Try Handmade

Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.

Liza Rietz

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Previously featured in 2008, I recently caught up with Liza Rietz again, and wow!

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Liza Rietz began designing and sewing custom and retail pieces in 2001. She has been a part of Portland’s artistic clothing community from the beginning of her career, participating in multiple group and independent fashion shows. Her designs have been available nationally in high-end boutiques in Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

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Rietz’s modern designs are structured yet feminine, detailed yet wearable, and are created individually, not mass-produced. Rietz designs two small lines annually, producing small batches of each design. Though her collections adhere to the seasons, her lines are not season-specific. Instead, Rietz focuses on designing clothes that are versatile and that easily translate to any time of year. Rietz’s designs are made out of all natural fabrics including cottons, linens, silks, and bamboos. With a small production run of each line, the individuality of each piece exemplifies how clothing can be artisitc and expressionistic.

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MaxEquations Wearable Art

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MaxEquations is a labor of love created by myself, Eve in partnership with my husband, Gary. He provides the business knowledge while I design our clothing and communicate with our customers. I have a varied background in the arts, as does Gary, but no direct experience in designing clothing until now. Strangely enough, I spent thousands of hours of my childhood drawing fashion designs. Who knew?

After the collection is designed, I work hand in hand with Linda Synder, our in house seamstress and pattern maker, who helps make my ideas come to life.

The clothing is then hand painted by our artist, Brian Metz. Our painted images are based on a seasonal theme determined by myself and designed along with Brian who paints each piece to order.

Omaha, Nebraska, USA

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This week’s Shop Local post stops in Omaha, Nebraska. Below you’ll find my favorite picks from the Omaha craft scene. If you don’t find something that fits your fancy, check out the Omaha Craft Mafia website for more fabulous Omaha artisans. When you’re in town, you’ll want to visit the Hot Shops Art Center where you’ll find “over 80 studio artists, as well as four gallery spaces, in [the] building complex located in downtown Omaha.”

stash vintage fabric wristlet

The crafter behind Stash comes to Omaha from Finland by way of Great Britain. She’s been sewing since she was tiny, making her own clothes in elementary school, as her mother was a textile designer. Now she makes chic bags out of vintage fabrics! The wristlet above is constructed from a chocolate & red vintage fabric, red canvas, and leatherette trim. Don’t you love the strong shape juxtaposed with the floral pattern & feminine pleats? Fabulous!

brendesign building earrings

Continuing with the strong shapes, Bren Duvall, of BrenDesign, created these sterling silver “Building Earrings” in the image of a city skyline. She says has an “obsessive quest of building an eco-conscious small business from nothing more than a pile of recycled metal bits.”

bustle girl's flamenco skirt

Shifting gears a bit, when my baby girl gets a bit bigger, she must have one of these skirts! Many children’s boutiques do pillowcase dresses, cute hats, or leg warmers, but Bustle has crafted this flamenco skirt for your tiny dancer. Ellene Mcclay, the proprietress of Bustle, is inspired by vintage fabric and historical fashions. She also creates jewelry, accessories, and clothing for ladies of a more mature age at her other shop, Deciduous Soul.

septemberhouse embroidered flower pot wrap

Last but not least, this clever little idea caught my eye and couldn’t be passed by! September House creates embroidered flower pot wraps that are sure to add a nice touch to even the prettiest plant.