Announcing the First Book from NYC's Mood Fabrics!

Readers, we're going to Mood!

STC Craft is thrilled to be publishing the first book from Mood Designer Fabrics, The Mood Guide to Fashion and Fabrics. Mood is one of the world's pre-eminent fabric emporiums, revered among DIYers and fashion designers for its expert staff and breathtakingly broad range of high-quality fabrics. Mood's flagship NYC store has also become famous as the fabric home of Project Runway (fans of the show will recognize Tim Gunn's catchphrase "Thank you, Mood!").

You can imagine our excitement when first meeting with Mood's team—we even got to pet Swatch, the adorable store mascot! We're honored that they've chosen to publish with STC Craft and we're eager to dig in. Imagine: it is now our job to immerse ourselves in beautiful silks, cottons, wools, and more as we learn everything we can about the fabrics that make fashion happen.

The Mood Guide to Fashion and Fabrics will be the next best thing to visiting the store in person. We're working with Mood's incredible team to combine their vast amount of fabric and fashion know-how with practical sewing tips and a gold-mine of insider design advice. The book will be written by Meg McDonald, popular sewing blogger and Mood's resident fabric-holic and sewing fanatic, and will include a foreword by Tim Gunn.

The Mood Guide to Fashion and Fabrics will hit stores in Spring 2015, and while that date seems a long way off, we know it'll be worth the wait. In the meantime, you can follow Mood and STC Craft on social media for updates and the occasional sneak peek. Excited about our new project? Tell us in the comments section what you'd like to see in the book. We'd love to hear from you.

Take a Craftcation!

 

Join STC Craft Publishing Director Melanie Falick at Craftcation 2013! Brimming with DIY and small business workshops, panel discussions, and Q&A sessions, the Craftcation: Indie Business and DIY Craft Conference is the perfect crafty respite to ignite the entrepreneurial spirit. Both seasoned business owners and newcomers to indie business alike are getting together in Ventura, CA from March 21-24 to hone their craft, food, and small business skills (and have a dance party!). So if you're planning to be in the area, or are just looking for an excuse to be, it's not too late to grab tickets.

And don't forget to stop by and say hello to Melanie at Knitting 101 or How to Get Your Craft Writing Published. We hope to see you there!

Melanie Falick on Creativebug

I would venture to say we’re not the only ones with creative resolutions for the new year. If learning a new skill is high on your list, then taking an online crafting class with our friends over at Creativebug will get you on your way! Joining the ranks of talented craft mavens (and STC alums) Natalie Chanin, Liesl Gibson, Kata Golda, Gretchen Hirsch, Kristin Nicholas, Heather Ross, Debbie Stoller, and Creativebug editorial director Kelly Wilkinson, our talented STC Craft Publishing Director Melanie Falick is offering tutorials for beaded leather wrap bracelets, yarn dyeing, and DIY knitting needles.

And for your daily dose of inspiration, be sure to check out how Melanie has made a career out of her love of making things and desire to help women tell their stories in this lovely video introduction.

Creative Resolutions for 2013

Photo: Thayer Allyson Gowdy from The Shape of Knitting by Lynne Barr

Every January, there's the usual chatter about New Year's resolutions--ways to cut back, shape up, and make changes that often feel more like chores. This year, the STC Craft team decided to frame our 2013 goals as "creative resolutions." Inspiring, right? Here's what we came up with:

Melanie, Publishing Director
My goal this year is to simply to spend more time being creative with my friends and family. More afternoons chatting and creating, hopefully even some weekends away together. Add in some tea or wine, some fresh air, laughter, maybe a little yoga. Perfection!

Liana, Senior Editor
I recently saw a photo for this really cute toddler sweater on Pinterest, but it's from a Finnish blog and the instructions (if there are any) are not in English. So, I want to try to make up a pattern so I can replicate the sweater! (Here's a link to some sketches on my blog.)
I also want to spend a lot more time writing this year, and possibly maybe even start keeping an art journal! (Art Doodle Love has inspired me…)
Finally, I want to work on cleaning up my creative space. I suspect there will be a major fabric purge in the new year, and a lot less clutter. (How many pincushions do I need??)

Cristina, Editorial Assistant
I'm so wonderfully lucky to work somewhere I get to be creative everyday, but I'd love to make an effort to set aside more time for creative pursuits at home. And I'm determined to learn how to knit! No more excuses, especially with all the great knitters around here to show me the way.

Michelle, Executive Director of Marketing + Publicity
My creative goals for 2013 are to finish my striped knitted-felted bag, a large project that I would love complete and start to use this winter; to find time to try my new guache brushes—they've been sitting and taunting me!—and lastly, I owe a nice knitted project to my colleagues! Lots of fun stuff to do.

Ellie, Marketing Manager
This year my goal is to spend more time seeing and reading about art. Over the holidays, I visited the new Philadelphia campus of the Barnes Foundation. The museum is famous for a number of reasons (here's a primer) and if you ever find yourself in Philly, it's a must-see! The eclectic, offbeat collection has a single mission: art as everyday experience. I left inspired, excited, and with a long list of artists to investigate.

Traci, Publicist
I love to paint old furniture and give it a brand new look. My 5-year old son spends many weekends in the garage/workshop with me "working," with his kiddie washable paint-set in hand. This year I want to encourage him further and provide him with his own project – a small nightstand. I'll be there to guide him but I can't wait to see what he can do!

Looking Back + Looking Forward with Kaffe

One of the highlights of my year was celebrating the publication of Kaffe Fassett's autobiography: Kaffe Fassett: Dreaming in Color. Kaffe spent much of his childhood in Big Sur, California, where his parents built the famous Nepenthe restaurant. The wild California coastline and the bohemian cast of characters who passed through Nepenthe made a significant impact on Kaffe's view of the world and so, when it was time to organize a book tour, we knew we wanted to have an event there. And I knew I wanted to attend the celebration! Kaffe shared the news with his family, and they welcomed me so warmly that I felt like I somehow belonged. I had spent hundreds of hours working on the book and then, before my eyes, it seemed to come to life. Everything was new to me yet it was familiar--the original log cabin, the artwork on the walls, the food, the landscape, the view, the people. I snapped a bunch of photos with my phone. They don't provide a comprehensive look at the event or the place but I do hope they portray the joy of the experience!

 

Above: Kaffe signing books. Despite a pretty serious rainstorm, friends, family, and fans happily made the trip to the celebration.

Above: The signing took place inside the Phoenix Shop at Nepenthe. The two-story shop sells a selection of Kaffe's work as well as the work of other family memebers, plus an eclectic treasure trove of clothing, jewelry, homewares, and books. That's Kaffe's niece Erin at top right, his sister Holly on the left side of the second row, and his partner Brandon and niece Winona in the bottom center.

Above: Around the idyllic property. That's me in the pink sweater, and Kaffe and his niece Romney in the bottom row. Behind that painted wooden fence is the original log cabin, where family members still reside. At top center is Cafe Kevah, another casual eatery on the property. As soon as we arrived Romney ordered me a glass of Gary's Lucia Pinot Noir from a nearby vineyard. Seven hundred feet above the Pacific, the scene was set. Perfection I will never forget.

And so, it is with this special memory at the forefront of my mind, that I look back at 2012 with gratitude and look forward to 2013 with hope.

Happy New Year!