New table and shelves!

Over the duration of only a couple days, Erica used her mad skills to build a beautiful new table and shelves for the Garnish boutique! Not only does Erica have an impeccable sense for design, but she also loves power tools and knows how to use them like a pro! Who knew?!

Make sure you stop in soon to see these beauties in person.

Last Minute Shopping Ideas

We have Sweaters!!! These one of a kind handmade sweaters are now available and make for wonderful gifts!

Left: Grey/navy Sasha Sweater $96

Right: Brown/tan Sasha Sweater $96

We also have lots of new jewelry and can work with you to custom design that special piece you've been looking for!

Pssst! Don't forget about out 12 day of Christmas Countdown! Today is buy 2 pairs of tights and get 1 free! Monday will be $10 off any belt! Stay tuned....

12 Days of Christmas at Garnish

Beginning on the 12th of December we will start our countdown for the 12 days of Christmas! Each day we will be offering a special something or discount which will be announced here on our blog and in our store window.

Spoiler Alert!

The first day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

all silk dupioni at 30% off!

Be here Sunday December 13th for this special Holiday Deal!

KPTV Makeovers!

We had a lot of fun participating in the KPTV makeovers of two local women, Mary and Sarah. Mary's makeover was revealed on November 18th. You can watch it here:
http://www.kptv.com/video/21655879/index.html

The second makeover will air Wednesday, Dec. 2 @ 1:15pm and 1:45pm on KPTV. Don't miss it!
Garnish donated two dresses for the makeover and the women plan to wear them to their upcoming holiday parties!

Garnish Charity Party

The kick off to our charity party was a great success! Thank you to everyone who came out to support us and Hope dolls. I think we speak for everyone when we say that the live music performed by Fred, Kevin, Garrett was so much fun! Also, a big thanks to Sweet Thing coffeehouse and bakery on the corner of Martin Luther King Blvd and Alberta for their generous cookie donations. If you haven't had the opportunity to taste their baked goods, we highly recommend paying them a visit!

Artist: Eunsuk Hur

Eunsuk Hur is a textile artist using laser cutting and various printing processes to create pieces that are versatile in function and purpose. Her work references ideas of sustainability through this multi-functional nature. Many pieces transform from one form to another such as an item of clothing growing into a wall decoration, or a handbag that folds on and out of itself to take a new shape. Take a look at her beautiful images! http://www.eunsukhur.com/

Holiday Charity Kick off Party

Its time to get into the holiday giving spirit! You are invited to join us for the Garnish clothing and fund drive kick off party benefiting Hope Dolls, a local nonprofit providing programs and goods to abused and neglected children and offering services to help them gain independent life skills. There will be live music, food, and drinks! During the party Garnish is offering 20% off your entire purchase with the donation of a gently used clothing item. Additionally, Garnish will donate 10% of your purchase to Hope Dolls! Be there to make a difference, shop great new styles, and enjoy some partying fun!

If you can't make it to the party, don't fret, you can still donate and receive a 10% discount on any regularly priced item in the store through December 10th! Garnish will also donate 10% of the sale to Hope Dolls. We hope to fill the entire front window with donated clothing!

Check our blog or stop by the shop to check on our progress.

Celebrate America Recycles Day with this Crafty Idea!

Oh how we hate to part with things at Garnish. Sometimes it comes back to bite us as we wade through piles and piles of scrap fabric wondering where to store it all, but mostly we love repurposing anything with an ounce of "possibility" that is waved under our noses! That is why we rejoice in the thought of America Recycles Day on November 15th.

In the spirit of the holiday, we thought we'd let you in on a secret project that make great use of some items other folks might be tempted to pitch. Keep reading to see how to grant new life to old pillows, linens and buttons.

Create a Fun New Pillow

Repurpose Vintage Linens, Buttons, and even an old Pillow Form (if you have one)

You will need:

• Pillow form (perhaps one laying around that currently sports an ugly cover)
• Fabric to cover the form front and back (again, if it's recycled it's that much cooler)Vintage linen - a tablecloth, napkin, pillow case, or tea towel would work (stains and all)
• Vintage buttons, or the extra buttons they give you when you buy something nice that the buttons might pop off of one day
• Ribbon
• Thread
• Sewing Machine (unless you are WAY more patient than we are)
• Measuring Tape
• Scissors

We are going to make a pillow with a 2" flange/ruffle around the edge like a Euro Sham. The back will have 2 pieces of fabric that overlap 1.5" and close with buttons and ribbon loops.

Step 1. - Measure your pillow form from edge to edge with a fabric measuring tape.

Step 2. - Cut one piece of fabric (the pillow front) to be 5" wider and longer than your pillow form (so if you pillow form is 24" h x 28 w" you would cut the piece to be 29" x 33"). This allows for a 2" flange and 1/2" seam allowance on each side.

Step 3. - Cut 2 back pieces according to the following... The height should be 5" more than the height of your form (for flange and seam allowance). The width should be half the width of the pillow form plus 4.5" (flange and seam allowance plus 1.5" for closure overlap and another 1/2" for seams allowance on the closure side).

Step 4. - Cut out a piece of your linen that you like and pin it to the front piece of your fabric where you would like it. Zig-Zag stitch around the edge of it to secure.

Step 5. - With one of your back pieces on the side of the back that will form the button closure turn under edge 1/4", press, turn under again 1/4" and stitch down. Repeat with the other side.

Step 6. - Sew on your buttons so the egdes of the buttons are roughly 1/2" from the finished edge of one of the back pieces. It is a good idea to use a backer button if your fabric is rather light (see photo).

Step 7. - Lay the piece with the buttons on top of other back piece so there is 1.5" of overlap from one finished edge to the other. Make loops with cut lengths of ribbon, loop them around the buttons and pin them to the back piece that does not have the buttons on it. Sew down the loops in one long stitch (contrast thread is cute).

Step 8. - Lay the front piece on your work surface face up. Lay the back piece with the buttons on it face down. Lay the final piece with the ribbon loops on it face down as the top layer. Line up the edges of all layers and pin.

Step 9. - Stitch all the way around the outside of the pillow 1/2" from the edge.

Step 10. - Turn the pillow right side out and iron the edges. Stich in 2" from the edge all the way around to create the flange.

Step 11. - Insert the pillow form and button it up! Now you have a darling new pillow to give as a gift or keep for yourself! Good work, we knew you could do it!

** Please note, we are new to writing instructions (and aren't very good at following them!) so if you have questions please feel free to call: 503.282.3200.

Sunday Fashion Shoot at Penninsula Park

Katie in Samantha Skirt and Olivia Top

Erica adjusting Shannon's bow on the Nadira Dress


We had so much fun running around the Farmers Market and Penninsula Park for our Fall Fashion Shoot. The models looked fabulous and were in great spirits throughout the afternoon, which made the day a blast! We lucked out with beautiful sunny weather and the colors were shining brilliantly. We are excited to get the pictures back so we can share them with you on our website and blog. Thanks so much to Nadia, Sean, Katie, Linda, Michelle, and Shannon for all your hard work and vibrantly positive energy!



Linda and Katie in Samantha Skirts and Olivia Tops




Michelle in Abby Skirt and Olivia top

Victor and Rolf Spring 2010

The Spring/Summer 2010 show for Victor & Rolf at Paris fashion week proved to be splendid and whimsical with strong silhouettes and playful textures and colors. What a thrilling mixture of sculpture, architecture, fantasy!

View more pictures at www.coutorture.com/5408289

The Idom we know and love

We just wanted to write a special blog in honor of Idom. Modi, the designer of Idom is the not only extremely talented and creative, she is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet. We miss her on Alberta street since she has relocated to NW 23rd , however, if you haven't been to her shop you must go visit her. The new store is absolutely striking!



Also, Portland Fashion Week is this weekend and Modi will be participating. You can buy tickets online at http://www.portlandfashionweek.net/. Don't miss it! Also, Idom is participating in another show Monday October 12th at Portland Center Stage. Tickets are available at the Idom boutique.

www.idomdesign.bigcartel.com

5 year Birthday party for Garnish!

We had a great party for Last Thursday at Garnish to celebrate 5 years in business and 3 years on Alberta! We gave away awesome Garnish gifts, had tasty hot food catered by Brian, and really fun music by Fred and Kevin. To top it all off, Hopworks Brewery supplied us with a keg of Red Ale! Thanks Hopworks! Whoohoo!

We hope you had as much fun as we did. Thanks for all your support over the years!

Alberta Street Fair

We had so much fun at the Alberta Street Fair this year! Thanks so much to Lucinda and Mary who carried the Garnish banner in the Parade. They looked fabulous in their Garnish apparel. The photo above shows Lucinda and Erica sporting two new skirt designs and Mary in an Amanda top. The day started off rainy, but by mid afternoon the weather was sunny and beautiful. Thanks to all those who filled the streets in support of the Fair and everyone who worked so hard to make Street Fair possible! We hope to see you all again next year.

3/50 Project

We are proud supporters of the 3/50 project. This project raises awareness of the importance of local business and how your support for them filters back into the economy and benefits us all! If half the population spent $50 a month in independently owned businesses, their purchases would generate more than $42.6 Billion in revenue! For every $100 spent in an independent store, $68 goes back into the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures! Portlanders are well known supporters of their local shops and we can't express how much we appreciate you! Thank you!

PICK 3. SPEND 50. Save your local economy.

Craft/Fabric Stores in Portland

Portland has some great offerings to find the perfect fabric or button for your summer project. Some of our favorite places for supplies are:

Mill-End fabrics- for high quality fiber blends

Bolt - for great patterns and color ways

Fabric Depot - for a large selection of home decor and apparel fabrics

Scrap- sometimes you can score smaller cuts of great fabrics and notions there!

Knittn Kitten- for a nice selection of vintage buttons and fabrics

This is our short list. Feel free to make comments suggesting new places for us to check out! Any secret treasures?

Design patterns and print your own wallpaper!

For all of you who love patterns and design......Manager of Garnish, Kate Troyer will be teaching a course on how to design your own patterns and hand screenprint your own wallpaper! Students will learn about pattern networks, draw their own designs, and print yardage onto wallpaper. The class begins September 8th and meets every Tuesday evening for 6 weeks. For more details and registration go to http://www.ocac.edu/

Recent "Garnishings"

As you may know, Garnish embellishes or "garnishes" particular designs. Here are a couple recent customized wedding and bridesmaid pieces. We think they look pretty!

top to bottom: Odessa wedding dress (first three photos- front and back views), Jennifer wedding dress (back view), detail of Dorethy dress in sky blue.

We just added a great new blog to our Links. True up is a blog completely devoted to fabric! The entries are not only visually pleasing, but also are very informative for any fabric lover. Check it out!

http://www.trueup.net/

New Items

Beat the summer heat with our new soft lightweight bamboo/organic cotton dresses!



Left: Sophie dress available in Raspberry bamboo/organic cotton

Middle: Dahlia wrap dress in Blueberry. Also available in Raspberry

Right: Dahlia wrap dress in Black

James Coviello Fall 2009 collection

Fashion designer, James Coviello's newest collection is rich with delicate patterns, flowers, and femininity. We love the romantic yet playful and lighthearted qualities of this Fall 2009 collection. His work is very delicate and rich in design. We hope you like it too!



http://www.jamescoviello.com/

Ped X Coupon

Not only does Ped X have fabulous shoes and accessories, it is just down the street from Garnish! We highly recommend shopping there for a selection of great styles, comfortable shoes, and a very friendly staff. To inspire your next shopping day on Alberta Street, Ped X and Garnish are teaming up to offer a discount to our loyal customers. Simply print off this image and bring it into Ped X for 20% off your next purchase. So, next time you stop at Garnish looking for a new dress or outfit, think Ped X for the matching shoes! We appreciate your continued support!

www.pedxshoes.com

Sidewalk Sale!!!

photo: Jasmine Photography

Don't miss out on this years Alberta Sidewalk Sales! You can partake in festivities on Saturday July 11th and Sunday July 12th from 10-6pm. The shops on Alberta street will spill out onto the streets with the best deals in Portland! We are hoping for a beautiful sunny day this year and we would love to see all our loyal and beautiful women who shop Garnish!

Another Interesting Blog

Have you ever had a secret that you wanted to share, but didn't know who you could or should trust with it? Post Secrets.com offers you a revealing glimpse into peoples lives where everyone is invited to write in, share, or read. We find that once you start reading it is hard to look away and you can't help but think about the stories behind the secrets.


Our secret is that we wonder how many of the secrets are real? Check it our for yourself....

www.postsecrets.com

Interesting and Beautiful Artwork

We love the whimsical sculptural work of Stephanie Liner. Her work blurs the boundaries between art and fashion and explores ideas of architecture, furniture, sexuality, and human interaction. Liners work is interactive, visually engaging, and well crafted. She also uses really beautiful prints and colors. Yummy! www.stephanieliner.com

"Dahlia" Wrap Dresses

You haven't discovered comfort until you try on the "Dahlia". The new brown organic cotton wrap dress is the SOFTEST cotton dress you will ever own. Feel like you are lounging at home, but look work or dinner party appropriate! Could you ask for anything better than that?! Available now in the Garnish boutique or by phone order.

Dahlia dress xs-xl $138.00

Calling all Artists and Designers

Every September Alberta closes their streets for a fun filled Street Fair! The festival falls on Saturday September 19th and will include great food, crafts, live music, and events. This year Garnish is managing all the street vendors for the event, so if you are a designer or artist and interested in setting up a booth for the event, please contact us at info@garnishapparel.com and we will send you an application.