Tavern on the Green

Later Friday night, Laura K called to invite me to Saturday brunch at Tavern on the Green. Hmmm, let me think about this.... uh, yeah!

Saturday morning I got up to get ready for brunch. As I do at home, I turn the TV to Bravo, first thing, in the hopes that old PR episodes are playing. I was treated to some episodes of Season 5. Hooray! In case you are wondering, yes, I do know that I am obsessed with the show.

Thankfully, the day was clear and crisp yet much warmer than the previous day. It almost felt like spring time in Central Park. I was glad I arrived early so that I could walk around a bit with all the other New Yorkers. :) Laura K, Kaitlin, The Scarlett, and TBone soon arrived and we chatted until the restaurant opened. Once inside, we waited for the others since they don't seat you at "the Green" unless your entire party has arrived. I met the lovely Amanda Fields, PR model extraordinaire. She is pretty, tall and such a nice person. (I have to say during this adventure I met the most amount of nice people I ever have in a 24-hour period!)

Amanda walked during the finale show and looked beautiful. As I said in an earlier post, I thought that designer's clothes were the most wearable. She told us a bit of what Fashion Week was like this year, and the differences with Season 6. Sorry, kids, I'm not telling anything! (I must admit it was fun being privy to little details I otherwise would not have known.)

Joe Faris and his lovely wife, Kara, joined us as well as a friend of Kaitlin's. They, too, are super nice people. Unfortunately, TBone could not stay because had to leave because he had to catch his flight. (Later, TBone! We'll catch up soon!) We walked into the main dining area that was absolutely gorgeous. The dining room is a sunny, glassed in gazebo. The sunlight streamed in and the beautiful gardens surrounded the room.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch (I do recommend the lobster bisque) and lively conversation. We discussed more PR tidbits about seasons past, a little PR trivia and some reminiscing of Amanda's run in Season 3. She was a trooper! I sat next to Kara. She told me that Joe went to school in Boston at Mount Ida. If you are a PR fan, then you know that Joe won the drag queen challenge, "Queen for a Day". He dressed Varla in a pepto-pink, skin-tight, sequined, sailor-style jumpsuit and gave her an Ann-Margaret vibe. Kara said at the time of the first airing, she guessed the topic of the show because it was announced that RuPaul would be the guest judge. However, she had no idea that Joe won that challenge. She had invited a dozen friends over to watch the episode! I'm sure that was a pleasant surprise!!

My Project Runway weekend had come to a close. It was a blast. I had so much fun. Thanks again, BPR!! Until the next adventure.....

The Project Runway Experience, Part Deux

I happened to sit next to another PR fan, Marcia, who won a ticket. Marcia is a seamstress who makes doll clothes. We were looking around for former PR contestants. Marcia saw Chris March from Season 4 and said, "Oh, he's my favorite!" She wanted to get a picture, but was shy to ask. I said, "Let's go!" LOL. So unlike me. We went down and took pictures with Chris! I don't have the picture, though. I'm waiting for Marcia to send me that one.

After the show ended, I walked around and met some of the designers. I wasn't as bold when it came to asking for pictures for myself! However, I was able to get pictures with Malan and Jerrell. Malan is the sweetest person and he has the nice, deep voice and sinister laugh! He kept me smiling the entire time. I said hi to Jerrell and gave him a big hug. LOL. He is tall and gorgeous! How strange it must be to have complete strangers know who you are. He was a good sport. I also spoke with Korto and Jay. I asked Jay if he remembered who I was. He looked at me like, "Who _are_ you?" LOL. I said, "I know, that's a terrible thing to ask." I was kidding, really. I reminded him that we met in Houston. He said, "Oh yeah, you interviewed me for BPR." Yeah! He remembered me and BPR!

Laura K invited me to have brunch at the Roosevelt Hotel. Well, was I going to say "no" to that? Uh, no! A bunch of us went over. Marcia went along and I also met other fans, Lynn "Miss Penn" out of Pennsylvania and Trish "Jersey Girl". We all shared a table. The brunch at the Roosevelt was delicious, in case you're wondering. I recommend it!

The brunch turned out to be a Season 5 reunion of sorts (again, due to the legal issues, the Season 5 designers did not get the usual reunion show). Joe was there along with Stella and Blayne-licious, Kelli, Jennifer, Daniel Feld, Wesley, and Leanne, Project Runway 5 winner!! Surprisingly, I didn't hear Blaine say "licious" the entire time. :)

I met Stella, who is a riot. She is gorgeous and naturally funny and can work a high, high heel! I was telling Kaitlin whenever I say "leather" or "weather" I say it the way Stella does! Jerrell and Kenley were so gracious and funny. Jerrell and Kenley have really distinct voices, so I marveled at hearing them. It was so weird to hear voices that I heard on TV in real life! Kenley is lovely and I loved her personality. She was the one you loved to hate during the season, but I have a new respect for her. Jerrell is so funny and a sharp wit. I can see that they all were chosen for their personalities as well as their talent!

I got a chance to talk more with TBone and The Scarlett, Laura K and her daughter Kaitlin, and John C, who is from Houston. I asked John if he'd heard of the International Quilt Festival in Houston. Of course he had, since he lives near the George R. Brown Convention Center where it's held. Shout out to you John C! I will look you up if I make it to Houston again in October! As it turns out, John C and I are "neighbors," since his family is originally from the Boston area. :)

Afterward, Marcia, Lynn and I headed off to Mood Fabrics. It was apropos, considering the reason we were in New York that day! We met Marcia's husband, who is quite supportive of her craft. He even found a trim for her that would look like a metalllic belt for a doll. After Mood, we went our separate ways.

Tavern on the Green in my next post!!

New York City... Bryant Park... Project Runway!

Firstly, I must thank the Blogging Project Runway gang, Laura K, Scarlett and T-Bone! These three are the very kind, generous and dedicated folks who keep us informed on all things Project Runway. I met them for the first time and they made me feel as though we'd been friends forever. They are the best!

I got to the tents around 8 am. It was freezing out and they were not yet letting anyone in. I grabbed a tea at Cafe Duke and waited a few minutes. When I went back, the steps to the tent were crowded with people. I scanned the crowd and saw Korto and Jerrell from Season 5 and Carmen and Chris from Season 4! I was surprised to see them outside with the rest of us!

Laura K and I spoke via cell phone and found each other inside the tent. Laura is so sweet and really takes care of people. All I had to do was follow her and I didn't have to wait in line! We got in the tent and waited to go in. While we waited, I met Laura's daughter, Kaitlin, and Scarlett. Laura was on her phone, now and then, making sure people had their tickets.

I had been in the tents a couple of times before (to see Peter Som, Zac Posen and Carmen Marc Valvo) but this was my first time seeing Project Runway! I was so excited to see other former contestants. I saw also saw Jack and Blayne from Season 5, Kara from Season 2, and of course, Jay McCarroll. my old friend from Season 1. I was hoping to meet Nick Verreos from Season 2, but he was in LA to cover the Oscars! Oh well, maybe next time!

I was sitting in the last row, but I was in the closest section to the stage. Also, I was sitting opposite of Heidi, Michael, and Nina! Michael and Nina looked pretty much the same in person. Heidi, however, looks much taller and thinner in person than she does on TV. I hope that's good news, Heidi!

Those of us who were lucky enough to get tickets were a bit starstruck. Well, why not? We were in the midst of Project Runway royalty! I was really excited to be there and to see the show.

You might recall that PR Season 6 has not aired because of legal battles, so it's amazing that so many people are still interested. If you've seen PR at all, then you know what to expect at a finale show. You see fashions from the designers, and perhaps some decoy collections as well. Things were different this time. Because no episodes have aired, we did get to see collections, but we did not get to see the designers! Also, since no one has seen any episodes, there was no need for decoy collections.

Heidi spoke to the crowd a bit and lamented that the designers would not be recognized. As usual, she started it all off with her familiar, "Let's start the show." The best thing about the first collection, in my opinion, were the hairstyles. The hair was in a messy 60s ponytail with wide black headbands. If you cannot wait for TV (or radio, as Harvey Weinstein joked with Ryan Seacrest), take a look at them here.

The second collection, in my opinion, seemed wearable -- things that I might actually buy. There were some drapey numbers, reminiscent of Rami Kashou, Season 4 finalist. Take a look here. If I'm not mistaken, this was the designer who used the same background music that is used during the PR episodes!

The third collection, appeared to be the best one, but I wouldn't call it wearable. At least not for me. I felt it had a Mad Max vibe, but it had the most detailed workmanship of all three. I thought the final look was amazing. You can see the collection here. Links to collections courtesy of BPR!

It is too bad that these designers were not recognized, after all the work they put in. They did get to show at Bryant Park, as promised, but no one got to see who they were! I am hopeful that all will be settled and the show will go on.
There is more to tell... brunch at The Roosevelt and Tavern on the Green!

NY Fashion Week -- Spring '09!

I'm back from Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in NYC! Hubby and I attended the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fundraiser for emerging designers, which was sponsored by American Express. The featured designer was none other than Zac Posen! Thank you, American Express, for the opportunity to attend a show under the tent at Bryant Park!

The atmosphere inside the tent was festive. There were several vendor booths, including iGoogle, Judith Ripka, Havaianas and Office Max, believe it or not. Amex puts on a good show, I must say. Servers passed around drinks and hors d'oerves while we waited for the runway to open. The DJ played an array of R&B tunes from the early 80's. There's nothing like old-school funk to get a party started!

When the runway opened, there was a lot of pushing a jockeying for position! I saw Malan Breton, designer from Season 3 of Project Runway, as I was going in. I said, "Hi Malan!" He responded, "Hello, Daaahling, how are you?" It was as if we'd known each other forever! Malan was eliminated from Project Runway early on, but he is a truly talented designer and has shown during Fashion Week since then. I am glad to see that he looks happy and is doing well in the industry despite his early departure from Project Runway.

We were given green wristbands upon entering the tent. Once we got to the runway, we were happy to discover that the green wristbands had the better seats. The runway looked just as it does on TV. All the chairs and walls are black. The runway and the backdrop from which the models enter are white. For the Zac Posen show, the runway backdrop was decorated with dozens of clear chairs that looked like the Phillipe Starck Ghost Chair. They looked as though they were just randomly thrown up on the wall and they stuck. The chairs were a great effect. They provided an interesting back drop without taking away from the presentation.

Andre Leon Talley, Vogue's editor-at-large, was sitting in the front row. Zac had already shown earlier in the week. This show was a re-do and a fundraiser for the CFDA, as I mentioned. Thus, I knew the "real" fashionistas had already seen Zac's "real" show earlier, so, I was surprised to see Mr. Talley there. As it turned out, he was the emcee. Those of us fashionista wannabees were giddy with excitement and self-importance, since we were in the exclusive runway at Bryant Park! We were of all ages, sizes, and colors. We all had a fashion for passion (except for maybe, Hubby). There were those who were dressed to impress and looking around to see and be seen. Several people were taking pictures and having people take pictures of them on the runway. How fun! Eventually, production assistants pulled the protective plastic off the runway and lights went down. The show was about to begin!

The show started with five models wearing shimmery, lingerie-like pastel dresses and handbags. They were beautiful and powerful in full makeup and flowy big hair. They were robotic in a way, but not completely. They reminded me of the fembots in the Austin Powers movie. The collection was absolutely beautiful. There were lots of gorgeous, floaty, pastel fabrics. I am not a fan of animal prints, but I do like the way Zac did them. There were leopard prints that were enlarged and faded on flowy dresses. There were slim fitting dressses that were cleverly decorated with paillete "stripes". Other dresses were billowy, ruffly and seemed to glide across the runway. There were lots of jewels on the garments, which I found surprising on outfits for spring. One can see that Zac is a true artist. It was amazing to see Zac's vision and artistry come to life.

Andre Leon Talley interviewed Zac for a few minutes after the show. Zac explained that he had been working in the industry since he was 17. He went to London at that young age, as well. His family is a huge part of his company and thus his success! Zac did seem to be exhausted. It was probably near 11 pm at that time, so that is understandable. He is thoughtful person who really cares about his customers. The sheer volume of garments was impressive. Zac Posen is one of my big three, along with Carolina Herrera and Michael Kors, so I am glad I got to see him!

Hubby and I were pretty tired ourselves, after our whirlwind NYC trip. Before we went to Bryant Park, we did manage to visit the Magazine Cafe (I'd received a flyer earlier in the day). I liked Magazine Cafe. It's got just about any type of fashion magazine you'd want, from countries such as Canada, Italy, France and Australia. There are also home decorating magazines and finance magazines. I'm kicking myself that I didn't buy that YSL collector's edition magazine, which featured looks from each of his collections. Looks like I can order it online, so maybe I'll do that, if I don't visit sometime soon. :) It's a little light on the "cafe" side. I saw only a small area up front that you could have a coffee. However, they do sell a nice cup of coffee. It's also a good place for inexpensive "I heart NY" tchotchkes.

We were in the mood for steak, and so we went to Keen's Steakhouse, as suggested by the concierge at the Marriott (we didn't stay there by the way, but concierges are usually happy to make a recommendation to anyone). Keen's is an old New York steakhouse. The waitstaff was quite helpful and the steak was delicious. We chose potato leek soup and Caesar salad as appetizers. The soup had a nice flavor, but it was not thick -- the way I like my potato soup. The Caesar salad was very good. We had crispy fries and glazed carrots as sides. Delish! The ceiling is decorated with hundreds of old pipes. They look as though they were old enough to be smoked by the native Americans who sold Manhattan! I do like Keen's, but a few of the patrons seemed to have had a little too much to drink. I'd probably refrain from staying there too late at night. I love finding "spots" -- places I know I can return to when I visit the city again. Magazine Cafe and Keen's are definitely spots when I'm in the Garment District.

I've attended a couple of Fashion Week shows now. Let's hope I actually get to work one, next time. Behind the scenes, of course. :)

In the Mood

Mood Fabrics is a place I always visit when I go to NYC. You may already know that the designers of Project Runway shop there. I've been to NYC a couple of times during the taping of PR, but I have yet to be there when the designers are there! That would be fab. Meeting Tim would be fab, too. I was watching PR reruns the other night and I saw a couple of employees that I had just seen when I was there. I'm such a geek.

I can't even say how much fabric I've bought there. I have bought Marc Jacobs fabric and Oscar de la Renta fabric there, too. I know that only because one of the employees have told me so. I was also complimented on my fabric choices as well. What can I say? I am a Material Girl. That is so overused, I know, but that really does describe me.

One of the cool things about it is that you get to the 3rd floor of 225 W. 37th Street via an old-fashioned elevator with elevator operators. How often does that happen? They used to have them at the old Ritz-Carlton on Arlington Street (which is now Taj Boston), but I don't know if they still do that. For those of you who are shocked that there is no longer a Ritz in Boston, not to worry: Ritz-Carlton Boston Common.

If you love fabric, Mood really is the place to go. You can get denim, knits, silk, leather, tweed, wool, upholstery -- you name it. I can't do the selection justice here. During the last trip I saw a sign that read "No more samples of Pucci fabric"!! Pucci? See, this place is cool. I am a woven cotton girl, myself. I have yet to venture into the world of knit or silk. I will one of these days. I want to order this book so I can start practicing.

So, what did I get at Mood? I was intrigued by the polka dot print. I love how the polka dots are randomly scattered. You don't see that too often. I think it would be cute for a handbag or a summer top. How about the Ann Taylor top below in that print with the bow in a solid? The picture is from the Harper's Bazaar (Smart shopping). I was unable to find the top on AnnTaylor.com, however




I thought the black fabric would make nice pillows for my guest room. It is not done yet, but it's working on a French theme.

The last PR season, I saw for a quick second Christian carrying around a canvas Mood shopping bag. You notice minutiae like that when you've seen the episodes as many times as I have. I asked if they had any and they did! They even had one with the LA store's address. I had to have NYC, of course. You can order them online.

I will share more Mood acquisitions in later posts!

Direction - The International Textile Design Show

In a previous post, I mentioned that I am starting my textile design business. I met the artist and clothing designer, Sigrid Olsen, at a talk she gave at the Peabody Essex Museum awhile back. I told her about my plans, and she suggested I attend Direction, which is exactly what I did this week. Hubby and I got up super early so I could catch the 6:20 am (!!) Acela out of Back Bay Station. I arrived at Penn Station at around 9:45 or so.

The show was held at the Penn Plaza Pavilion, which is just across 7th Avenue from Madison Square Garden and Penn Station. Upon first glance, the show was smaller than I'd expected. But, I wasn't disappointed. I got my badge and went upstairs to the booths. Each booth housed a design shop that presented its wares to buyers. Basically, the buyers walk around, choose a booth, introduce themselves and have a seat. Design shop reps show them their fabric designs one-by-one. The buyers choose the ones they like and the reps set them aside. I saw some people taking orders, which is the ultimate goal, of course. I do hear that the textile design business is a tough one, but just about everyone was really nice.

I talked with a few people and showed them my portfolio from my U4ia class at MassArt (Massachusetts Collge of Art and Design). I got kudos from everyone on the presentation :) and I got some good critique on my work as well. Of course, they were not there to help me get started, they were there to do busines for themselves, so I do appreciate those who took the time to talk with me.

There were so many beautiful designs. There are truly talented artists out there who are doing this work. I am not an artist, per se, but I do have an eye for design, and I think I can do well. I talked with a few students from FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) in NYC. They were part of the "Forward Leap" section of the show, in which students from several schools displayed their work. The FIT students were all in a one-year textile design program. I'd already read about that program and have been wanting to do it since I found out about it! It was interesting to see their work. There are so many people who want to do this work, I've discovered. Still, I'm not deterred just yet.

There were forecasters as well. Forecasters do a lot of research to determine what the "in" thing will be the next season. They forecast style, motifs, themes, and colors, among other things. This must be a big business, because although they were out-numbered by the design houses, they were well represented. There was also a booth on fashion inspiration, Studio C Vintage. Reps from such companies travel the world to gather vintage clothing and fabric and sell them to fashion and design houses. They do insure that their items are in the public domain, so if you do base something on an item, you are safe legally. The idea is to use these pieces as inspiration, not to directly copy them. The rep there was so nice and helpful. She looked at my book, carefully, and really gave me some good points. She is a Cali girl, like myself. We have to stick together! Should I need some vintage inspiration, I will definitely use their service.

I attended a seminar given by Steve Greenberg of Pointcarre. Pointcarre is a textile design software package. He demonstrated what to do with a print once you've purchased it. If you own a print, you can manipulate it in anyway you wish, by removing or adding motifs or changing colors, for example. I used U4ia, as I mentioned, which took some getting used to (and that's putting it mildly). Pointcarre is much more intuitive.

I spoke with Steve after his talk. He told me that U4ia is no longer being distributed. (It looks like Lectra, the U4ia vendor, now markets a product called Kaledo.) Well! I was told a U4ia license costs thousands of dollars, so that doesn't surprise me. The FIT students all used Adobe Illustrator for their work, which is much less expensive, comparatively speaking. Of course, Illustrator can be used for all types of design, so there are limitations when using it for textile design. Pointcarre is specifically for textile design. I got the impression that it is quite expensive as well. Being a programmer myself, I have an idea of what goes into writing such a package, and I can't say I blame them at all.

What is a visit to NYC without a visit to Mood? More on that in the next post!

Notes on "Super Quick + Easy Baby Quilt"

(Photo from PurlSoho.com.)

I promised a few notes on the "Super Quick + Easy Baby Quilt" from Joelle Hoverson's "Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts" . The link will take you to a listing of two of Joelle's books that she sells on her website, PurlSoho.com. More on PurlSoho later. But for now, definitely check it out. It's one of my regular NYC haunts. Hi, Joelle!!

I thought I could square the fabric by folding it, but it doesn't work! Open out the entire piece of fabric before squaring.

When you are sewing the two pieces of fabric (right sides) together, do not start at a corner. Start in the middle of one of the sides. You will then turn it right-side out through the opening.

Joelle suggested tacking the quilt by machine by sewing the tacks in a row, without cutting the thread until you reach the end of a row. This works, but be sure to leave plenty of slack in the thread in between tacks. I did not do this initially. There was too much tension and the tacks didn't come out as I liked. I was using an oval shaped satin stitch. In some places, the tacks were smaller than they should have been. I had to take them all out and do them over!

Use a contrasting fabric pen or pencil to mark ties. Practice on scrap fabric before doing this on the quilt. You want to make sure your stitching covers the mark... even though it will eventually wash out.

Speaking of washing, I like washing my fabric first. I use a tiny bit of detergent and no fabric softener. I don't let the fabric dry completely -- it's easier to press the wrinkles out. I read online (in About.com, I think) that you can make a diagonal cut on the corners to prevent fraying. Seems to work. Just don't cut too much off! The smaller your fabric, the smaller your quilt!

Check the quilting distance on the batting package. The batting I used suggested tacking every 2"-4", so I tacked every 4". It is quite a bit even though the quilt is small. I used Poly-fil Extra Loft Batting, even though that was not in the supply list! I love thick batting on quilts.

I enjoyed the pattern. It doesn't take too long, but all those tacks! Did I mention that I had to do 81 tacks, twice?? The quilt came out really cute, though! It's best for newborns, since it's not that big. I hope to make another one for another little boy who just came into the world.

You can see a picture of the quilt here.