Try Handmade

Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.

Chihuahua Mary Janes by EmandSprout

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Are you ready? Today I’m fortunate to be able to announce the newest contributor to Try Handmade: Ciaran Blumenfeld! You may know her as Momfluential or as the creator of Francie Pants, or through Popshopology, but I know her as the new Handmade Baby and Child author. Welcome her and leave a comment to say hi!

:: Erika

[hCiaran]

“Please Mom, I swear I will walk them every day.”
“They just followed me home.”
“I promise they’ll be no trouble at all.”

chihuahuashoes

I’m a complete sucker when it comes to whimsical stuff like these dogs-for-your-dogs Chihuahua shoes from EmandSprout. They are not technically children’s shoes and the artist states this on her site, which is prudent. There are a lot of small parts on these that might not be safe for babies. But your size 4 wearing tween on the other hand, is a perfect candidate.

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On Soup

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If I were willing to buy them my husband would eat Campbell’s condensed soups every day for lunch during the fall and winter months. And probably a few times a week for dinner. The man loves condensed soup. If I plan to buy canned soup for any reason, he actually requests it.

“Don’t get the extra chunky stuff.” he’ll say, “Some of the regular stuff that I can add water to is just fine.”

Unfortunately for Campbell’s soup company I tend not to agree. No matter how badly I want to oblige I will stand befuddled in front of the canned soup section trying to choose even one can for what seems like an eternity. Always, I go home empty handed.

CookingWithCondensedSoup

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Matou en Peluche

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il_fullxfull.104419794

Matou en Peluche: I have been drawing and making things enthusiastically since before I can remember.My favourite thing is to spend the day drawing – preferably lovely looking girls – drinking cups of tea and listening to music. I think I am a closet hermit!

Over the years I’ve cartooned and illustrated for a number of Sydney magazines and newspapers and have had exhibitions of my drawings and paintings. I have even been known to do a bit of performance art.

birds

Derringer Friday

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group of rolled neckties from Derringer Friday

Derringer Friday is a duo of transplanted southern gentlemen who like to wear nice things. Like so many independent designers I know, Scott Permar and Lukas Smith got started because they couldn’t find anything in stores that satisfied both their style and quality requirements.

Derringer Friday is about neckties, because that’s what Scott and Lukas like to wear. Although neither of them come from a design background, they know what they like, and they know what looks good. “At the end of the day, it comes down to taste rather than any specific skill,” says Scott, and he’s right. After all, many of the most successful menswear designers never set foot in fashion school.

seersucker tie

I first noticed Derringer Friday ties at the Temporium, where their unusual colors and interesting shape caught my eye. As always, I noticed the fabric first: high quality wool, linen and seersucker in bold plaids and florals. The combination of texture, color, and pattern was really interesting, and a far cry from the boring “power ties” on the collars of most men in DC.

floral tie from Derringer Friday

The most interesting feature, however, is the guillotine tip, a design detail that really sets Derringer Friday ties apart. They are constructed using an unlined, four-fold technique that Scott and Lukas devised themselves, after some research and trial and error. Their goal was to create a tie that would drape nicely and hold up well over time, all while looking stylish, and of course, not like everybody else.

The company came about as sort of a happy accident. Scott and Lukas have been friends for years, and have always been interested in clothes and style. After talking about starting something together for a while, they took the plunge by experimenting with necktie designs, and Derringer Friday was born. Their first collection debuted in April 2010.

blue stripe tie

All the ties are handcrafted in Washington, DC by Derringer Friday’s talented local production team. The most popular ties, not surprisingly, have been the brighter, more colorful designs, which also happen to be the ones that Scott and Lukas enjoy designing the most.

handmade neckties

There are plans to add cufflinks and tiebars to the collection in 2011, but for now you can find handmade Derringer Friday neckties at their online shop, and at Alter Brooklyn in New York City.