Formerly every Saturday at Micheltorena Elementary School, the “Silver Lake Art, Craft & Vintage” flea market will now take place the last weekend of every month, both Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am until 4:00 pm.

While I don’t know the specific reasons for the change, I have visited this flea market on several occasions and always found it lacking in vendors. The space is large enough and the vendors that are there have a decent selection, but to draw a crowd, I think they simply need more. Perhaps moving the fair from every Saturday to just one weekend a month will encourage more vendors to participate. I also think it would be more appealing if they offered a broader selection of “arts” and “crafts” vendors, as it is mostly just vintage clothing. I love shopping for vintage clothing, but if you’re going to bill something as “Art, Craft & Vintage,” you might want to strive to carry an equal selection of those things.

For more information on the fair, visit their web site at silverlakeartcraftvintage.com.

Inside Home Ec.'s Beautifully Organized Space (Photo courtesy of Jenny Ryan. Some rights reserved).

This post is a bit tardy, but I’ve been in detention like all year.

One of my favorite local DIY mavens recently opened Home Ec., an adorable retail space located in the heart of Sunset Junction in Silver Lake.

Just standing on the sidewalk, peering into Home Ec.’s warm, holiday decorated window, my fingers start to twitch as I spy a studious row of sewing machines, colorful bolts of fabric, neatly organized cubbies filled with yarns and spacious work tables inside. Home Ec. is not just a sewing and craft workshop, it’s a dream workshop that I hope to replicate in my own home some day.

The store offers fabrics and yarns, sewing patterns, books, craft kits and even some exclusive products that you will only find in the store. They also host classes ranging from sewing and fiber arts to paper crafting and glasswork.

Home Ec. owner Jenny Ryan is the creator of the hugely popular Felt Club. She’s also an occasional blogger for CRAFT and Apartment Therapy LA, and the author of Sew Darn Cute: 30 Sweet & Simple Projects to Sew & Embellish. Read the rest of this entry →

Crafters and craft enthusiasts, this is your moment!

This weekend is the Los Angeles premiere of Handmade Nation, presented to you by the good folks at Cinefamily.

In addition to screening the film, they’re having a mini-craft fair at the premiere and a Q+A with the director, plus  live silkscreening demos.

Saturday, August 15th
12:00 premiere $25 (includes swag bag)
7:00 $12

Sunday, August 16th, all screenings $12
3:00, 5:00, 7:00 & 9:00

Read the rest of this entry →

Handmade flowers from Cathy of California

Local craft goddess Cathy of California is slated to appear on Martha Stewart on Wednesday, March 11th.

She’ll be extolling the virtues of none other than Lily Pulitzer, in honor of Lily’s 50th anniversary.

Cathy will be wearing vintage Lily, and making some vintage inspired flowers on a flower loom as well as talking about 60s – 70s crafts.

Check your local listings on Martha.com!

American Apparel is too goddamn expensive.

I remember when American Apparel first started up and they were all up in that “fair wages, fair day’s work” thang. Then the whole thing transitioned into cracked-out seemingly-underage models posing with that pouty, poufy “I just got hit in the face by a brick” look, and seems like people forgot a lot of the labor issues. I hear a lot about how AA is no longer such an industry leader in terms of fair labor practices, and now that I’m looking for reasonably priced tees, I’m quite stymied.

You see, inspired by recent crafty things like Felt Club & Unique LA, I decided to get back to handpainting tees like I did a long-ass time ago. But I need shirts. Shirts I can AFFORD. American Apparel is not affordable–not in any volume, at least. There are these shirts from No Sweat, but they’re still too pricy for me, unless I plan on selling these shirts for a fricken’ mint.

Now, I used to hear about there being one day a week when you could go down to the AA plant on Alameda and root through their slightly-wonky seconds: you know, the color was a little off, or a seam wasn’t perfectly straight. And these were discounted. Dear lazyweb, does that day still exist?

Or are there, somewhere out there, low-cost sweat-free shirts, just waiting for me to discover them?

Halp, Los Angeles! Halp! I ask here because I know there are a lot of other crafty ladies out there who’ve asked the same question, and also because I want sweat-free operations to have a chance to sound off in a public forum if they can offer me a good solution.

As if Saturday wasn’t going to be batshit crazy already (sorry, Santacon‘s sleigh passes are sold out), the Old Bank District is partnering with Little Radio for their annual holiday event, which’ll have a beer garden & cocktail bar, a holiday light installation, an art and gift bazaar, tasty specials at the local restaurants and live indie bands curated by the geniuses behind Little Radio, plus a live jazz band in Harlem Place Alley next to Lost Souls Cafe.

Blogdowntown scooped this info first thing but I thought I’d republish it here in case anyone doesn’t check BDT regularly (you should).