Closing Time

After much thought, a few tears and nothing but happiness as I look back, Stitch Machine is closing its virtual doors. 

Thanks for 8 great years! It's been an amazing journey and I'm so happy to have met so many incredible people as a result of running Stitch Machine. Seasons have changed and I'm ready to take on new challenges that have been knocking for sometime. Thanks again to everyone who has supported me over the years!

*Any orders that have been placed in the last couple of days are shipped and should be arriving shortly! Please feel free to contact me at sarah@stitchmachine.net

Trees, Pets, Rock & Roll- iPhone July Photo Drop

Here are some photos I took with my iPhone this month:
⬆trees blooming in my brother's yard.⬇
⬇patriotic guy in Charlotte on july 4th
⬆ I redesigned the business cards for my mom's farm this month. She sells her goods at the Durham Farmer's Market.⬇
⬇goofy friends
⬇me & my cat cheezeburger

⬇ black baby kitty silhouette on a vintage sofa
⬇A mastiff puppy named Reese & my brother's HDMI converter.
⬇ Photo-bombing strangers at Snug Harbor. This photo showed up in a friend's Facebook feed because he was tagged playing drums. He was surprised to discover he knew the photo-bomber (me). He messaged this photo to me. It's not often you get this type of gratification.
⬇ Amigo playing at The Milestone

Dakar Textiles

Story and photos by guest blogger Amy Hanna.
Before my recent trip to Dakar, Senegal, I read a lot about it being a bustling, brightly colored example of ‘cosmopolitan Africa.’ During my stay there, I found that nothing embodied this reputation more than women’s clothing.
Walking down the street, I would pass countless numbers of women wearing custom-made outfits and head wraps sewn by skilled tailors out of traditional fabrics.

The Senegalese also have a reputation for not liking to be photographed so I wasn’t able to get as many pictures as I would have liked, but I tried to snag a few.

The designs, colors, and patterns were amazing!


The market was full of fabric shops, which were literally stacked floor to ceiling with beautiful patterns and prints.


The most common type of fabric for sale was batik wax-resist printed, a technique where wax is applied to the cloth before patterns are dyed over it. The result is a beautiful, durable, brilliant fabric, which seemed to be most commonly used for women’s clothing in Dakar. For more about the complex history of this technique and the increasing popularity of this type of fabric in fashion, read this.


Needless to say I couldn’t resist buying a few brightly colored bolts of my own to bring home. I was able to limit myself to six different designs, but it was a difficult decision: Now I just have to decide what to make with it!

-Amy


Amy has blogged here before, and is currently an English Language Fellow in Potchefstroom, South Africa. To see more of Amy's great photos, visit her Tumblr: Pedagogy in Potchefstroom.

Seeing Ybor City

While visiting my husband in Florida last week I took an afternoon trip to Tampa's historic neighborhood of Ybor City (pronounced E-bor). It was a true melting pot of the vibrant Cuban, Spanish, Italian and Eastern-European cultures. There were so many colors, aged textures, patterned tiles and a lot of wrought iron. Ya gotta be touristy in your own country every once-in-awhile, and I felt like the quintessential American tourist with my sneakers, backpack, sunglasses and camera. ⬆ Can't cage these bad ass street chickens. ➡ Here is how Ybor City originated, according to Wikipedia:
Ybor City was founded as an independent town in 1885 by a group of cigar manufacturers led by Vicente Martinez-Ybor. The original population was mostly composed of Cuban and Spanish immigrants who worked in the cigar factories. Italian and Eastern-European Jewish immigrants following shortly thereafter, predominantly founding retail shops, farms and grocery stores, and other businesses which catered to the cigar industry. The city was annexed by, and became part of, Tampa in 1887. ⬆ The colors and pattern of the tile floor of La Creperia Café really struck me. Wouldn't this be a beautiful fabric pattern? ⬆Do I really have to say it? ⬇I'm adding this to my "inspirational color pallet" file!
Ybor's familiar revitalization story reminds me of the neighbor hood where I live, Plaza Midwood. The timeline isn't exactly the same, but the events are.
Ybor saw late 19th and early 20th century prosperity, followed by a steep decline after the Great Depression. Years of decay and crime in the 50s/60s and failed Urban Renewal initiatives by the city in the 70s left a shell of a town with dirt cheap property values. After re-inhabitation by artists in the 80s/90s there was economic recovery and growth by the early 2000s and soon a vibrant restaurant & nightlife presence arose. Pair that with mid-income habitation by a young & hip crowd, and finally you have an area attractive to high income housing developers and inevitable gentrification by wealthy residents of all ages.
The bad thing is that if you get just a few blocks off of Ybor's trendy 7th street, there are people living in poverty. I clearly saw this on my drive into Ybor and my walk around. The new economic growth has left many of the long-time residents out (either pushed them out or just forgot them), which is true where I live also. Moving on to lighter subjects... ⬆My husband and his co-worker cutting up.

⬆⬇Some parts are obviously newer but are still interesting.