Color Therapy: New Fabrics

 

This is the time of year when gray skies and gloominess can get to us. I find that colorful fabrics and bright hues can cheer me up. The print above is our newest coated cotton. The material sheds water and wipes clean making it perfect for a makeup bag, wristlet, or any every day, heavy use purse.

Here's another cheerful fabric. This is a lightweight knit that we're using to make our popular infinity scarves. This large-scale floral looks amazing wrapped around your neck, the color and pattern brighten up your face.

 

 Here is the same print in bold hot colors. Fuchsia, orange and turquoise are sure to spread some color therapy when you wear a scarf made with this fabric.

Mushroom Mania: Color Combinations, Video Style

I thought I would try something new with my handy smart phone. Here is a short video where I show you fabric and faux leather combinations.

(Please excuse the camera shake, I need to figure out a way to affix my phone to my tripod.)

Black Bag, Six Ways

Recently a customer from California asked me to send her a few images of black bag options. She wanted to order a fairly neutral black-based Helen Hobo.

I pulled a few prints from our collection, and photographed them with both glossy and matte black faux leather.

These images offer a quick peek at our design process. You can see how simple changes, like matte (left) to glossy (right), alter the look of the combination.

Which bag would you choose?

Rachel with Paint-Stroke Print

 

I love the painted cross-hatches on this new print. In shades of golden green, navy, gray and tan, the fabric features appealing visual texture.

 

The gentle ruched look of the bag further emphasizes the print. We topped this Rachel off with glossy navy faux leather and a big navy vintage button.

Like this print? We have more of this fabric in stock for custom designs.

Pleated Satin Ribbon

We unveiled these gorgeous new ribbons at our Anniversary Party last weekend, and bags made with the pleated textile sold quickly. Now you can visit our shop to design your own accessory using these special embellishments.

We have three shades in stock, Deep Charcoal (top), Rich Aqua (middle), and Sunset Copper (bottom). Select the textural ribbon as a stand-alone detail, or layer it under a narrow velvet or brocade ribbon as shown here.

How Many Eights is Enough?

I cut out a zillion paper eights using my Cricut machine. While Kim was setting up our 8 Year Anniversary window display, she scattered the paper eights on a white table. Ashley snapped this cool picture of the results using her iPhone. I love the flattened perspective and abstract chain effect on this image.

 Don't you think this would make a cool fabric print?

And then a cool skirt, dress, or handbag?

Staff Picks: Debbie's Fall Fabric Favorite

Debbie gravitated toward this upholstery-weight fabric in classic fall colors the minute I brought it into the store. She would pair it with our glossy bay leaf faux leather.

"I love the bold use of complementary colors on this rich fabric," she commented.

Staff Picks: Rebecca's Fall Fabric Favorite

According to Rebecca, "Orange is perfect for every season." She chose this unusual floral pattern that showcases bright shades of orange and aqua on a cobalt blue background.

"I would pair this fabric with our Truffle faux leather. The soft metallic would pick up on the subtle gold in this print."

Staff Picks: Fall Fabrics

Ashley chose this textured large-scale print as her favorite for the season.

"I love the dusty yet bright quality of the colors in this print. I'd pair it with our walnut faux leather on a bag design," she commented.

New Fabric: Fall Cherry Blossom Palette

New Fabric: Autumn Spice Palette

I bought each of these fabrics at different times, but they work together beautifully as a palette for fall. I extracted the swatches at the bottom of the image directly from the image. I like the contrast of traditional fall colors with less obvious creamy yellow, ice blue, and soft pink.

Spicy Circles Cotton

Spicy Dots Cotton

Spicy Flowers Corduroy

New Fabric: Navy with Fronds

Gorgeous in its simplicity, this new cotton has a rich navy blue background with metallic gold and celadon spiky fronds.

New Fabric: Peacock Green Brocade

In person, this gorgeous fabric is even more of a rich teal green. It has shimmering accents of greenish gold.

Shades of Purple

Color Therapy

 

Carnivale fabric. Now available for custom orders.

To counteract Seattle's gray skies, I thought I'd share some studio color with you.

 

A few of our stock thread colors. We use German-made Gutermann thread.

Our crew here is lucky to be able to look at colorful materials on a daily basis.

 

A big batch of Helen Hobos with our lining fabric (right) and faux leathers (left) in the background.

We never tire of the juicy colors and bold patterns.

New Fabric: Stylized Trees on Blue

I love the cobalt blue background of this tree-themed fabric. It makes me think of trees glistening in the moonlight. While I am fond earth tones, I do enjoy seeing a nature-themed fabric that showcases a more jewel-toned color palette.

New Fabric: Northwest Apples

There are many things to love about this new print: the cherry blossoms, the '60s inspired seeds and sketches, the espresso brown background.

But I love the turquoise leaves the most. This element of surprise makes this fabric more dynamic and interesting.

 Here's the print paired with turquoise faux leather to emphasize the accent color. What color would you choose to highlight with these apples?

Fabric: Quirky Dots

The shapes on this fabric resemble little doodles - drawn either by artist Miro or a molecular biologist, depending on your perspective.

Fabric: Leaf Silhouette

This heavy duty upholstery material reminds me of Matisse's paper cut out pieces.

Rather than the artist's those bold tones, this fabric has muted shades of olive, teal, and gold.


Edited 2/21/10 to add: I took a quick snapshot of a custom Becky bag using this fabric with grey microsuede and avocado faux leather.

Spring Tweed

While we might think of tweed most often as a cozy winter fabric, this cotton upholstery material begs to differ. With shades of celery, lemon, royal and cherry, the cheerful texture would pair nicely with denim, black patent, or white.

Kim gave me these vintage game tiles as part of my Christmas gift, and I thought they looked cute atop the tweed. Apparently there are 13 points in my name!