From The Brown Girl Studio

I always admire people who have the time and inclination to upload photos of their works in progress and completed projects. Though I have the inclination, I almost always lack the time. School, homework, kids, dog, work .... you name it. By the time I even get to the computer, the last thing I have time to do is select, edit, and crop photos. But today I stole a few minutes just to become one of those people and show off a few of the trappings of the Brown Girl Studio:



First up is the dress I've been designing. Here it is just draped around my model. I haven't yet cut the fabric because I need to buy a dress form first. I want to make absolutely sure that I get this dress right because I stumbled on this beautiful fabric over two years ago and only have enough for the dress and possibly a wrap. My design includes darts (of course) and a knitted cumberbund in the center, a simple seed stitch to be sure it maintains the form, made with Empire Silk Karabella Yarn. I love this fabric and this dress. I stumbled on the gold silk/satin at the top when I was in Manhattan. Initially I only bought it as a lining but when I went to drape it I thought, gee, this is a gorgeous possibility to have a band at the top. So I'll make a decision about it once I get it on the form. I plan to order a Singer from Jo-Ann's at the end of the month when they offer the free shipping again.

Here are some other views:










Okay, next up is a simple garter stitch ponchette knit with an organic cotton. This was actually my first knitted scarf that now, looked so incredibly boring, that I decided, Hey let's do something with this. A little asymmetric embellishment and voila! you have a wrap. I like the V shaping on this and am going to add a small little clutch purse to go with it:








Next up is a super-soft scarf done again in a simple garter stitch. Sometimes it's just not about the stitch but the yarn itself. This is Fiamma Cervinia yarn bought in New York over the holidays. I must have kicked myself a thousand times as I was making my way down the Jersey Turnpike to get back home - I had only bought one skein of it, figuring I could always order more from the store's online portal. Yeah right, until I discovered that they REQUIRE a minimum of $40 on every order. Since I am really trying to get my business off the ground this year and am on a tight budget, I decided to check e-bay. Thank God for e-bay. I found more. I plan to make more scarves and simple wraps in this, which I'll be offering in the shop too:







and of course, if you're stylish, you can always fashion it as a belt/band:





and I finally picked up all the super bulky yarn I need for that yoke dress in the Fall 06 VogueKnits:



which I can't wait to get done. Hopefully that'll knit up pretty quickly.


And lastly, I decided against the Sew U book, and accepted this gift that my Mum gave me over the holidays. It's a little dated but it's got everything you ever thought you needed or wanted to know about patternmaking, design, and constructing a garment:




Back to the studio! See you soon ...

ANGEL