piper ewan is a featured seller on etsy!

i am really excited and a little nervous. you can see the interview here: www.etsy.com/featured_seller.php

if you live in portland, come see me on first friday at the egg.
534 se oak street, pdx 6p - 12a all ages
it is the love show. for more info on that see www.launchpadgallery.org

xoxo,
kirsten
www.piperewan.com

fascinator!

i learned a new word a few weeks ago on etsy. the word is 'fascinator.' a fascinator is kind of like a hat; it is a larger piece made of flowers and/or feathers worn on one's head attached to combs or a clip or a headband. hmmm, i make those! i never knew what that was called! i ran back to my listings and retagged the appropriate pieces. i love a new word! and this one was a good one.

about two years ago, my friend cate handed me her grandmother's pincushion to decorate. it has been sitting in front of me forever atop its spool of chosen ribbon; just waiting for me to make it that special cocarde flower. yesterday was a kind of nothing day, where i had to tie up some loose ends after being out sick for a week. i caught up on my flower and garter inventory, and cleaned off my desk with an hour to go before my client was to show up. what to do? the pin cushion! this pin cushion was a tomato shape, and i made a pointy petaled flower whose petals curved around the pin cushion (sorry, no photo). maybe the flower is too big, but what if i made the same flower in larger ribbon to fit over someone's head? definitely not a brooch (i gave up and started making all of my flowers on brooches so that they could be worn on things as well as in hair), definitely for the head.

here is the first one. i am not sure what i will be sewing to the back. probably a comb.

the end of the longest week of the year

24 dec - 5 dec 2007 can be legitimately combined into one week. it was december 24th when i stopped moving, and decided to hold still for a moment after another grueling holiday season. i did my best to prepare for it this year; i knew what was coming, but in the end it was still two months straight of work without many breaks. and of course, a goodly amount of introspection on the fly. like it or not the solstice and the end of the year, and the time leading up to it is a time of transition. i am not one to make new year's resolutions, but december always brings about an awareness in me of what changes i need to make in my own life. in retrospect, i cannot say that 2007 was a bad year for me, but it was difficult. at the same time it was all about laying down the ground work for what is to come, as i strengthen my resolve to live on my own terms, and as i enter into year 10 of my business.

i won't bore you with the details of the longest week. there were many significant events that were profound, but there is no way for me to describe them in any significant way. what i do want to give an account of is the first friday show. if you missed it, you weren't meant to be there; that is understood. but it is a reminder to me to not blow everything off, and to be open to the opportunities and live experiences that present themselves to me.

we put on an art opening at the egg every first friday of the month, you know that, you are probably on the email list. this month's show happens to feature yvonne, a more recent member of the egg, and the show features a bunch of electric lamps. lamps weren't the entire show, but a good proportion of the show, and this is significant.

i arrived tot he egg around noon, and the whole egg was full of people preparing for the show all afternoon. as brent and i were preparing the upstairs, the lights flickered. he looked at me, and i confirmed that, yes, he saw what he saw. there was a big wind storm outside that i was barely noticing, because of the amount of activity going on inside. at five the show was coming together, but not ready (the doors would open at six). no matter, things always come together in the end. at 5:45p the power went out, and we were in complete darkness. not just a flicker, but out entirely. non-plused, we all set about looking for and lighting candles. john found his car battery bass rig, and we all cheered as 3 clip lamps were lit to continue setting up the show. the caterer was given a headlamp, phone calls were made, a generator was on the way! and the rest of us watched and waited. the food was set on the tables, the bar was open. kenneth came upstairs to let us know that we couldn't use any of the plumbing, as our system required the sump pump that worked on electricity. so no running water either.

six o'clock came and went. how lovely the space was lit by candlelight. how ironic that there was no power for a lamp show. but the show must go on. there was no way to cancel, the internet was down too. the generator arrived. a flurry of activity went on surrounding the arrival of the generator. it sputtered a bit, and died, then it started again. the lights were unplugged and replugged, and part by part the lamps lit. it was like some moment from the past, a bizarre solstice ritual, like new year's eve. the lights dimmed and brightened with the generator's inconsistent hum. we all stood around watching and cheering as each section of the gallery's lights came on. an abbreviated version of the original, but still amazingly beautiful. a shining example of community, of the egg, our egg.

with so much that could have gone wrong, and did, no one panicked. everyone pulled together and did what they could to make it all happen. and a truly memorable night at that. it was almost disappointing when the power came back on. there is something about florescent lighting that dissolves magic. but the rest of the evening was lovely too. i am sorry if you missed it, but maybe you just weren't meant to be there.

size does matter

through years of custom work i have gotten to be reasonably good at fit. the transfer from my mind to a two dimensional sketch to a three dimensional garment with all of its curves and movenment is more than enough to confound even many designers. i actually enjoy the challenge of the female form with all of its idiosyncracies. the biggest challenge is to fit within a size chart. as you may have guessed from trying on mountains of clothes (how many friends have called me crying from the dressing room of the local department store):

there is no such thing as an average woman.

we are reduced to 3 measurements: bust, waist, hips. no account for height, nor proportions relating to the three, nor length of limbs nor torso. fit can be a nightmare. setting a sleeve to lay flat AND be able to move withour benefit of stretchy fabric is a definite skill. so what happens when one is forced to make pret-a porter off the rack clothing? there are always the people on the peripheries of average size X giving me advice. oh how i hate the "you should," but i do listen. i may ignore, but i do listen. i have been developing an everyone corset for months now. i think i have gotten it satisfactorily made in its curves and adjustability +/- an inch.

the challenge was first grading it into multiple sizes. this process is usually put off as long as possible. it is really tedious. i won't bore you with the details, but it involves making that perfect pattern into every size considering those size chart boundaries of bust waist hip. i have finally managed 4 sizes: 1,2,3,4. but what to call them? they don't exactly correspond to bra sizes or SML. come try one on!

PRETTY GIRL HOLIDAY SALE
16 november 2007 artists' reception and sale 6-9
17 november 2007 sale 11-5
at the egg
534 se oak street (at grand & 6th) in portland

www.myspace.com/prettygirlholidaysale

hot for the holidays

i know, it's not even halloween yet, so why are you telling me i should be thinking about the holidays? because you need to think ahead to be ahead of the game, that's why. if you need a corset for the holiday party circuit (believe me, you NEED one in your closet) or new year's eve, it's time to start thinking about it. corsets start at $275. (see example above) and go up from there, but not to worry, credit cards accedpted and payment plans considered. and who deserves a gift more than you? you have worked so hard this year!

xoxo,
kirsten

photo: www.kaizennw.com

secrets show

being that i am the queen of the eleventh hour, i did everything i possibly could to put off working on this piece. mostly because i didn't have a fully formed idea of it in my head. when it came down to the wire, i set about looking for already drawn birds to save a bit of time, and i came across an envelope full of papers from my previous residence; my grandfather's condo. i moved in during the fall of 2003 just after my great-grandmother died at 100, one of my best friends and i parted ways, and my grandfather was moved to hospice care with terminal cancer. i lived there until fall of 2005. that time was a dark one for me. prior to living there i was in temporary residence with said close friend after moving out of my then boyfriend's house in a hurry. i arrived with all of my belongings from storage to the place where my grandfather lived for 25 years or so, and all of it's contents. he didn't prepare to leave; everything was left intact from the day he went into the hospital. food in the refrigerator, laundry everything that one aquires over their lifetime. needless to say it was an interesting couple of years there. having to sort through his life and mine in the form of possessions was a weighty task; one that taught me a good lot of lessons, making me re-evaluate everything.

at the time, i would post open lettres on my refrigerator. it helped me work through what i needed to work through and let go of. i remember a friend standing and looking at one of the lettres in horror. i had forgotten about it, it was jsut another piece of paper collected on my refrigerator. looking at these lettres on sunday (when i finally got around to making the piece), the thing that most struck me is that i have no idea who i wrote these lettres to. i could narrow it down, they could apply to so many relationships i had. it strikes me that people really had no idea what i was going through at the time. it was a sign to me that i had managed to work through so many things.

come to the show:
opening salon style show FIRST FRIDAY 7 september 2007 6p - 1a
534 se oak street (at grand and 6th) in portland, or
as usual, i will be upstairs selling my wares with special guest vendor io herbal alchemy and usual suspects: brent wear, faith hats and jody kucinski

nothing to report...

the last several weeks, heck the whole year really, has been spent figuring things out and waiting. my inner dialog has been hashing out that where to go/what to do as much as ever. the long slow burn of internal shifting has been happening as quickly as it can, which means sssllllllllloooooooooowwwwwlllllllllllllllllllyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. and then there is the waiting. waiting for photos to come in. waiting for the pieces to fall into place. there are the things i can control, and then there are the things that i can't. in the mean time i am doing production work and gearing up for the holiday season, research and development, and taking time to do a few side projects. i will be putting up the side projects very soon (still waiting for photos). the long lull of august is almost over, and the fall will be upon us. i am still here muddling through, and preparing myself to hit the ground running.

left to my own devices

another artist and i were atalking bout whether we felt supported by our community, and the answer we came up with was "mostly."

we've passed the mid-point of august already, and as time marches on, i am still reeling from the winter and spring. if we count september, summer is half over, and i try not to freak out over the impending holiday season. i know you don't want to hear it. i don't want to hear it. when i decided not to take on any more weddings, i fully believed that i would be able to make up for it in wholesale. i had my photographer(s) lined up, and aquired the software i needed to update my website. i had grand plans to have my look books out by february, and my website updated by march, then april. i still don't have all the photos for my look book yet. almost, but i am one photo shoot away. website? i can't really think about that.

did you know that most stores won't talk to your sales rep without seeing everything in beautiful fashion photographs? did you know that a good amount of stores in portland won't look at local designers, because the quality, design and craftsmanship of most of them are so poor? the stores here that do carry local designers want the locals to put their goods in their stores on consignment while they buy from designers out of town outright. it's like being punished for living here.

and please don't tell me that you wish you could afford my stuff. it is rude. most of my other artist friends would agree that they hate it when people tell them that, but are too nice to say it out loud. it implies that what we do isn't worth the price. if you knew what goes into this business, you wouldn't say that. i know it may not be your intention to imply that, but most often, that is how we take it. a simple "i like your work" will suffice. do you know how hard it is to sell things i created? how personal it is? (and i am not the most sensitive person out there) that doesn't obligate you to buy anything from me ever. i can't tell you how many sales i get are from people who "could never afford it." these are the sales that i appreciate most, because it exemplifies a foray into a new world of possibilites for that person. i love being their first major purchase!

that said, i have somehow managed to quell the panic i felt every day, of worrying myself sick over money and bills, of waiting to hear from my photographer, of trying to figure out how i would make it to next month with home, studio, company, self intact. would i have enough things for the next show, how to afford more materials when i am struggling with basic bills, and how to not let this completly kill my creativity. all of these issues still exist, but somehow, i can't get myself to panic over them anymore. there is my trying to make myself panic over not panicking, but that's another thing altogether.

somehow, i have managed to accomplish quite a lot this year, or at least start a good number of projects and product lines. i would think i could have figured all of this out by year nine. i have always known that i am forging my own path on my own terms. i am still learning. this can be frustrating at times. it is about faith. faith that i will be okay. faith that in myself and my abilites. and a bit of faith in humanity as well. it is a humbling process.

thank you to all who read my little rants, who take my words to heart, who make the effort to show up, to repy, to pass me along to their friends. thank you to my adversaries for forcing me to assert my boundaries. and most of all thank you to all of my studiomates at the egg; who are supportive and leave each other to their own devices to grow and find their own place. i am looking forward into the fall.

image: "portrait of kirsten as a bird" by brent wear acrylic on found wood copyright 2006

cocoon bird

hello everyone!

here is the information for the dance performance i have been telling you about. it opens this wednesday, and is selling out fast! please read the information below, and click on the link to make reservations.

xoxo,
kirsten a. moore
www.piperewan.com


Theory1:dance presents:
Cocoon Bird
a pathway of dance installations through a home

Inspired by oracles and the trancelike states they would enter the work weaves together movement, voice and original music in a unique environment.

Cocoon Bird : August 8-12, with shows at 8:00 at 10:00 pm
1414 SE 32nd Ave (off Hawthorne)
Reservations Required due to limited seating: cocoonbird@gmail.com
$18/$15 students, artists, seniors

Conceived by: Tracy Broyles
Directed by: Tracy Broyles and Meshi Chavez
With: Tracy Broyles, Jenn Gierada, Meshi Chavez, Lisa DeGrace (movement)
Jean Paul Jenkins, lyd (music)
Lighting Design by: Malina Rodriguez
Costumes: Piper Ewan by Kirsten A. Moore

NOT MADE IN CHINA

here i have to take issue with a subject that has been eating at me for quite some time now, and i know i am not the only one. here i am amidst the official year ten of my fashion design company. for those of you who know me, or have at least seen my work, you know how much of my life's blood has been poured into my work; in creativity, attention to details, and time. lots and lots of time.

now is a bit of a transition period for piper ewan, and there is a new project/company thrown in for good measure. in this i have been researching outside production. this is a very scary proposition. it involves letting go of a major part of what i have been doing, and doing for years. it has been taking its toll on me mentally and financially. mentally, because i am not sure that i want to compromise quality and sustainability. financially, because, well i cannot compromise on my prices.

my main complaint from people is my price point. most people like to tell me that they could never afford what i make. it is one thing from people who understand that i have to charge what i do (and also note that my prices are comparable to stores like anthropologie or bcbg), becasue of the time and attention to detail that each piece entails. it is quite another when people are so used to buying cheap clothing, that they automatically compare what i do to what they buy that is produced in china or some other third world country. this is because my designs are produced by me, and not made in china or some other third world country where labour is cheap and labour practices are unsustainable at best, and unconscionable at worst. i am not here to argue that one should not shop at target, forever 21 or anthropologie, but one should at least be aware of the costs of these cheap disposable clothing and household items. i don't particularly want to write a treatise on the loss of the manufacturing industry to the united states to third world countries, or the hidden effects of globalization on our everyday lives. you can look all of that up for yourself if you care to. the product that i produce is made to last; this is planned into the design of every garment i make. this is why i spend long periods of time in the design of every style for look and fit, and why i don't follow trend. i go for timeless or 'no time' with unidentifyable elements, so that garment isn't disposable. and while i cannot guarantee that the garment will last forever, it will last a long while, or at least can be repaired.

what i would like to call attention to is a loss of apreciation to things that are carefully made and built to last. i am really tired of the effects of instant gratification on society. being that i have a very modest income, i am forced to choose my purchases carefully. what has this done for my life? it has made me learn to make everything from scratch: food, clothes, hand-knits, quilts, art, home items. most of my luxury items are traded for, because this is the only way i can afford these things. i want to be able to use and repair the objectss i own; instead of throwing them away. why am i telling you this? because i want you to appreciate that this is what my business is built on, and this is the dilemma i end up facing as i have been researching production on product lines for two soon to be three clothing companies.

a couple of weeks ago, i was looking for sock manufacturers. did you know that there are very few american sock manufacturers? where are all the socks coming from? why, china, turkey and pakistan. not really a choice here. i can have a product produced cheaply in a third world country that i would try to avoid spening money on if it were someone else's product. or i could have a very superior product that is sustainably produced that is five times the cost. the clothing can still be produced locally, but again, the cost will be considerably higher than anything produced in china.

what i would like to promote here is a change of attitude. instead of thinking only about the immediate, what about the future? and what about doing what you can? my whole life is centered around doing what i can with limited resources. i may not always be able to buy local, but i do when i can. given the choice, i will support a friend's business over a chain store. i realize very well that this is not always feasible, but i do what i can. it involves just a little forethought, and to keep in mind just how the price of whatever you are considering for purchase came to be.

shows 5 & 6 July 2007

so many shows! i know that it is a holiday week, so i am sending this out a bit early. i have two great shows this week! both are very different, so come to one or both!

first thursday:
94/7fm, p:ear, urbaca salon, and widmer brothers brewing present:
ALTERNATIVE GALA
featuring local artists:
piper ewan, brent wear, amy stoner fine art and craft, tim gunther photography, jean mcspadden clothing, eden dawn apparel, cicely b. designs, erin donley art, kara kruse photography, and p:ear kids artwork

July 5th, 2007 6p-9p

Urbaca Salon
120 NW 9th - Suite 101
Portland, Oregon 97209
PH: 503.241.5030
www.urbacahairsalon.com

this event benefits p:ear, a non-profit organization working to build positive relationships with transitional and homeless youth through education, art, and recreation to establish confidence and create healthier lives (www.pearmentor.org)

first friday at the egg:
534 se oak street (at grand and 6th)

upstairs:
and our special guest this month:
io herbal alchemy modern botanical products & gifts made in portland
piper ewan super clearance sale is continuing! LET'S MAKE A DEAL!!! and i have brand new designs that have never seen the light of day.
plus the usual suspects: visual art by brent wear, kirsten moore & jody kucinski plus faith hats and flare clothing made from recycled materials

downstairs in the launchpad gallery:

barbie meltdown theatre
an intergenerational exploration of gender and sexuality
featuring work by:
QuArt PDX : quartpdx.com
portland's premiere queer art collective
S.M.Y.R.C. : smyrc.org
sexual minority youth resource center
GenderBlendz: outsidein.org
outside in transgender/identity resource center

plus the usual dance party, snacks and cash bar. this is an all ages show! everyone is welcome!!!

sheesh, that is a lot! if you can't make it, but want to see me anyway, i am here almost every day from noonish until sixish or later, try your luck, or make an appointment.

photo: www.kaizennw.com

one thing leads to another...

i made two blanks of this skirt figuring that i could get them both done in one day. this skirt took me over two weeks. so much for making more than two. this skirt's sister will be made using bigger pieces, and how long it takes for her to come together will determine the cost of the first one. all told (if you remove the time lollygagging) the first skirt took me about 10-12 hours. if i could be paid for resisting, i would be really rich right now. if i could stop resisting, i would have a lot more pieces hanging on my racks.

now that this skirt is done, it is time for me to take a cue from my studio mates, and clean up my studio. the open space in the middle has been closing in on me. the piles of unfinished projects and half-baked ideas are weighing on me. this has been going on for quite some time. it was a slow rise of the tide of resentment building in me, and that wave crashed against the shore yesterday. so i will put my bad mood to good use. i need to spend a bit of time by myself making my surroundings pretty again. the clutter is starting to get to me.

portland's creative capacity

to my beloved community,

i had the privilege of attending the city of portland's creative capacity meeting on tuesday evening. (for more official information on creative capacity, see below) it was an evening of a segment of the artistic community coming together to begin a series of dialogs about how to help portland's artistic community thrive. in a room of 300+ people representing a range of portland's creatives the task seems incredibly daunting. i am not sure many can wrap their brains around the breadth and scope of the creatives who live, and make their living in this town.

i could go on a lengthy diatribe about several issues near and dear to me (education, buy local, micro-loan and programs, what constitutes community, the fragmentation and cliquyness of said "communities," the lack of accessibility of performance spaces, ridiculous fire permit and olcc regulations and the red tape one has to deal with to put on events, the implications of making one's living as an artist/musician/creative, the cost and inaccessibility of health insurance for the self-employed, the practicality of design and its importance in everyday life v. the "frivolousness" of the arts, and sustainability to name a few), but i would like to invite you to get involved. there is a disease of apathy and complacency that runs rampant in our society. we experience a certain ambivalence when it comes to activism. we are wrapped up in our daily lives. i know very well the challenge of paying bills, but i also know that it is far more difficult without the support of the community. the all or nothing attitude needs to end. many hands make light work. and for now they are only asking your opinion. i know everyone has an opinion on the subject, and now is the time to share it. you can choose the level of involvement that you can give, and i am tired of people complaining about the world, and doing nothing about it.

so please take a moment to check out the site, and give your opinion. if we show up in numbers, and speak loud enough we can make a difference.

thank you,

kirsten a. moore
www.piperewan.com


Begin forwarded message:

From: "Sam Adams"
Date: June 13, 2007 1:46:45 PM PDT
To: kirsten@piperewan.com
Subject: Creative Capacity!
Reply-To:


Friends,

Not enough money.

Making our creative community even better will take more than just finding more money for the effort. But, it is a lot about finding more money from the public and private sector.

Thank you for attending last night’s Creative Capacity Townhall. Over 350 people attended the event—representing many of the established and emerging businesses and arts organizations in the region.

Our discussion was an important starting point for forging the creative community into an effective advocacy group.

Thank you for your collective enthusiastic response to this call to action. Until we get CreativeCapacity.org further refined, keep your ideas coming on the blog at http://www.commissionersam.com/creativecapacity.

We will invite you to the next Creative Capacity Townhall in the fall after we have completed public opinion research and a series of smaller group discussions about specific topics.

In the meantime, get your colleagues, friends and patrons to sign up at http://www.creativecapacity.org.

A tremendous thanks to the Regional Arts and Culture Council, Northwest Business for Culture in the Arts, and the Portland Development Commission.

Special thanks as well to our hosts last night: The Gerding Theatre at the Armory and Vibrant Table.

To action! To advocacy! To art!

Sam

a skirt for your statuary?

apparently i am in an odd job phase right now. it is amazing how much time the weddings ate up every spring/summer. done are my 12-15 hour days with my bi-monthly day off (usually to attend one of said weddings or possibly a funeral). i might make it to the river yet! (it is still early)

i made this skirt for this bust my mother made in her ceramics class. i find among the women i have made clothes for, almost everyone dislikes their belly, hips, butt or some combination thereof. it is funny that in creating this bust, she made this section to mimic the parts of her own body that she doesn't like; which is what i covered with the skirt.

attempting to design a classic

just to give you an idea about creating a design from scratch, i have been working on this dress since january. it is a very simple dress, but the most simple designs are sometimes the hardest. they are like the slow movement of a piece of music; there is nothing to hide behind. no flashy distractions like ruffles or volumes of gathered fabric, just a basic contour darts and seams.

this dress is inspired by the 1960's sheath dress, but instead of an a-line from the shoulder, it nips in at the waist for definition. i was never a fan of the sack dress, as it is unflattering on most figures. i was going for a nice classic design that can be very versatile. look for this dress in cotton for summer to be worn by itself as a mini-dress or as a long shirt over pants; slightly longer and made out of silk for a simple bride's maids' dress (or summer formal or garden party dress); and in the fall out of wool as a jumper with a shirt underneath and tights or knee-socks. the possibilities are endless...

the swan has flown away...

she said: "everyone will be in formal wear, and i will be the only one wearing a costume."

my kind of lady.

black swan act II

he last two days have been spent coating a cheap tank top in "feathers" made out of tulle, organza with sparkly bits, and silk scraps. deconstructionist fashion at its best. triangle scraps of fabric with their ends free make the body of the swan, with the rest sewn down for texture. tomorrow we fit on the body. i can just have my client put it on, and i will pin and tuck until it is the shape we want. then we will decide what to add to the crinoline. we decided that the swan would be sleeping.

regular couture conventions are thrown out the window with costumes. costumes are a freeing experience; i don't have to draft a pattern, or worry about grading for size or making another one ever again, for that matter. the seams don't need to be perfect, and the piece doesn't have to last forever. it is a beautiful illusion meant to be seen from a distance. it is a moment, an alias.

black swan

every now and again i will take on a crazy custom project that is so whacky, i just can't turn it down. this month it is a version of the swan dress bjork wore to the oscars that the whole world had to make fun of, but in black. it is for a client of mine to wear to an oscar theme party. at my suggestion, she brought me a fluffy crinoline (one of those big square dance skirts), a top to deconstruct and cover with fancy bits, and a selection of tulle, netting and sparklies.

true to form, i spent the last few days thinking about how to make the swan head. i spent most of yesterday looking at pictures of, and drawing swans. i am not too patient with myself when i am being too mental, but i have to work these things out before i can start cutting. cutting is always the scariest part; not what to do in the first place, or whether the client will like the end product, but the cutting. i hate wasting fabric due to stupid mistakes.

today i had to make a practice head first. the transformation of a three dimensional object to a two dimensional object, and back into a three dimensional object is the grand challenge of fashion design. swan heads are outside of my normal realm of design; similar, but not the same as the curves of the human form. that, and i really like to get it in the first couple of tries, which i usually do. this is a direct result of over-thinking about the logistics.

now i am thinking about the eyes. ben tried some creepy giant taxedermy eyes on the swan head, but that made it look too flamingoey (and too weird scary). i think maybe rhinestone buttons, but i will be consulting with the client on this when i see her next. tomorrow's project is to deconstruct and construct the bodice. that should be easy, comapred to the swan head. i am still thinking about it right now. if i am lucky, she will let me photograph her in it when i am done!

(i was going to put a picture of the swan head here, but my camera's batteries are dead)

what am i waiting for?

muddling through the same old crap. i have to work things out in my head first, but then, what of the things that can't entirely be worked out in my mind without doing? this weeks exampled is this simple wrap skirt. it is a summer staple; nice and breezy. the challenge here was the waist band. it wraps around and needs to go through itself so the band lies flat and doesn't cross over in a bulky way. i had to think it out for two days before i tried out the design i had in mind, and guess what? it worked on the first try. so why think about it for two days?

chopped up and spit out

sometimes it's just good to cut your losses, and not waste any more thread.