Japanese fabric Update - Echino Fall 2011 and Yoshiko Jinzenji

TWO, count them, TWO amazing things happened today! The first amazing thing is that fabric designer Etsuko Furuya has released images of her Fall 2011 Echino prints! Many of you know that Echino has seasonal collections - spring being more technology and transportation based and fall being more based in nature. I have to admit - as much as I love it all - the fall collection is the one I wait for every year. This is a Sneak Peek only... we ordered it all but it's not showing up in the shop till November-ish. So you'll have to hold your horses, er, okapis.

 

Her gorgeous border prints featuring flowers, trees and birds:

 Stripes and birds and flowers and polka dots!

 

 Patchwork woodland creatures!

Okay, that's an okapi. And it's nibbling. OMG so cute!

The SECOND amazing thing is that our Yoshiko Jinzenji fabric is ready to ship!!!!! I have been waiting for this fabric since MAY so I'm super mega excited. You can see all of the pictures here but here's a few just so you know what I'm talking about:

See? It's awesomeness printed directly on fabric. It should be in the shop within a week! I'm dancing around like a maniac!

Now We Are Four

So, Sew L.A. turns four this month. Four! And it all started out with me saying "Well, maybe I can have some sewing classes in my corsetry studio... that sounds like fun..."

Way back in 2007, I would not have believed how far we have come. A bigger classroom, a fabric shop and website, people learning and creating every day - it's really amazing! We have (somewhat) (hopefully) weathered a recession and many, many day to day ups and downs, including power / water outages and flooding! The changes never end, and that makes me happy cause then it would be boring, and who wants that?

Creativity in action

Fabric...

and more fabric!

One of the biggest new changes is that we have just hired Christine Haynes as a full time store person, and we couldn't be happier! Christine has been teaching classes with us for the past year, and then decided she wanted to hang out with us even more. This means that I myself will have more time to devote to the planning that goes on behind the scenes here - writing more blog posts, writing more classes, working on (gasp) a budget even! Gosh, I feel so grown up. Also joining us in the store in the lovely Haley, a recent fashion design student from Woodbury University. She's awesome!

And we bid a fond farewell to both Linnea and Vanessa - both are off to other adventures but will be sure to stop in and visit from time to time. Now I have two new people to force into modeling for the website pictures... mwah ha ha ha!

I'm looking forward to two trade shows coming up - the International Textiles Expo in Las Vegas at the end of the month, and of course the fall Quilt Market in Houston at the end of October. I also have a TON of projects just sitting here waiting for me to start sewing and sharing! So stay tuned, intrepid seamsters...