Wow! custom fabrics on demand

I came across a mention of a company called Spoonflower on Apartment Therapy last week and I haven't been able to get it out of my head since. Spoonflower is an Internet company that prints custom fabrics. It's an amazing thing, really and their process is really wild.

Say you're looking for a fabric but no matter where you look you can't find the right one. Imagine too that you're willing to take a stab at designing your own fabric. So instead of hunting for the next couple of months for the right pattern, just make one. Take what you can already see in your mind's eye, recreate it in a drawing program as described on Spoonflower's website, upload it and then two weeks later, a fabric you designed arrives in the UPS. Sounds pretty simple, right? I suppose it is a simple process but the idea behind it is revolutionary.

For now, Spoonflower is printing on 100% cotton broadcloth with no minimum order and no set up fee. They are selling their fabric (actually your fabric) for $18 a yard and $5 a swatch. Amazing!

A children's clothing designer writes a blog called Mama Made and she has some really clear instructions on how to best use Spoonflower as well as some pretty cool insights into her creative process. Her Spoonflower instructions are broken into five separate postings:

1. Thinking about and creating your designs
   
2. Computer art programs and what they do
   
3. Getting to know Inkscape, a vector art program
   
4. Finishing your design and creating the perfect tile
   
5. Color calibration
   

Rachel's blog is full of interesting ideas and examples of Mama Made's clothing and fabrics. It's worth a look if for no other reason than to see what's out there. It's also a pretty compelling read.

Spoonflower's onto something big. The fabrics they print are intended primarily for use in clothing construction and craft projects. Though it's only a matter of time before the selections and intended uses of the base fabrics increases. Some day in the not too distant future, you'll be able to reupholster an armchair in a fabric of your own design. Something that started as a vision in your mind then made real in the form of a piece of furniture. That's the sort of thing that gets me out of bed in the morning, I swear.

Oh, the images scattered all over this post are actual samples of some of the designs in Spoonflower's public gallery. These are just folks uploading their designs and I'm flabbergasted by the whole thing. Bravo Spoonflower!

Thank you!

At around 11 o'clock this morning, visitor number 10,000 stumbled onto this blog. Thank you!

Here's a great kitchen

Last Wednesday's San Francisco Chronicle Living section profiled the renovation of sculptor Angelio Batle's work/ live space in Potrero Hill. If you're not familiar with San Francisco, Potrero Hill is a mixed development neighborhood that rises above the port on the east side of town. Though it's by now loaded with infill, new construction "loft" condominiums, Potrero Hill has its share of actual lofts and repurposed industrial buildings.

One such light industrial building is now the home of Angelio Batle and his family. San Francisco real estate is absurdly expensive and what was so interesting to me about the Chron story is that Batle's renovation was pretty heavily budget-driven. I have no idea how much money this family invested in their property, but they worked with an architect who understood how to stretch a dollar. In looking over the photos of the finished project, only a practiced eye could tell that there were corners cut and expenses shaved all over the place.

As is always the case with these things, I have a tendency to pay extra attention to the kitchen for obvious reasons. And whoever designed this kitchen deserves an award. I have a feeling that it was the work of the architect because the cabinetry is from Ikea. I cannot imagine a kitchen designer using anything from Ikea, least of all their cabinetry. But whatever, a pretty picture is a pretty picture and a good design is a good design.

Here's the panoramic view of this kitchen.

Now where it gets interesting is in the left corner. What looks like a stack of mismatched furniture is exactly that. The pieces were fitted together, painted a uniform color and then surrounded by new cabinetry.

Here's a close-up of how these disparate parts fit together.

The use of the gold-painted sculpture niches in this old furniture is really clever. It makes this kitchen the Batle's, that's for sure. Doing something like this is making this otherwise generic kitchen a home. It reflects the lives of the people who live here and I'm crazy for this.

Resourcefulness trumps budget every time. Everybody cuts corners, I don't care how much money they have. The trick is to do it with candor and wit and the Batle family hit a home run with this one. Bravo.

Cool new Google upgrade

Man! What a slow weekend for Internet traffic. I forgot how much things slow down during holidays. So, in the spirit of taking a break, check out Google's new Maps enhancement. I'm am in awe of this thing. I just spent two hours playing around with this new, improved Street View and I cannot get over it.

Google Maps introduced Street View a year or so ago and they have been busily mapping out the major metro areas of the US since. Well, now that they have a lot of the US covered, they've been working on the rest of the world. I just took a virtual walk through Rome and it feels like I was really there. Kind of. I guess the next step is going to be to make the images move. But check this out.

Here I was walking down the street and looking back at the Vittorio Emanuelle.

Here's the Piazza Barberini, and I'm standing directly across the piazza from the Via della Purificazione. I left my heart halfway up that street... Anyhow, these images are so clear I feel like I could walk over and wash my feet in Bernini's Triton in the center of the piazza.

This is the entrance to the Villa Borghese at the top of the Via Veneto. The only thing missing is the sound of the car horns and the buzzing scooters.

And here's looking across the Piazza Rotunda at my beloved Pantheon. I still can't get over this thing. Got some time to kill this weekend? Get thee to Google Maps!

From the land of the shoo-fly

I was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; and no, I'm not Amish. I've been away from those gently rolling hills for a long time but Thanksgiving makes me nostalgic. I may not be Amish, but it doesn't take an Amishman to appreciate pretty countryside and an urge to make things by hand.

Arguably, Lancaster County's signature dish is a little something called shoo-fly pie. Shoo-fly pie is one of those things that everybody's heard of but never encountered first hand. Shoo-fly pie is one of my favorite things to bake and it can't be the holidays in my house without it.

The first time I ever made one for a party, everyone thought it was so exotic and cosmopolitan. That is funny on so many levels at one time I can't stand it. Anyhow, here's my recipe for cosmopolitan and exotic shoo-fly pie.

Pie dough for a nine-inch pie
1 cup of all-purpose flour
2/3 cup of firmly packed, dark brown sugar
5 tablespoons of unsalted butter (softened)
1 cup light molasses
1 large egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup boiling water

Roll out pie dough and turn into a nine-inch pie plate. Trim and flute the edges. In a mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar and softened butter. Mash with a fork until it reaches a consistent, crumbly consistency. In a separate bowl, beat together the molasses, egg and baking soda with a large spoon until blended. Stir in the boiling water and mix thoroughly (this will begin to foam). Stir half the crumb mixture into the molasses mixture and pour into the crust. Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture evenly over the top. Bake a 400 degrees, on the center rack, for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake until the pie filling has puffed around the sides and is firm in the center, about 20 to 30 minutes more. Cool on a rack.