About a million years ago, you know last February, I got an email from a lovely staffer from the Everyday with Rachel Ray magazine asking me if I had any tropical styled aprons. Yikes! There I was as knee deep in book edits and photo shoots for Sewing with Oilcloth.
I had just finished a day of styling photos with Meghan when I got the email. Exhausted, I headed out in search for tropical fabric that same night. When a magazine of such coolness calls you hop to it. Right? Right!
Things got complicated, they changed their minds a few times. They weren't sure if they were really going to shoot it anyway. So I never did send in an apron. But, I was asked to comment (for real). "Can you tell me why a party hostess wants to wear a cute apron?" My response, "I love dressing the part of party hostess! For me wearing a cute little hostess apron is a fun little nod to the glamorous parties featured in my mom's 1960's cookbooks. Who doesn't like playing dress up and pleasing her guests? It's just good fun!"
So the months went by and I nearly forgot all about these emails, it felt like a missed opportunity. Then on Monday I was standing in the check out lane and there was the most gorgeous hamburger on the cover of Everyday with Rachel Ray and I had to bring it home. You know that girl can cook on heck of a burger!!
Today, I finally found a few minutes to spend with Ms. Ray and here staff of talented magazine people. I remembered the Luau Party article as soon as I got to the table of contents. I was bummed, there was a very cute apron on a very pretty girl. The one that got away, right? But there was our little shops name in print. I squealed and ran around the house looking for my kids. I shoved the magazine in front of them and announced that Modern June got a mention. They were all like, "Cool. Whatever. What's for lunch." Mah, what do they know, right? I am totally honored and surprised for the nod!!! You just never know where life will take you.
By the way, we had ham and cheese bagels. Rachel wouldn't have approved.
I've been hording these salvages for months. Every time we make a new laminated cotton tablecloth I stuff the trimmings off into this little box. This weekend the box was overflowing so I took a personal sewing break. I am going to transform these into a fun and unique roman shade for my weird back window.
I had to do the first two rows over again, they looked more like ruffles than strips of salvage edges.
It's still a bit puckery, I am hoping a high temp ironing from the back side helps smooth it all out. You never want to iron the shiny side of laminate cotton!!!
I've just set my machine to a rather large zig-zag stitch and I used the pattern in each print as a guide to line it up each new strip. My panel is less than straight but I don't care, it's going to make a fun window treatment. Sometimes perfection is overrated on personal projects, right? When I sew for myself quick and dirty is the name of the game. I save my super-duper sewing for you all.
I told you that this window was weird. Originally this room was our homes (English) basement, but now that the boiler and water heater has been professionally walled off and the new and level floor has been laid it's my studio. When we did the work, some 6 years ago, we had planned to add French doors but money ran out and it never happened. While I am glad there aren't doors along this wall, I do look forward to the day when we have two windows to replace this ugly old thing.
I can't wait till Tuesday when I cut the next round of laminated cotton tablecloths so I have a much of new prints to add to my panel.
One of the really great things about living in the Bellevue neighborhood is being able to walk to Once Upon a Vines parking lot every Friday to enjoy a Friday Night Movie. This week we watched Happy Feet. (love the music mash-ups in that super cute movie)
Everyone gets a sweet snack and a bubbly drink from Bob's array of non-alcoholic offerings and we all sit out under the stars and watch a movie that is projected upon the wall. It's really fantastic. I just wish I could take better pictures in the dark! ; )
Next weeks movie is ELF, a little Christmas in July!
Look at what I spotted at the Ashland Farmers Market, Modern June's oilcloth bunting. I get so darn giddy when I see MJ goodies out and about. This pink and green batch was made for Featernesters last year. I think they still have a few left, if you looking for some give them a call. For our regular Mexi-Madness pennants head on over to our shop.
We are just loving our laminated cotton splat mats. Laminated cotton is BPA and PVC free which makes them CPSIA compliant and good for baby! Check out all the pretty colors you can get them made up in! We trim them off with coordinating cotton bias to make them nice and pretty! They come in two standard sizes 44" and 56" squares, but we're more than happy to make one to your specifications.
You've been missing these, haven't you? I've been getting loads of emails wondering where our oilcloth party banners went! Well there are back and they are even better! They are now longer and have more flags per pennant, 14 to be exact. You can now write out Happy Birthday on just one of our Chalkcloth™ and Oilcloth banners.
Help, I need your input, which of these upholstery fabrics do you like best for the roman shades I am going to make for my studio? I was going to use the vintage bark cloth but they weren't wide enough so I thought something new and a bit trendy would be fun to mix in with all the other vintage fabrics I am going to use for wall art.
The prints are big and bold, each flowers about 8-10 across. Fun right?
This is what my dining room looked like when I emptied out the studio two weeks ago. It really isn't this bad anymore but still it's pretty hard to deal with. Wait a minute, let me look around. Ya it's bad... it's really bad! I haven't done a thing towards the studio makeover in over a week which means I haven't done a thing about the state of my dining room.
Why? Tablecloth Week! Tablecloth week trumps all decorating and organizing. Throw in the fact that I haven't had a day off in weeks, then mix that with the temptation of a 3-day weekend and I haven't done a thing! Not. One. Thing.
Which leads me to a bit of day dreaming... My mother has 4 sisters, two of which live very close to her and they are there for her. When things get out of hand at my mothers house they rally and come to her rescue. They'll spend the weekend sorting and cleaning up what every room has gotten out of hand. I need a sister that close to home! My sister, Debbie, lives about 1200 miles away and is the mother of 2 young kids. I am sure she needs me as much as I need her! : )
Since I don't have a sister to spend the weekend with me I've decided I need a housekeeper for a week! A week should do. A paid friend to bail me out! : ) Someone to sort the laundry and do 50 loads of wash. Wouldn't it be great to have someone that would actually fold and put them away? Just saying. Someone to sort through my piles that have their own piles. Someone to get on the floor and really clean it. Someone who does windows. Someone to take a load of items to the Good Will. Someone to water the plants, heck someone to plant the plant that remain unplanted! (I guess this means that I need a gardener too!)
Then I need a handyman for a couple of days. Someone to finish my cutting table, because honestly I am little bored of that project. Once he's done with that then he can finish painting the trim in the studio. While he's here he could paint the trim in my kitchen, it really needs refreshing. We'll save the bathroom projects for his next visit.
Basically, I need a household staff. I am not asking for much, am I? Right...
Well, I guess the family that I have here with me will have to do. Watch out kids, you've got a long and hard week ahead of you!!! It's Home Ec week at the McCants Homeschool. We'll save the woodworking class for the cute hubby!
Tucked in the back of an empty parking lot of a long forgotten and demolished mall is my most favorite place to buy plants, pots and soil. The family that owns and operates Azalea Garden Center have become friends and have watched my kids grow up. Mike and Marianne's lovely garden center is located in the old Azalea Mall parking lot at the corner of Brook and Westbrook Ave. When you go, tell them I said hi!
To you and me it looks like a dog house but to this 10 year old it's a extra special Pokemon getaway. In just an hour and a big handful of boxes, my son and I made this cute little house. I wish I could show you the inside, it's covered with pictures of his favorite Pokemon characters.
He's read, played games and watched TV while in this thing for weeks. My only question is, how long will this be in my living room? Good thing I am not a neat freak or a design Nazi or this would really bother me! ; )
The last big building structure, the kitty tower, was in my living room for months!! At least Aidan uses this one, the kitten was tired of it after a matter of days.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Photo Credit: Anna Maria Horner
Check out what the sweet UPS man brought me today! All four of laminated cottons from Anna Maria Horner's new fabric line, lou-LOU-thia! I'll be back soon with more photos soon! The big floral print WILL be on my table by Sunday! : )
Here's a little pair of scissors that I've been dying to get my hands on! I've been looking for a pair of scalloped scissors that would work on fabric for a couple of years and I finally found them.
You know how it goes, you see some great crafter (Linwood Avenue) promoted on a site like Design Sponge, so you go to her website and click around until you find a link to another cool crafter (mmmcraft). Then your clicking and reading all the good stuff she have to say and then you find it, something that you want, need and have to have! So your off to some other website that sells cool toys (tool-tron), I mean tools. And that's how I found the scissors I've been dreaming of!
What do I want to use them for? Laminated cotton of course! I think that these would be so great to use for quick and fun projects. Just think about how cute a little laminated cotton tablecloth would be with the hem line cute in a tiny little scallop. Just perfect for summer dining alfesco!!!
By the way, we've got 4 new laminated cottons coming in tomorrow so come on back to see all the goodies!!! Off to buy my scissors of scalloped love.
I emptied out half the studio and said good bye to yellow walls this week. I must say that I love-love-love the color, it's so bright and happy!
I built the a Galant table for the sewing machines...
... and another one for the computer! It even has a key board drawer, so very ergonomic!
Aidan and I built these cool shelves that attach to the table top. We left the back off the second one so the printers could stack up. LOVE THAT! But what really rocks is having a desk with a work surface for the first time every! I'm not sure what to do with that, but I'll work it out. ; )
I'm also digging the old peg board that I painted turquoise. I reconfigured the board, it's amazing how much stuff you can get a 2'x4' sheet of pegboard.
Maddie helped me hang this pegboard today. I am so happy to replace all those 3M hooks, now I can move everything as needed. Easy-peasy!
Friday afternoon, the kids and I sat on the studio floor and watched The Voice while I put these together. They are for the new cutting table that I'll be making next weekend. For now the old folding cutting table top will have to do. We've got tablecloths to make this week so no more playing decorator until they are completed.
I replaced the old white bookcase with these two wire shelves that I stacked. I like them for several reasons: it's wider and deeper so I get more bang for my buck and it's open on the sides so that area feels more open now.
As you can clearly see, I have a lot of work left to do but I am pleased as punch to be back in the room. Next weekend I'll tackle the cutting table, hang wall shelves and finish painting the doors and trim. Then it's back to IKEA to get the right bases for the new chairs (I messed up) and a few more of these great drawers! (Aidan and I had a blast building this, they're a wild puzzle.) Then it'll be time to make and hang some new roman shades. Wait till you see the great fabric I'm getting for those!!!
I figure it'll be 100% complete in about 2-3 more weeks!! I can't wait!! Yay!!!
I'll be back with a full room shot tomorrow, the sun fills the room with pretty light and the turquoise blue looks so wonderful.
In celebration of Cinco de Mayo I thought that Modern June should have a sale. Take 15% off your custom Mexican oicloth tablecloth order. Enter CINCODEMAYO at check out and save!!!
We know that you need time to measure your tables and pick out your favorite oilcloth (see our 45 oilcloth swatches) so the sale ends on Sunday!! (Sale excludes laminated cotton tablecloth orders)
OOOOOOKKKKKKKKK! That's a really big roll of poly tubing...
Kathie (Shipping Junie of Love... yes, that is her official title) and I have been dreaming of the day when we can ship our chalk cloth goodies and our rolls of chalk cloth and laminated cotton more efficiently. For years we've been cutting down Uline's long poly mailers. We've cut them lengthways and widthways, so that we cut down on waste and costs. They cost us $1.70 a pop, so getting four packages out of one mailer was good business. We've also reused the poly tubing that the bolts came it. Often splitting them in half. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done cheaply.
I started squirreling away a few dollars here and there to buy a big roll of poly tubing. I figured that we needed to have it on hand before we made over the studio so we could plan on where to put it. HOLY COW, was I right about that! This bad boy is gigantic! I placed my MacBook in the shot so you had an idea of just how big this thing is.
Well, we had planned on attaching it to the wall that the cutting table butts up on to but I don't think that's such a great idea. Mr. Modern June would have a total fit about that!!! Officially, I am not allowed to hang things on the wall. It's not because I am girl, it's just that I really suck at it. ; ) Heck, I doubted that the rack would really stand up once the roll was put on. Engineering is cool, just like magic!
Who knows where this will end up! Stay tuned...
Kathie likes how easy-peasy it is to wrap up orders now! Yah, I made her happy!!!
We're having a little last minute Mother's Day Sale! All our aprons are discounted this week. Order by Wednesday so Mom get's it for her big day. Let us know it's a gift and we'll add a card and wrap it up pretty for ya!
Here's a look at just some of the fun tablecloths that we created this week for our great Modern June customers. By Tuesday we will have made 32 custom tablecloths for the month of April. I find that totally amazing, in part because I've never really kept track of the numbers before. Isn't that a horrible thing to admit? During the four years that I've been making tablecloths, I've only made a few at a time, each week.
But, in March it became clear to me that there had been a real shift in Modern June. Writing my book, Sewing with Oilcloth, changed my goals for my business and for my family life--I found it impossible to balance writing, manufacturing and mothering--after months and months of trying. By the time I turned in the last chapter of my book, my family was very unhappy and I had a severe case of burn-out. But on the upside, I found that I really liked writing patterns and I didn't want that to end with the book.
After a well deserved break from Modern June I knew we needed a new plan of attack. We started by limiting our wares. I spent a weekend tracking which products sold best each month, and by going through years of sales I found which three to six products had to stick around each season. For example, Spring and Summer is all about dining al fresco and decorating the porch with fun oilcloth goodies! I knew we would continue to make our custom oilcloth pillows, placemats and tablecloths for the warm weather seasons.
The new plan had to carve out more time to spend teaching my homeschooled kids, and there needed to be blocks of time for me to move farther into the world of publishing. Each bit of this plan meant that I would spend less time cutting and sewing product, so my team of Junies and I agreed to a new production schedule. We would only create our pillows and placemats during the second week of the month and we would make all the tablecloths at the end of each month. Sounds good, right? Well "best laid plans" as they say!
I must admit creating all these tablecloths has made for a long and tricky week. The number one problem was that we've never sold 32 tablecloths in April before, sales were up about 35% over last year (don't get me wrong, I know that's a good problem). Second, getting all the materials we needed can sometimes be a challenge--our supplier didn't have three of the prints we needed, so we didn't meet our deadline on a few orders (this totally bummed me out, I hate being late!). Then, my poor stitcher was sick all week and she was only able to come to work on Friday. She was real trooper, she really shouldn't have come in at all as she was still feeling totally rotten. I felt so bad for her, but she did save my sanity by coming in.
So, what lesson's did I learn during my first month on the new plan?
Keep a running list of the orders as the come in and order oilcloth early!
Set a cut off date for when tablecloths have to be ordered by. Our tablecloth production period now runs only until the 25th of each month, after which additional orders are delayed until the following month's period.
Remember to order two bolts of each oilcloth and laminated cotton during spring and summer months to ensure having the material needed!!
Have Kathie (The Shipping Junie) come in for an extra shipping day at the end of each month to handle the high volume of packages going out at on time.
Realize that "things" happen and that caffeine is a good thing!
Communication is key--informed customers are so totally cool and understanding!!!
All and all, this month was much better than the last six. Even if I am totally exhausted right now, I have had more time with my family. I started working out, and I started a very exciting new project that will impact Modern June for years to come. (No spoilers!)
I want to thank my Junies for all the support and effort they have put forth for making Modern June a great place to work! I love you all!
A little room to sew in! Here are a few things that I think every sewing room should have, some fun retro love! Please head on over to Etsy and click your way through some things that I treasure.
I am so in love with every bit of this before and after project that was featured on Design Sponge earlier this month. I have found a kindred spirit in Linwood Avenue, she loves vintage fabric, collects milk glass and she makes aprons! Sounds a little familiar, doesn't it?
Anyway, I was totally inspired to pick up these three wall shelves and to recreate her lovely piece. I'll combine the vintage fabrics that I bought on-line a few days ago with some oilcloth. I am thinking I'll need some Pyrex to add into the mix!
