Remember this? Still in Toronto, the Floral Lasso totes were only a few stitches in. Now back on the west coast, I finally made time to finish them. I love the fabrics so much, it took me a while to source them out. I love the wooden swan charms I had made for them too. More on those later.

The last work in progress shots taken at my second cousin’s place while I waited for my new apartment, mixed in with some really pretty photos of her growing up …

My cousin in amazing mary janes. I’ll post this big on Flickr.

Whipstitching on the handles… like a floral frankenstein. It makes me nuts in a good way doing stuff like this. Just the idea of embroidery thread matching or complimenting a fabric, and making something in such a basic and really functional way. Love it.

My cousin at boarding school.

A lot of whip stitching. Which I enjoy doing. I did some simple embroidery too.

The front door peep hole grill thing.

Edit and here is that sweet but really sad scene with the girl and the flower, from the 1931 Frankenstein film.

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Thank you very much for pics…
White Lightning – Topshop . Stay Fancy Free . Blog Full of Jelly . Curves To Kill – Teer Wayde . Porkchop Rules . A Fluffy Blog . annaliviaplurabelle . Mia Regine …sock garters and thigh high garters definitely have range.

And a few more recent interviews, bloggings, press…
The Globe and Mail – Lingerie too pretty to cover up . Mischief My Dear . Fashion Daydreams . inaccessory . tfs – Trend: Sock Garters by Sarah Joynt …thanks for the pixels people. That last kindly article talks about me like I am a sock garter instigator. Maybe I am?

More press gatherings- 1, 2, 3, 4 {just keep scrolling through this last one}.

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i guess i am still in a big city so i will keep posting these tiny, maybe inane, sometimes helpful sewing tips…

there are times when my sewing is getting the better of me. like i worry i can’t nail the topstitching i need to do on a finicky piece of leather. i get really tense, sort of shy away from the work as i sew, and feel a separation from it. but then i realized i had to do the opposite. the classic “tell it who’s boss” approach was the way to go. and i relax into my sewing, remember feeling confidant and sew. that’s the attack part. try it, it works. and at the very least it helps.

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Cream lace & pink lace, the newest SWANclothing floral lace sock garters in the store now. And here’s another link to my tutorial about how to make your nylons any height you need. Xo from me. {P.S. that tennis girl looks kind of like a tennis playing villain doesn’t she? Found her in a thrift store, and really liked her.}

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I made a The Wind in the Willows etsy treasury… you can see it here.

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More photo love for SWANclothing summer lace sock garters! Pics from Rebecca’s “Lace For A Lady, Letters For A Spy“ blog entry on The Clothes Horse. I tweeted oh so happily about these yesterday. Something about them making my Monday, but I have to change that, they make my week and more, more, more. Thank you Rebecca. And what a beautiful title too. I need a program to randomly generate fabulous blog entry titles for me. Will someone build that please?

There are more great close-up photos of the summer lace sock garters from Rebecca too, I will post them soon.

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don’t ask to explain! though i probably will. but i am now back on the west coast. my life is emphatically and unexpectedly about sock garters these days and i had to do whatever i could to take care of SWANclothing as best i could. so here i am. there are some other rather annoying reasons why i am back on the west coast but at the moment all i see is blue sky and sushi!

my temporary view… suburbs you say? not quite but almost!

some random nearby niceties…

soon i’ll have a new yet old victorian pad. i look forward to that. i sort of feel like a sewing hobo. my situation is so mobile that sometimes i wonder if i should just keep going. hmmm.

i also wanted to say a huge thank you to the clients who waited extra time for their orders while i moved back here. the sweetness of you all out there continues to blow me away. and if i don’t answer all your kind notes that come in with your orders {i try to!} i just wanted to say thank you amazing people you make me so very happy!!!

i have some new designs coming and as promised totes….. orders always do come first but i really want to share these new designs with you.

ok, much {big!} xo to you all. sorry for lack of blogging, apart from endless sock garterizms, i’ll be around a bit more now.

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Rumi Tweet ‘cuz it’s sweet!

click for big. if you want. bye for now and xo.

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I recognized Rumi’s name when she ordered her thigh high garters but sometimes a girl just has to play it cool! But I was very excited that she got them. And now that I see the photos I am even more pleased.

And in Rumi’s words on fashiontoast… “light as a feather stiff as a board“.

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Alo! I’ve been a bit quiet out here. I have to blog this before it is too late… a SWANclothing summer lace sock garter giveaway through Westervin. I really like Sarah’s blog and she sweetly inquired a bit about me too…

So why did you choose to name your company SWANclothing?
I think my company may be full of contradictions. The swan reference is one of them. A favorite movie of mine since I was a little girl is Phantom of the Paradise. It’s a really dark, kitsch 70s rock opera by Brian DePalma based on the story of Faust. It’s not soft and romantic or very swan-ish at all. Swan is a character. I really wanted my name to be Swan.

Read more if you like and comment {etc} for your choice of summer lace sock garters. Bye for now!

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