introducing: summer water

I am so happy that I can finally tell you about my collaboration with Caitlin Holcomb.

Caitlin and I have maintained a correspondence since I first ordered a vintage tin from her shop, Nice, in 2007, although I had been admiring her for far longer than that. She was one of my first blog followers.  We finally got to meet in person in Chicago this May, and she was as sweet and lovely as expected.  I think we write "I wish you lived nearby!" to each other in every third email.

I love the pastel, girly wonderland of her workspace and aesthetic (I often find myself clicking through her Etsy favourites because I am so drawn to the things she loves).  She's been featured on Decor8 (among other places); I'm not alone in my admiration.  I have quite a lot of Nice around the apartment, including her Happy Cloud light shade, which is in my sewing room.

In the spring of 2009 she proposed that we collaborate. I was so honoured! The deal was that she would design patterns for fabric which we would custom print, and I would sew the fabric. It all moved fairly quickly at first; the name was nearly immediate: Summer Water. "Summer Water" is a song by a musician we both love (Colleen, which is the working name of French composer Cécile Schott), but because it conjures trips to the beach, gentle waves, feet in the sand, and clear blue skies, we knew it was perfect. She showed me some designs within days and designed the beautiful, beautiful logo. We ordered a tiny batch of fabric, and it arrived at my house last summer. And then it sat there. It took me a really long time to come up with just what I wanted to do with the fabric. It was too precious for me to cut into it without a real idea.

I decided that a few simple accessories would be the best way to showcase Caitlin's sometimes delicate, sometimes psychedelic, always beautiful, designs.  I made things that I wanted to keep. We have a small selection of backpacks and totes which I will be showing you over the next two weeks. It is really quite small, but our hope is that you will like it and that we will be able to continue.

I have apologized to Caitlin a thousand times for being so slow with my part of the collaboration, but she reminded me that things take as long as they have to take. And we're both so feeling so good about Summer Water right now.

We will launch our shop on August 2 and will also be updating our blog regularly.

Incidentally, I have been smiling to myself for a few months now over the idea that I may bring along some Summer Water to Little Winter.

REPLIES

Eli, tara-lynn, Mamushka Marie, Bekväm, kater, sunshine by sara, chelsea, broom people, Siubhan, robberstore, a., Lexie, Little Boat, Jenny: Thank you all!

lemonade: Thanks, lil' buddy!  And I am really into your idea!

Shin Ae: Thank you! I didn't think it looked very good on the hanger -- that's a pretty rare quality in a dress.

May: Thank you! Just the collar is from the vintage pattern -- the rest is from a Japanese sewing book with modifications!

The Sweet Halcyon Days: Thank you!  I was glad that they went together pretty well.

SKM: Thank you!  I wish I had the confidence to make clothing for other people!

ilovesasek: Thank you!  The grey of the wall is actually slightly darker than it appears, and I definitely prefer it to the creamy yellow it used to be!