Flying Hen Studio Cap Giveaway!

Here's a surprise offer: a coupon for one free cap, redeemable at The Bobbin in Burlington, Vermont; coupon valid during the month of March 2011 only. Simply comment on this post with your email address by the end of Friday, March 4th. On Saturday, I'll draw a random winner from the pool and contact you with your coupon. Then it's up to you to pick out your favorite cap from The Bobbin by the end of the month. Good luck and thanks for playing!

Yours,

Rebecca

Flying Hen Studio Caps!

Welcome to The Flying Hen Studio!

Here are some details of the current cap collection and a few words about my methods and motivations for making them. These caps are meant for everyday wear. A cap is your signature, the last thing to put on before leaving the house and a defining feature of your street silhouette. Nevertheless, a cap should be completely practical: weather-wise and comfortable, just the thing to help you out the door into your day. Versatility, function, and easy care are the signatures of Flying Hen Studio style. 

My goals in designing and redesigning these caps over the last 5 years are simple:

1. To create a closer and closer approximation of 'the perfect cap' for the indoor and outdoor everyday wear of folks in my community, that is to say: people whose daily lives include exposure to changes in the weather; multiple work tasks such as retail, restaurant, childcare, agriculture and academia; various modes of transportation (i.e. these should fit smoothly under bike helmets); and usually include social and or artistic events for which one would need something snappy, as well.

2. I make every possible effort to streamline the production process so that I may both pay myself a livable wage for my work and offer them at an affordable price. Outside of my work in the Flying Hen Studio, I work as a nursing assistant, student, and mother of two: every moment counts! Simplicity in design and production helps me maintain the fine balance between compensating myself for my work and keeping the price affordable to my comrades.

3. I work to provide alternatives to sweatshop capitalism in my small atelier by paying myself a livable wage, by participating in my local economy, and by using primarily free, found, thrifted and recycled materials. There is plenty of good cloth available from secondhand and local sources for all of our needs. Truly.

I hope you enjoy these pictures of my work taken by Michael Sundue, aka DJ +5 of the Flying Hen Studio soundlab. To see the work in person or make a purchase, please visit The Bobbin in our beloved Old North End neighborhood of Burlington, Vermont.

O.N.E. love!

Your local cap designer,

Rebecca Mack aka DJ Mothertrucker

More of this, this, and this:

I am wanting more of 

this:

this:
and this:

Anybody in?

Cap of the Day!

Forsythia yellow, reverses to a grassy green brocade: Today's special at The Bobbin. $45!

Today's Caps and a good old friend

Here is a photo of me, capmaker, Rebecca Mack, with the current selection of caps for sale at The Bobbin. There are three baby caps, two for bigger kiddos, and the other six (including the one I'm modeling) are in various grown-up sizes. Some of them are reversible. For shop hours and directions, please call 802.862.7417.

I also wanted to share this photo of an old friend with whom I am recently reacquainted: Superman Record Player. The tone arm needs to be weighted with a box of matches in order to sink deep enough into most record grooves. That probably means the needle is dull, right? That certainly doesn't stop me from enjoying the warm, crackly sound of its built-in speaker. I have inheirited the complete and catalogued 45 collection of a gentleman named William Clenahan who lived in Albany, NY in the 1950's and was a great lover of music. So, my old friend is connecting me to the life of a man I never knew. And we thought virtual realities are tied to DIGITAL technologies! Viva ANALOG!

Learn to sew Sweater Berets

I'm teaching a class in beginner millinery at The Bobbin, 2 to 5 pm on Thursday, January 14. Learn how to recycle a warm sweater into a fashionable beret! $60 includes pattern, instruction, and all the materials for one hat. Wear yours home on Thursday evening! Call 802.862.7417 to pre-register.

A Better Fit!

Learn how to alter those thrift shop scores to fit you just the way you want...

Intermediate Alterations class

with Flying Hen Studio designer Rebecca Mack

2 to 4 pm

Wednesday, December 30th

at The Bobbin, 299 N. Winooski Ave, Burlington, VT

call 802-862-7417 to register

$40

Down with white supremacist capitalist patriarchy! Up with Slow Clothes!

New Caps at The Bobbin!

Just in time for the holidays. We're on a family road trip from Vermont through the Bronx, DC metro area, on our way to Nashville. We'll light Chanukkah candles in four states this year! I was happy to finish my hardware adaptions to the new display case and deliver it with some fresh goodies to The Bobbin before our departure. Want to see? Visit The Bobbin's Facebook photo wall:

Fall Skirts Workshop

Let's sew cozy skirts for fall! I'm leading a workshop at The Bobbin on Wednesday, October 21, from 2 to 4 pm. We'll start with a basic A-line pattern, tailor it to fit you, and add volume and flair to your taste. You take home a custom pattern, and your new skirt! $60 includes all materials for one skirt and a warm, afternoon lesson in the lovely Bobbin. The Bobbin is located at 299 North Winooski Avenue in Burlington. Call 802-862-7417 to register.

Bike Cap Delivery!

I finished the first installation of the Fall 2009 cap series a few hours ago. Next door neighbor, Jen, helped model and deliver them to the Bobbin. Sold one on the way, but most arrived soundly!

Here is today's collection at the Bobbin. See it in person at the shop, corner of N. Winooski and Archibald St.s, Burlington. The caps pictured are in a range of sizes and are priced from $20 to $45.

See how the Bike Cap pattern is made to hug deep down to the nape of the neck? That's what keeps it from flying off your head when you speed down the hill!

Here's Jen giving us a Bike Cap action shot on my "used-to-be-a-10-speed". This is my beloved old bike I've had for 20(!) years. For our 20th anniversary I had the Old Spokes Home rebuild her into a single speed. See the festive birthday handlebar streamers?

Potato Printing at the Bobbin

Thanks to Gyllian, Rachel, and to Aubrey, we had a lovely class in Basic Printing on Tuesday. Using stamps cut from potatoes, Aubrey made beautiful leaves, flowers and grass on muslin and cotton jersey. 

I finished a two-color tree pattern on muslin.

If you're interested in taking a printing, sewing, or crafting class at the Bobbin in Burlington, find them here: http://thebobbin.com. It's lots of fun!

New Ramble Caps!

A new batch of caps from Flying Hen Studio is available now at The Bobbin, in celebration of The Ramble! Come on down; they're open until 5 pm. (Then you can wear your new cap on the Ramble Bike Ride, which starts in front of the Flying Hen Studio on Decatur St at 5!)

A Better Fit!

I'm teaching a class in altering garments, tomorrow at the Bobbin. That's Tuesday, June 9 from 2 to 4 pm. 

We'll be going over the basic formula of fitting garments and methods of alteration. Bring something to alter and we'll get started! $40 fee includes instruction, materials, workspace and tool rental!

The Bobbin is located at 299 N. Winooski Avenue (corner of Archibald) in Burlington. Call 862-7417 to pre-register.

New caps!

Just dropped off a new batch of caps at the Bobbin, including some larger sizes, as requested. There's something for everyone now, even Dad!

pins and needles

Thanks to everyone who came to the Bobbin to see the spring caps! If you missed that batch, look for the next round this weekend. Thanks also to the wonderful Bobbin for supporting crafters and mamas in so many ways! Here's a photo from a 2008 party at the Bobbin, featuring some of my favorite recycling tools.

Spring caps are at the Bobbin now!

Spring is here! My spring line of caps is now at the Bobbin, 299 N.Winooski at Archibald in Burlington. Check out two new styles: Reversible and Pin-up, in addition to your old favorite Classic and Bike caps. Available in adult and children's sizes, in fresh spring colors!