FH coming to La this weekend, SF next weekend

I am about to embark on a west coast adventure. Fabric Horse will be in LA for the first time ever this weekend. You can find us at the Renegade Craft Fair at The Cornfield, located at 1245 N Spring Street. If you ever wanted to try stuff on in person or to see what size is best for you come say hello. I'll be there Sat July 24, Sun July 25 from 11am-7pm.



The following weekend you can come find us in San Francisco at the Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion. Sat July 31, Sun Aug 1 11am-7pm.



Boom.

Reload's Maypril Fools Race

R.E.Load Bags is at it again with their annual April Fools Race (this year it is in May, hence the name change...) Since their hiatus last year the plans have all come together. Come on out, this scavenger type ride/race (it is not really a race as much it is FUN) is so great. It typically brings about 300 people. Registration is at Penn Treaty Park at noon. $10 to enter and gets you a t-shirt. Lots of prizes to be won!

Mummers Parade

I somehow forgot to post about this in January....



Ted Passon and I were the Burger Bride and Milkshake groom (costumes made by yours truly) of the Space 1026 Vaudevillains NYD Brigade.

FYI, Ted and I did not get married, but damn what an awesome idea for a wedding huh?

The best winter cycling cap.

I cannot say enough about this hat. In my humble opinion, it is the best winter cap out there. Don't get me wrong. I have many many hats, and I love most of them BUT this hat is the warmest hat for cycling I have come across. If you respect Fabric Horse for the functionality of our products, you will not be disappointed with this steal of a deal. This hat was designed by Gerik Forston, master applique artist of Reload Bags about 7 years ago when we all lived in Cincinnati. He made them under the name Gerikmade but has since ceased production. I have personally owned a few of these guys, and like I have already said, I love it. Not only is it a great fit, but with the stretch of the polar fleece and the elastic running across the back from ear to ear, cold air will not reach your ears. In the cold weather this is the only hat I wear.



Gerik and I worked out a deal and now this hat is the newest Fabric Horse product. We have 4 colorways to start with. I am willing to make other colors if people are down. I will also be taking a batch of these jems with me to SF next weekend for the Renegade Holiday Craft Fair.

Black Friday + Weekend Sale

Now that you all are well fed and in a food coma you can finally start thinking about presents! Let's all agree that receiving presents is not as rewarding as giving them. So if you know that someone you like or love has been eyeing up something but just does not have the money saved up, perhaps you can surprise them this year. Whether it is for you or for someone you like....Fabric Horse will be having our one time annual sale. Starting Friday Nov. 27 and ending Sunday Nov. 29 everything in our store and online will be 15-20% off. (Fabric Horse items only).

Go get 'em!

Did you know?

Both the Halfbelt and the Superhero belt are constructed with an internal belt looping system. This way when the velcro gives out from you wearing the crap out of your utility belt every dang day, you can still wear it forever and ever. It also can totally change the look of the belt. This is the Relaxed Halfbelt in olive waxed canvas. Don't be jealous.

Fabric Horse in WIRED News

I just had a customer call to inform us we were featured in WIRED News online. Now I just have to go hunt down the printed copy to see if we made the cut.

We Love Him

We do! We love Seiya so much that he gets two mentions on this blog in the same week. Not only is he a good customer but he's also a great person, whose goodness is remembered by almost everyone I know who's ever met him. He's like a cycle-messiah, "Have you heard? Seiya's coming!" Er...maybe more like a cycle-saint.

In any case, he starred in an episode of Working, a series of short films by Tramnesia, documenting his shop, Depot. As told by the filmmakers:

WORKING is a series of short videos profiling the practices of small, owner-operated businesses. Inspired by Studs Terkel's landmark oral history of working people in the early 1970's, WORKING interviews individuals who have rejected the idea of working for others, instead setting up businesses in order to work for themselves. If Terkel's study triumphed the survival of the human spirit against the daily humiliation of the Job, the individuals presented here update that theme with personal examples of autonomy against the economies of scale that perpetuate the demoralized workplace.

WORKING attempts to highlight the successes of these individuals in carving out ways to live, of tailoring a "work" situation that "works" for them, offering up business models that value independence over financial and/or material preoccupations. Terkel, quoting a union leader: "Once we accept the concept of work as something meaningful -- not just as the source of a buck -- you don't have to worry about finding enough jobs."

WORKING seeks to learn about the actual practice and challenges of running a business by asking specific questions of how things are done. WORKING tries not only to look behind-the-scenes but also to consider self-assessments regarding the successes and failures of the respective business practice. Ultimately, we hope the profiles inspire you to do it yourself.

Pretty good idea, eh? We really thought so. And Seiya's shop is a perfect example. Go check out Tramnesia's written profile of Depot and then watch the movie. There will be a smile stretching across your face by the end of it. Promise.

Handmade Nation Hits Theaters

Wednesday night I saw the SF premiere of Faythe Levine's long anticipated craft documentary Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY Art, Craft & Design, courtesy of SF360Film+Club. And I wasn't the only one. That place was PACKED.

This film has been looong in the making, it seems, and it came out just under an hour, but nicely organized, with a catchy soundtrack and great opening/closing credit animation.

It opens with a great sequence of heavy-hitters in the craft world, the stars of Handmade Nation, talking about the cult of craft; they define, describe and depict their own relationships to making, and in doing explain why craft has come to be so important to the community of people doing it right now. This is the stuff that always gets me, the composite definitions people come up with for this seemingly innocuous pastime that are compelling and powerful reactions to modernity. As one such craft-lebrity, Sabrina Gschwandtner puts it, "Being a crafter is a way to slow down."

The film was fun to watch, looking for faces and spaces that you recognize, hearing familiar accounts of craft fair culture and learning more about companies you've seen on the circuit. It's a proud film, in a good way, because it takes it back to the more emotional roots of craft's new wave and effectively separates out the business of it all. It reminded me of the time back in college when my bestie Mary Wegmann and I fawned over issues of craft zines that we had to order in the mail and craft was so romantic and subversive and GOOD.

And now we all know craft is a little different, more money-making and less rough around the edges, but Handmade Nation really transports you back to that time when it was relatively new. Lots of the crafters show how they make their work, without much proprietary concern about other people copying them--craft in the beginning was after all, about sharing resources and getting as many people interested as possible in making things.

It's a celebration of a film, for sure, and poses great questions about the future of a movement that has reached critical mass in many ways. The same real, hard bound book deals, pattern and fabric lines for craft chain stores and craft fairs that trump malls for holiday shopping destinations, while signs of the movements success are also challenges to the very anti-corporate, d.i.y. roots of it all. Keeping with tradition, there were crafters set up vending things before and after the film itself:

Faythe Levine wasn't there for the screening (which I thought was a real tragedy!) and so she wasn't available to discuss the questions she poses at the end of the film surrounding all these issues of cultural negotiation and the future. Many people see craft as a direct challenge to mass production and too, a challenge to capital itself. But when craft gets HUGE, crafters are faced with the same decisions as capitalists. And the collective decision the community makes in the next five years about whether to go big or go home, will be an important one. The movement has gotten big enough now that there are many conflicting ideas about what the future of craft will look like, and this film doesn't show that conflict as much as I would have expected. That's probably my only criticism. Though there was a fine panel after the screening, the panelists' discussion wasn't about the film specifically, but more about their experiences in the d.i.y. community.

As a document of an historic movement, the film hit its mark. Sorry for the long post! But really, my heart just swelled watching it.

Rainy Day Brigade: Bike Kitchen on the Move

I would like to rally some cheers and admiration for the Bike Kitchen and their heroic move last weekend, all by BICYCLE and in the rain. It's not an easy thing to stand firm on your principles in inclement weather, for crying out loud, and cheers to their admirable determination! Hoorah!

All photos borrowed gratefully from Dustin Jensen, locally talented photographer and blogger, under a Creative Commons license.

The Bike Kitchen is a community bicycle project in San Francisco, of course, that aims to facilitate greater sharing of knowledge and access to the freedom inherent in traveling by bicycle. With a staff of volunteer mechanics on hand to answer questions and lend a hand, it's a great resource to expert and novice cyclists alike. They're still settling in, but plan to reopen March 3 at their fancy new, old 650H Florida Street Address. Happy Housewarming you all.

Duly Noted

You know how the greeting card industry is so crazy, and they're always coming up with holidays and occassions for which you need to send cards? Well you might also know that I am sort of a fan of such craziness, I love inventing excuses for mail in general and sending cards in particular, whether it be internationally or just across the street.

For the second time this week, I'm passing something I ran across and thought you might also like. I can imagine keeping a stack of these in my belt just in case.


As a person who has once received such a nice note left in the basket of my bike, I advocate them wholeheartedly and every single day of the year. These particular ones are adorable and fairly affordable and if you are a planner-aheader then totally you should order some from this nice lady. They are letter-pressed and include a handy loop for attaching them more assuredly to one of the many tubes that come standard on the modern bicycle. I'd also say, however and in contrast, don't let any aesthetically inferior correspondence stop you from leaving a similarly sentimental note on a scrap of a PW with a blue crayon, if that's what you happen to have.

If I had my way, we'd start leaving notes for each other over the most ordinary, mundane possible things because it seems like we could use some good old fashioned cheering up these days, no?

Sprawled Out

Since the inauguration, I imagine our new President feels a bit like a rag doll, the way everyone's been tugging him this way or that way, trying to fit so many visions for our future into the stimulus package. If what passed yesterday in both houses really is the New New Deal, the programs enacted as part of it will be historic and exemplary, a real blueprint for what our new economy, and by extension our culture, will be. The things we throw money at as part of our economic recovery are the pillars we hope can hoist us out of this big, sagging mess of a recession.

And so, it was with swelling heart that I read the following excerpt from an interview the President gave in Florida recently:

Not only do we need to rebuild our roads, our bridges, our ports, our levies, our dams, but we also have to plan for the future. This is the same example of turning crisis into opportunity…Now, look, this is America. We always had the best infrastructure. We were always willing to invest in the future. Governor Crist mentioned Abraham Lincoln. In the middle of the Civil War, in the midst of all this danger and peril, what did he do? He helped move the intercontinental railroad. He helped start land grant colleges. He understood that even when you’re in the middle of crisis, you’ve got to keep your eye on the future. So transportation is not just fixing our old transportation systems but its also imaging new transportation systems.

That’s why I’d like to see high speed rail where it can be constructed. That’s why I would like to invest in mass transit because potentially that’s energy efficient and I think people are a lot more open now to thinking regionally in terms of how we plan our transportation infrastructure. The days where we’re just building sprawl forever, those days are over. I think that Republicans, Democrats, everybody recognizes that that’s not a smart way to build communities. So we should be using this money to help spur this kind of innovative thinking when it comes to transportation. That will make a big difference.

I for one, really believe that condensing our cities and making them more livable will bring about the right kind of development and can strengthen our social structures. And this will be huge in configuring the next economic era. It's just nice to hear someone more powerful than little old me agree.

Chalk Bicycles

You know how I have a soft spot for quick drawings of bicycles and for that matter, slow drawings of bicycles. I ran across these today at the blog of photographer Sharon Montrose. She is a pet photographer, by the way, which is mind blowingly adorable. And her apparently charming husband drew the following illustrations on a chalkboard in their house. Those white, dusty lines are so satisfying; I can't believe they're only temporary.







Those white, dusty lines are so satisfying; I can't believe they're only temporary. Makes me need a chalkboard, I think.

Damn, Girl

Ellen Page looking pretty unstoppable.



Via Copenhagen Cycle Chic

One More Reason Japan Is Probably Cooler Than Here.

Seriously, this isn't a future-speculating, robot dominated, science fiction movie with Kristen Bell and Jude Law. This is a WASHINGTON POST NEWS STORY about something that exists in real time and space, right now on the other side of the planet. Meanwhile, we westerners are still locking our bikes to traffic posts and parking meters most of the times. Just another day in the relatively primitive United States of America...

***This is especially apparent after trying for an hour to get the washingtonpost.com player to actually fit into the template of this blog...Sorry! I'm officially giving up.

My Plaid Pony

Following our credo for reuse and penchant for refuse, the ladies of FH sport a good number of vintage ensembles. We all know it's possible to find crazy awesome scores in the bargain bin at Village Thrift in Jersey, but sometimes we all deserve to go into a Vintage store and emerge with a vintage bathing suit in a nice color that actually fits, off the rack. And our very favorite outlet for vintage shopping in Philadelphia is hands down the closet at Plaid Pony, the garage turned living space and vintage depot. Lara, the proprieter of Plaid Pony, converted the auto shop a while back and now their house may as well be plucked from the pages of your favorite magazine. It's seriously that perfect.



From the collection of toasters wallpapering an entire surface of their kitchen to the furniture harvested from a closing mental facility, the place breathes modernism and thoughtful design, creating the perfect gallery for the treasures that Lara collects. How do I know all this? Funny you should ask. Last year Carrie gave me a gift certificate for Christmas and though Lara does most of her vintage business on the internet or through consignment at stores in the area, I managed to get the VIP tour and treatment with my friend Sue one day last spring.





The space has no traditional storefront, but several rooms of the house have been devoted to the business she runs through her website, one for priced items, one for backup, one for housewares and bits and one for decorations and actually doing business in. The former three are packed, packed! full of stuff. If you need further baiting just go look at her website, and imagine that quality of stock but multiply it times at ten. The girl has a treasure TROVE.

Normally, to access Lara's collection, you'd have to go through the website or schedule an appointment, but this weekend is the third annual holiday open house she holds so that everyone gets VIP treatment. Saturday and Sunday this weekend you can go and see her beautiful house and her expansive collection of vintage in person. Hers is one for the ages, I promise you, so if you can manage to hoof it up to Fishtown this weekend, you won't be sorry. A rare glimpse awaits you.

Black Friday!

Were you all lined up at Walmart this morning bright and early to get your hands on all those toyz? Yeah, me neither. But in honor of this great consumer holiday, here is a little video food for thought about an idea harkened Carrotmob. Sponsored by this new social activism group in SF called Virgance, the project aims to use collective consumption to influence business. Not a brand new idea, sure, but by staging real events where tons of people meet up and buy things all at once, Carrotmob increases awareness of the cause while building evidence for this new stragegy. Watch and learn:


Carrotmob Makes It Rain from carrotmob on Vimeo.

Pretty interesting idea. Whereas I have my own softspot for buy nothing day, I think today's marketplace begs a more complex solution than blanket embargos. It's okay to support the businesses that you think are doing things right. In fact, we really depend on it.

MIO

M.I.O. No, not a new riff on the hipster heroine of Paper Planes fame, nor a new-fangled military acronym for a soldier Minted In Oklahoma. Made in Oakland, MIO for short, is a new fair-wage not for profit sewing studio in the Fruitvale neighborhood of East Oakland. Funded by a $700,000 Federal grant, the studio aims to redefine the parameters of a textile factory and create over sixty living wage + health benefited jobs for skilled women while doing it.

Seamster Irene Torres at MIO
Photo by Jenny Pfeiffer for the East Bay Express

Many small-run designers seeking local, more accessible and not to mention equitable ways of making their products have few options for doing so. For those handful of factories still located in the U.S., you have to order a plethora if you order one. But MIO's no-minimum policy means that any designer has access to the resources of efficiency and skill offered by a factory set-up, without the harsh lighting or poor ventilation. However small, the amount saved by this efficiency without added shipping can benefit the finances of a small operation dramatically. MIO offers a full range of services, taking a designer's idea all the way from inception through to finished garment. Eventually, the organization also plans to sort all its fibers waste and process them back into fabrics which they will use to manufacture their own line of products. The building they occupy was renovated using green building materials (LEEDing by example!). And according to the recent article, they're even looking into getting machines that allow the operator to stand, a more ergonomic and therefore sustainable position.

I learned of this inspiring bunch through a Feature in the East Bay Express titled "Slow Fashion" featuring a handful of Bay Area designers doing their part to stay local and incorporate sustainable practices into the fashion community. Likening the movement to the similar trend in food systems was rather apt; the author relayed the growing demand by consumers for information on how and where their clothes come from. Especially in these hard financial times, I think people will more and more turn to handmade, especially on the local level, when they do choose to spend money on fashion. It's no coincidence that Made In Oakland's moniker articulates the studio's location. Just like quoting the county where a peach was grown, MIO is named for a city in California. They are proud of being from here. And they should be.

Much

Woah. WOAH! A lot has happened since last I updated this little blog. We were too busy CELEBRATING over here. Remember how psyched we were way back in April? Well multiply that primary enthusiasm by another six months and then you will begin to approach the level of anxiety and anticipation about Tuesday's results. I think I was honestly too nervous to bring up the election again before it happened, a little worried that the Bradley Effect might happen, sort of concerned that we were in for another disappointment even after all the hype, terrified about the possibility of a Mccain-Palin victory. A defense mechanism really, so that if the unthinkable happened I wouldn't have to crawl into a hole never to emerge. And even after the networks called not only Ohio, but also our dear, dear Pennsylvania for Obama, I was still nervous to believe it. That we had actually won this thing.



But we did it. A belated and probably redundant congratulations to everyone who did anything to help this campaign be so historic and successful! I know I'll never forget the feeling of seeing such a candidate win even as I doubted it could happen. And that speech? Don't even get me started...

I know the Mission in San Francisco was brimming with election night excitement, despite the unfortunate Proposition 8 results. I hope you found a way to celebrate in your own neck of the woods.