Re:Boutique, Part 2

Now, a peek at some of the stuff our Re:Boutique has for sale, and the artists who make them. And remember, the boutique is open whenever SCRAP is: every Thursday, noon-8; First Fridays, 5-9; Third Saturdays, 10-1. With additional hours as we pick up more volunteers! (Want to help make that happen AND get 20% off your SCRAP purchases? Start by signing up to attend one of our intro sessions.)

Ann Marie Koshuta [amkstudio (at) aol (dot) com] takes mismatched jewelry pieces, old clothing, and fashion design samples of all sorts, and incorporates them into wearable art accessories that get noticed. She makes her own felted fabric and even uses previously-steeped linen teabags, among other things, truly seeing extra potential in items that are usually tossed in the trash.

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Think Outside the Store's artist Sarah Gingold [skgingold (at) gmail (dot) com] runs and hosts workshops in her Silver Spring, MD, studio. We're carrying tote bags and scarves she's made from goodies she saved OR bought from the SCRAPpy side of our store.

 

In addition, she and a friend have created Monkey Shorts birthday cards, featuring little characters they made, clothed, then posed, photographed and captioned with some hilarious comments. Come in and enjoy the whole set.

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Redemption Glassworks takes used wine and water bottles and turns them into functional glassware. Then their proceeds from our sales go straight to GSI Haiti, a nonprofit that develops academic initiatives in rural Haiti. A bottle that's been cut in half is just plain cool, but don't take our word for it; see their designs -- etched and unetched -- for yourself.

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Still more to come!

SCRAP DC's Re:Boutique Opens!

After months of preparation, submissions from local artisans, the help of our dedicated volunteers, and -- in the end -- some SCRAPpy luck, we present DC's version of the Re:Boutique.

Modeled after the original, in Portland, OR, our collection gathers the work of 9 reuse artists who call Greater DC home. They repurpose everything from fabric, paper and glass to plaster remnants, computer components, even the magnetic tape inside a VHS cassette.

First up: creating our boutique. We've held two volunteer get-togethers to get this show on the road. At the first (with free pizza!), our team made quick work of carving out an empty space that was awfully hard to leave that way. Next, interior designer Victoria Popp donated her time (and outdated tile samples), and left us with some tremendous ideas -- some easily attainable, some that will definitely have to wait. We loved her suggestion to distinguish the boutique area from the rest by changing the wall color, accomplished at volunteer shin-dig #2, a painting party. What a nice and peppy red, from our very own stash of acrylic paints ($2 for a full pint).

Then came some furniture... miscues, we might call them. As with the exciting design ideas we don't currently have room for, we're tucking them away to be used at a later date, too. In the meantime, here we were, with extra furniture that didn't work, but where were items that would?

Well, here's where being scrappy = "da best"! A rack that was just sitting around AmericanEye, the Washington Design Center, was offered and now perfectly hugs our room's pillar (previously seen as being in our way). The base unit (not pictured) was less than $5 at Community Forklift, and with the cabinet door removed, it stores empty shopping bags and boutique surplus. The real coup is right above that at the center of our display: a 9-cubby piece someone left at our building's loading dock. It's perfect! After being bolted to the wall, it was outfitted with those tiles to make platforms of different heights. For the top, we put down a cork flooring sample from Amicus Green Building Center. Painted clementine boxes got some armchair "sleeves" that fit as just-right covers.

Time to fill it all in with our nice merchandise! We'll zoom in for a closer look at our artists' stuff as this Re:Boutique series of posts continues.

Our New Fan, A SCRAPpy Dressmaker

Recently we received these photos from Dressmaker/Fashion Designer Lena Savvoy (aleniafowlkes at yahoo dot com). They're such great examples of how to "renew" clothing that may have seen better days but still has some life in it. I thought we'd share them here and asked Lena to write up some text to accompany her work. She sent a sweet story detailing her career origins:

When I was 8-years old I asked my father for a needle and thread, and some fabric scraps to make my dolls some clothes. He was a little taken aback by my request, and he asked if I had ever made clothes for my dolls before. Of course! I had, and I showed him some of the more rudimentary items I had fashioned from headscarves, handkerchiefs and socks. Well my father was a naturally talented artist and painter, and he decided to challenge me to a contest. He got out Great Granny Katy’s big sewing tin that was full of ribbons, buttons, zippers and trim, and all the various remnants handed down through the generations. We each chose our materials and went into our separate rooms to see who could make the BEST skirt and jacket for my doll baby. Well, I knew there was absolutely no way he would win. First of all, it was my doll baby and he didn‘t play with doll babies - he was a ‘boy’. Anyway I was extra careful with my stitches, and I even put a little ribbon trim around my suit. It had buttons and button-holes, and there was no-way he was going beat me. Well when we were finally finished I was shocked! His suit was beautiful. He had chosen a beautiful fabric and a metallic-gold trim, but the best part was the elastic waist! How did he make an elastic waist from a box of scraps? He used a rubber band. My young mind exploded - and from that moment on, I knew that beautiful dresses could be made from almost anything!

These certainly are elegantly-rendered designs that show what "scraps" can become if you just use proper construction techniques and some imagination. At SCRAP DC, we think that's a winning formula whether you make clothes, home accents, or greeting cards (all of which, by the way, we now sell at our little Re:Boutique!).

Thanks for sharing these with us, Lena! And hey, blog readers! -- what do ya think? E-mail Lena if you've got a worn-out favorite that might be resuscitated, or let US know about other artists whose work you'd like featured here.