Thursday, February 26, 2009

Mew Fundraiser @ South Philly Tap Room



Win fabulous stuff (photography, paintings, prints, jewelry, clothing, zines, candles, ceramics, and sooooo much more!!!)
Come out and support local artists!
I'll be donating some phea jean goodness!
This is going to be sooo much fun!
!!!

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Ready for the catwalk...or should I say "dogwalk"


Any dog who runs with me has gotta look fresh,
so since Apollo and I have been spending a lot of time out on the town together I decided to make him this new outfit.

The outfit was surprisingly easy...
could a line of dog clothing be in the future for phea jean...?!


He's such a good model!


I'm one step away from making us matching outfits, but perhaps that would be going too far...

Friday, February 20, 2009

February Update!

Two summers ago a friend gave me some fabric he had saved from an old chair. I took that fabric and made it into a newsboy cap which sold at
Mew Gallery. I wish I got to see who purchased it!


Newsboy Cap A9

I wanted to somehow show my appreciation to my friend for giving me such cool fabric. I still had bits of the fabric in my scrap bin so I decided to make him a wallet and incorporate the fabric he gave me. I made the wallet pattern on a whim and it turned out pretty good, so I quickly produced 4 more. I thought this could be a good alternative to the goliath wallet which is larger and basically for women. This new mens inspired wallet is smaller and I'm calling it the Apollo Wallet.





And here's my baby Apollo...

Apollo Wallets are now available on etsy and at Mew Gallery.

More headbands! These are selling fast!
I will be listing new headbands on etsy over the weekend (Apollo is visiting and he doesn't let me get much work done), so for right now the new batch is available at Mew Gallery!


Mew Gallery and The Philadelphia Sewing Collective will be holding a supply swap on February 21st from 1:30-4:30PM! Hopefully I'll be able to clear out some of my old fabric and not take home too much.
BONUS: After the swap there will be an art opening at Mew, so it will be a jam packed day of fun. If you're smart you'll swing by!Oh and Channel 6 did a little piece on the swap...check it out HERE
I make a little cameo in the background!

Currently, I'm working on handbags for a party I have coming up.
I've also already signed up for the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival on May 16th. I did this show last year and it was a lot of fun.
Coinciding with the festival is a kinetic derby!
The spring shows are starting to be announced so I will keep everyone informed on the phea jean schedule as I sign up.

I'm getting better at sending these updates...
and I've got a lot of new things I'm working on which I'll unveil once the weather gets a little warmer!

phea jean joined twitter!
Follow me!

xo Amber

ps check out the upcycling post below this update if you haven't already!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

2+1+1+1

so, as you should all be aware by now, i'm awesome and sometimes i even amaze myself...

upcycling, recycling, repurposing
-whatever you want to call it-
i'm sooooooo into this process of making something new from something old!

my latest upcycling challenge was to create a newsboy cap from 2 plaid button down shirts, 1 t-shirt, 1 polo shirt, and 1 pair of pants

BEFORE


AFTER







i used the pair of black and gray pinstriped pants to construct a basic phea jean newsboy cap, with the exception of the brim, which was made from the black t-shirt with the japanese writing. for the top detailing, i knew that i wanted to keep with a geometric theme because there are already so many straight lines to follow within a plaid pattern. first, i removed both plackets from the each of the button down shirts (plackets are the vertical center-fronts of the shirt that overlap, one side with the buttons and the other side has the button holes). i cut the plackets between each button/button hole and was left with approx 3" pieces. then i "buttoned" the plackets together with the opposite shirts (the button hole placket from the red shirt with the button placket from the white shirt). next, i sewed all the pieces together into a "diamond" shape. lastly, i lined the newsboy cap with the striped polo shirt.
tricky, tricky!