hand block printed textiles by galbraith & paul

We couldn't stay away. Beth & I made the trek again into Manayunk, PA for Galbraith and Paul's annual sample sale on Saturday. I swore I'd never come back to Manayunk after getting 2 parking tickets in one day last time, but I was so bummed-out that my camera didn't work then, that I was able to be persuaded. I just am so heartened to see a handmade business thriving right here in the USA and on this scale. People fly in for this sale. The fabric is highly sought-after. I'm sure they've felt the pressure to get the price down by taking production off-shore, but so far the fabrics are all made here.

It was the usual feeding frenzy with the piles of pillows and the "by the pound" scrap table seeing a lot of action. I was tempted to start a new decorating project, but I only just finished the padded headboard  using the smokebush printed linen I bought here last year.

Originally, Galbraith & Paul were known for their handmade paper lampshades. Now the lampshades are fabric. Room and Board carries the pillows & lampshades. They have also ventured into rugs and wallpaper.

 So mod- so fab!

A complicated pattern like this takes either multiple blocks and/or requires hand painting more than one color on a block. It requires skilled artisans to execute.

These are some of the "blocks".

The ink is applied with these little rollers.

Just like at the paint store!

My friend Beth's new best friend: Liz Galbraith. Mr Paul was working the register. Even Liz's little boys were helping customers.

A glimpse of future designs on the pin-up board in Liz's studio. The loveliness continues...

galbraith & paul sample sale

This past Saturday, the 4th, was Galbraith and Paul's famous annual sample sale. Galbraith and Paul produce the most gorgeous hand block-printed fabrics in a lovely old factory building just off Main Street in Manayunk, PA. I first admired their work in the Room and Board catalog but didn't realize they were nearby.

My Friend Beth is fan enough to own one of their large drum pendant lamps in the "smokebush" pattern, so of course we were going, along with my friend Liz, who is always game for this sort of thing. The sale is held right there in their light-filled work space which was so inspirational to see with its high ceilings, tall windows, brick walls, rows of long printing tables, and all the printing plates and inks out too see. Mounds of pretty pillows were heaped tables. Lampshades, rolls of printed yardage, rugs, and scraps by the pound were all for sale at nice discounts.

This is where the story gets sad. I very conscientiously remembered to put a newly charged battery in the camera for this sure-to-be-blog-worthy event. When I took my camera out to start shooting, it was dead! I was flabbergasted! (Miraculously, it worked at home later when I tried to show my husband the problem). Beth gave me hope by producing her iphone which I proceeded to NOT take about 50 photos with. Apparently I was pressing the wrong button the whole time and got not a single shot! We didn't catch the goof until the next day at which point it was too late to remedy the situation. So, because I am an idiot, you will not be seeing any cool eye-candy shots of the studio (the above picture is from their website), just shots of what we bought. Excuse me a minute while I get a new tissue *sniff*.

Each color in these prints are inked on the block by a real human for every repeat of the pattern. This takes skill, patience and time, therefor retail prices of the fabric are over $100/yard. The sample sale price was $65/yard.

The versatile smokebush pattern. I bought a few yards in gold on linen to make a padded headboard for my guest room renovation project which I will share later.

After the feeding frenzy of a sale, we worked up an appetite and headed back to the car to repark near a restaurant. TICKET! This is what I hate about Manayaunk. The parking is impossible. There isn't enough of it and the meters are not well maintained. This one was broken and so was the next one we fed all our quarters to. The side streets have one hour parking which isn't enough if you want to sit down in a restaurant, especially Le Bus which has painfully slow service every time. Not wanting to receive another ticket, I left the restaurant in the middle of our meal to move the car. I circled the block and nabbed another spot apparently not far enough from my old spot to avoid another ticket. Basically my tickets for the day ate up the money I saved by buying fabric at the sample sale instead of retail!

So the day ended with a bad feeling for Manayunk, but a good feeling for handmade business and good design.

crafty bastards 2010: fall fashion

Crafty Bastards, it wasn't easy getting to you this year, but thanks to a good GPS and some perseverance, we made it. The fair took place on October 3rd, the same day of the Obama ralley. The Memorial Bridge was closed and traffic was snarled, but we made it!

printed & appliquéd felt headbands by Casey Dywer of Candy Thief

Mom came along again as my side-kick because we had such a good time last year buying Christmas gifts. If you care about supporting the arts, handmade, shopping local and finding unique things, you will really enjoy the new craft fairs out there today. The indie ones, like Crafty Bastards, have unexpected, quirky, and up-to-date items. If you go to one, keep in mind some general craft show etiquette. Don't go into someone's booth and say "I could find that cheaper at Target" or " I could make that myself". Have some common sense and manners! A lot more goes into designing, making, and presenting the work than you think. I guarantee you none of the artists is getting rich doing this. Support them. BUY something!

Malagueta by Rachel Sherman

As usual, there were many choices of jewelry, screen printed tees, bath & body, stuffed toys, and paper goods. I focused on fashion items this time. There is such energy and innovation going on in the indie world as you can see in this meticulously executed cut-out applique skirt and asymmetrically rouched top by Rachel Sherman of Malagueta.

Malagueta by Rachel Sherman

Vibrant appliqué and machine topstitch embroidery on another skirt from Malagueta. Rachel's skirts are all one-of-a-kinds.

So She Sews by Brooke Helfen

These clever tops are upcycled from sweaters by Brooke Helfen of So She Sews. The bottom rib of the sweaters now form the tops of the camisole. Ruffled rosettes are fashioned from the excess.

Supermaggie by Maggie Kleinpeter

A stunning face-framing felted scarf/wrap by Maggie Kleinpeter of Supermaggie.

 "Moths" by Supermaggie

In addition to felted scarves, Supermaggie screen prints images of nature on dresses, tees, and hoodies.

Rocks and Salt

Hats are back! Phil & Sara of Rocks & Salt rock the jaunty newsboy look. Hit their online shop for a taste of Brooklyn.

Eve Van Dalsen

Eve Van Dalsen's booth featured bags and belts made from remnants of leather that might otherwise have been discarded.

Eve Van Dalsen

Because of this, most of Eve's pieces are one-of-a-kind, and she carries a huge variety of colors and textures.

Lily Thayer Derrick and Coralie Meslin of Coralilie

Cheerful, one size fits most, wrap-around jumpers by Coralilie. Cute over a tee, they were almost sold-out before lunch. What the heck- it's still warm enough! Coralilie is Lily Thayer Derrick and Coralie Meslin of Baltimore.

Candy Thief by Corey Dywer

In addition to the pretty headbands at the beginning of this post, Corey Dywer of Candy Thief makes these happy pieced skirts that include vintage fabrics.


See you again next year Crafty!

brooklyn renegade 2010, part II: such prettiness

There was so much to see at the Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair this past weekend, that I had to pace myself in getting all the photos up. See part I here for Fathers' Day gift ideas and now for part II! I'm filing these delights under "wish I'd thought of it first", all of which were made in the USA by hand. Enjoy!

Wren handmade has the most delicate crocheted accessories you've ever seen! Laura Normandin uses the tiniest gauge crochet hook to fashion her mini flowers. I bought one of these hair pins for my daughter, but now I don't know if I will give it to her. I can't trust her not to ruin it or lose it.

These happy women's skirts from orangyporangy of course caught my eye. The designer, Natalie (who happens to have bright orange hair), and I share a love for vintage tablecloths, feedsacks, and other linens. She does such a stellar job with her piecing and has a great eye for color, thanks to her background in graphic design.

Folks, is this not the most beautiful quilt on earth? I "hearted" it a while back on Etsy and got a jolt when I rounded the corner and saw it in the snowdrop booth. Diane used to be a painter- now she "paints" with fabric.

 

Pure cheerfulness from Michelle Cavigliano of My Zoetrope.

Smoothie break! Only in Brooklyn: bicycle-powered blender!

Giant Dwarf had a tempting display of hair accessories and knit hats with felt flower appliqués to wear jauntily to the side. Sue Eggen doesn't use that icky polyester felt from a big box store that shall remain nameless, but a very nice wool & rayon blend felt that she also sells on its own.

Scrumptious yarns from Travelling Rhinos. Makes me want to knit something even though it's 90 degrees outside.

Took home this petite original pencil and watercolor drawing by Drew of The Maple Ridge. I chose one without the potty mouth sayings (tee hee- tempting though). I think it will make a darling baby gift.

I spent some time in Polly Danger's fresh, pretty booth of notions and other irresistible soft goods. If you need floral bias tape or covered buttons, see Polly. Had to get a few calico button magnets that I didn't know I needed for the studio...

Letterpress love! Breck Hostetter and Matt Heindl of Sesame Letterpress displayed their bright, vintagey images on coasters and cards. They are known for their custom stationery, invitations, announcements, and business cards all printed in Brooklyn on 100% recycled cotton fiber paper using antique presses.

Cross stitch makes a comeback at chez-sucre-chez. Crafty Kimberly Scala gives traditional needlework a modern twist, stitching initials and leaving them in the hoop. They are available à la carte to spell out whatever you want. Love the Smiths song lyrics piece on her site.

The much anticipated "punk rock marching band", the What Cheer? Brigade. Fun and festive all around!

brooklyn renegade 2010, part I: fathers' day gift roundup

I've just returned from a successful visit to the Brooklyn Renegade Craft Fair held yesterday and today in McCarren Park in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. My friend Maria and I braved the sweltering heat to go out and support handmade and soak up some of that amazing indie creativity. There were sooooooo many inspiring vendors, that I decided to break it down into two posts.

Since Father's Day is only two weeks away (June 20th), part of my mission was to seek out gift ideas beyond the standard shirt & tie that most Dad's have seen plenty of, and look what I found! I still can't get over how easy it was to find suitable masculine gifts. Since it's too late to run out to the show now, follow the links to the artists' online stores to shop for the daddies in your life.

Shara Porter's booth of screen printed leather goods was Fathers' Day Central. She prints her daddy-friendly images on wallets, card cases, coasters and even reclaimed leather goods.

T-shirts are so much more fun than dress shirts for Dad. Jennie Howard of Handsome Howard shows off her nostalgic Brooklyn water tower t-shirt which is available in her online store along with many other masculine images emblazoned on tees, ties, pillows, and totes. Got this one for my own daddy-o.

More cool daddy-centric t-shirts from Jason Laurits of Paste T-Shirts.

Love this steampunk-style image from Paste.

That Jason's got a dry sense of humor!

For the literary type: recycled book journals from Ex Libris Anonymous.

Couldn't resist this one for my dad.

Interleaved with the acid-free sketch paper are a few pages from the old book it was recycled from. Gotta love 1960's food styling. They had many other manly journals as did Overdue Industries.

Here's something different: blocks of wood with building facades printed on them from Bladon Conner and Eddie Huber of scraptones. These would make excellent desk accessories or library decor, don't you think? My hubby is an architect and would love one of these...

An alternative to the "#1 Dad" mug: hand thrown ceramic tumbler with the image of a noble wolf by Susannah Tisue of SKT Ceramics. She has many other wildlife images available on mugs and tumblers in her Etsy shop and every weekend at Brooklyn Flea.

Too clever: cufflinks made out of vintage typewriter keys by The Weekend Store. They also have cufflinks made out of map snippets.

The mesmerizingly intricate block prints of Tugboat Print Shop would be perfect for art-lover Dad, or even for the dad who doesn't know he loves art yet, but needs to fit out his man-cave or office. I love this fanciful boat image. They also have amazingly detailed map and scenic designs all HAND block printed from HAND-carved plywood blocks. These are original limited edition HAND-pulled prints!

If you get nothing else, you must get a card. A handmade one always seems more thoughtful than one from the drugstore. I couldn't resist the screen-printed underpants card by Gold Teeth Brooklyn. I also got a more sophisticated letterpress card from Sycamore Street Press.

A great selection from Gold Teeth Brooklyn.

These were just a fraction of the 300 vendors exhibiting at the show. Up next: pretty stuff from the Brooklyn Renegade show.