• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Ann Williamson

Handmade Designer Women's Apparel

  • Home
  • Designer Apparel
    • Special Occasions
    • Coats & Jackets
    • Ensembles
    • Tops
    • Scarves
    • Archives
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • About
    • About Ann
  • Videos
    • Ann’s Video
    • One scarf
    • Pink
    • At Holocene
    • Pieced Coat
    • Black, White and Red Striped Ruana
    • Fireside Chat Video
    • ArtBeat Video
  • Events
  • Contact

Real People

Making Do

November 15, 2020 6 Comments

We do our best, no matter what, to continue on with our lives. Despite physical distancing and staying safe by wearing masks, we all want to keep living our lives as best as we can.

I love this photograph that Susan sent from her outdoor birthday celebration with friends. She’s wearing one of my hitoes, sewn from such a beautiful and colorful kimono silk. Mask and all, making do.

Happy birthday Susan!

How about this snapshot of Linda? We’re in the middle of a fitting for a vest to match the pieced skirt she bought last December.

The corona virus put a crimp in our scheduled meet-up last spring, but after all this time we decided to go for it, outside, on the porch, with masks. And it was not warm! She wore many layers including her own knitted woolen hat, socks and under her pants, hand knit leggings.

A new style trend?

Her new skirt was part of a set that I had made a year or so ago. The pieced skirt was inspired by the pattern in the jacket.

I loved the look of these two fabrics together, but for Linda the jacket just wasn’t right. We decided a matching vest would be much better for her.

But that left the jacket. It was sewn from a gorgeous meisen kimono silk in a ‘turtle back’ pattern that I had appliqued with little blue squares.

What to do? I still had plenty of the ‘turtle back’ silk, so I pieced a skirt to go with the orphaned jacket.

I used a darker meisen and pieced it so it gradually got darker towards the hemline. And I appliqued more little blue squares to blend with the jacket.

A close up detail of the skirt.

We all do this: we look and we see that here is where we are, that this is what we have and that is what we want.

That’s our starting point. Then, we figure out what we need to do to make it happen.

Real People

March 8, 2020 10 Comments

I love it when my customers send photos of themselves wearing my designs. There is no better way to show how a piece of clothing can work than a real person wearing it. A real person in a real place.

So I was beyond happy when I received these fantastic photographs from Nina. In each one she is looking so beautiful. All elements, jackets, blouses, jewelry, curated perfectly.

Below, a jacket and blouse from a few years back. Still looking fresh and new. Perfectly paired with the right necklace and earrings.

Wow!

Below, a swing coat and matching blouse. She knows how to choose colors that work for her! Her complexion glows in the luscious, warm red tones.

We met a number of years ago, at the Baltimore craft show. She stopped in my booth and found a wool coat appliquéd with an antique paisley shawl. Ever since and over all these years and many, many craft shows, we’ve gotten to know each other and become friends.

It’s one of the very best things about the craft shows. You make friends.

Below, a pieced and appliquéd jacket worn over a matching blouse in the most gorgeous kimono silks and paired with a fantastic necklace.

What a wonderful tradition! A photo to commemorate an outing. Fantastic.

Each piece of my clothing is like a child. I create it, raise it, take care of it and love it. Then, when it’s matured and grown, it’s time to send it out into the world to live its own life.

And I want them to live good, interesting and fulfilling lives. So it feels so good to see that these pieces are living happy and fulfilling lives.

A jacket with appliquéd squares looking fantastic with a beautiful zig zagging, shibori blouse.

Thank you for sending me these photos Nina!

And a big thank you to Clif, your very own personal, paparazzi photographer.

Not a Trench Coat After All

January 12, 2020 4 Comments

I thought it was a trench coat, but this beautiful lady saw different.

With a tweak here and there and the addition of a belt, we can see what it was all along.

It’s a dress.

What good idea!

Below, a snap shot, taken when I thought it was a trench coat. Although now, looking at it with fresh eyes, it does look more like a dress doesn’t it?

Sewn from two beautiful kimono silks. A black, white and red fan design paired with a black with red dots.

My customers! They are so clever! I learn from them every day.

Newer Posts
Older Posts

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Ann Williamson, Designer

Ann Williamson, designer, with models
Clothing Designer Ann Williamson — Oregon Art Beat video.

Upcoming Events

ACC Baltimore Craft Show 2023
American Craft Made Marketplace

Friday March 3, 10am-6pm
Saturday March 4, 10am-6pm
Sunday March 5, 11am-5pm

Baltimore Convention Center
1 West Pratt St

FIND OUT MORE

Subscribe

Follow on Instagram @annwilliamsondesigns

ACC Baltimore Craft show- Today and Sunday Booth ACC Baltimore Craft show- 
Today and Sunday
Booth 215 - See you there!
@craftcouncil 
#annwilliamson
Coat with appliquéd strips. Sewn from Japanese k Coat with appliquéd strips. 
Sewn from Japanese kimono silk.
New for American Craft Made 
ACC Baltimore Craft show.
Coming up!
March 3-5
Booth 215
@craftcouncil 
#annwilliamson
Jacket pieced from kimono silk scraps. New for Am Jacket pieced from kimono silk scraps. 
New for American Craft Made
ACC Baltimore Craft Show ‘23
March 3-5
Booth 215
@craftcouncil 
#annwilliamson
New for ACC Baltimore Craft Show ‘23 American C New for 
ACC Baltimore Craft Show ‘23
American Craft Made 
Beaded vintage Japanese kimono silk.
March 3-5
Booth 215
@craftcouncil 
#annwilliamson

Search Ann’s Blog by Category

“I measure the success of my clothing by how it looks and feels on the woman who wears it.
I want each piece to flatter and enhance the body it adorns.”

  • Shop
  • Special Occasions
  • Coats & Jackets
  • Ensembles
  • Tops
  • Scarves
  • Archives

Footer

Contact

ann at annwilliamson dot com

Follow

  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Studio

Portland, OR

© 2023 · Ann Williamson Design · Portland, OR