend and it was ready to go on a little test drive yesterday. I matched it with a girly dress, tights and boots and took a few pics (in the knickknack room) before I left:

Side View, as you can see there are differences between this jacket and the cotton jacket like leaving off the storm flap so the zipper is exposed:

And added the horse to the back:

I lightened this pic a bit so you could really see the horse:

I really like the idea of a hood on a leather jacket, it’s quite a bit of work but I think it looks good. The applique was a bit daunting at first but now I’ve got the hang of it and I would be stoked to try an even more complex one in the future. That’s it for today, have a good one!

On Friday things were looking good to take the quilted cotton jacket out for a test drive but, it proved a bit chilly for any such endevour. I snapped a few pics still inside, just over a black tee:

I will definitely take a few more pics when I can actually style the jacket a bit more and go outside. It looks really cute over a grey pullover hoodie and also to toughen up a spring dress a bit!

This project has a surprise ending though, it was a bit of a warm up for…dun dun dun…still to come…

The quilted jacket is almost done, so far, so good. The jacket was all ready for the sleeves:

Sleeves in from the back view:

I finished and topstitched the edge bands in the sleeve and the jacket:

And finally put in the zipper with the storm flap:

I have this thing about snaps: I can only put them in if it is the first thing I do in the morning. Never after I have been sewing for awhile and never ever at night. It’s a delicate thing! So I woke up extra early and put all the snaps in so they would be ready for this post! haha, they look good though so if you ever have trouble with snaps, try it my way!

Hood and flap snaps:

I am going to take some pics with the jacket on over the weekend to show the fit. I will post the shots right away, have a good day!

The flap pockets went in like this:

Then topstitch on the pocket backing:

From the backside it looks finished like this:

Than I attached the flaps at the same time as the yoke:

The back yoke with hood attached so far looks like this:

Almost ready for sleeves! It looks pretty cute as a vest though:

I’ll be putting in the sleeves and the zipper tomorrow, have a good one!

I cut the pattern in scrap fabric and it was already looking pretty good:

So I started right in on making one up in a really nice cotton twill. I decided to quilt the yoke, add an upper sleeve quilting patch and quilt the strip on the hood.

Close up:

Sleeve Quilting:

Hood quilting:

hehe ninja turtle hood.

The quilting is a bit of a time consuming, relaxing thing but I think it will look awesome when it’s all done. I will be back tomorrow with the pockets and the body sewn up. Have a good day!

Her name is Christine Adela White and I have decided to be her clothing sponsor for the Miss Universe Canada competition! I think she would be a fantastic representative for Canada and am super exicted to watch her compete. Check out and like her facebook page here:

http://www.facebook.com/Christine.White.Miss.Universe.2012

I will keep the blog updated on her progress and post a full profile (and hopefully some shots of her in action in the Spring 2012 collection!)

Also, when I was in Calgary I finally had the chance to check out Studio Intent. Here is the entrance from the Art Central side:

And here are a couple other shots from inside:

It’s a really beautiful store and Art Central is full of amazing galleries and shops, I had such a fun time there and recommend checking it out!

I am back with a new year social sew along tomorrow, it’s going to be intense!