The Jr. Cowboy...

About a year ago, our dear friends Tami and Rob Renno found a 1904 farmhouse with a view of Quartermaster Harbor on the portion of the Island known as Dockton.  The house came with an old rusty bus tucked away in a back corner of the garden and the Rusty Bus Farm came to be.

Tami is a collector and seller of all things vintage.  Her grandmother's settee along with a chandelier and the rusty bus made for perfect props for a JoeysCoat photo shoot.  Between the two of us we managed to wrangle her Boston Terriers, Lola and Bo with Sass and Fiona long enough to get some wonderful images of the four of them in coats. 

"Bo" exhausted, "Sass" ballet toes turned out, "Lola" channeling Garbo and "Fiona" looking for trouble!

Dana designed a very special glen plaid coat using an old remnant of braid embroidered with the words "Jr. Cowboy".  Originally she had chosen leather buttons for the tab, however I remembered a set of pewter buttons shaped like Sheriff's stars I'd come across in a grab-bag button purchase.  The leather buttons quickly came off and the Sheriff's stars were sewn in their place.  It was serendipitous.  Now the coat truly is a Jr. Cowboy.

"Bo" resting in Jr. Cowboy.  The belt is a wee bit long for his frame so we're off to Dana's studio for a custom fitting.  That's "Sass" in the background in a lightweight wool plaid paired with a dark green antique velvet belt.  The belt loops are made of gold braid that Dana found in a flea market in Paris forty years ago!

Stay tuned for more from The Rusty Bus Farm...

Photo Day Finale!

It's been nearly a month since I last posted.  What began as a common cold, quickly turned to pneumonia and I indulged in much needed rest.  The only challenge that comes with rest is the time it took away from my "day job" and the daunting catch-up work that followed.  All the while only wanting to think about JoeysCoat.

I am back, healthy, invigorated and ready to resume where I left off!  Fortunately, Dana's creativity and productivity never wained.  Additionally, Island Artist Mike Urban completed the prototype for the coat stands that will serve as "mannequins" to display the coats for the eCommerce site.  The stands are on their own, beautiful works of art.  The coats, tiny treasures.  It doesn't get any better.

Before the unveiling of the most current photos of the coats, I feel compelled to complete the photo shoot images my friend and Island Photographer Kari Davidson shot back in June.  The final two Island dogs are fixtures at their respective businesses.

Sophie and her humans, Sylvia Matlock and Ross Johnson are the creative owners of DIG, Vashon Island's destination nursery.  On any given day, one can view Sophie lounging on a garden settee upon entering into the magical garden that is DIG.

Marty has just celebrated his first year at Treasure Island, a unique store with an eclectic mix of all things vintage.  I visit the store and it's owner Marci often, forever in search of something special for JoeysCoat.  Rarely do I leave empty handed.

"Sophie" playing on the lawn at DIG

"Marty" and Marci at Treasure Island

Thank you to everyone for a brilliant day of photos!

Photo Day!...Fiona Meets Her Match

"Look strange lady, you're not
 the boss of me".

"If this big lug thinks he's gonna upstage me,

 he can think again!"

  Thank you to Orson

and the humans who love him...

More Photo Day!

Next Stop: Catch the Ferry to West Seattle to meet Orson

I find myself constantly in search of a treasure to recycle for JoeysCoat.  What I consider a treasure could be an old button, or perhaps an obscure celluloid buckle; maybe a scrap of wool in a color or pattern unlike anything I have ever found. 

One day, while on my quest, I met a couple with a very big male Bully named Orson.  I told the couple about the JoeysCoat project and they agreed to share their beautiful boy for the photo shoot.  We made a date and with Fiona in tow, I was off to meet Orson on the Ferry.

As Orson is not your typical Frenchy, Dana created a wonderful JoeysCoat, custom-made to his magnificent proportions (compared by his owners to that of a bulldozer due to the circumference of his neck and length of his spine being one in the same).

It was a beautiful day for a boat ride in a French grainsack coat...

 "When is my day off?"

 "My signature pose...

  shows off my 

  best side."       

            

Photo Day!

First Stop: Happy Apple Eggs on Vashon Island



"Kirby" and friends...



From the beginning of Spring to the end of

Fall,Vashon Island growers sell their harvest on

the "green" in the heart of town.

Ava Apple brings dozens of pastel blue, green,

brown and golden eggs each week to sell. 

If you don't get there when the bells chime,

you may go home without. 



The farm is at the top of a rise surrounded by ancient Madrona and Evergreen trees. The chickens roam free in the pasture by day and are tucked away safely at dusk in their ever-expanding coop.  It is quiet except for the occasional Rooster crowing and peeping chicks...absolutely lovely.



Ava Apple with "Woody"

"Woody"



 

Ava graciously allowed us to photograph her

Chihuahuas in petite JoeysCoats. 

A good time was had by all...except, perhaps, Woody.

 

Thank you, Ava!



What is Masterful Sewing?

A testimonial from one of Dana's clients...

"Dana Lazare is truly an artist.  She worked patiently with me to turn my notebook sketch into just the dress I hoped for.  Some of my most treasured memories of preparing for the wedding are fittings in Dana's delightful Vashon Island studio, where the wood stove crackled and Dana carefully pinned and unpinned, insisting on getting every detail exactly right.  Dana doesn't just build clothing that is technically superb; she weaves love and art into each piece she creates."

I have witnessed the experience described in this quote...the only difference is instead of fitting a bride, Dana was fitting a little dog...

The Creative Process...

This weekend we take the first photographs of the dog models in JoeysCoat samples for the website.

It has been an incredible journey lasting nearly a year and a half; one that began with a barter.  My partner, a Journeyman Electrician would upgrade the electrical in our longtime friends' home in exchange for sewing.

To translate what you see in your head to what you hold in your hand is an enormous challenge for both the dreamer and the producer.  There was no pattern, no measurements, no instructions - Carrie and I made it up as we went along.  Our common goal - to create JoeysCoat.

Serendipitously, my amazing friend Candy, an esthetist on the Island encouraged me to show the coats to her friend Dana Lazare.  Dana lives just up the road from my home and Joey and I walked past her property nearly every day. 

Dana is quite modest; the truth is she has been masterfully sewing for over forty years.  Among her many clients is the Designer Elsie Katz for whom she sewed exclusively wedding gowns.  As fate would have it, the coats would come to Dana for the finer touches that make them a true work of art.

Dana fitting "Sass" in a French grain sack coat in her studio.

Dana has embraced JoeysCoat...and I am grateful.