Jayne Mansfield with a rotary dial telephone full of bling on the January 1958 cover of Modern Man mag. It’s enough to make your teenage daughter go blind with jealousy. And we don’t just mean for the phone bling either. (You’d better keep this away from your sons too; they could make themselves go blind too.)
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Without looking for clues in Google I can tell you that this picture was taken circa 1970 in Mexico when a Costa Rican movie producer visited to negotiate the production of a movie with “El Santo” mexican wrestler.
The clipping is from a mexican newspaper called Excelsior (I can tell from the typography).
Jean Arthur and pup in 1939 ‘s Smith Goes to Washington.
Twas the air conditioner, set too high and still running in December. “Brrr!” said the teddy bear.
Photo by William Sumits, 1948, via Susie Snapshot.
We just had to put our sweet dog, Ween, to sleep on Sunday, so this post is particularly tender and bitter sweet; after all, Theda’s pup is a dead as she is. (I’m not the only one who thinks these things.)
Plus, this gives me the opportunity to plug my post about Theda Bara and other silent film news.
What an opulent setting!
So I’m virtually strolling through Etsy the other day, and I spot this:
A line art embroidery pattern of Vincent Price?! OMG. What’s not to love?
Turns out, this is an example of the custom handmade embroidery patterns you can have made at isewcute.
“What’s that?” you say with a combination of incredulity and needlework lust. Well, kiddos, let me hip you to the idea…
You want to embroider someone special’s face onto something, so you contact isewcute and June turns a photo into a pattern (in three different sizes) so that you can embroider to your heart’s content.
But as cool as that explanation is, I still wanted to know more about the person behind I Sew Cute… So I suggested an interview, and got it in spades.
June, about the custom work, does the customer sign-off on the finished design/piece before payment, or is it a surprise when it arrives?
The customer is involved throughout the whole process. We discuss what they want. I let them know what I can do… colors/materials… as well as how long it will take to create it. Prices are similar to the items already listed. I don’t charge more for a custom order over a non custom order. Payment up front depends on if it’s something I can sell if the customer chooses to opt out… but, thankfully, that hasn’t happened yet.
I do guarantee that they will be happy with my work & do all I can to make the vision they have in their head become real. I take photos throughout the process & keep the customer updated. They’re a lot more work than just creating whatever I dream up, but they’re more rewarding as well because I know a custom order is going to mean so much to the person receiving it. It’s a very personal experience.
What’s the strangest or most surprising custom pattern request that you’ve ever had?
Jim Ross. He was so fun to draw because he has a very interesting face. I work very hard to capture someone with real expression in their eyes & make them look lively. It’s a great challenge every time.
I don’t want you to think I’m crazy or being negative, but the Jim Ross answer had me snort Diet Coke out of my nose — it’s that awesome! Did they make a dish towel? A pillow? Oh, that’s just too cool!
Not negative at all! I’ll take the diet coke snort as a compliment! I do wish that customer would’ve sent me a customer appreciation photo, because I’d love to see it stitched. I check on Flickr to see if he’ll posted it — and, yep, you read right, it was for a he. I adore my manbroiderer friends!
Do you/have you ever done any pinups or more risque sorts of designs/works?
Sure! I love pinups! So long as they’re coy & playful; I don’t care for truly vulgar designs. I have sketchbooks full of girls in various stages of completeness from thumbnail sketches to finished ink drawings.
These are examples of a couple of things I’ve embroidered:
Do you sell patterns for your pin-up designs? I didn’t see any at your store last time…
I should get some listed, because I haven’t any up now, but do have that custom listing where I would create a pattern for anyone of anything they’d like. I’ll have to work on getting those pinup patterns listed!
What are the most popular patterns you have?
Definitely the personal custom embroidery pattern. It can be anything you want it to be! A favorite pet, family member, or celebrity.
Do you sell finished embroidered works, or just the patterns?
Right now just the patterns, but I do have plans to sell my embroidered art this Spring.
In other words, people, “Stay Tuned.”
You can keep up with I Sew Cute works at the Etsy shoppe as well at the official I Sew Cute blog.
(And I’ve got a number of other interviews with June coming up at other blogs; I’ll update this post with those links as they are published.)
I normally don’t even look at JFK stuff; everyone saved all their Kennedy stuff, so the Age Of Camelot memorabilia is quite common. But when I spotted this 1962 Dell Purse Book, # 4160, The Jacqueline Touch, I had to pick it up because it seemed so unique to me.
I was rewarded with six pages of “First Lady Dos” — which I now share with you!
