Must be a slow news day.

So I had tea today with the viper fish. I had green tea and the viper fish had chiffon cake. All was well. Until...

...rumblerumblerumbleRUMBLErumblermblerumble...

5.4 on the Richter scale.

When the café is atop a parking garage, 5.4 feels like 5.8.

Anyway, nothing happened here in Los Angeles. I was getting calls from Germany about an hour after the earthquake happened. Folks, it was no big deal. Must be a slow news day in Deutschland. Energy along the faults released: That's a good thing. That makes the next BIG ONE smaller. Thank you for your calls and emails.

But, yeah, I did stock up on water and freshened up the granola bars in the earthquake kit.

Just when I thought I was safe...

...from two-tailed blue-haired kung fu monkeys...



...a viper fish invites me to tea.





DVD recommendation. So cool. Nature is so freakin' awesome.

In dem Augenblick, worin ich dachte, ich brauche mich vor zwei-schanzigen, blauhaarigen Kung-Fu-Äffchen nicht weiter zu fürchten, werde ich zum Tee beim Viperfisch eingeladen.

DVD Empfehlung.

News from the garage

Whodda guessed there was a BIG difference between a PDF 1.7 and a PDF 1.8? Well, there is. At least concerning the printing of FELIZ there is. Long story short: FELIZ is printed. It's in English. It's here in my garage. Send me an email if you'd like to place an order. I'm sorry about the wait. Like I said, PDF Schmee Dee Eff 1.7...Schmee Dee Eff 1.8... FELIZ has been very popular in Europe. I'm really honored and humbled to know that this dress has been sewn to be flower girl dresses and many first-day-of-school dresses ("first day of school" is kind of a big deal in Germany).



In addition, behind a surfboard and a bike I also have a box of SOLANA trouser patterns in English in the garage. That's right, SOLANA. For a long time, I did not want to print this pattern in the United States. I'm not an IP attorney, so the understandings and assumptions I've been using to protect my designs may be right and they may be wrong. So I don't want to explain my reasoning. Anyway, I understand my designs have a little more protection in Europe. I could be wrong, but that's how I'm rolling these days. To really keep an idea protected on this side of the pond, a patent is helpful. So I've applied for patents on a few designs, including SOLANA (patent pending--I can write that now). Let's see how much luck I have there.



As it is, I have SOLANA (patent pending) in English for sale. I really like this design. When I look at SOLANA (patent pending), the words of dear Toni come to mind, "When I first opened that pattern, I said, 'Nancy is a crackhead.'" Now, to say that like Toni, say "crack-haid". But she likes the pattern and has made some really great SOLANA (patent pending) trousers. Better than mine, for sure! SOLANA (patent pending) is different from any sewing pattern you've ever seen, but that's what makes these one-of-a-kind trousers. Swoopy, swishy, curvy, crazy: Not for shrinking violets. Little tip: Use twills or cords on this one, something with a warp face weave to ease you around all those curves. Percales and quilting cottons tend to pucker in those upper curves.

Go ask your authorized Farbenmix & fledge retailer.

What does it take to photograph a pair of jeans?

I thought you might get a kick out of this.

A number of you sew to sell. And to sell, you will take photographs of your creations to post in your auctions and online shops. Some of you create absolutely beautiful images, images which capture light, expression, a story and the article of clothing. You'll incorporate props and design sets. And very often, you'll come up with something that looks like it came right out of a catalog. And you do that all on your own.

A buddy of ours is a child model and actor. He's been in a number of television commercials and in print ads. He's a totally rad little dude (he doesn't just play one on TV).

Anyway, his mother wanted to share these images with us to help us ponder the question, "What does it take to photograph a pair of jeans?" This friend reports that there were "the photographer and his two assistants, the make up artist & her assistant, a couple of stylists--one for set, one for clothes & their assistants--two animal wranglers & a bunch of other people whose jobs I could never describe" (I like to read that to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas"). In addition, it takes the rent on a Malibu villa. And don't forget catering! Our totally rad little buddy is at the low end of the pay scale at $100/hour, four hours guaranteed (let's keep that quiet: My girl usually is paid in Hello Kitty stickers). So, if we extrapolate, that the rest of those people are paid at least $100/hour... I don't think I can calculate that exactly, but I do think I've just shed some light on the question of how a pair of jeans can cost 200 Euro.

This particular advertisement is for some Italian jeans. A bunch of these people were speaking Italian, so that means that a bunch of these people flew over from Italy to Los Angeles to take the picture of a pair of jeans.

I'm not at liberty to mention the manufacturer, lest it be discovered that white polo shirts and jeans were going to be sold in Italy in the near future. Sshhhh....

The two-tailed blue-haired kung fu monkey from outer space

The early bird gets the worm.

But I like to sleep in. So this I get this creature. At about 6:30, the two-tailed blue-haired kung fu monkey from outer space jumps on my bed Trinity-from-the-Matrix-style and busts out with all kinds of crazy wushu moves.





Okay, okay. I'm getting up. I'm getting up.

By the sea...

...is good to be!

How exactly is that supposed to work?

I get a package with this note.



The box I get is chock full of Haribo and a stack of fabrics. Including this one. This is such a beautiful textile.



It's this border photo print. Just spectacular. I know exactly what I want to make out of it. Actually, I want to make about three things from it. No: five things. And this leaves me to make difficult choices. Very difficult decisions. And I'm supposed to relax? How am I supposed to do that? I'm riding a sugar rush and have gorgeous fabrics in my grasp! Relax? Ha! You've put me to work! There's also some lovely creams and a scented shower gel included in the box, which is also very considerate, because my personal hygiene could very well suffer given the circumstances.


Thank you, Chris: I know you meant well.

Helmut, Linda and Georgio...

...Newton, Evangelista and Armani, my 7-year-old girl and I, respectively,  are, respectfully, not.

But we try.

...Newton, Evangelista und Armani sind beziehungsweise meine sieben-jährige Tochter und ich in keinsterweise.

Aber wir bemühunen uns.

How do you like my jacket? It is an idea in progress. I was playing with the idea of a long blazer with feminine touches, like the bits of gathering at the waist and hem.
Wie gefällt die Jacke? Sie ist eine im Bau befindliche Idee. Ich habe mit der Idee eines langen Blazers mit femininen Details, wie z.B. das bißchen Eingekräuselte am Saum und an der Taille, gespielt.
I also wanted a simple one-piece collar/jacket front panel. And I'm pretty pleased with how that pattern piece turned out. I also forewent the collar band. Shouldna. Should have added that little collar band around the back of the neck. Yeah, it really would have helped the lay of the collar. No shortcuts there that I know of.
Gewollt war ein einfaches (dann gedoppelt) einteiliges Kragen/Jackenvorderteil-Schnittmusterteil. Zufrieden bin ich mit dem Teil. Auf einen Kragenband habe ich versichtet. Nicht die beste Idee. Der Kragen hätte besser mit gelegen.
I vented the back. I think I'll try more of a swing coat in the back. It would be simpler to sew and have Schwung. Must have Schwung.
Der Rücken ist geschlizt. Das nächste Mal probiere ich doch mit mehr Schwingteilen. Das wäre einfacher zum Nähen und hätte mehr Schwung. Schwung muß sein.

So: Hot or not? Keep going or forgetaboutit?
Also: Gut order nicht gut? Weitermachen oder liegenlassen?

What we leave behind

We went to the "premier" of WALL•E. Cute movie, no doubt. I can't think of a cuter way to portray a post-apocalyptic world covered in toxic waste. Because it was the "premier", the beautiful El Capitan theater in Hollywood handed out on the way in plastic buckets of popcorn and plastic soda bottles. On the way out, the ushers handed each of us WALL•E LED watches. Come on: For real? Didn't we just watch an hour and forty minutes of Pixar very cutely convincing us to wean ourselves from thoughtless consumer waste? Whatever.

So, this Internet is telling me these buckets will biodegrade in somewhere between 1000 and 1 million years (nobody's been able to watch the decomposition in real time). And there is the note that the decomposition time will decrease as the Earth's temperature rises. See? Global warming is not all bad: We might get a plastic bottle to disappear in a few hundred years, if we bring the surface temperature up to 150 degrees.

Did you know there is an island of plastic floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean that is the size of the State of Texas? Or twice the size? Or twice the size of the United States? I kind of doubt that last estimation. But the size of Texas is big enough in my opinion. No doubt some WALL•E popcorn buckets will somehow make their way out there to make it the size of Texas plus two buckets.



Nothing against Johnny Depp's hand and foot prints in the cement in front of Grumman's Chinese Theater. I like them just fine. As for me, though, I hope I don't leave too much of a lasting mark on the Earth.



And, yes, this butterfly landed on my son and stayed there. I've mentioned the strange way he attracts butterflies before.