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Modified Style: Inspiring social transformation through sustainable art & fashionIf you’re interested in sewing, creativity, helping raise money for awesome Portland-area non-profits, or having a rockin’ good time at a fashion show, then you may be interested in Modified Style: Transformed Fashion Show.
 
It’s all for fun!
 
 
What is Modified Style?

Modified Style is an annual fashion show and benefit that began in Seattle in 2008. The co-chairs of Portland’s Modified Style, Andrea Fretwell and Janessa Philemon-Kerp, brought it down to Portland in May 2009. We are committed to raising awareness of select local non-profit organizations by featuring unique and wearable fashion created using sustainable practices by participants of all skill levels.

Modified Style ‘09:

• Successfully raised almost $2,000 in the first year
•  Inspired creativity in 30 designers
• Inspired confidence in 30 models
• Stephanie Ortman from Fox12 News emceed
• Prizes and donations from BridgePort Brewpub, PGE Park, Portland Center Stage, Honest Tea, Nike, Scrap, Thai Massage Clinic, and many more.
• Silent Auction
• Raised awareness and funds for Farm Sanctuary, Sisters of the Road, and Junior Achievement.

 
If you wish to participate in Modified Style ‘10, email us at modifiedstyle@gmail.com. Please include your contact information as well as your model’s contact information (once you decide on your model). The closing date for signing up as a designer is February 25th, 2010. We will try to get all donated scrap fabric out to the designers by March 15th, leaving you approximately 2 months to make a wearable creation for a model that you choose.  Your model will show your dress at the Transformed Fashion Show  in May 2010. The event will be judged, and the top picks will receive a small prize (it’s mostly for fun). A silent auction of the dresses will enable us to donate proceeds to

Sisters of the Road, Out to Pasture Farm Sanctuary, and Caldera.

No sewing experience is necessary, just a creative urge or a desire to learn!Rules and Guidelines will be emailed to designers and models by March 15th.

Resources
Facebook Page
Andrea
Sandra
Vanessa
How to Sew
How to make a sewing form
Dress making 101
Sewing Book
 
 
Interested Participants RSVP to
modifiedstyle@gmail.com
by February 25th
 
We are requesting a $25 donation from each participant. This goes to cover the cost of the room, equipment rental, copies, and all other incidental costs related to the event.  Everyone is welcome to participate whether they can afford the donation or not.  All proceeds benefit:  Sisters of the Road Cafe,  Out to Pasture Farm Sanctuary and Caldera.
 

****Donations of fabric are welcome as well.****If you or someone you know would like model, please let us know!
 
Please mail monetary and fabric donations to:

Modified Style
PO Box 10624
Portland, Oregon
97296

by February 25th

–
in progress:  http://www.modifiedstyle.org/

We’ve been busy posting over at Bolt Neighborhood.  Be sure to keep an eye on the latest over there.  There is a link to the blog on the “contact us” page.  Or just type in www.boltneighborhood.com and join the conversation.  You’ll see what’s just arrived at the store, project ideas and tutorials, a list of free patterns on line, a Flickr site to share your latest creation, the next sale date and so much more.  Check it out.  We’re posting regularly, so come back often.

Hi all,

Local author and clever lady extraordinaire will be signing books and answering questions, meeting and greeting, and bringing doughnut holes to the store this Thursday.  Come by, see the projects from her newest book, Bend the Rules with Fabric, and enter yourself to win a bag of goodies from Amy.  It all starts at 7 pm and you can find out more at our blog.

We just finished swapping out our New Look patterns for a whole slew of new (and old favorite) patterns!  Things are changing fast around here.  We are waiting to receive Grand Revival and Folkwear patterns.  Check with us in a week or so about those.

We now have Ottobre Design Magazine, full of great kids’ and women’s clothing patterns.  We currently have five different issues (5/2008, and 1-4 of 2009).  They come with full size patterns that you can trace.  (Yes, we carry tracing cloth.)

Also in the magazine world, we’ve received Stitch and will continue to get that as the issues roll off the presses.  On their way to us still are Burda magazine (also comes with full size patterns), and Threads / Sew Stylish.  Whew!  How exciting. 

Other exciting news is that Bolt now has a blog.  Yep, we’ve entered the crazy world of blogging.  We will post throughout the week, so be sure to visit it often to hear the latest.  This is where I’ll post about new arrivals and other various bits of info that I think may be of interest.  Also posting regularly will be Lupine Swanson who is a teacher here at Bolt and neighborhood sewing maven.  The goal of the blog is to provide a space to share more from the neighborhood part of Bolt Neighborhood Fabric Boutique.  Teachers will be able to put up posts about their upcoming classes, we will be having all sorts of guest bloggers, tutorials, general creative musings….So, take a look.  There are links to it on our About and Contact Us pages too.

Last week we unpacked a group of Robert Kaufman Radiance–silk / cotton blend.  Gorgeous, rich colors, and a lovely hand.  This fabric is great for a little dressier look, but without the expense of silk, and not as challenging to sew.  I was in a wedding last summer and we used this fabric for the bridesmaids’ dresses.  It sewed up beautifully, was comfortable on a warm September day and looked great after hours of wear.  Remember, we can often order full bolts of fabric if you too need to whip up some bridesmaids dresses!

Also new to the store is a selection of sari silk bundles.  They are put together by Melinda of Sari Safari here in Portland, and are incredible.  The bundles consist of 8 half yard pieces measuring 18″ x 48″ and one more “bonus” piece that is a bit larger.  What a fun gift for someone who likes to add a little something different to their projects.  It would be perfect for adding trim or edging to a bag, skirt, top, or coat.  The pieces could also be pieced together to make a gorgeous throw.  Let your imagination run wild.

There are new Liberty of London prints in as well.  A city map design that is so cool, houses, bikes, and more elegant florals.  Perfect for simple, light summer tops and skirts. 

We received our latest order of Sublime Stitching embroidery transfers earlier this week.  Included in their artist series is a transfer by Portlander Carson Ellis.  Check it out–it’s included on the newly created “Locals Table” at the store where you can find an amazing array of other products created in whole or part by your Portland area neighbors (one project is from Washington).  There are a number of great new patterns from Jenny over at Sublime, get your hoop and start stitchin’!

Speaking of embroidery, you may notice a change in our embroidery floss display.  We now have these nifty little sets of drawers for the floss that will help us keep the selection neat and tidy and help with keeping a bigger, more consistent selection available for you.  We have our soon-to-be regular colors on their way to us.  Be sure to let us know if there’s a specific color you’re looking for–we have a DMC color card and can always order a color for you.

Check out the classes page for the latest list of classes.  Students now receive not only 10% off their class supplies, but 10% off all of their purchases made during the week or two of the class they are in!  So, from the Tuesday before your class starts to the Sunday after your class wraps up, you’ll receive the discount.  Be sure to tell us who you are and what class you’re in and please plan on doing your shopping during regular store hours (not in the few minutes before class).  Other answers to questions you may have about classes at Bolt are on the classes Q and A page.  

For so many reasons we’re quite fortunate here in the lovely, most-of-the-time-grey City of Portland, but the one reason I’m thinking of right now is the number of highly talented, creative folks making and selling really cool things. It’s great to have a selection of those things at the store too! The most recent addition to the group of local fare is the Colette Pattern line. So sweet, romantic, lovely and well designed. We can also boast about the Chet and Dot goodies gracing our shelves–adorable buttons in the shapes of whales and umbrellas and apples, and the beautifully crafted pin cushions and covered tape measures. What a special gift those would make!

I’m pleased to announce that there is a new little area dedicated to showing off the local talent at the store.  In addition to the lovely items mentioned above, you’ll also find the handmade dolls and felt banners by Autumn (patterns available), the bubble skirt by Shelly (pattern), and the Farmers Market Tote by Sally (patterns should be back in stock soon).

patterns and pincushions

As if that weren’t enough, there are three, yes, not just one or two, but three books out currently by Portland creative authors and they are all available at the store: Bend-the-Rules-Sewing by Amy Karol, Stitched in Time by Alicia Paulson and Button It Up by Susan Beal.  We’re so lucky here in Portland.

We’ve recently changed our payment policy for classes. You will now be asked to provide the full payment to hold your spot. This is refundable if you cancel at least 10 days before the class starts, after that 50% of it is refundable unless we fill your space with someone on the waiting list (then you get 100% back). If you do not cancel and do not show up for class your payment is entirely forfeited. Starting time is listed for all classes, please allow yourself enough time to be settled and ready to learn by that time (so show up as early as you need to do so). To register for a class stop by or call the store during business hours: tu-fr 10-6, sat 10-5 and sun 11-4. Thanks!

Happy New Year! I hope all of you have had a most enjoyable start to 2009. We ended ‘08 with a couple of funny snow days–thanks to all of you who braved the wind and frozen rain on those last few Sundays!We have a number of new items and tons (really, box after box have been arriving this week) of new fabric and….a new class list! That’s right, we’ve got a slew of classes to offer starting in February.

Let’s start with the new items. I’m really excited about the eyelet tape we’ve just received, it’s really cool. It comes in a few different widths and spacing of the eyelets and different colors. It is perfect if you have things to hang, like a wall-hung organizer, or as an embellishment. We also just restocked on D-rings in different sizes and brought in O-rings in larger, more functional sizes than we’ve had. These are perfect for bag straps, belts and baby slings.

We have switched around our thread cabinet to accommodate more colors of the Gutermann Sew All 100% polyester thread. We will keep a variety of colors regularly stocked. They are kept in the top portion of the cabinet and the hand quilting thread is now on top of the cabinet with the buttonhole and jean threads.

There is now organic cotton batting in the smaller sizes–baby (45″x60″) and craft (36″x45″). The price is similar to the non-organic we’ve carried, so I’m quite pleased to be able to offer that.

More organic items just in–organic cotton canvas in oh so many colors, gorgeous!  And organic cotton fleece terry, mmmm!

The latest Amy Butler patterns arrived a couple weeks ago–the domestic goddess apron and the sun surf halter. Cute, cute, cute. 

Ok, we’ve received over 100 new fabrics in the last week and a half!  There are wonderful new one-of-a-kind pieces on tubes including an Italian sweater knit, wool jersey in rich brown, beautiful wool tweed, sturdy, quality canvas and classic dark denim. Also a lot of knits, even some with prints, organic cotton, a silk cotton blend we’re calling ’70’s sunset, and some more of the cotton metal blend we’ve had in the past. It’s so cool–it holds it’s shape if you crinkle it in your hand.

The other big group of things that just arrived is from Tina Givens and Jay McCarroll. There are a few great bird prints from Tina Givens’s line Fairy Tip Toes and they go great with the other pieces from Tree Top Fancy. More whimsy, beautiful colors, and fun illustrations.

Jay McCarroll’s name you may recognize from Project Runway–he was the winner of the show’s first season. He has designed his first couple of lines of fabric and they are fantastic! Check them out–crazy bunnies, doe-eyed does, cool cube dots, zig zags, tree stumps, “ivy league bees,” and so much more. Wacky colors, cool designs, we have a lot of it!

Other great new arrivals–Indian-inspired elephants, paisleys and floral vines in rich colors. Fleece, both solid and striped. And, bold, luscious florals in bright, gorgeous colors with a more modern horsetail print that goes great with them! Whew! There are a lot of new things for the new year, so come by and see what’s here.

If you’re thinking of making gifts for your loved ones this year, good thinkin’! If you’re new to making gifts we have all sorts of easy and fun ideas for you.

You may have noticed in the store lately we’ve been offering up these super cute little bundles of “fat quarters.” They are quarter yards of fabric that are cut 18″ x 22″ and we stack four to eight of them together in fun, wacky, classy, subtle, and bold combinations. Where am I going with this rambling, you ask? I was noticing the other night that they are a great size for cloth napkins. Such a quick easy gift and one that you can feel good about giving because it’s eco-friendly, usable, does not involve dusting (always a plus) and you don’t have to worry if they’re going to fit the recipient. We have tons of fat quarters made up, and are constantly working to keep up with the demand. Take a look when you’re in, you can pick out single ones or a bundle, or just buy yardage and make your own.

One of our staff members has been teaching a class on handmade gift tags and cards. She has a couple of samples (they are so darn adorable) up on the wall behind the counter. What a great gift–you can make a whole set of them to give as the gift itself, or use the tags on your gifts. Fabulous! The other great thing about this project is that you can use up the teeniest of teeny scraps that you’ve been hanging on to.

Another idea is also from a past class and current pattern we have–a felt banner. Whether you’re making one for your own home to bump up the decorative factor, or to give as a gift, they are so cheery. We have a happy birthday sample and a darling “grow” sample by our register. The pattern comes with stencils for circles and letters–upper and lower case. We have lots of felt, it’s not expensive and they really are a show stopper. These would be great for kids’ rooms with their name, or a sweet message of some sort. Change the colors, message or use some fabric and it would have a completely different look and could be for your bedroom. The possibilities are pretty much endless!

A few other quick and easy ideas–pot holders, embroidered dish towels, embroidered anything–you can even keep the project framed in the hoop for the recipient to hang upon their wall, pillow cases, a sock monkey or other stuffed thing, a super soft, super simple knit bamboo / soy scarf…so many ideas! Enjoy your gift making!

ALICIA PAULSON BOOK SIGNING!!

That’s right folks, local author and all-around talented gal, Alicia Paulson will be doing a book signing at Bolt with her newly released Stitched in Time. The event will be Thursday, December 11th from 7 to 8:30. Come meet Alicia, say hello, get your book signed, see projects from the book in person and enjoy some refreshments. It will be an all around good time! We currently have Stitched in Time in stock, so come pick up your copy. It will make a wonderful gift too. See you there!

Other holiday time details: wish lists, gift certificates, and gifts to get

Many of you already know about our “frequent buyer” program and have a little card with us. We would like to extend an invitation for you all to use those cards as your personal wish list. If there is something in the store for which you are wishing let us know, we can write it on your card, your loved ones can come in, ask to see what’s on there and shop accordingly. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the frequent buyer program the basic idea is that it’s a punch card, but we hang onto it for you. If you don’t have a card with us, but would like to set up a wish list card let us know and we’ll get it done!

For those of you looking for non-handmade gift ideas for the crafter/ seamstress/ tailor/ sewer in your life we’ve got those too. Gift certificates are always nice, we are happy to hold them at the store, mail them out, or sell them to you in person. (We can process a credit card over the phone for all of you outside of the Portland area.) The certificates can be used for classes, if you’re wondering. Other great things include a starting sewing kit for the new sew-er in your life with scissors, tape measure, seam ripper, some thread, needles…a lovely pair of Gingher shears–pinking or straight, oh such a nice gift, some fat quarter bundles, a jar o’ fun, we’ve got some really nice cards and stationary–some designed by Amy Butler, some embroidered cards, some nifty little note pads.

We have books galore! Even a few by local authors (see note above). So many great books are coming out on sewing now. It’s really exciting to see. Next time you’re in peruse the ol’ bookshelf and see what I’m talking about. There are books on stuffed animals, baby gifts, potholders and aprons, clothes, cool home dec projects, quilts, ribbony-things, bags, hats…so many books! We try to carry a wide selection of titles which means there are only a few copies of each. If there’s something you saw and would like, tell us and we’ll see about getting it ordered right away!

Whew! Hopefully those of you wanting a little help with gift ideas feel helped. The other thing to keep in mind is that there are tons of really great talented folks here in town putting on various sales. Keep your eyes open for flyers and such. One very large sale of handmade goodies is the Crafty Wonderland Super Colossal Holiday Sale on December 14th. You can find out more at their site.

Other miscellany

We continue to have new things arrive on a regular basis. We currently have some corduroys, canvas and solid cottons to be delivered soon. A whole slew of Japanese imports are on their way too. Oh, and how could I forget?! We have some great new pattern lines in the store now. We’ve started to carry Hot Patterns (women’s clothing and bags) and Portabello Pixie patterns (kids clothing), and have expanded our selection of Jalie Patterns (adult and kids clothing–lots for knits). We hope you will try out these new patterns and be sure to let us know what you think when you’re done. We appreciate hearing your thoughts.

Classes–ah yes, classes. We will continue to offer classes next year, don’t despair. We will take a break though, so you won’t hear much about classes until mid-January or so. We have a whole team of teachers gearing up for our big, bad ‘09 schedule.  We send out the class list to people on our mailing list first, then post it to the website.  If you’d like to sign up for our e-mails there is a link on the “contact” page.

Holiday Schedule and end of the year thanks!

We will be taking a little break to spend time with our families over the holidays. The store will be closed 12/22 through 12/26. We will resume our regular hours Saturday, 12/27. The store will also be closed for New Years on January 1st.

Thank you all very much for your continued support. It has been a wonderful three years and we look forward to many more!  A very happy holiday season to all of you.