Takin' it Black

Yesterday I was going through my trillions of computer music files (ok, it's really only thousands) trying to see which artist would kick off my day of "sewing with sounds." Many times I'll initially have internet radio playing in the background then switch over to music, but throughout the week I'd had my fill of politics, economic woes, domestic and international social chaos, injustices, and down right foolery. The other station which deals more with spirituality, metaphysics, and health was doing replays, and I'd heard all the shows 2-3 times already. So instead I went straight for the music.

First it was Lizz Wright's Dreaming Wide Awake
Then Herbie Hancock's River: The Joni Letters(Thanks Dindi ;-)

After feeling all mellowed out and chill, it hit me that it had been a while since I'd listened to Skye. I'm not sure if y'all are familiar with her, but she was first brought to my attention in November '06 when she opened the show at a local Ziggy Marley concert. Her voice sounded so good to me. Nice and soothing. Well, at least from what I could here of it over the drunken shouts for Ziggy to come out :-/. Matter of fact, it was a nice contrast to all the hoopla that was going in the place, and that might be what pulled me in initially. I got a chance to meet and talk to her after the show, and she's as personable and sweet as she sound and looks. For your listening and viewing pleasure (or maybe displeasure if it's not your kind of music):

What's Wrong With Me
Love Show (which you might recall from a Nivea lotion commercial and an episode of Grey's Anatomy ...a show I've never watched, but I like that clip)
Jamaica Days (Interview +live acoustic)
Powerful
Say Amen
Stop Complaining (somebody else's video)
She's also got a website and myspace page with more tunes.

On the subject of getting back to stuff that I hadn't visited in a while, last week my attention was drawn to the fact that black hasn't really found its way into my recent creations.
Every since I made those colorful garments to wear to the wedding of 2 good friends, I've been on this color trip. (Attallah, I'm blaming this on you!) In the past it was so unlike me to use as much color as you've been using lately, but I love it and can't seem to get enough at the present moment. However, just to take it black:

I've been meaning to make more full, comfy dresses like this. I like to have garments that can serve doubly as maternity gear considering that women do become pregnant. (Julie from Hawaii I thought of you when making this. Yaaay for baby! :-D)

Edited to say that the red and lace pattern on the above dress is actually my own patchwork.

I layered 3 different types of fabric--lace, floral print, and dotted-- to get it to look how I wanted and sewed it over the black. Cause y'all know using scraps is my thing. :-D

A more...I guess...sophisticated version of the usual.

And just to clear it up, I photograph these as dresses cause it seems to me like they're easier seen this way. However, they are meant to be worn as tops. It's just that when I photograph them with any of my pants on, the results are less than desirable. If you're bold enough to wear it out with nothing on bottom, go right ahead. Just be cautious when you go to bend over or sit down or do any other activity that involves movement, ha!

As you can see I'm having a ball with my "hair flowers". They're the bomb, right?? (*sarcasm*) But I do know of 2 places where you can get the real deal: PamperingBeki.etsy.com
and OdodoOriginals.etsy.com. I'm just an amateur hair-flower-maker. They're the pros. :-)



Be well everyone.
peace ooouuuuuuut!!

Simple Things

**Don't be overwhelmed by all the words. Pictures follow ;-)**


Considering that I don't have much to speak of today where newly made garments are concerned (I've got a lot of projects in the works...not many completed), I figured it'd be fun to take part in a meme I recently came across on the fabulous, "makes ya feel warm and fuzzy" blog of Cutie Booty Cakes. You can tell that's one of my favorite internet spots to visit by the fact that a meme I did back in August was swiped from there as well.


Just a bit (more) about ya girl fly tie:


1. Where is your cellphone? Not sure. Probably somewhere on silent or vibrate.

2. Where is your significant other? At home knocked out sleeping I suppose.

3. Your hair color: Brownish/blackish/reddish with some goldish/blond strands speckled throughout.

4. Your mother: Is often addressed as though she were 20 something. Seems like we've both got a bit of that "Be mistaken for much younger than you are" gene.

5. Your favorite thing: Water

6. Your dream last night: *Will refrain from posting in order to protect the innocent*

7. Your dream/goal? To acquire the courage (from within) to give in and let go when it's most significant

8. Your hobbies: Basking in the sunshine, speaking to Spanish speaking people in their language, and going to the farmers market or grocery store to buy food. Shopping for food makes me almost as happy as shopping for fabric, and I really don't even eat that much.

9. Your fear: I'm fearless...you didn't know?? But really? Something falling on my head. :-/

10. Where do you want to be in 6 years: Doing whatever I'm doing proficient in or at least still working towards number 7 above.

11. Where were you last night?: At home.

12. What you’re not: Incompassionate.

13. One of your wish list items: A lush garden filled with a variety of fruits and vegetables that grows and prospers regardless of how ignorant I am of doing what it takes to not kill everything off. :-/

14. Where you grew up: Grambling, LA with educational stints in Ruston, LA.

15. The last thing you did: Looked up something online.

16. What are you wearing: Hoochie-fied jean shorts and a green tank top. Don't worry, I don't wear the shorts out the house. Anymore. :-O

17. Your tv: Is 13 inches, Is the only one I have, was given to me as a gift at the age of 11, gets 7 channeles, rarely gets watched, has an antenna on top, and will likely become defunct come February 17, 2009 since I don't want no converter box or cable bill.

(Edited to say that I'm big on listening to internet radio, and that's where i get most of my news-ish info from. I find it to be much more raw, truthful, and unbiased...which is what I prefer.)

18. Your pet: Nonexistent. *Pours out a bit of water as libation to all those of the past who were hit by cars* :-(

19. Your computer: Needs some of the thousands of pictures stored on it removed.

20. Your mood:Exuberant


21. Missing someone: Yeah. :-)

22. Your car: Has been mine for 8 yrs. and should probably be replaced. That's my buddy, though. We've shared some great times together.

23. Something you’re not wearing: Shoes.

24. Favorite store: A tie between Fresh Pickins Produce Market and Albertsons.

25. Your summer: Has carried over into fall. That's south Louisiana for ya.

26. Love someone: Indeed I do. :-D

27. Your favorite color: At the moment...Green

28. When is the last time you laughed: Seconds ago when I thought about how I do little dances at the produce market. I mean...just picking out oranges or tomatoes thrills me. (It'll be even more thrilling when I can pick such items out of my own garden.)

29. Last time you cried: Tuesday, September 16.



As for pictures of the one new item I did fully complete:

tisa dress barberry--custom
$68

Yeah..you've seen the style before, but it's a different color. Also, check out the hair flower....which is actually just a piece of t-shirt material crumbled up to resemble a flower and pinned to my head. The picture needed some gold/yellow in it. A burst of sunshine, if you will. :-)

Have a lovely day.
peace.

Pain, Light, Understanding

Firstly, new tunic:

This style seems to be a hit out in Cali, so this one most likely will be sent to Darla's Closet (where many of my pieces are currently housed, in case some of y'all missed the previous mention). I'm happy to say that six of my garments sold the first day the package arrived (before they could even get everything out on the floor I was told), and one was a hunter green version of the piece you see above. Not too long ago, a gray one went to someone else in San Francisco.

Californians have shown me nothing but love. Perhaps I need to relocate.


Moving along, today's Shutter Click & Chat Sundays as seen on Tea & Honey Bread:

The Money Shot:
Show your favorite picture of you

(Well, might not be favorite, but it's significance. I don't think I have a favorite. Oh, and please notice the handmade Fertile Ground off the shoulder tee ;-)

The year: 2005

The environment: depressing to say the least

The specifics: One of my ex-boyfriends who I'd remained friends with had died of complications with sickle-cell anemia at 26, my most favorite cousin in the whole world had died of some kind of stomach cancer at the same age, an elder aunt had also died without me tapping into her wisdom as much as I could have and getting some of her best dessert recipes. (She'd laugh if she could read this.), I'd recently graduated from college and was confused about my next move, and I was having relationship drama. I didn't think my body could produce anymore tears. (Then, a few weeks after this shot was taken, New Orleans went underwater, an untold number of people drowned, and I realized that there were in fact plenty more tears to be shed.)

On the night of this photo, I'd taken a 50 minute ride to Baton Rouge, LA to attend a poetry/spoken word/music event that I'd been invited to on several occasions but had never attended. For one, I hadn't wanted to risk falling asleep during the late night hours on my way back home. For two, sometimes poetry events tend to become a bit cliche for me after a while. However, on this night, I pulled myself off the bed and out of my comatose state, got dressed and made the drive. I needed to be in a different space around new people. When it was all said and done, I'd listened to some good "old school" music/poetry, danced a bit , and connected with some of the coolest people. (Big up SU folks!! ...Can't believe I just typed that considering that my hometown is the location of their rival, GSU.) On the way home, I was feeling much better. The above picture was taken by one of the event coordinators.

So yep. That's the story behind it all.

Oh, and a bit of trivia. The name "fly tie" actually comes from my deceased ex and cousin mentioned above. He used to teasingly call me "tie fly" (my nickname's "Tie"), and she used to use the word "fly" to describe everything. So, I decided that my clothing label should be "fly tie" to honor them both.

Today I've gotta get started on a formal dress I'm doing for someone. Not my favorite thing to do, but from time to time I'll oblige.

peace.

Do, Undo, Redo

Note to self:

When making a reversible hoodie dress, connect the hoods to each other first. Not the sleeve hems or the hem of the dress. Otherwise, when you think you're almost done and go to sew the hoods together, you're gonna find yourself sitting there like, "What in the woooorld???" as you hold a big wad of material that won't turn the way you need it to so you can actually sew the hoods because everything else is connected and there are no openings. Then, all that time spent on the hand stitching to connect the sleeve and dress hems will be irrelevant and will have to be ripped out and redone once you do the....hoods.

Yeah.

All turned out well, though:

reversible stepping razor hoodie dress
$80

(And I'm very proud of the fact that this is an XL. Slowly breaking out of my habit of making everything small or medium.)

The killing part about it is that I didn't have that problem with the first one of these I ever made. With that one I was really just figuring it out as I went along. Somehow, though, the process went smoothly. With this latest one I over-thunk the process and ironically ended up not thinking at all. Duuuh!! *slaps self upside the head*.

While I was sitting there working my way out of a maze of blue and goldish material, I looked around and noticed my worn sewing book that I had to have when I first started school. Then I started thinking about how far I've come....making reversible dresses??? Me?? Who woulda known!?!? I couldn't even thread the machine...let alone actually sew a seam, ha!

Then I started thinking of Tea and Honey Bread's Shutter Click & Chat Sundays and the topic of "What's your special book?" I didn't participate on Sunday, cause even though I'm overflowing with books, there weren't any that I necessarily considered special. Well, aside from being special for the info. they contain.

Well, I thought about it some more and concluded that this book in fact is pretty special to me.




All those times when I'd raise my hand in class seeking the help of my design instructor on how to do some sewing technique and was told, "Look in the book, " this very book had my back. Yeah...I'm the visual type who likes for somebody to show me how to do things. And I often found myself frustrated and looking like, "Huh???" when trying to comprehend some of those printed instructions. But after reading over them 2-3 times and studying the pictures, it finally clicked. With the help of the above pictured book, I was able to teach myself to sew when the help that I thought I'd have usually wasn't willing.

As you can see, it's banged up and falling a part, and I have considered getting rid of it. However, I think subconsciously I've held on to it for the reason mentioned above. (Plus, sometimes when I'm foggy I still gotta look in it to figure out how to insert an invisible zipper, ha!)

Have a nice day.

Later.

"Even if it takes forever and a day for me to do..."

Feelin' D'Angelo right now. Wishing he'd return with more goodness. The man gives me chiiiiiiills. I know y'all (who knew) didn't forget? And it's not even the sexiness of the video that gets me. Yeah..dude's fine as ever (or at least he was...haven't seen him in forever), but where the physical's concerned, I can take it or leave it (and that's saying a lot for someone who used to really be into guys with muscular arms donned with tattoos.) Thing of it is is how honest and open this song and video are. And the passion...especially towards the end. I just love how his music affects me. (Some feel that that particular video is what messed it up for him. Something about folks not appreciating the music...just the video. I don't know, but I know he's got a lot more to offer than a nice body and sexy lips. True talent, man. Always has been far as I'm concerned.) And nothing against Smokey, but D'Angelo's version of "Cruisin" is my jam. Love 'em both, though. Such a smoooth song in general.

Man..really missing these two on the scene right now. Legends. And don't even get me started on Lauryn and my love for her music.

(Y'all see I had to edit the subtitle of my blog, cause I"m always talking about music on here.)

So. Seems like it's taken forever and a day for me to start on a whole bunch of new inventory that I'm doing for the cooler months. Yeah. I start making my "cold clothes" later than what's PC in the world of fashion. But hey. I never claimed to follow such standards. ;-)

Things have finally started rolling, and right from the jump, I believe that I am in love with this dress:





Now, I've made this--and versions of this--before (see here, here, here, and here), but never in brooooown. Just love it. This one was gonna be for sale in my etsy shop, but I think I'll just list it for custom order and keep this particular one for myself. Otherwise, I'll never get around to making myself one, and I really want one. Really that was the plan anyway: to offer this style for custom order in various colors, but I was also gonna sell the original. Well not now, suckas! ha ha! :-) see here

Also made another skirt:

true to form scrap skirt

I'm about out of scraps that coordinate well with each other, so this is nearing the end. For a while anyway.

Speaking of me taking forever and a day to do stuff...

What now seems like a loooong time ago, I was given a blog award by Jewelry Rockstar, and then last week Needles, Fabric, and Thread gave me another.





Due to the hurricane situation and my minimal approach when it comes to blog updating here lately, I've been a bit slow at acknowledging them. I'm so flattered, especially considering that theirs are two blogs that I enjoy visiting. Now, I'm no good at doing what one is asked to do when given such awards cause 1.) I'm not exactly sure who follows my blog consistently, and 2.) I love too many people to only select a few! :-) Check the links under my "Say What?" section to get an idea of some of my blog favorites. And that's not even all.

But again, I thank you both. Think I'll go celebrate with a big ol' piece of cake and more D'Angelo. :-D

Be well everyone.

Peace.

Move Ya Body

Well, there's no new dress to show like I thought there would be , however I do have a dress to show.

And a third picture just cause I like this shot:

Now the thing about this dress is that it was new to my etsy shop, however not newly made. I completed this piece over a year ago. At the time, though, I wasn't necessarily certain about it. I'd just wanted to use that fabric. See, I like simple garments like this and earthy colors such as this, but I think at the time of its production of was of the mind that it might not appeal to anyone else. I think I was thinking that it really wasn't anything "special" and might just be seen as something that could be found anywhere. When going through my creations the other day, though, I decided that this is a style I want to do more of for this fall winter. I think it's a good layering piece. So I took it out, photographed it, and uploaded it to etsy. That was on Monday. On Tuesday someone bought it, and now the dress is on its way to L.A. as we speak. Or type. Or read. So yep, guess someone other than me was feelin' it. Besides...it is one of a kind and handmade. That alone makes it special. :-D

Speaking of things that are on their way to California, yesterday I sent 20 of my pieces to Darla's Closet in Lancaster, CA. Because of this, a few items have been removed from my shop. Hopefully they'll find the appropriate home out there with someone in Cali. Meanwhile, I've got newness to create.

Anyone in or near Lancaster can stop by Darla's Closet at:

Historic Old Towne Lancaster
647 West Lancaster Blvd
Lancaster, CA 93536
661.949.1049

and have a look. Oh, but you might wanna give the items time to arrive first, ha!

On the subject of movin' your body, I've decided that I want to and need to get back into bellydance class. I took the first beginners class this past January-March at a local studio, and I just absolutely loooved it. Makes ya feel so good (once you can get over how much it works you.) Only thing is is that right now the second beginners class takes place on Tuesday nights and I take an English course at the university on Tuesday nights. Also, I'd prefer to take the class with Courtney (lol @ Shimmy the dog being listed on that page), the one who was my teacher the first time around, and at the present moment she's teaching the first beginners class on Monday nights. Soooo...guess I'm gonna just have to wait til I can coordinate this whole time/instructor thing. In the meantime, I do have a bellydance dvd by Dr. Sunyatta Amen that I do (and love) at home from time to time, but it's just not the same. I like being in the studio with others and the suitable music. Just the energy, ya know??? I think I'm pretty good, but soon I'll be a pro. teaching my own classes somewhere. ha ha! :-)

New dress for real on Sunday and acknowledgment of a couple blog awards. Well, if there's no hurricane or tropical storm activity and I have electricity.

Have a luminous day!

peace

Edited to say...y'all wanna know what's ironic?? When I finished submitting this post, I checked my email and saw that I'd gotten a notice from the dance studio (I'm on their email list). And guess what??? Beginning September 29, the second beginners course will be taught for 10 weeks on Mondays by Courtney!!! This works perfectly for me. I'm too thrilled.

ok. peace for real this time.

"Around the World in A Day..."

Ok, not quite, but that album by Prince has been on heavy rotation in my car lately.

Yep. I have returned safely to my home to find it in one piece and with no hurricane damage whatsoever. Thanks to all you lovlies out there for your concerns and well wishes. :-)

Our 2 car caravan went from here, to Dallas, TX to Shreveport, LA back to here over a course of 4 days. The trip was tiring, beautiful, inspiring, annoying, fun, entertaining, hilarious, and enlightening. Along the way there were debates and conversations about relationships, attitudes, food, health, dating, children, art, sex, movies, working, religion, spirituality, just being, beliefs, ideas, government plots/conspiracies/cover ups, concepts, music....just about everything except the political campaigns of Barack Obama & John McCain. Well, only a little....and mostly in terms of, "Yeah...whatever!" ha!

I took several photos, many of which involved my guy's almost 2 yr. old niece "A" in some form or another. She was the highlight of the whole journey, throwing an occasional understandable fit in her car seat between her mother and me. If I weren't as old as I am and could have gotten away with it, I woulda been hollering and throwing stuff, too. All that sitting in one spot for so long. lol!

Us together playing camera...something we do regularly (slightly altered):

Her and Speck, the occasional house dog where we stayed in Dallas:

The child loves that dog, and he's such a sweetie.

A's my lil buddy, and we always have a good time together.

After returning Wednesday I went over and helped out with the clean up at my guy's place. There was a lot of water, branches, and general tree debris in his yard, and the driveway was pretty much blocked. A tree fell in a field next to the house and thankfully not on it. As previously stated there was no damage to my home. I wasn't too thrilled to find out that my internet and home telephone service had been knocked out and possibly wouldn't be back on for a week. Then on Thursday morning I went for my usual walk and was stunned to see a cute little house that I always made note of completely obliterated by a massive tree. After that my internet and phone issues didn't seem like such a big deal, and I was teary eyed for the rest of my walk. I think I must have felt what those home owners and others in that situation must feel.
.
.
.
Overall everything went well for all of us. Given the generosity of my guy's parents, non of us (me, him, his brother, and brother's girlfriend) had to spend a dime on the trip. They bought us gas, paid for all our meals (and we did a lot eating...something I don't normally do), and even gave us cash to spend at the store. I felt like a kid, and it was great, lol! Then there was the hospitality of those who allowed 5 of us to stay at their homes (the parents stayed in hotels). People are wonderful. No, really. Or at least they can be, ha! Realizing what others went through, I'm grateful to have had such a smooth experience during this whole ordeal.

These past few days, I've been basically just chillin' out, figuring out my next move, and thinking. Thinking a lot. This week I'll have a new dress to write about. We'll see, though, cause it seems like people know something about this other hurricane that I don't. Driving around the city not only do I see massive trees just toppled over, but I also see homes with the windows still boarded up. Yesterday a lady across the street from me was boarding up her windows, 4-5 days before so-called "Ike" is even expected to be in the Gulf. So maybe sometime this week I'll be on my way out again, cause I don't do hurricanes, especially categories 2 and above.

peace