This fantastic short documentary goes behind the scenes of Martin Greenfield’s custom suit factory in Brooklyn.

Lessons from a Tailor. Directed by Galen Summer from Ed David on Vimeo.

Martin Greenfield Clothiers is one of the last surviving old school custom hand tailoring factories in NY. Read more about his story of working his way up from an entry level job at the factory to eventually owning the place. He has a fascinating history of working behind the scenes with high end designers and custom clients worldwide. I hope to pay this man and his factory a visit one day!

Lately, I’ve completed some lovely leather projects that feature interesting and unusual color combinations.

The Adlan Cruz Continental Bag was custom designed and created for a world traveling concert pianist Adlan Cruz. This versatile tri-tone travel bag has exterior side pockets, a magnetic business card pocket, and front zipper pocket. The interior features a paddled sleeve for a laptop and several additional pockets. Available for custom order in other color options as well.

The Evelyn Belt was designed and created on 11/11/11 and features 11 pieced together leather remnants and adjustable tie closure.

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In honor of Earth Day this year, Anthropologie collected corks for use in their store window displays.  As someone who has been saving corks from my wine bottles for years now, my interest was piqued. I haven’t yet decided what to do with my collection, but now I’ve collected some great inspiration! Of course, it takes time to collect enough corks to make much of anything, and now my collection of dozens (maybe a couple hundred?) looks tiny compared to some of these large scale cork projects. So, I doubt I’ll be making a Corkxedo (yes, really, a tuxedo made of corks) anytime soon!

After Anthropologie breaks down their cork window displays, the corks will go to Cork ReHarvest where they will go on to become fishing bobs, brand-new flooring, paper pulp and more.

Cork is a green resource and is 100% natural, renewable, recyclable and biodegradable.  “Trees are not cut down to harvest cork, rather, the bark is harvested by hand every 9 years. Cork oak trees can live up to 300 years, so they are very sustainable resource! Approximately 6.6 million acres of Mediterranean cork forest extend across Portugal, Spain, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Tunisia and France. These oak forests support one of the world’s highest levels of forest biodiversity, second only to the Amazonian Rainforest.”  -Cork ReHarvest CONTINUE READING…

The instinct to reuse, repurpose, salvage, recycle, and reinvent has long been a part of Ladybird’s DNA. Like a bowerbird, this Ladybird compulsively saves odd bits and scraps with visions of a future purpose for materials that would often be considered trash or waste.  This new pillow design was created out of Ladybird’s stash of selvedge edges of fabric that she has been collecting for several years now, and include many nice silks and wools from numerous pillows, suits, curtains, and other textile projects that have been cut out by Studio Ladybird.

Selvedge stripes are lined up side by side, raw edge to selvedge edge, and then steam fused to a backing layer of fabric, with diagonal topstitching across the stripes for extra stability and dimension. The back of each pillow features an overlapped envelope closure that also showcases the selvedge edge of the fabric whenever possible. Each of these 10″ X 18″ pillows is one of kind, and represents close to a dozen feet worth of selvedge edges from Ladybird’s collection.

This bird especially loves finding selvedges that have script along the fabric edge; this pillow includes a stripe with the words “Tasmania Stretch Extra Fine” woven into the selvedge.

Back envelope closures showcase another selvedge edge. CONTINUE READING…

Grommet header curtains hung with ball chain loops on industrial pipe with plumbing fittings…the latest of Studio Ladybird’s custom curtain projects at TAXI’s creative mixed-use development in Denver’s River North neighborhood.

Olive canvas curtain panel covers a storage closet in the 34 Degrees office inside TAXI’s newly renovated FREIGHT building. In keeping with TAXI’s reuse and redevelopment focus, their third building FREIGHT, formerly a trucking terminal and now converted into hip new commercial space, features creative reuse and raw industrial details: wood from a local bowling alley and hockey glass from the Colorado Avalanche stadium are used throughout the 30,000 square foot building, which is now fully leased to 13 businesses. Each unit has exposed raw industrial architectural elements and glass garage doors that open to loading dock parking spaces.

View of NIMBL’s new curtains from inside one of their office spaces in the TAXI II building. Orange suede curtains with lime green stitching, hung on 2″ pipe with 1/4″ ball chain loops that roll to reduce friction when sliding across the pipe. Stainless steel pull rods are custom cut and machined by my in-house mechanical engineer/metal worker/installer/master electrician/artist husband.

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I’ve long been intrigued by the visual geometry of mechanical components and have gravitated towards Neo-Victorian style and yesteryear’s machinery as well as the contrast of modern industrialization for as long as I can remember.  I was into Steampunk style long before I heard the term (and posted about it) three years ago. During my college years in Charleston, SC. I was surrounded by historic architecture and objects dating from Victorian times to the Colonial Era; these days I am surrounded by Victorian mining history in the CO mountains.

Gears are a common motif in the world of Steampunk; people are using gears and cogs that are usually salvaged from clocks, watches, bikes, and machines as well as representations of gears in a variety of projects. The following examples just begin to scratch a little rust off the surface.

Being a bit of a music nut, I love these – four of the many funky steampunk guitars as well as some crazy guns as featured on WebUrbanist.

Make your own gear switchplate covers by following a tutorial at the Steampunk Workshop.

This flash drive is a stunning assemblage of tiny watch parts.

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I am opposed to the modern practice of genetic modification, especially when it comes to our food supply, but the concept of selective breeding is thousands of years old and the idea has merit when used appropriately. David Benque‘s conceptual sound garden project proposes a selection of plants that are manipulated to create harmoniously orchestrated sounds, an intriguing combination of science and art. “Desired traits such as volume, timbre and harmony are acquired through selective breeding techniques,” the artist explains.

There are thus “singing flowers,” “modified agrobacteria” that ingeniously take “sugars and nutrients from the host plant to encourage the growth of parasitic galls and fill them with gas to produce sound,” and “string-nut bugs” that have been “engineered to chew in rhythm” inside hollow gourds. (via BLDGBLOG)

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Here’s a quick and easy craft project that takes empty egg cartons and reinvents them as a frugal organizing solution.

I recently inherited some jewelry and quickly realized that I needed to figure out some way to keep it all sorted if I plan on wearing any of it regularly.  I don’t currently own a real jewelry box, so I’ve improvised to create a stylish jewelry storage solution in my hall bathroom.  Small compartments are great for keeping pairs of earrings together and easy to find, and inspiration struck as I spied the pile of egg cartons that I’ve been saving for recycling.

To start, grab a discarded egg carton (corrugated cardboard is my preference, and is the typical packaging you find when you buy organic, free range eggs).  Grab some scissors and cut the top away from the bottom.  Also, cut away the top of the cones that divide the eggs so they are the same height as the container’s edges (see image of finished trays).

Find some decorative paper or fabric (or paint, or whatever you can dream up) to glue to the inside of the lid to add  visual interest.

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Last week, I set foot in the oldest shoe store in the USA.  Stout’s Shoes has been serving customers with quality, selection, and a memorable shopping experience since 1886. A historical retail highlight in the heart of  downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, Stout’s is the home of the last Baldwin Flyer baskets still in operation.  My fascination with old mechanical objects meant that I immediately turned my attention to these fixtures before the shoes when I walked in the door.

“In the early 20th century, each salesperson hand wrapped all items purchased in the store. A system of baskets hanging from wires was, and still is, used to transport the purchased items and cash to and from different areas of the shoe store.  This system is called the Baldwin Flyer and we are the last shoe store still using it.  The Baldwin Flyer system was intended to centralize the wrapping process. After the salesperson rang up the purchase it was placed with the money in a basket, which was lifted to the mezzanine to be wrapped and have change made. The wrapped shoes were sent in another basket to the front desk where an attendant would hand the shoes and change to the customer. On a busy Saturday in addition to the salesperson, two “wrappers”, a cashier and a front desk attendant were required to run the system.  It all sounds very confusing… I would recommend that you come in to the store and see it for yourself.” - History of Stout’s

Love the shoe shelf ladders and checkerboard floors.

Well, see it for ourselves, we did!  While driving through Indianapolis on our way to Ohio last week, we stopped for a quick lunch at one of my husband’s favorite pizza places, Bazbeaux, which just so happens to be next door to this cool old shoe store.  Mark grew up nearby, and remembers shopping at this store as a kid with the baskets zipping along overhead.  This place is totally my kind of retail environment – historic character and quality merchandise. Only bummer was that my camera battery was just about dead and we were short on time, so I didn’t get into much picture taking on this visit. Guess we’ll have to make a point to go back for pizza and shoes next time we’re in Indy!

This view is only ten or so miles up the road from my house.  I have to remind myself that this is my blessed reality, to live in the midst of this glorious display of nature’s beautiful fall showcase for a few special days each September!   I headed up Highway 103 to Evergreen as I took the long route to work at Bits & Pieces this afternoon.  Mt. Evans has a fresh dusting of snow, and the Aspens were at the peak of their golden color.

And here’s the Aspens changing color in Central City on Monday: (with remnants from gold mining days, of course!)

And up on King’s Flats above Central City, the house (hiding in the Aspens) where Mark and I lived for a year with Kevin and Teresa on Bald Mountain Road: