Year: 2018

Projects: 30 July – 5 August

Tchad

We are in the middle of the huge reset this week, so lots of infrastructural work and not a ton of sewing going on:

Workroom:

  • This is the big week to reset and tart up the workroom – all of the five rooms are getting repainted – walls, floors, ceilings, everything
  • Setting up a small studio area in the front of the tertiary classroom for student pictures, short videos, &c.
  • Start final push for the month to get the spaces all client/work/and student ready for the Fall 2018 quarter.
  • Also, with all of the painting and everything being white, it is time to retire the white blinds and make some fresh ones.

Classes Blog:

  • We’ve got a lot for you guys coming up in the classes blog including Ankit’s jacket, Linda Prieto’s new vintage fabric reproduction line,  some vintage stuff from the archives, and a couple of class reminders for the Fall sewing classes.

Restoration:

  • The main upper section of the entrance stairwell is finished with regard to painting, so we’ll let the paint set for a week before we start the gilding and leafing process. The gold lasts longer and gives a more durable finish if you don’t rush it.
  • We’ve been working on a project restoring a small set of early 20th century offices in the neighborhood, but have to wait until we can either recreate the moldings or find appropriate replacements.

Agricultural:

  • We’ll be working on the farm towards the last week of August, taking this past quarter’s compost collection of paper and fabric scraps and doing some clean-sweep stuff for the Fall-Winter season.
  • As part of crop research, we are looking into and researching the feasibility of growing flax for linen in zone 7 – it isn’t a crop you see much anymore, but having inherited all of the tools and supplies to process it, we may very well be planting acreage over the next few seasons.

Design:

  • We’ve got a couple of prototype projects to finish before we move on to other stuff for the week
  • A small set of Indian adaptions coming down the pipeline for modern clothing with a traditional feel
  • Ongoing millions of custom dress shirts

Classes:

  • Nathan Perez has his upcoming Basics of Tambour class coming up this Sunday, so we are making the preparations for that and getting things ready.
  • Two residual wedding dress projects go into overdrive this week as they finish draping, final beading, and finishing them for the due date in late August.

So, we’re busy as usually juggling millions of things; let’s see how this week goes!

 

Projects: 23 July – 29 July

Tchad

This week begins the big two-week work extravaganza at the workrooms!

Here’s what we’re doing:

Restoration:

  • Finish upper Art Deco Painting in stairwell
  • Start on lower stairs and entry vestibule

Workrooms:

  • General workroom cleanup and reset for 201-207
  • Floors painted, walls cleaned and touched up, ceilings painted, new blinds made, photography studio set back up, office touched up

Sewing Classes:

  • No sewing classes or people dropping in the next couple of weeks, so it will be unusually quite on that front around here

Agricultural:

  • There have been a couple of tropical trees we’ve been meaning to research for growing in zone 7, most recently Sapindus Marginatus, or American Soapberry.
  • We’ll also start some seeds this week so that we’ll have part of the lavender beds installed later this Summer

General Business Stuff:

  • Fall sewing classes registering until the end of August
  • Set up a better business flow plan to make sure the main three aspects of the business flow well with all their various social media and customer obligations.  Essentially a flow chart so that each section gets the attention it needs daily.

And that’s about it – the next two weeks are going top be BUSY.  Hopefully we’ll have something interesting and productive to report back.

 

Projects: 9 July – 15 July

Tchad

As we get back into the swing of blogging about the stuff going on up here, we’re juggling a lot this week:

Restoration:

  1. Finish formulas and patterns for the faux marble in main stairwell entrance.
  2. Clean, repaint, and refresh office area in Workrooms
  3. Design Deco sculptures for front entry to either be cast in bronze or paster and then gilded.

Sewing Classes:

  1. Lots of Open Sewing Studio time scheduled… 9 July, 10 July, 13 July, 14 July
  2. Verena’s ongoing wedding dress gets special attention this week – this week the skirts go in and she’ll be inserting the two zippers and starting the drape around the neckline
  3. Amber’s wedding dress is a last-minute addition to classes this quarter – it is substantially simpler than Verena’s dress, so we said yes to the dress and threw it into the mix.  Welcome to the crazy Summer dress party, Amber!

Clothing & Design:

  1. This is going to be the Summer of custom dress shirts. I may even sneak a few in for myself.
  2. Two words: Linen pants
  3. We’ve been playing around with tambour and some smocking techniques in new ways for a new private collection

Agricultural Stuff:

  1. Drafting out masonry heater and fireplace plans for the cabin
  2. Planning out garden and deck areas
  3. Late Fall schedule set for November – December work

General Business Stuff:

  1. Fall registration under way
  2. Summer studio time registrations
  3. Daily blog and social media entries

And that is the week, folks.  Let the glamour wash over you like a waterfall of glitter and delight.