The Storm before the Storm

Hello all, Erin from I*M*Handmade here ready to blow your mind!!! Alright I'm not going to blow your mind, but I'm gonna tell you some stuff that may or may not interest you. Here we go!

My grandmothers are and were two very special women; arguably the strongest I've ever known. So on our recent trip to Chicago we stopped by to see our friend Max at Revolution Tattoo to get me some new ink (best souvenir ever!). So now whenever I'm bitching about something stupid (which is more often than I would like) I can look down at my arm and see the names of two people who, not only never complained, but would probably slap the shit out of me if they heard me doing it. Thanks Grams!

Our other no fail Chicago stop is Renegade Handmade on Division St. Think of your favorite handmade craft, clothing, art fair and shove it all into one store and that's Renegade Handmade. The people are always friendly and they carry stuff from all over the country. If you've ever been to a Renegade Craft Fair, this is the store responsible.


When was Christmas? Yeah so my sister, the awesome person that she is, surprised me with a Christmas present the other day; Matt & Kim and Cut Copy at the House of Blues in Boston! Word! So I hopped in the car and went up to Boston to spend the weekend with my sis. Boston is great and there's a lot to do, if you can beat the college kids to it. The ICA has a Shepard Fairey exhibit. It was packed, and the worst thing about a packed museum is the loud conversation about the art that you have to hear. There's always one guy getting all deep into an explanation of a piece, and it's always either wrong or just a really annoying point of view.

We stopped by The Garment District for some vintage duds, it's so hard to say no to buying clothes there because everything's a gem. Every piece is like the diamond in the pile of diamonds...needless to say, keep an eye out for 'new to you' vintage at www.imhandmade.etsy.com. Lots of skirts and a wicked pair of culottes! I threw in the 'wicked' as a salute to bean town, clever huh? No? Whatevs.

The Good Stuff. Ever feel like you need to go to the gym? Me neither so open some Pabst and let's dance our faces off! Matt & Kim are an energetic Duo from Brooklyn. They put on a great show and were more than gracious to the audience and their parents who were in attendance. Maybe it was shrooms, or maybe it was genuine but I don't think I've ever been thanked that much by a band ever. At one point Kim stated apologetically to her father, that her older brother used to sneak her out of the house and bring her to raves at that same venue when it was Avalon. My sister and I broke down laughing because she did the same for me. Awesome show, good beats, warm it up! Cut Copy turned it out, light show, heavy bass, dance circles, party time!

Check out the 'new' vintage duds at www.IMHandmade.etsy.com! Mini dresses, mini skirts, come on it's Spring 2009!

How'd you do that?

Well hello all!




I'm Erin from I*M*Handmade. A tiny clothing/accessories/everything but the kitchen sink operation run out of my little apartment in Brooklyn. The Story of I*M*Handmade has no clear beginning.


My grandmother, an f*ing awesome quilter, taught me to sew at a very young age and I've been doing it ever since. My first customers (my dolls: Barbie, Jem, GI Joe and Teddy Ruxpin) were always looking so darn classy I thought I would try my hand at making some duds for myself. Being a frequent thirft store shopper by age 14 I had plenty of clothing and fabrics to work with. I started by repurposing old items to make new ones. I learned how the patterns worked and I tried my hand at making clothing from scratch for myself. By the end of high school I had friends and family asking for clothes like mine. By college it was freelance work for friends of friends and then finally I was sewing for complete strangers and I loved it! Finally after hearing people tell me to sell my things so much I got up the guts to try it...and here we are. That's right we.

My partner in all of this, Billy, is also sewing his fingers to the bone in the name of handmade goods. His mother taught him to sew when he was younger and together we're unstoppable...I hope. He moved to New York a few years back from Chicago to work in a museum on the upper east side of Mahattan which is where we met. A couple years after I moved here from The Dirty Jersey we started hanging out outside of work and sharing our ideas. Realizing that we could work together and not tear eachothers faces off we knew we had something.








We participate in lots of events in and around the city from street fairs to indie markets to craft fairs and our designs are being picked up by more and more boutiques all the time. You can check our website for events that we'll be participating in and new designs (http://www.imhandmade.etsy.com/). So come check it out and shop online. Why? Because you don't have to put pants on!



When we aren't sewing we're usually making music, eating ice cream (why is it sooo good?), listening to records, hanging out at our favorite Brooklyn spots or watching mind numbing television ('Ru Paul's Drag Race' anyone? Never have I wanted to be a man impersonating a woman so badly). http://www.logoonline.com/shows/dyn/rupauls_drag_race/videos.jhtml





Thanks for checking out who we are...but we aren't done here. Check back for more!



Erin of I*M*Handmade