knick knacks & ric rac

how many is too many? sometimes i have to ask myself that when it comes to knick knacks or shoes, but i don’t usually ask myself that when it comes to vintage fabric because i know i will use it. if it’s a good deal i just take it all.  that’s what happened a couple of months ago when i got a hot tip (thanks jocelyn!) about these brand new old stock Parisian Prints linen tablecloths…

yeah, i bought a lot of them. but they make such a cute skirt border!

the tablecloths are all round, so i’m using the printed part as a flared border on the skirt. and since it’s round it flares out in the most delightful way. the top part of the skirt is cotton twill. i trimmed the edge with coordinating gingham printed bias binding.

these and other new goodies coming to my website this week!

update: thank you SO much again for  all of your comments, thoughts and support on the last two posts, the offending items have been removed from the other shop as of this morning.

THANK YOU so much for your comments and support on the supreme unpleasantness of the last post. You don’t know how much it means to me! I really appreciate it so much.

It’s so shocking and gross and beyond disheartening when this type of thing happens, and I know it happens all the time. I was notified of the copies by a fellow independent designer (who has also had her designs ripped off) she noticed the rip-off skirts being sold on Dawanda.com. I have contacted Dawanda about the copyright violations, and I have emailed the company doing the copying and running the online shop. As of yet I have received no response from any of them, and the items are still on Dawanda and the online shop. I guess I don’t know why that surprises me, but it does. I’m going to mail actual letters. I’m still trying to figure out how to mail them a knuckle sandwich.

UPDATE: THE OFFENDING ITEMS HAVE BEEN REMOVED, THANK YOU!!!

This is just so insanely frustrating. I know i’m not the first and unfortunately won’t be the last artist or designer to get royally ripped off.

I find so much insipiration in things that I see-knick knacks, vintage textiles, folk handicrafts- and I love taking that inspiration and turning it into my own original designs, and I also love sharing here on my blog the different things that inspired the screen prints.

I take so much care and thoughtfulness as to how the prints work on the skirt shapes, the proportions of the design elements and how they look on a body wearing them and carefully choose colorways. I can’t decide if it’s more frustrating to me that the designs were copied, or that they were copied SO BADLY! I’m mortified to think that anybody might mistake that half-assed crap for one of my original designs.

All of my original screen prints and artwork are protected by US copyright, and thanks to the Berne Convention, that protection also extends internationally to countries that have joined it, Germany included.

Any and all advice you may have to share is greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much again!!! You guys are the greatest. I’m not going to let this get me down, and I’m not going to let it stop me from adding some new goodies to my site that I was so excited about making last week.

but to me it just looks like a really shitty no-talent rip off.  better check and make sure they didn’t rip off your artwork too.

UPDATE: THE OFFENDING ITEMS HAVE BEEN REMOVED, THANK YOU!!!

per the request of cyroline.de,  i have removed the side-by-side comparison image showing the artwork they copied.

since i finally learned how to crochet.

first i made myself a little kerchief. i just crocheted until i liked the size and put a scallop edge and pom pom ties on. perfect for winter in LA.

then i made this adorable shaker bonnet. i like this pattern alot, i’m going to make another one. it calls for a bicycle clip. i’ve seen that mentioned in a couple of vintage crochet patterns, and i’m guessing it helps hold the bonnet onto your head. do you know what it is?

then i made jennifer’s mighty oak scarflette, i made it a little more scarf and a little less ‘lette by adding another row to the branch.

and i liked it so much i’m making a birch version. need to sew the leaves on the branch sometime soon…

then i started making these poppies and couldn’t stop.

they’re supposed to be made with rug yarn and be a potholder, but i wanted to make them with regular yarn and sew a row of them together to make a scarf. but they were so much fun i couldn’t stop making them. i’m thinking it would be cute to sew them together into a poppy field bedspread! perfect to fall asleep on…

for you lovely ladies patiently waiting for the a-line version of the dutch treat skirt, look what i printed yesterday, a-line artwork! sewing and photographing next week!!

also, take a peek at sarah’s ‘house calls’ interview with me on her blog, Apothecary Fox, and while you’re there make sure to check out all of her other artist interviews!

this may be my favorite print yet!
take a peek at it here!

you won’t believe what i found at the junkyard last weekend. i saw the beat up case peeking out and i knew right away…

well, it wasn’t actually in the junkyard, but in the junkyard parking lot there’s a little thrift store which i have never seen open until that day. it was also 1/2 price weekend! you might remember how excited i was to find this baby. it’s twin was marked at $15 so it ended up being only $7.50! i couldn’t believe my luck!

i’d been stalking the cams for the first one on ebay but on the rare occasions they appear they always end up being too expensive for me. this baby had them all, and all the different feet!

it even had the manual and original advertising brochure!

so excited!!

the machine doesn’t run as smooth as the first one, but the motor sounds strong. with a little cleaning and a lube job it should be good as new!

me too!  new skirt print in 3 colorways. coming this month!

i can’t stop ogling these adorable clogs over at dala clogs. it’s all i can do to keep from pulling out the credit card and going nuts.

i just added a few more skirts in the ‘limited edition goodies’ section of my website…

the medallion skirt, made with a lovely border print fabric featuring leaf and flower medallions and cute scattered folky flowers. i love the navy and brown combo way more than i thought i would!

and the pantry skirt, with a front panel made from a super bright vintage pantry print fabric. shelves full of groovy bottles and jars and fruits with lots of hot pink and red, my all time favorite color combo!

and the rusty stripe skirt, made from cotton duck printed with a bold vertical stripe in coral, rusty red and burnt orange. the yoke is made from burnt orange corduroy.