Felt Penguin Clip

The elves on the 3rd floor of Britex made this sweet penguin clip out of felt and netting. Can’t you imagine one worn to Cirque du Soleil as a boutonniere on the lapel of your tails? With a burnt orange velveteen double-breasted vest and starched white shirt, you’d be the hit of the holiday party! (These snazzy clips are for sale at Britex Fabrics!)

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Children’s Sewing Kit

The industrious elves on the 3rd floor assembled this Children’s Sewing Kit in time for the winter holidays! This portable kit for little textile beginners includes a padded sewing basket, an old-fashioned tomato pin cushion and pins, four spools of Gutermann thread, Clotilde hand sewing needles, a wee rubber silicone thimble, a rainbow assortment of embroidery floss, a retractable measuring tape, professional tailor’s chalk, Gingher scissors, a stack of primary colored plastic buttons, and a bundle of nine felt squares to practice their developing sewing skills! (Cost – $100)

Here is an idea for a felt needle case; little beginning project using felt, buttons, and the easy to learn blanket stitch!

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Holiday Decor on Britex Fabric’s Notion’s Floor

The clever elves on the notions floor at Britex have hung their stockings around the fireplace with care. With such a festive fire, who can blame the littlest googly-eyed flicker of a flame as she toasts a marshmallow? Pass the chocolate and graham crackers….anyone want some s’mores?

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NO-SEW LEATHER KIPPAH כיפה (Yamulkah ירמולקא)

Just in time for Hanukkah, Britex (and Bretts) present an Instructable for a beauteous no-sew leather kippah (yamulkah). Make kippot as gifts…and then later fry latkes and sing “S’vivon Sov Sov Sov”. All are made with leather scraps purchased from Britex Fabrics, 146 Geary Street, S.F. CA.,

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Cowgirl Shirt with Sparrows

Chartreuse winged sparrows perch gaily on fuchsia chainette in this Japanese cotton/linen print. This fabric would be smashing made up with Decades of Style pattern #4008, a 1940’s retro-style rodeo cowgirl shirt with optional piping. Can birds chirp “yippie ki-yay”?
“We’re old cowhands from the Rio Grande
And we come to town just to hear the band
We know all the songs that the cowboys know
‘Bbout the big corral where the doggies go
We learned them all on the radio
Yippie yi yo kayah”
(By Johnny Mercer)

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Leather Kippah

Here is a beauteous kippah made by Bretts. The gleaming bronze leather is from Britex Fabrics. It is worn by Kevin Hinshaw, clarinet playing member of Orkestar Zirkonium, and the former music director of world renowned Circus Contraption.

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Brocade Evening Bags

Sally made these gorgeous bags from Vogue pattern 8375 (B. Randle Designs) These brocade evening bags are the perfect size for toting to the opera, and “Otello”, Verdi’s masterful adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy is this month’s San Francisco Opera production. All materials are from the 1st floor.
Desdemona:
“My superb warrior! How many torments,
How many sad sighs, and how much hope
Led us to these tender embraces!
Ah! How sweet it is to murmur together:
Do you remember!
When you told of your life in exile
The fierce events and your long sorrows,
And I listened to you with my soul
enthralled
In those fears and with ecstasy in my heart.”

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Mary & Abraham’s Collaboratively Made Dress

This lovely fitted dress was a collaborative effort between Mary and Abraham; Abraham drafted the pattern, and Mary did the sewing! The fabric is a black and white graphic print by Diane Von Furstenberg. There is flattering shirring along the front bodice, and a side zipper helps you achieve a smooth form-fitting line while wearing this dress. This fabric can be found on the 2nd floor (please call ahead to verify stock).

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½ Scale Madeleine Vionnet Gown

Monique Saviano made this ½ scale reproduction of a Madeleine Vionnet gown for the 16th Annual Educational Conference of the Association of Sewing and Design Professionals. This delicate confection is made with silk chiffon from Britex Fabrics. The fringe is made of rayon chainette. One may read more about Madeleine Vionnet , an innovative designer who worked intensively with the bias cut, in Betty Kirke’s book “Madeleine Vionnet”, or in one of many articles about her such as “A Dressmaker Extraordinaire: Discovering the Secrets of Madeleine Vionnet’s Creativity”, which was published in Threads magazine in 1989.

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Black Horn Buttons

I’m sitting on a tall stool at the counter in front of the plate glass window of the local pizza joint eating a slice of cheese pizza before meeting you to see “Where The Wild Things Are”. The movie house across the street is having a special midnight showing, and I’m dressed in my best Max be-eared hat and long furry tail…let the wild rumpus begin! I’m meeting you in front of the movie theater, so I hurry. I brush a stray pizza crust crumb from my whisker, and button up my ratty grey faux fur jacket with black horn buttons. It is kind of silly, but I can’t seem to get the song “Teacher’s Pet” out of my head! I zip across the street singing at the top of my lungs, and everyone laughs.
“Teacher’s pet
I wanna be teacher’s pet
I wanna be huddled and cuddled as close to you as I can get
(That’s the lesson we’re guessin’ you’re best in)
Mm, teacher’s pride
I wanna be teacher’s pride
I wanna be dated, paraded, the one most likely at your side
(Ya got a burnin’ yearnin’ to learn)”
(by Joe Lubin)

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