Using a Kimono in a Bathroom Remodel

A new client found me (thanks to this blog)! She commissioned me to make a custom kimono for a bathroom she was remodeling for a client. It was to be hung on a bamboo pole and suspended above the tub area. This was my first foray into the world of kimonos, and she found a pattern from the 1970's for me to use.

See the "before" and "after" photos below.

BEFORE

AFTER

Pretty dramatic difference! The green and white fabric I used (a print with little birds on tree branches) blended in beautifully with the green tones she utilized on the drawers and on the ceiling. I love how the room looks so much larger, and the kimono really works...

Only after I was finished with this project did I realize that my new client is the amazing Susan Lane Wertheimer, who once owned an enormous bridal sewing business in Toluca Lake and clothed many celebrities. (Glad I didn't realize that until later!) The icing on the cake is that I made a fabulous new friend!

The new website is up!

Thanks to the tireless work of Rhion Magee and Marina Perrone, the new Threads of Change website has landed. And it's beautiful! Check it out:

http://www.threadsofchange.org/

Don't forget to place your Christmas orders soon...!

iPad Sleeve to featured by Rachel Bilson in "In Style" Magazine!

Rachel Bilson loves our iPad sleeve!  Check out the candid (paparazzi) photos of her last week, while she was out and about in Beverly Hills.  That's my protoype she's carrying........
Rachel is a contributor to "In Style" magazine and she's going to feature it in the January edition!!  The iPad sleeve can be ordered now on our online Etsy shop for $55...Click here:  Threads of Change on Etsy

This iPad sleeve was designed by Rhion Magee and Laura Pursell (yours truly) for the Threads of Change Ghana project.  How exciting!

Photos and Results from "Unique LA Holiday Show"

What a great weekend this was! My first ever "trade show",  in the heart of LA's fashion district!  Rhion Magee (of Dreamworks) got me involved in this project earlier this year, and this show was our first forway into the world of commerce.

This show was HUGE - there were so many vendors, it was impossible to check them all out. Almost all of the vendors sell on Etsy, and so we were competing with some very professional booths. I'm happy to say, we had a steady stream of visitors, and our African fabric cloth products went over very well.  We also sold beautiful flour cloth fabric bags made by the women in the village, plus 100% pure Shea butter from Ghana.

By Sunday evening, we sold about $1,000 of merchandise (over 2 days), all of which will go back to the sewing center in the village of Okurase. I've been up late each night and every weekend for the past month or so sewing belts, bracelets and coasters and it was so gratifying when someone (like the girl below) loved her purchase.

Happy customer!

With a body like this, we had to ask her to model it for us....!

Our booth (before the crowds flooded in)

Rhion and her son Cade standing by our booth

the belts

the bracelets

Laura and Rhion, at the end of a very long and productive day!