I need a time out... but at least I'm not running for President

Here's something I want to pass on, that I wrote on another blog site:
Life right now, at work, is extremely crazy, stressful, and political... and then I watched last night's Presidential debate 9/26 on youtube: click here after having watched 20 some political clips (just on the first 5 pages) bashing the McCain/Palin campaign with suspending their campaign, canceling on David Letterman, and the damning Katie Couric interviews (do some searches for all of them and include Craig Ferguson and Keith Olbermann). All That added with All That happening with the economy. Wow... really makes you look at the significance of this next election.
I'm really in need of some laughs, and I'm thinking that the VP debate coming up might just do that... any one know of any screening parties happening in Portland... anyone I know planning to watch it at home? We don't have TV so what we get is off of youtube, which is fine... but I'm thinking that there's got to be some good parties gathering to watch (or to do this: click here ).

That being said... I need to take a time out from Altered Statement... finish up a few current orders, focus on getting some fabrics dyed, and really focus at work. It's hard to admit that I just can't keep it up...

I'll do what I can, some projects to have an outlet, but after I get these last few things wrapped up I'm taking a break... burrowing in for the fall to see what emerges in the spring. I'm in need of a long rest.

Thanks for everyone's support. I am grateful for the connections I have, and remorseful that I do not always verbalize how much I value that.

Supporting Members

In the last couple years we've cut way back on the business... needing to take on other full time jobs to have consistent paychecks and health benefits. In that time we discontinued our advertising and lapsed our professional memberships because of dues.
The winds of change blew hard sometimes, but 2008 has brought us back full circle in some places, and spiraled out in others.
With going to High Sierra, coming out with some new designs and styles in our clothing, and getting back to business we'd like to get our memberships renewed and once again supporting those organizations that further the hemp revolution.

We'd like to invite you to also support The HIA (the Hemp Industries Association): http://www.thehia.org/donate_join.html and either join or donate.
At this time we'll be applying for supporting members (just $35/year) but would like to soon become a full members... be involved, check out the benefits of a full member (just $125/year for most) http://www.thehia.org/membership_info.html with voting privileges... you can be part of the change.

Hand made with Hemp on Etsy

Etsy Buy Handmade alteredstatement

More new designs!

As we posted before we left for High Sierra, we have some new designs! Now that we're back we can post the rest of that collection.
I was hesitant to work with jersey knit, but I'm over that now, and LOVING this new yoga wear line. (I'm not sure what that really means, yoga wear, but I can say these clothes are super comfy to wear!). We have some new knits coming in middle of August (cross our fingers) and once we get it dyed up we'll have this new line available! We are taking limited custom orders, so be sure to drop us an email if you have some ideas.
A friend challenged me to start working with jersey. I first came up with the black and avocado set (featured a couple blogs back). Everything worked for her, except the tube top/skirt. She wanted more support and to be able to wear it with a bra.... so I came up with this amazing rouched top. It has so much adjustability in style and looks amazing on many body types (as does this whole collection).















The pictures aren't the greatest, but we're gearing up for a photo shoot in September/October... with a fashion show October 3rd, here in Portland. If you're interested in helping out in any way, want to work some trades out, please let me know!

Okay, back to the collection... in addition to the adjustable pants in the last blog I made a flare legged version (for my friend Megzz! in all her hooper fashion) and although I'm still tweaking the pattern, I love the base pants itself. Super comfy! The weight of the fabric is just enough to feel the quality, but the fabric itself breathes and doesn't just sit on you. *There are more pictures on our website and flickr account.*

As I was over at Teje's taking pictures, her neighbor was hanging out front and volunteered to model (I'm always up for variety in models, since all I have at home is the dressform). This outfit is maybe a size too big for her, but it depends on preference and what you want.

One of the best things to this collection is the versatility... be creative, try it up, down, or as something else. Our rouched tube top/skirt is a perfect example. Wear it as a top or skirt (by itself or over pants/skirt). There is a drawstring (with a smidge of elastic for comfort) at the top, and strings at the side to gather and rouch as much or little as you want. Maybe even try it as a dress?

And to top it all off is our wrapped hooded bolero! I blogged about it in a couple posts back, click here.


And don't forget the Warrior Wrap click here.


A full photo shoot coming soon!! As well as a fashion show October 3rd in Portland, Oregon. We'll have many more designs including our "In the Works" peacock skirt and even a peacock stilting outfit... yes, we hope to have some stilting models walking tall in the crowd at our fashion show... should be good times!

Stay Tuned...

Local Trunk Show coming soon....

So I had this brilliant idea to look up on craig's list for a trunk, so that I could get in to the whole idea of local trunk shows. My plan is to approach Cafe Delirium in downtown Gresham to host a trunk show for me. I would send out invitations to local shops or people that might be interested in our clothing. I'm not exactly sure what that will all look like, but my searching craig's list paid off with a beautiful antique trunk!




We don't know much about it, except it has a marking of The Chicago Trunk & Bag Co. and DreadNaught. There is little actual damage, which seems more surface and only on one side. All in all I'd say it's in pretty good condition for being around 90+ years old.
It's not *mint* but I think it's well worth the $55 I paid. It's a brute, and I'm not sure how I'm going to transport it if I choose to use it at a trunk show. I thought it was a brilliant idea at the time, and well worth it, even if it doesn't get used for it's intended use. What shall I do with it.....




So join the mailing list on our website www.alteredstatement.com
to receive email notices on when new items are posted to the website, up and coming local events, and mailinglist only discounts.


Altered Statement Trunk Shows coming soon....

That was.... AWESOME!

We had so much fun at High Sierra Music Festival 2008!
We're still decompressing from the experience, but we're already planning for next year!

Where to start...
It was a LONG drive down, we got a slow start and drove through the night (which wasn't so bad because that's when it was the coolest). We left Tuesday night at 8:30pm and got there at 1pm the next day, which included grocery shopping in Redding and a detour because of the wild fires.
When we got there we saw that most people had two and sometimes even three 10X10 booth spaces stacked behind the 10X10 we were told was our booth. And although we were told there was no electricity, there was (pirated)... but we wanted to be safe than sorry and so planned for the instructions that were given to us. We also found a drainage hole in the floor of our booth, Dena (from EarthboundCreations) the vending coordinator worked with us to find a bigger piece of plywood to cover it. It was an eye sore, but we worked with it.
Next year we'll make sure to bring another EasyUp to extend our booth (and bring enough inventory to fill it). We had a very 'boutiquey' booth, which was great... I did feel that if we had had twice as much inventory we would have sold twice as much. Our rainbow awning made up for an ever decreasing inventory and kept bringing people in... it created enough shade to make the inside of our booth a noticeable 10 degrees cooler... we'll definitely keep the awning for next year!
For more pictures of our booth at High Sierra Music Festival 2008 Click Here

We were so fortunate to be at such a great venue that there were actual bathrooms (and showers) close by, and that the main gate of the meadow where the vendors are is closed down and secured every night (allowing the only time for us to get away from our booth)... (not that he's reading) but I want to thank Manny (and all the other staff) for this security and freedom as a vendor. Manny was there for up to 15 hour shifts and we appreciated his job and friendly smile.

So Thursday night, the first night of the festival, we closed our booth early and put up a sign saying we were off to the Fire Fashion Show!

If I had to do it all over again, it would be better, but all in all I have to say that the Fire Fashion Show was an honor, was a fabulous idea with great potential, and was such a fun time. Thursday was the slowest crowd to the Fire Performance, which gave the freedom to try something new. I'll have some video up soon! So stay tuned.
The Fire Performances were spectacular! I missed Friday nights, but Saturday was amazing! Sunday was a bit anti-climatic, not as engaging to the audience, but none-the-less entertaining and mind-blowing. They did a great job with trying something new, using more theatre and drama in the performance, and of course the costumes were fabulous! But back to Saturday's.... We had run out of memory on our camera to take any video. Brandon and Shireen did this crazy and amazing hoop duet where Shireen stands on Brandon's shoulders and they both hoop... great act! There was Jamie Janover on a pyrobeat drum tricycle. And there were spring jumps through flaming hula hoops with double staffs from Noah. Amazing crazy fire fun! The fire shows are that they over at the late night shows and are free... or rather then performers don't get paid for what they do. They do pass out hats to collect any donations... the question is asked, "What would you pay for a show like this in Vegas?" Saturday's show could have been on any ticket in Vegas! Great energy, engagement with the audience, big fire, and lots of it! And what great performers to have dealt so professionally with a guy tripping on acid walk right through their fuel station, redirect him, and not bat an eye in the performance. They set up the environment and hold the safety line in only a space marked off with chalk... in the walk area between the late night shows.
The fire performances were the only thing we got out to see. We did get to hear everything at the main stage including an awesome performance by Michael Franti (and Keller Williams) on the last night.

We saw people we hadn't seen in years, Jody from Yeah!Yeah! block printing who pulled up right next to use as we drove in to get our tickets and set up. We also saw, on the 4th of July, an epic dress that we made 5 years ago... Erin, the girl wearing it, must have thought I was a freak! But I freaked out when I saw it. "That's my dress! I did that dress!" It was in perfect condition!! To think what great condition she had it in, that it is such an epic dress, makes me feel like there's a chance that 20, 30, 50 years down the road I may just see it wandering again! What a trip!

MZglass was fabulous to camp next to, Pria gives a wicked good message, MountainAir Batiks were amazing (mixing their own dyes too! The colors were fantastic!), Eve's hipbelts are a must to grab (her whole booth is incredible with tons of style!)... there were so many fantastic vendors I can't even begin to name them all. It was great to see so many handcrafters versus imported items... good balance, and good representation of handcrafters!.

Now that we're back it means lots of unpacking (and uploading new items to the website), finishing up the sewing projects that didn't get done in time to take (an exclusive online batch), and getting ready for next year! We'd love to go back, and although we won't know if our vending application will be excepted for next year, we're going to be planning like we are.

We'll have new items up soon on the website, we'll be taking a few custom orders to prepare for the holiday shopping, but other than that it may be limited on what's available on our website. Just as we did in preparing for High Sierra, we'll be blogging about our new designs here on our blog - keeping a bit of visual inventory of what we'll be stocking up to take next year.

*If you're in the Portland area* you'll have some local opportunities to check us out. We'll be having a fashion show October 3rd (stay tuned for details) and possibly some trunk shows at Cafe Delirium in Gresham. Join our mailing list on our website (or stay tuned on our blog) for details on where to find us.

Thanks for ALL your support! We appreciate the love! We'd love to see you again next year at High Sierra!

~*New Designs*~ (Finally!) at Altered Statement

We've been working really hard to get these visions out of our heads and into wearable form, and the wait (in my opinion) is well worth it!
I'm thinking that I could entitle the vision of this year to be Wraps and Ruffles... and there's so many more designs swirling around in my head that we'll see if it all dislodges by the year's end.


The newest creation is my version of yoga wear... I've been wanting to work with jersey knit for some time now, but have been nervous to use it. This my first *jersey knit* set... and I think I'm over my fear now, so expect lots more!

I wanted to create a whole look, weaving in the colors to match (and mix). I loved the sleeves from my last look (which I think I'm calling the 'Warrior Wrap') so I wanted to do the same for this smaller wrapped bolero. The sleeves don't bell as much, but still have a nice flare to them.
As with the other sleeves, the can be worn down up tied up. Detail and quality run deeply through this set.

I continued the scrunch/tie concept in the legs of the pants, which can be down or tied up, and in the top (which can also be worn as a skirt). There are also ties at the top for a drawstring adjust ability, this includes a bit of elastic in the drawstring for a comfier fit.

We added some signature appliqué to the pants to top it all off! I think the colors in this set a perfect for everything we were trying to do... expect to see these designs in a rainbow of colors to come!
I used a deep black, avocado, and an avocado that was marinaded into black (which almost give it a camo effect). I used hemp/cotton jersey with the ties being hemp/organic cotton muslin.

These new designs will be available in our booth at High Sierra Music Festival July 3-6th, so come check us out if you're there! And as soon as we get back, any available inventory will be uploaded and available online starting July 10th. We hope to then work on a collection of clothing only available online (since we know you are all waiting so patiently and haven't gotten the opportunity yet to purchase our *2008* designs). At that time we will also be working on our Eco-friendly Fashion show October 3rd, 2008 in Portland, Oregon. I expect that we'll also have a few new designs come out of that collaboration as well, so stay tuned!

Thank you all for your continued support and for supporting independent artists and hand made with hemp!

Getting ready for High Sierra!

It's less than a month now before we pack up and head down to California for High Sierra! We have a lot of new designs ready to go as well as some submissions from other artists, using our fabrics. I'm getting so excited! It's going to come together so beautifully.

Jaime from The Back Porch Boutique



Xusah's hemp cuffs



Jay from Jennifer Joy Creative





Come check us out at High Sierra... or stay tuned for the after festival frenzy when I post any inventory available back up online and start filling custom orders. I know it's been a while since premade clothing was available for purchase. I want to thank you for your continued patience and support. I hope to post a special collection available *just* online for our cyber family.

A sneak peak at new designs coming soon!!

somethings coming.... shhhh, wait for it.... wait for it...

I know it's been a while since I posted (or more so, made things available to purchase)... and I'm not even sure who's out there listening any more... between changes in our mailinglist, being spread between our website, myspace, Etsy, and here on our blog... I'm not sure who's connected with us any more. We've been pretty busy and haven't been able to make it interesting around here to keep anyone coming back... but we hope to streamline a few things and make sure you all know all the great things we're up to.
For now we'll be making all our updates here on our blog, showcasing some collections we're taking to High Sierra (in just a month!!), and when we get back we'll be making our remaining inventory available to purchase through our website.
As you see things come up through our blog that you love, and have to have, you might want to put in your custom order now (to be filled starting July 10th and all orders to be shipped by September 2nd in the order they are received).

Click Here to find out more about placing an order.

More bloggy sneak peaks to come... I've been working hard! I hope to share them online by the end of the weekend. If you're in the Portland area and want to model, let me know! It's so much more personal than a dress form picture!
~peace~
Ang

Process - hand dyeing

We've been hand dyeing all of our own hemp (blend) fabrics since 2003. It started with our first 100 yards of muslin. We had a hard time finding hemp fabrics in anything but it's natural raw form, so we started hand dyeing to have more than the 5 color choices the factory dyed fabrics came in. Today I think they are up to 10 factory dyed colors, but we've broken out of those limitations and have grown our hand dyeing to over 200 color choices and patterns, in almost a dozen different hemp blend fabrics including our *new* muslin with organic cotton, jersey, hempcel, silk, and recycled polyester.We have two different dyeing techniques we use. Vat or tub dyeing (check out our dye suppliers instructions: www.dharmatrading.com/...) where we use trash cans and our 86" sink and hoses. This technique (along with lots of time and muscles) produces our even solid dyed fabrics. We also use a low water immersion technique in small containers for our marinades to give a marbled effect or pattern. This technique uses less water and salt, making it that much healthier for the environment in less consumption.We are now line drying all or our fabric, as our 'just one (more) thing' to help the environment in the business (and personal) practices we are committed to. All of our fabrics and clothing are machine wash and dry able, but we encourage you to think about energy consumption and try to do 'just one thing' to cut down... if not the dryer maybe something else?

Donation Drive for the HIA from the Etsy Hempsters!

Etsy Hempsters is a global Etsy street team of independent artists using and promoting hemp in their handmade products. Our goals are to share and support each other in our work; promote and educated about industrial hemp; and advocate for political change in current laws which keep the United States the only industrialized nation with out this billion dollar a year industrial crop. Support eco-friendly alternatives, support independent artists, support Etsy Hempsters

Our *First* team event is a donation drive to benefit the HIA (Hemp Industries Association)... check it out here: http://etsyhempsters.blogspot.com/

Etsy Buy Handmade EtsyHempsters

Support Hand made with Hemp by supporting Etsy Hempsters and help out the Hemp Industries Association by supporting our Donation Drive.

Hempy Earth Day!

In celebration of providing alternative eco-friendly hand dyed hemp clothing, we're unveiling our *newest* original Altered Statement design!
I have been very inspired to try my 'cyber geisha' design... which turned more organic as I went and resulted in a bit of a twist from where it started.
You can see more pictures and views in our Flickr photo portfolio.

The base is an avocado marinaded french terry knit with black light weight hemp/organic cotton jersey trim. The hood and lower sleeves are doubled light weight jersey in black and an avocado into black/eggplant marinade. The lower sleeves bell or you can tie them up in a ruched effect. The skirt underneath is a hemp/tencel circle skirt in the same avocado into black/eggplant marinade to match.

The design of this jacket is a bit oriental with a wrapped front that ties on each side for a double breasted fit. There are four sets of ties on the inside, on the outside where it meets and an ornamental set on the opposite outside (these ties are from a black hemp/organic cotton light muslin). The oriental design continues in the curves and panels in the front and back in almost a warrior look. The hood and sleeves bring some eclectic flare.

We hope to take custom orders of this design for early fall, so stay tuned... or join our mailinglist for special offers and notices. Sign up on our website www.alteredstatement.com

~*New Items*~ at Altered Statement

Here's the first couple pieces ready to go. Both are apron tops done in our low impact hand dyed hemp / tencel blend with ruffle/tiered skirts of light weight muslin in our low immersion marinades. We're trying to think spring and summer given the stock of fabrics we have on hand. The beautiful hempcel is a medium weight with great flow and drape, while the light muslin gives it that hot weather to come touch.
Ian did a beautiful job hand dyeing the hempcel. The sunburst set is of a marigold and golden brown, while the vines set is a dark eggplant and light eggplant. I then paired it with a marinade which I dyed a dark brown for the sunburst set and an army green for the vines set. I love to see how the marinades separate in color and bring out the highs and lows within a color. Some colors work better than others in this process. I really like how the army green turned out... almost glowing in some places. The dark brown was a new color for us to marinade and although I like how it turned out, the colors don't pop as some do. In both the marinades you will also see some dye spots in blue and yellow (on the army green) and a bit of red (on the dark brown). At times this is apparent in marinades due to the fact the fabric is not being stirred and therefor dye particles sit. At the same time I will say these spots are not our desired look and effect and I have discounted these items to reflect that. There are only a few spots and not consistent, I in no way think that this detracts from the items beauty or statement. These dye particles can be minimized by stirring the dye water more completely and straining (we use a nylon stocking and strainer) before applying to the fabric (just in case you're trying to dye on your own).

Measurements:
Sunburst Set $195
bust 38-44"
length of top 35 1/2"
hip for skirt up to 48"
length of skirt 36"

Vines Set $215
bust 32-36"
length of top 38 1/2"
hip for skirt up to 46"
length of skirt 36"

Both are unhemmed, so hemming to your length on the skirt will be free. All other alterations will depend on request.

I do have to say that the High Sierra Music Festival logo help inspire the colors of this sunburst set, but this is a long time favorite design of ours and can also be found in our gallery in some of our first ever hemp creations! If you would like me to add some music note appliqués that can be arranged.
Please email me if you are interested in making a purchase. *I will be out of town 3/24-3/27 and all orders/requests will be filled in the order they are received* All items will be shipped on 3/28/08.
I will have another posting on Sunday 3/30/08 including eggplant, light eggplant, and golden brown hempcel wrap skirts (in the theme of these two sets) as well as a lavender and purple wrap dress set. We hope to have more than that, but we'll see how far I can get stitchin' through spring break.
~peace~
Ang

Spring Break!

As some one who works on a school calendar I get to enjoy a week off for spring break! As a teacher... I need (and or deserve) it! The reality is all it means is now I have time to catch up on my 'other' work. What I'm really waiting for is having the summer off! I'm hoping to work on the website and all my projects, hopefully vend at High Sierra, and get more inventory up and available.
A week will go by so fast! And there's so much to do... or at least I have a ton planned that I hope gets done.
I will have a new collection of clothing uploaded to the website on Monday 3/24/08. I'm on a new little kick with ruffles and wraps... I wish I could put this entire collection together, take more professional pictures, and then unveil it... but the reality of business is sales. I'll have hopefully 5 or 6 new pieces available in this first batch coming Monday, including two apron top and ruffle/tiered skirt sets (hemcpel and light weight muslin), three short wraps (hempcel), and hopefully a wrap dress and ruffle/tiered skirt set (muslin and light muslin).
We'll continue to work over the next week to upload another batch to this collection including some jersey wrap hoodies, a 'changes' hip belt and pouches, and more hempcel skirts for Sunday 3/30/08. We're also working on some guys clothes, coming early summer.

One step forward, two steps... to the side

So we found out that we are not part of this year's Portland Mercury's spring fashion show... this actually relieves me a bit. I read the story online, and realized we weren't accepted... I was bummed, sure, but with so much going on it also feels good that I don't have to rush with my alter ego day job already stressing me out. I did later get our samples returned with a form letter (maybe next year).

We've also applied to High Sierra Music Festival for early July and I still hope we get that. It would be our only vending for the year. We have tons of friends going and it would be cool to do that with them there. I'll still have to work my tail off to get my inventory up and in the right season (someday I'll just catch it on the next go round), but it could be so worth it. Here's to having summers off!

I do have motivation now to step it up and try to get ahead of the seasons... starting April 1st you will find Altered Statement clothing and designs in Nourish a boutique in Athens, GA. and it's already shorts weather there! This will be the first time we've offered our products in a local boutique (ok it's not local to us, but its local to Athens). Consignment can have some draw backs to a designer, such as high fees. But there are also some great benefits, such as offering that tactile experience with our fabrics and clothing to customers, to see the beautiful detail to our work up close. So if you're in Athens go down to Nourish and say hello to Lylou!

So now our challenge is to design and produce spring and summer clothing with the fabrics we have on hand. I've been holding onto a stash of fabrics, but they are all darker fall colors. I'm really excited about the designs (spring? ehh, it may be stretching it, but they are still oh so amazing!). I should have two apron and skirt sets along with 3 skirts available this coming Sunday/Monday with another batch of clothing the following Monday... thank goodness it's almost Spring Break!! After that we should have another order of hemp / organic cotton fabrics coming in that we can get hand dyed in to summer colors!

Join our mailinglist through our website for notice when new items come out, special sneak peaks, and mailinglist only discounts! www.alteredstatement.com

Endless possibilities in eco-chic!

I'm personally proud of this next series of dresses. I can't say exactly what the inspiration was for the original design, but at times I even amaze myself. I love everything about it; how the h/oc (hemp/organic cotton) jersey contrasts with the h/oc corduroy; how beautiful the v cut bodice reflects how the jersey ruffles at the shoulders and down the back; how the jersey drawstring waist slims down the aline cut skirt portion down to the flowing jersey ruffle; the hip belt and pouch; and the endless possibilities in how to wear it! And of course I love Ian's beautiful hand dyed fabrics, even though he's always hated my color combination of this original.

One of the unique parts to this dress was the new (to us) appliqué technique of straight stitching on the jersey in far enough to let the edge roll and flutter and then stitching again further in, giving quilting the appliqué. I love the effect this gives and how it compliments the ruffles in the bodice straps and at the bottom.

I can't say enough how much I love this dress, and how proud it makes me.

I'm proud of the detail I put in to this and how much it was worth it. So here it is....

3/12/08
The Teal Tribal Butterfly Dress is available for $262 and the Dusty Rose Dove Dress is $212, both with free shipping. Customizing alterations available (hemming is $10 and taking it in to a smaller size $25). More pictures will be coming soon.
The Black and White Spiral Crop Circle Dress is available for $265, but I need to redo the bodice so if you need this taken in to a smaller size there will be no charge for customizing alterations (free shipping also applies).

For more pictures please check out our online portfolio: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alteredstatement/