My annual clothing swap has been one of the highlights of my social calendar every year since 2007, and this year was no exception. If anything, it was extra special because it was the first time we included the next generation. A few of the ladies who attended brought their daughters who are all around the same age as mine (10-12 years old), and they got into the swapping action too. My daughter had a blast and it was so lovely to see. She’s been getting the secondhand indoctrination for a few years now, and I appreciate the opportunity to show her another side of it. She’s now wearing adult sizes in most of her clothing, which makes it easier to thrift for/with her, as well as to share pieces that I’ve been saving up for her. I’m very glad she takes after me in terms of her interest in fashion … though we don’t always agree on what’s cool.

The set-up for the swap was the same as the past 2 years; I held it in my back yard, which is really the only space big enough at my house to host 18-20 people comfortably. We lucked out with the weather too; after weeks of wildfire smoke and rain, we got a perfectly clear, sunny day. Maybe a little too sunny, but we made it work. I think next year I’ll put up a canopy over my stone patio to provide a bit more shade.

I still used the deck as a “boutique” area for accessories, books and home decor.

This was just my stuff; people added theirs as they arrived. This year, we had more clothing than other items. That’s the nature of a swap, though — you never know what you’re going to get!

I wore my fave new dress which was a good call because it was the perfect summer weight for a hot day. I also had a hat! That saved my butt, sitting in the sun for a few hours.

Here’s a peek at some of the pieces I brought to the swap:

Many of them were things I had listed for sale at one point. In the last year, I’ve had no desire to continue to resell; it takes too much time and effort for not much pay-off. So, instead, I “liquidated” most of that inventory through the swap. I did keep a few things back for next year since my own wardrobe turnover has gone down a lot recently, and I wanted to make sure to have stuff for the next swap.

As far as picking up new-to-me pieces from the swap, I wasn’t looking for anything in particular. Actually, it’s best not to go into a swap with a list of items because you might not find them and then feel frustrated and then not enjoy the experience. What I mean is that I wasn’t especially looking to add new stuff to my closet, so I was pickier than normal in what I chose to take from the swap. Here’s what I got:

The jacket I actually picked up for my son, whose style game I am forever trying to improve (he’s terminally casual, like his dad). I am very excited to have found a bunch of tees and tanks (all Frank & Oak) which will be great staples/layering pieces. The colours aren’t part of my Seasonal palette (the person who brought them is an Autumn, and I’m Spring) but I love them and I think they will still work with my wardrobe. I am also excited for the long maxi skirt; it suits my aesthetic well and it’s Maison Margiela — score!! The oversized blue Lewit sweater is a piece I admired on a friend years ago and she thoughtfully saved it for me; it’s going to be so nice and cozy this winter. Last but not least, I took a chance on a pair of shoes — Chie Mihara sandals and Marsell booties — which nobody else picked up. They’re both fantastic quality. I know I will get use out of the sandals because I wear flat sandals most of the time in the summer. The other pair was more of a fashion risk. I don’t wear peep toes normally, but the leather is so soft, I’m hoping they won’t hurt at all. Not sure about the style but we’ll see.

I also picked up some amazing books:

And that’s a wrap on this year’s clothing swap!

Details: Gap dress (Poshmark), Stuart Weitzman shoes (thrift), Coach bag (eBay)

Thoughts: I’ve been looking for this dress secondhand for a year – since my last clothing swap, in fact, when one of my friends wore and I fell in love with it. Poshmark finally came through! It was worth the wait because it’s a great summer dress. Light and airy and easy to wear. I’ve gotten several compliments on it. Naturally, the pattern is my jam. Honourable mention to this vintage Coach bag; I bought it 10 years ago back in the days when you could pick up 90s leather Coach bags for less than $50. I stopped wearing it and gave it to my mom after a while. Then, recently, I was at my parents’ house and ended up finding her bags (which I hadn’t gone through at the same time as her clothing) and it felt like a little present to rediscover this particular one.

Details: Toni T dickie, Vince top, Laura Ashley skirt (all thrifted), turquoise necklace (Poshmark)

Thoughts: I love how this dickie collar can change up the vibe of an outfit in an instant. It’s great for layering both in winter and in summer, including under sleeveless tops like this one. So easy and so versatile. This outfit came together because I’m a little bit obsessed with blue/olive combinations at the moment. Probably not high contrast enough for my Season, but it’s such a harmonious palette.

Details: F21 top (thrifted), Everlane pants (swap), Isabel Marant belt (thrifted), Ash sneakers (thrifted), Copper Canoe Woman earrings

Thoughts: I don’t usually thrift F21, but I saw this mesh crop top and was instantly transported to the late 90s. So I had to get it! A black bralette and high waisted pants means that it’s a lot less risque than a “mesh crop top” sounds. And it got a surprising amount of compliments from younger folks. It’s disconcerting when I’m accidentally cool, hahaha!

Details: Roolee dress, Chap jacket, BR belt (all thrifted), turquoise necklace (Poshmark)

Thoughts: Back to my black-and-white pattern mixing. I like throwing one of these outfits in every once in a while — almost like a palate cleanser. Turquoise is probably my favourite accent colour for B&W, with red being a close second.

Details: Marimekko x Uniqlo top, Jones NY jacket, Adriano Goldschmied jeans, Cotton Ginny belt (all thrifted), J. Crew shoes (retail)

Thoughts: Cooler temps means a rare(ish) chance to wear one of my summer coats. I will take that, thank you very much! Here, instead of doing an expected pairing for this southwestern pattern — usually a white or a solid coordinating colour top — I decided to try a little pattern mixing too. This Marimekko pattern is great because it can pull in different directions; it can read as quirky or it can read as geometric. Here, it’s the latter than works well with the pattern of the jacket.

Details: Old Navy tank, Shoshanna dress (both thrifted), Gap skirt (swap), Lena Bernard necklaces (Poshmark)

Thoughts: I’ve worn this dress as a duster with jeans later year, so I had to try it with a denim skirt too. I am still not 100% sold on the colours of the floral pattern; I don’t love wearing this shade of orange, tbh. Plus, I find the sleeves to be rather hot (they’re polyester, sadly) for summer. So, while I’ve held on to this dress/duster for the time being, it’s on my “edit watch list”.

Details: Raga dress, Lilka jacket, Marquis shoes (all thrifted), Lena Bernard necklace (Poshmark)

Thoughts: I found this dress recently at the thrifts and didn’t recognize the brand but thought to myself “it looks like Anthro”. And, sure enough, I googled the brand and it’s sold at Anthro. Which makes this a head-to-toe Anthro outfit. It’s been a while since I’ve done of those. Back in 2015/6, it happened a lot but I think the vibe now is different — less twee, more romantic/boho.

As with so many other things in life, I’ve noticed that there are seasons to my creative pursuits. During the spring and summer, I come out of hibernation and spend more time out of the house — gardening, thrifting, going to events. Inevitably, my art takes a backseat; both in terms of the time available to devote to it, but also my creative drive itself. Last winter, between about October and January, I worked on a LOT of hoops; I had an avalanche of ideas and my work pace was a solid trot. Since February, everything has slowed right down. Part of it has to do with the fact that a lot of the hoops I’m doing now are technically more complex than usual. But part of it is that I simply don’t have a lot of ideas floating around. It’s the embroiderer’s version of writer’s block.

I used to dread moments like that — feeling like I had run out of ideas, and what if I never got any good ideas ever again? I now know that “downtime” is part of the creative process too. I think of it as time used for recharging my creative batteries. I’ve been through this cycle enough times to know that, come fall, I will once again be brimming with ideas and fired up to bring them to life. At least, I’m pretty sure I will 😉

For now, I’ve been focusing on developing my landscape “thread painting” technique and feeling good about my progress. Here’s what I’ve been working on:

Part of my birch series, this is one of my favourites and currently in my personal collection. I love the orange pops here, and quite pleased with the texture. With each landscape hoop, I learn new “tricks” for creating texture and visual effects.

This was a big experiment for me — a different way to do the sky, and a never-before-tried technique for the clouds. It was a real challenge to get my vision to come to life. I feel like I got … about 80% there. I need to sit with this for a bit and see if ideas present themselves to me to help me improve for next time.

I loved making this style of “Klimt florals” a while ago, so I made a new design. This piece actually sold at a local art sale.

This was a relatively quick and easy project I decided to do as a “break” from my more complicated landscape hoops. The main challenge with large satin-stitch designs like this one is keeping good tension and evenness in the stitches. The main thing is ensuring each section of satin stitch isn’t too large and has a consistent stitch direction. The flowers here were the most difficult, because they required a bit of tweaking to keep that direction consistent.

Ok, I know I saw this a lot but this is hands-down one of my favourite hoops ever. I am so, so pleased with how everything turned out: the colours, the texture, the overall composition. I tried a new technique with the pine trees — a combination of felt and French knots — which turned out extremely well.

As you can see, I used the same technique here, albeit this time not in silhouette. This was a very time-consuming hoop because it’s almost completely thread-painting, but I am happy with it. I have wanted to do a coastal landscape for a while — I love embroidering bodies of water — and the colour palette here was different than things I’d worked on before.