Japanese Bomaki Shibori and the French Girl...

Bomaki Shibori is a traditional Japanese dyeing technique which involves wrapping fabric tightly around a bamboo pole, sewing it in place or tying it with string, then scrunching it before dipping it into a vat of dye to create the illusion of pleats or stripes.

This Extra Small Kimono Joey is made from silk dyed in the Bomaki Shibori style.  The silk is lightly padded and lined with cotton flannel.  The belt loops and binding are dobby-weave silk.  The belt is grey wool flannel.  The spine is trimmed with Middy braid and exquisite Oriental design buttons.  

The buckle and tab buttons are Vintage Plastic with metal Oriental design embellishments.  

The French Girl wears it well...

Happy French Grain Sack Friday...!

Nothing like a fabulous wee coat 

to start the weekend off right!

French Grain Sack Joey

Petite

Cotton/hemp grain sack with grey stripes

Black and white gingham binding

Wool plaid belt and tab with linen backing

Ribbon trim is the lining of a silk bow-tie!

Hard Plastic "snakeskin" buckle

Bakelite carved "log" buttons

T.G.I.F.

The Northwest School of Animal Massage...

I recently met the folks from the

 Northwest School of Animal Massage.   

It was fascinating learning about the benefits.

  Besides an enhanced bond between pets and their people, animal massage reduces symptoms of arthritis, aids in training, builds confidence and promotes socialization, improves flexibility, helps to strengthen the immune system, promotes a healthy metabolism, improves skin and coat health, relieves separation anxiety and enhances overall quality of health for your beloveds.

See for yourself!

If Lucca is any indication, this stuff really works!

JoeysCoat's New Logo Design...!

So delighted to share the new JoeysCoat logo design!  

Thanks goes to Vashon Island's own 

Kristine Anderson Dahms of TWISTDESIGN for her thoughtful interpretation 

of the brand that is JoeysCoat!

 

Why African Fabric?

African wax print fabrics are made by printing the patterns in wax on the cloth and then dyeing the fabric. The fabric, which is 100% cotton soaks up the dye, excluding the portions where the dye was applied. The wax is broken off by machine. Patterns are then printed on the fabric again using other colours. The number of times patterns are printed on the fabric depends on the design.

 The fabrics are customised and designed to reflect local African tradition, culture and symbolisms. Many of the designs found on fabrics depict events, proverbs, persons of importance or local flora and fauna.

Because African Fabric is spectacular!

It's All In The Way You See It...

Playing with new camera angles for the product shots as we prepare for the JoeysCoat growth spurt coming this Fall...looks pretty good on this size medium Traditional Joey in black and white dogtooth tweed with rayon stripe binding, French turn-of-the-century metallic embroidered trim, marbleized plastic buckle and celluloid buttons. 

Love this coat...

V-V-V-V E R V E !

One week ago today, Kristin Thompson, of Vashon Verve came by for a peek at the JoeysCoat collection.  Kristin writes a blog, vashonverve.com, in which she shares events, sightings, and experiences she thinks are special about Vashon Island (I paraphrase!).  After our visit we went to see Dana in her studio.  There Kristin got to witness artistry at work...

 

Visit vashonverve.com to see more of Vashon Island through the eyes of Kristin Thompson...