Yesterday I traveled out to embroidery's Mecca - Penn and Fletcher in Long Island City, NYC.  Being an interior designer, of course I'm always on the hunt for new and unique items that our client's can't get any where else and that none of their friends will have.  Penn and Fletcher is the go-to for custom made embroidery treatments, whether for interior design or fashion. I was so excited to learn embroidery tips from them! According to Penn and Fletcher,  embroidery is "anything that can be added to a fabric". And they can certainly add just about anything to fabric! Here are some things they do and a guide to the terms that describe the process: So basically if we have the time and the budget we can do just about anything you want on fabric. The key is making sure we use the right fabrics for the application, as the fabric must be structurally stable enough to hold the design. When doing trapunto, they sometimes even inject air into the back of the fabric to give it some relief and depth. With computer aided machines, we can also design motifs to be embroidered on a large scale. But my favorite part of Penn and Fletcher has to be the furry friends that help out in the showroom: Once again I'm convinced we can create just about anything for our clients! Love discovering new embroidery tips. PS: If you've been...

This NYC interior designer joined her best girlfriends who run the non-profit Friends of Fresh and Green Academy for the Give Good Market, which showcased 100's of women owned businesses hawking sustainably made gifts, all for a great cause.  Today I wanted to share with you some of my favorite goods for the home, along with some other ideas for "giving good" this holiday season. My buddies not only support the school at Fresh and Green Academy, but also the Mother's Cooperative, which teaches skills to the students' mothers encouraging to them support themselves, and helping to sell their amazing handmade wares. I own literally over 20 of their hand-woven scarves, which can also be used as holiday table runners. And the trivets are just perfect for hostess gifts. Ever wondered if those "handmade" gifts are really handmade? Here is a video of the women in action: Fresh and Green Mother's Cooperative Also at the sale we snapped up some throw pillows from Mercado Global which strives to link rural indigenous artisans to international markets and break the cycle of poverty.   From right here in NYC we found these incredible handmade ceramic from artist Ikuko Iwamot - a perfect tabletop addition to a penthouse we're completing in TriBeCa. and some stunning artwork by artist Mark Reigelman that might work on our Charles Street project: Both the vase and light art pieces are available at the local NYC gallery Underline....