Visiting a local gem-Crimson Tate

I’m very big on supporting local. I would much rather buy from a local business than a major chain store. I love a nice selection, organic options, and I’m mildly, OK majorly, obsessed with Japanese fabrics and designs. I noticed that one of my favorite designers of organic fabric, Monaluna, offered some of her prints at Crimson Tate a store in downtown Indy. Then a dear friend and soul sister of mine, Jessie, told me to check out Crimson Tate.   The owner, Heather, is her former high school art teacher and according to Jessie is well, just plain awesome. So…my Mom and I took a trip downtown with the littles in tow to get some fresh air, sunshine, hot chocolate, and of course-FABRIC!

Holy smokes, I can’t say enough about the wonderful selection that Heather has in her store and online. I have visited a few local stores since and nothing compares to the selection and quality that Crimson Tate offers. When I first walked in, my initial impression was “wow, this is beautiful in here…what a gem…I love the decor…I can’t believe she has so much selection in here…I have found my go-to fabric store!” I spent a few minutes walking around while my Mom entertained the littles, but as you can imagine, a fabric and craft store doesn’t hold the attention of littles for very long.  Crimson Tate does offer a pretty interesting toy basket for children *brilliant-and thank you* but I unfortunately didn’t notice this until later. We did take a quick trip to visit some other stores, including a local chocolate shop.  Yum! That will have to be a completely separate post.

Overall, I was really impressed with selection of fabric and patterns and the customer service was also great. Crimson Tate has a great selection of finished products as well, so you could see what they look like. I really fell in love with Monaluna’s lila lounge pants they look so cozy! This is a pattern that I have been eying for quite some time and it really helped to see them made up. I know quite a few of my besties who would love a pair of these…and the project to do list grows.

I decided on a  fun Parson Gray skirt pattern and got some really cool fabric. Pics below! Can’t wait to return to Crimson Tate-a local gem I will for sure frequent and encourage you to check out their fabric, patterns and classes locally.

From left to right-

Florence by Denyse Schmidt

Glimma by Lotta Jansdotter

Japanese fat quarter I grabbed from Crimson Tate’s  fat quarter fabric table (sorry I’m not sure which company this is)

“Honeycomb” Kei Fabric

The yellow/brown/off-white/gray floral is really lovely, but I’m not sure of the company as it’s not printed on the selvage and I don’t see it online…maybe a Heather Ross?

This last print…oh this last print… is a double gauze by Nani Iro-a total splurge and I’m in love. It’s definitely a work of art, so beautiful to see and touch. I will be back for more Nani Iro for a dress I have in mind lickity split!

In the second pic, I picked up two super cute flannels for my dolls pajamas! Both were 50% off in the clearance section (score) and are still available online! All of these fabrics were immediately taken home and hand washed and line dried by me before I snapped the pics so the slightly frayed edges are expected. Thank you Crimson Tate!

 

My Inspiration

My inspiration came from my daughter Corabelle. She loves dolls. She loves girl dolls, boy dolls, elephant dolls, dog dolls, bunny dolls, kitty dolls, oh how she love kitties…but yes, she loves all dolls. I discovered Waldorf dolls on the Internet. They seemed absolutely  beautiful and special. I loved that they were made with wool.  I love wool and will talk about this healthy obsession later. I really wanted my son, Kosei to have a doll. I have tried my best to raise him free of social expectations as far as boys play with cars, girls play with dolls, girls wear pink and boys wear blue.  I want my daughter to play with cars and trucks and get just as dirty in mud puddles as my son does and I want my son to play with dolls, learn to sew and cook and all those “girly” things. Don’t get me wrong, my son has a huge love for trucks and diggers and dirt.  Every morning when he wakes up I ask him what he dreamt of.  His answer is “trucks, dirt and more dirt”.  My daughter loves pink and princesses, butterflies, and oh yeah, did I mention kitties? I just don’t ever want them to feel shamed for exploring something out of their social box. I believe it makes a more well rounded individual. At home, I want my children to feel free of those silly expectations. I also want my children to be able to learn, act out and get familiar with all emotions through play. They had a few actual “dolls” that I had passed down to them from my childhood. These dolls have the hard plastic faces and when Corabelle would give them a huge loving hug, this plastic face would clumsily hit hers, she would literally wince and put the doll down. I thought to myself “she needs a Waldorf doll to be her special handmade doll to give her soft nice hugs.”

In September of 2013, I attended a local Indianapolis Waldorf doll making workshop, and it was amazing. I am a member of the group and the families are just wonderful. The workshop was lovely and very well organized. I fell in love with Waladorf dolls because they just made sense to me. And wool, oh yes the wool. The creamy soft, luscious fleece of these, beautiful amazing, gentle animals. If I lived on a farm, I would share the land with sheep.  I had already become a huge fan of wool in our household, mostly because of my children. I cloth diapered with my first born and invested in a stash of “woolies” from Chickadee & Me. Thank you Sarah for initially schooling me on the benefits of wool. I also invested in some very cool wool mattress covers (puddle pads) that I still use with my toddlers and consider a necessity to protect our mattresses and more importantly, keep my children warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Wool is just amazing. So naturally (pun intended), I was excited to make a doll for my children with this wonderful material. I spent many months after the doll workshop searching the Internet for tutorials and tips on how to develop my doll making craft. Then, I got busy.

I made the first two dolls, one for my daughter and one for my son. Sewing and creating brought such joy to my daily routine, a sense of balance in my life journey.  Then came my next doll and my next. I realized I loved creating these special dolls that seemed to warm the souls of the little girls and boys who played with them. I really enjoy seeing their faces upon receiving the doll. Childhood is so magical, and I remember receiving my special dolls from my parents. To be able to create magic for boys and girls around the world is a pretty awesome feeling. I have always dreamed of starting a small business, supporting natural and organic products and sourcing locally whenever possible.

Memories I hold very close to my heart, are of my Aunt Jean. She was very artsy, mostly with ceramics and dolls. I vividly remember always wanting to play with her dolls. She had a room full of dolls, shelf after shelf of handmade dolls. To a 8 year old girl, that is heaven.  I was always so inspired by her art. My mother was always creating for us. I remember pajamas, dresses and costumes. I hope to have this same positive impact on my children and hopefully plant a seed. So here is the start of my doll making journey, very new for now and simply a fun hobby that enriches my life.

I should have new pics up later this week of my dolls. My goal was to get them in my shop by the start of spring…and holy smokes! It’s (thankfully) right around the corner.

Dolls, Dolls, Dolls!

Often I have a doll that I’m working on in the kitchen, in between games, puzzles and books with the littles. (On the kitchen island, on a clean surface of course, is the only area where little hands can’t yet reach.)  I came back to sewing this guy and looked down at the book he was resting on. I thought it to be in perfect correlation with what a Waldorf doll stands for, and the purpose they serve for our precious littles. Playing with dolls with a neutral facial expression assist children in expressing all emotions through play-happiness, anger, frustration, boredom, excitement, etc. Since little minds have challenges expressing these emotions, they often express these through play. Heck, adult minds have trouble expressing emotions. Maybe that’s why I love dolls 🙂

Working on putting together a dress for the beautiful red head on the left. Just finished the doll body on the right yesterday-think he’s going to be my first boy doll!

A Japanese Lesson in the Kitchen

 

This week a good friend of mine, Yoko, came to visit from Tokyo. We had so much fun and I was honored that she included Indiana on her “places to venture list” in the states. I wanted to share her recipe for Okonomiyaki- a Japanese pancake/pizza-type of dish. The first time that I tasted this dish, I fell in love. It was in Hiroshima during a typhoon. I was performing in Japan at the time with a Broadway musical and our show was canceled because of the horrible weather. It didn’t stop me from venturing out though with my umbrella in hand, although I’m not sure it did me that much good. The restaurant was close, and the owners were so nice and helpful. They even walked with us in the rain to help us find another shop that they were recommending. Did I mention we were having a typhoon?! The hospitality in Japan is quite unbelievable, what an amazing country. So here are some pictures and a recipe for you to try at home. A quick trip to your local Japanese market and you’ll be all set with ingredients. To clarify, this is Osaka style Okonomiyaki and not the Hiroshima style (which is equally as amazing).  Oyishi desu (It’s delicious)!

What you need:

1. Okonomiyaki Flour (also known to Japanese as “Special Taste Flour/Tasty Flour”
2. Dried Shrimp (these are tiny, red dried shrimp) optional but encouraged
3. Tempura bits (they are dried and looks like little balls of tempura batter droppings)
4. Meat of your choice-we chose fresh cooked shrimp and thinly sliced pork-We chose to get our meat from Whole Foods Market and purchased 4 cooked shrimp (yes we got a laugh from the seafood counter when we only ordered 4 shrimp), and one thinly sliced pork chop.  You will have to emphasize that you need this meat paper thin or ask that they hand slice it for you as only Asian markets have this type of thinly sliced meat. It is also common to use octopus or squid in Okonomiyaki as a meat. PS-usually only one meat per pancake is best. I’ve read recipes that use bacon too!
5. Green Cabbage-sliced into thin (1/4 inch) strips (we also bought our fresh cabbage from Whole Foods Market)
6. Japanese onions or scallions/green onions (optional)
7. Katsuobushi (Bonito Flakes)
8. Okonomiyaki Sauce (this is a brown sauce in a squeeze bottle)
9. Mayonnaise-if you see this in a squeeze bottle in the Japanese market, grab it, otherwise Hellman’s or any mayo works just fine 🙂
10. 2 T vegetable oil

Method prep 10 minutes cooking time 20 minutes (Makes 2 Okonomiyaki pancakes)

Slice cabbage into thin strips and place into a bowl (around 3 cups tightly packed). In a separate larger bowl, pour in 1 cup of water. Add 100g or slightly less than 1 cup of Okonomiyaki flour. Add cabbage, tiny shrimps and tempura bits and Japanese onion if using. Slowly (and carefully) mix everything together with a large spoon. *note* if little hands are helping you, be sure they mix the ingredients slowly, or they will get flour puffing up in their face! You can stop mixing once all the ingredients are fully incorporated, flour is mixed in and the cabbage is fully coated with the batter. Place cabbage pancakes (about 1.5 inches thick) on a hot griddle coated with vegetable oil-don’t use olive or coconut. We used a non-stick frying pan which will work, but the pancakes cook more evenly on a griddle. Then place the meat (shrimp, pork, or whatever you choose) on top of the pancake in a single layer. Cook on Med-High. You want the pancake to brown slightly, but not get too dark. Watch to be careful not to burn! Cook for about 5 minutes, flip and cook for another 5 minutes. You need to check to make sure the pancake is cooked in the middle. If it is not cooked, you will see the batter still “liquidy” on the inside. Continue to cook and flip until center is formed and meat is cooked throughly. Place pancakes on plate and top with mayo, Okonomiyaki Sauce and Bonito Flakes. Seaweed flakes also make a good topper!  Enjoy!

In this first picture, you will see the ingredients from the Japanese market. From back left to right: miso soup packets-not needed for this recipe, but would make a great addition to your meal, Okonomiyaki sauce, Okonomiyaki flour. Front left to right: tiny dried shrimps, tempura, and bonito flakes. In the second photo is the finished product. I also shared some pictures from our meal.

A Perfect Day

Creating makes a day pretty perfect. Today started out with me checking the temp to see if we could get outside and it was far too cold, possibly the coldest day of the year today and that was fine. The day consisted of fun games with the littles, making good progress on a doll dress along with making good progress on Corabelle’s Valentine’s Day dress. Sewing with my Mom brings me such joy. I love her sewing machine that she has so graciously let me borrow as I navigate through this doll making adventure. It’s old and heavy, a nice cast iron Kenmore. It’s nothing fancy, and it makes me smile. What I create from it and the time spent with my Mom makes me smile even more. The fabric is “llama love”  from Monaluna. This pattern is Suzanne from Citronille and has been lots of fun to navigate…with my Mom’s guidance of course. Tomorrow I will start on a new doll, which I’ve been putting off to get Corabelle’s dress done in time along with getting wrapped up in regular chores and activity around the house. But for now, it’s time for chocolate and the Olympics…and some much appreciated quiet time.