RickRack at SOWA!

RickRack has a new venue for Summer 2013

 RickRack will be at SOWA Open Market in Boston. It's a great place to see all our latest clothing,   eat some goodies from all the food trucks and enjoy a day of crafts, art studios and lunch in the beautiful  South End of Boston.

RickRack will be at SOWA on May 12th and 26th, June 9th, and July 7th and 21st.

See you there!



Putting Away Winter Sewing

Every year I find it difficult to switch my sewing seasons. It's hard to imagine wearing that little spaghetti strap dress when you're having a blizzard. Even worse is sewing wool in the heat of Summer. Just the tactile experience is miserable.
 It's so lovely sewing cashmere on a cold dreary March day, but it's time to pack away all cold weather sewing . I'm finding it painful, to say the least.
I can stretch out the men's sewing just because men's clothing is a bit less seasonal but wool dresses? They've got to be tagged and stored. Even the ones that are halfway finished. Ugh.
So the idea of this post is partially to give myself encouragement by showing you some new, bright, Spring/Summer clothes. Some of them have already been sold. You'd think that would be encouraging all by itself.

Going Biking Skirt

back view

details, details, details

Button-down shirt skirt

even an extra side pocket

Super Spring Skirt. Lots of mill end fabrics in this one

Teeshirts Make a Tee Dress

Teeshirts Make a Tee Dress

I've been busy taking lots of pictures of clothing. Some great images, some not.
I needed to get started and this is at least getting a start underway.
So here is one of my tee dresses. I even have before and after pics this time.

mixed batch of shirts

This shirt had an added black yarn decoration from it's previous owner

There was a hole at the back neck which required a small patch

                  The final creation

I WILL get my Etsy going!

I've been working on my Etsy images and feel like they're just about ready.

The process has taken a long time. My original idea involved a model, a photographer and a perfect

weather day. Wasn't going to happen in the real world.

The next plan was to figure out the techie way of creating the perfect composition. You know, learn a new computer program in record time and just zip through it. Not with my learning curve.

And then it occurred to me that I could paint some backgrounds and photograph clothing with only

a tiny bit of stress and the fun of painting thrown in. It harkens back to my days of art gallery installations.

For now, it’s a doable solution.

So with that introduction I’ll say that these are some of my latest pieces and they’ll be available atUmbrella Shop and Gallery in Portland, Maine or on my new Etsy page.

                  This Sweater has legging sleeves and collar trim made from pajama top scraps.

Chocolate cotton velour turtleneck with tee shirt scrap design and long sleeve tee sleeves.

This was so much fun to design. I am never happier than when I have mixed patterned fabric in front of me.

A four shirt dress

A basic three shirt dress

Here's another men's jacket. I removed the pockets and turned them sideways with a sweater trim

backing. The lapels have added fabric from a polo shirt. The sleeves have cuffs of reclaimed cloth

and I had just the right number of matching horn buttons for the closure and the pockets.



January tie experiments

I always meant to try making something out of ties so here are my first attempts. A skirt from many classic garish  polyester ties which I opened. They have lots of stability to them. Then I worked on a silk non-opened tie vest for my husband. It's still without buttons and photographed a bit crooked, but you can get the feel of it. I'll put more pics up as things progress.

New Logo for RickRack Upcycled

I've been wanting to update my logo for a while and head towards

 a little re-branding as I tweak my business a bit, hopefully having a line of ready-made but still sustainable clothing.

 I'm using the first image for my business cards and

the second one for tags.I'm liking them a lot.

Refashion Co-op: Refashioned Miniskirt to Bag by RickRack Upcycled

I found this miniskirt that reminded me so much of my teenaged wardrobe. I'm no longer a miniskirt wearer, but I wanted to do something with this. I started with the skirt, a belt and some scrap from a knit shirt.

 

It needed something more and so I printed it with a linoleum  block that I had previously cut and added circles cut from my scrap piece as applique. It needed a bit more color which I supplied with a new ribbon for the lacing. Then it was just a matter of turning it inside out and cutting the shape to where I liked it. A bit of stitching and I had my bag. I eventually lined it as well to make a nicer finish. And very cool, 4 outside pockets!

Happy inventing, Suzanne

The Fall round-up of events is just beginning. I'll be presenting at River Tree Arts' PechaKucha. Very excited to be discussing upcycling with a new audience

My oldest son is a fashion guy. Great style all his life. Recently he and his girlfriend were off to a wedding and he wanted a new jacket. He asked if I might give it a try. Men's clothing is not my refashion standard by any means. He had some specifics, double vent back, fitted, dressy... and so I found a jacket just a bit too big for him and here is the result of my efforts.The collar became the cross piece and so to cover the interfacing around the neck, I used all the scrap.Not a single piece of fabric left. I'm pretty proud of that.