Alluminare: Calling All Designers
The Hawaiian lighting and textile company, Alluminare, is launching a beta program whereby their¬† customers, friends and fans can submit patterns for inclusion in their custom fabric program.¬† They’re launching fabric by the foot this week, and would like to include new patterns. Great idea.
To find out how it works:
Go to their support page for all the details. Here are the basics.
Open a ticket with your pattern as an attachment.¬† They’ll have a look at it, consider whether they think it’s a good fit for, and if they like it, they’ll notify you via email.
Here’s what you get:
They’ll add your bio to their website linked from the pattern, include your pattern in at least one bulk email to their customer list (it’s pretty big), and Twitter your pattern.¬† “You can add a link to your company, your blog, anything (as long as it is not offensive!).¬† We’ll also give you a $150 gift code that you can use to buy fabric by the foot, a lamp shade, or whatever you like—if you want cash, we’ll give you $75 (via Paypal).”
At Alluminare you can design your own lampshades and pillows using their patterns. (They also have other fabrics and trims to choose from). You choose the pattern and 2 colors from their palette. As I mentioned, they’re also offering fabric by the yard. So you can match them up, or do a lampshade one way and the fabric with the colors reversed.
Why I Like This Service
I found Alluminare a while back when I was trying to find a place that could make a custom lampshade from fabric I was also using for some curtains. The prices I found were prohibitive. Alluminare got in touch with me, as they were just launching their custom program. It was too late for my project, but what a find.
Now I can design a lampshade and matching curtains that won’t cost a fortune. Yay!
My dreams would really come true if (and when) they expand the printing options to run a three-color pattern. Wallpaper would also be nice.
Right now I’m working on a Suzani pattern. I hope they like it. Hello fame and fortune!
Blugirl Art
A product of a summer filled with creativity, frustration, bravery and hope, Blugirl Art, which opened its doors about a month ago, is the creation of Suzanne Meyer-Pistorius. This Springfield, Massachusetts artist is primarily a textile designer. She hand-paints fabrics, letting the type of fabric guide her as to which type of paint to use. Suzanne’s creations run the gamut from scarves and pareos, to whimsical painted chairs.
I admire her bravery in leaving a steady job to follow her dream. That takes a lot of guts. Talent helps a lot, too. Suzanne told me yesterday that in her “former life” she worked in the fashion industry, which involved a daily 6 hour commute into New York. “But,” she explained, “it was on those long train rides back and forth each day…that the idea of starting my own business was born.”
“At the beginning of June with an idea in place, I resigned and started on this new phase in my life. In just six months I went from a seed of an idea, to setting up a workshop, creating the products, and launching the site. It has been an exhilarating process ..a feat that sometimes amazes me” Me too.
Her passion is her chairs. The shape of the chair is her starting point. Then she decides which base fabric to use, cotton, silk or hemp. Color selection comes next.
“Then the really hard part starts,” says Suzanne. “I stare at the unpainted fabric and will inspiration to come to my fingertips. Sometimes I paint test pieces and lay them against the chair to get a feeling for proportion. Somehow the design just clicks in my head and I start to paint. Some of the pieces take up to 2 days to paint so it’s very labour intensive.”
I really like Suzanne’s pareos, made of silk chiffon. They’d look great at the beach, but I’d use them as a soft window treatment, or as an ornamental accent throw on a chair. Chum Bucket (my rental beach house) could use one of these.
Good luck to Suzanne and her new enterprise. You can find her work at her site, Blugirl Art, and at Vintage and Modern.
Denyse Schmidt Quilts
Denyse Schmidt grew up in central Massachusetts in an area of old textile mill towns. Her appreciation for finely crafted things began at a young age. Her inspiration came from the best source Рher parents. Both her parents made things: Mom sewed a lot of her own clothes as well as clothes for four kids, and Dad made furniture. They were both very skilled—nothing ever looked homemade.
They both had careers, but having grown up during the depression, they, like others of their generation, didn’t spend money if they could help it. When you needed something, you made it yourself.
Denyse started making things when she was little and never stopped. She studied graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design, and had “more than a few” different careers over the years. Ten years ago she was able to create a full-time business making her wonderful quilts.
Bridgeport, Connecticut is where Denyse makes her home now. Each of her Couture quilts is made to order, hand-quilted by Amish craftswomen and signed and dated by Denyse. Pre-washed cotton fabrics are used, and personal fabrics preferences such as a favorite shirt, may be incorporated into any design. Cool!
Denyse Schmidt Works Collection (which includes the Rugby Stripe, above) is a collection of machine quilted, modern quilts and pillows made in her Bridgeport studio. The machine quilting creates a unique look: a combination of sleek/industrial and warm/handmade.
The machine quilting is durable, and affords a faster lead-time than their couture quilts. She likes to say the quilts are ’factory built’ in honor of the historic building where her studio is located, but she and her team  still make them one at a time.
If you’re lucky enough to live in the area, you can sign up to take a workshop class at her studio (again, in Bridgeport). You can also buys her line of fabrics and, if you’re a quilter, check out some of her books. They’re all online at Denyse’s shop.
And now everyone knows what I want for Christmas. ;-)
Spoonflower’s Etsy Shop
Spoonflower is the place to go to design your own prints and print them up on cotton fabric by the yard.
Yay! They just opened an Etsy shop, which will feature their favorite designs sold by the yard or in fat squares. Here’s a peek at what they have up for sale right now.
Kim designed this Flower With Fuzzy Bee pattern using a free program called Artrage. One yard is sells for $18.
This is last week’s winning pattern, designed by Crafty Ginger. Coco Stripe is sold by the fat quarter or by the yard for $18.
High – Low Duvet Covers
Are your in-laws coming for Thanksgiving? Why not use their scrutinizing eyes as an excuse to spruce up the guest room. A good place to start is the bed. Why not consider an Indian print duvet cover?
You can choose one on a Recessionista budget, or splurge a bit. Let’s take a look at a couple of high/low options. Shall we?
High Indian Duvet Cover: $450
First up is from Les Indiennes. Their French Grey Yvette king sized duvet is made of their lightest weight organic cotton, hand block printed with natural dyes. It’s made in India.
Low Indian Duvet Cover: $109.99
Our low option comes from Saffron Marigold. Their Paisley au Lait king sized duvet cover is also a hand blocked print made in India. The black print reverses to another pattern on the other side. The fabric is pre-shrunk cotton, though not organic.
Which do you choose?
