festivus

It is a sunny and beautiful day-before-Christmas here in Portland. I am in the shop until 3 o'clock with a plate of cookies, the occasional last-minute shopper and Harriet, the Reluctant Elf. 'A wish for peaceful holidays to you all.

scrappy

I made a new flag of felt scraps! It doesn't read "open", but I think it says "welcome".

hardboiled designs

Corey&Co. is pleased to welcome a new craftsperson. People have been telling me about the work of Jody Meredith, and I finally got to see it. The scarves in the photo are for sale in the shop (or contact me). Her materials are merino wool, cashmere, silk and lots of skilled and meticulous labor. I think the painterly color choices and graphic compositions would make them stunning wall hangings.

jackets

Sewing is the necessary means to an end for me. I love the "in the head" construction, but do not love the time spent at the machine. So often the fabric is not your friend: the rayons that are shape-shifters, the silks that slither, the wools that bunch up- they can all make your sewing day laborious. My break is to whip up a jacket or vest in felt. It is a fabric which encourages creative shaping and it ALWAYS does what you tell it! 

illume

' Time to light up Pleasant Street. I kept it simple- gold bulbs will glow warm against the chilly nights to come.

4 SQUARE WALLS

A lovely family stopped into the shop last Saturday....and this is the result. Thanks to Kate and her lively blog for the rave review.  www.4squarewalls.com

diaphanous

I continue to be inspired by the gauzy, glittery, girly fabrics that I recently purchased.This piece began as a simple collar, upon which I randomly gathered up and hand-tacked little "poufs". It is a see-though curtain of sequined greys; I imagine someone wearing it over a body-hugging layer of black and sashaying off to some seasonal soiree.

pretty maids all in a row

'Tis the season for aprons, cooking, baking, eating....

aren't they beautiful?

Years ago I bought a big jarful of mis-matched wooden knitting needles at Building 19. They were no doubt from an old yarn shop, closed after many years. Some of the needles bear traces of having had work left on them in the sunlight for a LONG time. Building 19 is a much-loved institution in the R.I/Ma./N.H. area. It's a filthy clutter of job-lot junk where one can find the occasional gem, like these needles. 

follow the cloth

I recently came across some great fabric finds. Most of it- not my usual fare at all. There is some shine, some sparkle, some glitz. My usual choices are rougher: tweeds, canvas-like cottons, something with a "tooth". But sometimes you should follow the cloth and stretch your "usual".I love every piece and am anxious to see where the fabric takes me.

first friday NOVEMBER

The paintings of LYNN KRAUSS be on display tonight at Corey&Co. The dot is the vehicle Lynn has used to explore color contrast both in high contrast and very close value and hue. She embeds patterns within multiple color fields, constantly deciding how much to reveal and how much to hide. I am thrilled to be showing this work here at the shop/studio/gallery. In person, the paintings really sing. 'Should be a great evening.

tools of the trade

One corner of COREY&CO. is the studio/workshop. Chalkboard, cutting table, patterns, fabric, iron, sewing machine, serger, laptop.....ready to start the day.

bensimon

WooHoo! Corey&Co. is now carrying la tennis Bensimon!  More at:www.thebensimongirls.com

storefront

After a couple of blogging months, I have realized an omission. I don't think I have ever put a photo of the shop-front on the blog. Pleasant Street ,Portland is a quiet little neighborhood, steps from the more tourist-visited Old Port. It has been named the "studio district", home to artists and architects. There are just a few storefront buildings, and I am lucky to have rented one. 'Not sure why I love storefronts so much; 'guess its something about the color, the display of goods and the old-school way of doing business. Anyway, here's mine....

work in progress

I love to knit. I love both the process and the result. But as knitters know, it is rarely possible to be compensated (monetarily) for all the time and attention it takes to make a knitted garment. So when I find a wonderful sweater-worthy fabric I am ecstatic. This grey yardage from Mood is actually an open weave with a crazy fuzzy selvedge. My plan is to attach the collar to the body with chunky yarn stitches. Here goes...

Utility apron and spaghetti zippers warm up a rainy,chilly day in Portland

yellow is looking so good to me

variations on a smock

smocks, smocks

I am smock-smitten. I am drawn to clothing with an occupational look, and smocks have that over and over. Baker, cheesemaker, painter, Cornish fisherman and French schoolchild- smock-wearers all. This one, my work for today, is grey tweedy wool with deep pockets...and it will have sleeves by day's end. Probably I will gently wash it to relax the wool a bit. And then it's off to find its own occupation.

fabric love

I was enchanted with this fabric while shopping at Mood in New York for winter woolies. It has a wonderful dun-color, lovely negative spaces and a raggedy,ravelled selvedge edge. It wasn't inexpensive. I didn't get much. But this is what I made with it.

brand new bag

These great new bags are the work of Glen Veevaert of Swanville, Maine. They are sold in museum shops and here at COREY&CO. Aren't they a great blend of chic/rustic?...just like Maine.

Felted jacket

It's back to work after New York, and although the weather is not crisp, wool must be cut. I love making these signature 'B.Corey' jackets. I pre-wash the felt for texture and then just CUT with no real plan. It satisfies the sculptor in me. If some part does not please....lop it off and try a different shape. What's more- there is no seam finishing. How freeing!

Bryant Park

Last week it was tents and runway shows, this week -people eating lunch and children riding the carousel.Bryant Park is an oasis in midtown. New York was sunny, the shows and the fabric shopping a success.Great trip.

goodbye for now

It has been one spectacular September morning after another here in Maine. I will be missing a few-off to New York tomorrow at 5 a.m. for Market Week, buying for next spring/summer. I love them both: the urban rush, the coastal calm. 

ah, courduroy

What is it about this fabric that brings back the memory of a red plaid lunchbox and the smell of new shoes? The all-business feel of courduroy and the heft of a substantial zipper recall the crisp mornings of childhood.This particular courduroy is already soft and slouchy and was a pleasure to sew into some friendly fall garments.

WW

This is the very first fall season for Corey&Co. I am so excited to begin introducing the fall/winter pieces that I have selected from Whenever Wherever, a young company in L.A. that really captures the look I love-interesting shapes and volumes in well-chosen sweater knits.

scraps

Whenever the scrap basket gets full to overflowing, I have this urge to wad a big scrap-ball and hang it in the window. I guess it is an homage to fabric cut and sewn, and gone as garments on to new homes.

sculpture

The "Jed" bag by Linda Fig is wearable sculpture. It hugs the body,is light as a feather and creates an intriguing silhouette. Each of Linda's handmade leather pieces has its own story; she follows the line of the material as a sculptor would, allowing it to direct her construction.

inspirations

I have never been much of photographer. My paintings seem to come from long-stored memories. But this last trip to Cleveland, I hardly put my little camera down. I am hoping the images all find their way into garment construction or paintings. Variety was abundant ,from steel mills to bits of whimsy -like this playfully painted house in the Detroit Rd./ West 65th St. neighborhood.

back to work

It is time to get back to work. All my fabrics, shipped from a Mood shopping trip in New York, await me. There are wool tweeds, wool knits-like this one- and some cashmere bits and pieces. Inspiring.

to market, to market

I am in Cleveland, doing Cleveland things and visiting family. This is the West Side Market, just as wonderful as it has always been.

& co.

In the 1800s, in Portland, my family owned an iron business called Corey & Co. Now I use that name for my garment-making,etc. I seem to have become the caretaker of the family photos, of which there are scads. They pepper the walls of the shop and keep me company while I cut and stitch.They are my "& co."

scraps

The scraps and leavings of the day form an unwitting assemblage.

Harriet

Harriet is the other shop-dog. She had been banned for shrill and excessive barking. She now is the reluctant wearer of a citranella-spray collar and is a shop-dog again! Welcome back, Harriet.

Amsterdam

A woman was carrying this bag in the shop and I went ga-ga over it. She bought it in Amsterdam. It reminds me of a quiver...and,as a matter of fact, a leather quiver will be coming my way when leather craftsman Glen Veervaert delivers some bags -soon, I hope.

khaki

I am working in khaki as summer heads toward fall.

Home

From the blistering sidewalks of New York to the cool sand of Portland's East End beach in the space of a day.                                                    

                                                     

          

New York

'Have been in New York for a few days, hunting and gathering for the shop, always hoping  to be surprised (left the shop in good hands). The fabric hunt was for wools,knits and anything luscious...I could easily have bought a thousand yards. 

goodbye

This is a painting of mine which will now reside on Peak's Island, an island off the Portland shore. It was a favorite of mine, painted from a sketch done at a life- drawing session. The model was stretching in an adjacent room during a break.

Felt

I really admire people who have the patience to make felt. It can be so luxurious and an end in itself. I do not do this. I purchase a commercially made felt (wool and rayon blend) and wash and dry it to "full" it. That is when my creativity kicks in- the assemblage of felt shapes into a garment. It is almost like clay slab-building...cut, attatch, trim into a wearable sculpture.

new goods

I am excited about some new goods coming my way. This July in the shop I had the pleasure of meeting Linda Fig and viewing her great leather pieces. She will be sending some to COREY&CO. any minute now. 'Cannot wait. I am guessing this is Linda as a tree branch!