Puces Pop

Tomorrow I am heading to Montreal for a great show called Puces Pop, as part of the Pop Montreal Music & Arts Festival. I have never done a show on location before so traveling with all of my display items and inventory will certainly be interesting. I'm definitely looking forward to a change of scenery and to visit with some of my friends and clients in Montreal. And hey, by chance if  YOU are in Montreal, come by and say hi! Have a great weekend everyone! xo

Fall Lookbook Now Live

Our new Fall lookbook is now live on our new website. Head on over! After you can check out the shop - blog readers get 20% off until Sunday with coupon code FALL2013. Enjoy!

Grace Design at Capsule Sept 15-17th

I briefly mentioned this on the blog last week but I am excited to officially announce that I will be showing a small selection of my work at the Capsule show happening in New York next week. Capsule is a cool independent fashion tradeshow and my work will be shown in the Etsy Wholesale showcase.  This show is only for buyers in the trade but if you are a buyer and would like to see some of my work in person then it will be on display from Sept 15th-17th.

New York!

When I was in NYC I visited the swanky Ace Hotel for a party that Etsy's new Wholesale Division was throwing, in conjunction with the tradeshow (NY Now) I was attending. It was a lovely evening out and really cool to meet some other sellers and buyers from shops around North America. In two weeks Etsy Wholesale will be exhibiting at the Capsule fashion tradeshow in NY and they have asked me to submit some of my work. I am pretty excited about this and wish I could head down to be there for the weekend but looks like it isn't in the cards. Things are getting so busy and I am getting the feeling that things are not going to let up until after Christmas. Next weekend I will be at the Bellwoods Block Party happening here in Toronto (more details on that later in the week) and heading to Montreal at the end of the month for Puces Pop. Not to mention that we shot the Fall lookbook on Sunday and will be launching that very soon. Things are busy but I like that best. Hope you are all having a great start to your week!

Autumn Is Coming! Autumn Is Coming!

This weekend I, along with a few other very talented people, will be shooting my Fall look book.  This is a total leap of faith for me, I have not really done such a fancy free outdoor shoot like this before, nor a real look book, and I'm pretty excited to see how it all turns out. Last night my friend/art director/producer came over and we started pulling things from around my studio to visualize the general palette and style of things. Once I saw everything together - the colours, the patterns, textures - I started to get even more excited. I can't wait to show you guys this next week!

Fabric Shopping

                           

When I was in New York I did a little fabric shopping and besides scouring flea markets and vintage shops, I spent some time in Manhattan's garment district. I had considered doing a bit of a guide to fabric shopping post but to be perfectly honest, I kind of lost patience and ended up only visiting about 5 shops. If you do go, I recommend googling and scouting out a few shops in advance. This is important for a few reasons, first, many of the shops are not at street level, they are located on the upper floors of non descript office towers. Second, there is SO MUCH and you will get tired and impatient, like me. Most of the shops are located around 39th and 40th and 8th and 9th - all pretty close to Penn Station. If you know what you are looking for, make a little list and go to it. Personally I know I can get most of what I need in Toronto as far as hardware, leathers etc go so I was on the hunt for a few really interesting prints. Everyone always goes to Mood and I'll concur, it is pretty good - though not my favourite. If you go to Mood though you will probably not be disappointed.  Aside from that I recommend M&J Trimmings for a mind boggling selection of trims, embellishments etc. Also, I personally love feathers so Eskay Novelty for nothing but. I also like this website as a good starting point before you embark on your journey. Good luck! 

Brooklyn Flea

So this happened. I had a chance to check out a big New York trade show last week called NY Now which was vast, and interesting. I was able to wander the city quite a bit, scouting out new shops, sourcing fabrics and the like. I was pretty excited to check out the Brooklyn Flea Market because, as I have mentioned before, the only thing I enjoy more than sourcing fabrics is shopping for vintage clothing. If you follow me over on Instagram you would have seen some of the most incredible vintage clothing shops I hit in Williamsburg. A little pricy but always cool to scout in new cities. I didn't find the flea to be all that different from the Toronto equivalent - The Junction Flea. Ok, maybe slightly better. Plus you get to look out at the iconic Manhattan skyline as you shop. Anyways, expect a few NY themed posts in the next few days as I scour through all the photos I took.

Also, I guess the trip was fairly fruitful in that I DID in fact score some wicked fabrics. AND, I am currently working hard on the Fall collection which, with any luck, will be available in a weeks time.

Ok back to work for me. Hope you are all enjoying your week!!

P.S. There is a new section in the shop - AS IS. It is where I will be putting all the bags that have minor little flaws - a common occurrance when working with antique fabrics. All still very lovely but MUCh easier on the wallet. Check them out here!