Ann Williamson

Handmade Designer Women's Apparel

Smithsonian’s Craft: Fashion + Home

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I’ve been calling the Smithsonian’s fall show, ‘Craft2Wear,’ but it has a new name. They’ve added in artists from the home-dec world so have updated the name to ‘Craft: Fashion + Home.’

It’s coming up soon! October 5 – 8. I’ve been running up the down escalator getting ready. So much to do!

Here’s a couple pieces I’ll be bringing.

The fabric for this jacket had gorgeous Hokusai waves, which you must know I love. But alas, each wave crest was a different bright color, beautiful in the original kimono, but not at all the look I was after. I cut out the colored parts [saved for a future project!] and rearranged the rolling wave parts.

Jacket with Hokusai waves made from kimono silk

The back

Jacket with Hokusai waves made from kimono silk

Below, a long ‘trench coat,’ sewn from a very cool deep, deep purple with a floral design in deep reds, greens and oranges.

I cut the scraps into squares and appliquéd them along the bottom panel. I love how the floral images are abstracted by cutting the print into random squares.

Trench coat of kimono silk with appliqued squares along the bottom panel

The camera in my phone has its own very specific ideas of how to record colors. Sometimes its guesses are right on the mark, other times not so much. I spent a bit of time wrestling with it trying to accurately record the lovely subtle colors in this coat. They still weren’t right, so I tried to adjust it in photoshop. Although better, it’s still missing the mark.

If you’re near Washington DC October 5 – 8, please come to the show! And see this coat’s true beautiful and subtle colors. And all the other jackets, coats, skirts and scarves that I’ll be bringing.

A detail shot showing the appliqués.

Detail of Trench coat of kimono silk with appliqued squares along the bottom panel

Another way to have accurate images and colors. Hire a professional!

I had another fantastic photoshoot with Mario Gallucci last week. So much fun! He’s processing those gorgeous images and I’ll be posting them soon.

Photoshoot with model

For more information about the Smithsonian show ‘Craft: Fashion + Home,’ check it out here.

Piecing For the Craft2Wear Show

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First of all, I spoke way too soon in my last blog post. I said, “we’ve had a pretty nice summer, not too hot…” Within days, our temperature bumped up to 108 degrees! It cooled down a bit, then shot back up into the 90s. It was my fault. I never should have mentioned our lovely summer. I called down the evil eye and now we are paying for it. It is hot and sticky and I am so looking forward to autumn and cooler days.

Besides cooler days, autumn will also bring the Smithsonian’s Craft2Wear show. There will be an evening fundraising party on October 5, followed by the show on the 6th – 8th. Check out the details here.

A show coming up means I need new work. I’ve been at it, buried with new projects. For example, this jacket in a very dark, almost black, navy kimono silk, pieced with creams and whites.

In process, the back. Blocks sewn, laid out and waiting to be joined together.

New jacket of dark navy kimono silk pieced with creams and whites in process

The front, almost completed.

Front of new jacket of dark navy, creams and whites in process

Finished! The front,

Front of jacket of pieced dark navy, cream and white kimono silk

And the back. Ready for the show!

Back of jacket of pieced dark navy, cream and white kimono silk

Only 4 weeks to go.

Cool weather and a cool show! Can’t wait!

August

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We’ve had a pretty nice summer, not too hot, cool nights and mornings. The one thing we haven’t had is rain, it’s been pretty dry.

I have a loop I walk, sometimes lost in thought, other times stopping to chat with the people I’ve met. Mostly I watch for how things are the same and how things are different. Some houses are maintained perfectly so that they could be in a magazine. Others slowly decline, are sold to new people and remodeled, painted and loved again. The biggest changes are the plants. Come springtime, they appear, then grow, flower, bear fruit and die. The weather, the seasons, there’s always something new happening.

By August you can feel the beginnings of fall. It’s a ways off, but with the dry weather, the shorter days and the fruits and vegetables coming on, you can feel it coming.

Lawns are turning a soft brown.

Portland front lawn turning brown

Except for dandelions, they seem to be doing ok.

Lawn turning soft brown except for dandelions

Echinacea does well in our hot dry summers.

Echinacea along sidewalk

And zinnias, growing and blooming and loving the sun.

Zinnias blooming in flower bed by a sidewalk

Luckily, there was no dog to bother me when I took a picture of these gorgeous roses.

Salmon colored roses and Beware of Dog sign

Harvest season is here. Vegetable gardens line the sidewalks. These cherry tomatoes are growing over a fence. Almost ready to be picked.

Cherry tomatoes growing over a fence along a sidewalk

How about these corn stalks? You can just see one of the ears, close to ripe.

Corn stalks and corn growing in a garden along a sidewalk

The fruit trees seem to be on steroids. This one, bursting with pears hanging over the sidewalk. I have to duck to walk by.

Pear tree full of ripe pears along a sidewalk

The most outrageous tree has been dropping apples for days. They line the sidewalk with a narrow path through.

Ripe apples dropped from an apple tree along a sidewalk

I try to get out early, before it gets too hot, walk my loop, make my plans and get ready for the day.

Whether you’re spending your August at a lake, by the beach or in your neighborhood, I’m sending all my happy end of summer wishes to you and yours.