← Feed

Posts

• View post

  Today’s scene from the #sewing room… Antonio, The Sewing Machine Whisperer, was just here to tune and service my two old boys (Juki DDL-5550 & Singer 201) this morning. And now I’m back working on my pile o’ bag guts and notice the Juki is making a new sound. “Oh, no,” I think, “is something wrong?!” No, Virginia, the machine is so quiet that the little pop of the needle piercing fabric is now the main sound it makes.

• View post

  My sister, who produces ads for movies you love at a studio you’ve heard of, and I were chatting about AI in the industry last night, and she legit shocked me. About 50% of the work of making those ads is now being done by AI, I was informed. Every task short of original content creation. Now I used to do the same work and aver that 95% of ad production is universally hated drudgery. And by drudgery, I mean 18 hours days for weeks at a stretch for even simple campaigns. 1/4

• View post

  Active recruitment has begun to fill the role of Crazy Orange Cat here at the Treehouse. A search for adoptable, suitably orange boys who are good with both other cats AND dogs surfaced quite a few matches. The front runners are both on the younger side, but 🤷🏻‍♂️. One began his journey by walking through the front door of a senior center one morning to demand a home. The other follows his foster family’s dog around like a duckling and loves to sing. Working up the nerve to ring up the agencies.

• View post

  Holy crap, what a great episode! https://slate.com/podcasts/decoder-ring/2026/10/be-the-change-mahatma-gandhi-quotation-arleen-lorrance-bishop-james-pike-al-gore

• View post

  Today was my periodic “check to make sure he’s not dead” call to my father. Five minutes into which he drops a shitty slur about the Irish that he’s dropped more times than I can remember in my lifetime. Dear reader, my mother/his wife was ~25% Irish by verified ancestry. Let’s just say today wasn’t the day for that.

• View post

  In an internet full of trolls, be an elf. Leave a nice comment for a maker you admire. Encourage folks struggling as you have struggled. Post some life affirming shit. No one needs to be reminded it’s looking bleak. But folks could certainly use all the hope they can get right now.

• View post

  TIL that Pellon ShirTailor fusible does not play well with Kona cotton. I’d used Pellon’s Shape-Flex with the #NaNClutch samples without a hitch and figured that ShirTailor, of which I’ve oodles, would easily sub in. Nope. For those keeping count at home, that’s the third time I’ve sewn up the shell for this special order. Gonna take another Pirin tablet and set this aside for a moment to work on something else.

• View post

  Why yes, it is time to cut the fabric for a custom #NaNClutch (+passport pocket) order that came in from @toddbuddy@4bear.com! #sewing #fashion

• View post

  It’s been a wild Saturday morning of reading the Harmonized Tariff Schedule for cottons and applying for small biz grants. To really kick the party into high gear, I’m gonna do some laundry next.

• View post

  Second round muslins of Relâche’s #SummerBrunchShirt and leather shorts (eventually, presently bull denim) near completion. #sewing #fashion

• View post

  This morning’s Tea Quest 2026 log entry: the homemade jasmine Earl Grey blend is excellent as milk tea with a bit of vanilla sugar. #food

• View post

  Relâche provided me with the heirloom cotton print and purple leather skirt as source materials for the #SummerBrunchShirt and leather shorts that I’m making them. We’re now at the “but how will this really work?” stage with the muslins. (The pink chalk lines on the shorts show where I want to preserve the original side panels of the skirt.) #fashion #sewing #ElfkinCouture

• View post

  So it looks like a water main blew out at our corner. It is very loud and wet for 05:20, and not in any of the best ways.

• View post

  I’m sorry, what? In this economy? I don’t think so.

• View post

  Once upon a time, I compiled a non-exhaustive list of pre-Stonewall #lgbtq rights pioneers. It struck me then as it does now that cis white homos in the U.S. owe Black folks a huge debt of gratitude for their outsized contribution to the cause. To wit, some names worth knowing this month: Josephine Baker Gladys Bentley Bayard Rustin James Baldwin Audre Lorde Barbara Johnson

• View post

  RE: https://woof.group/@socalgecko/116511428854631664 💅🏻 Oh, ‘tis nothing. Just a spot of Japanese pork stew, three kinds of pickles, rice, and Americanos with FUK coffee. #food

• View post

  Anyone out there in #sewing / #fashion world with CLO3D skills? I could use some help digitizing paper drafted patterns and grading them up and down through the usual sizes. Ready and willing to pay fair market rates and an unconcerned with your physical location. Shoot me a DM if interested!

• View post

  It's been an exciting morning of filing Elfkin's LLC and obtaining an EIN from the IRS. As a reward, I've promised myself an afternoon free of all acronyms.

• View post

  I have no regrets about tossing some of every kind of viola seed into the garden a couple of months ago. #BloomScrolling #gardening

• View post

  I wish more folks who use shared laundry situations would ask themselves, "but what if the next person to use this dryer *doesn't* want their towels to smell like Mega Super Freshness Blast as much as I do?"

• View post

  Prototype #2 of the Utility Clutch (working title). An old tablecloth stands in for the slubby linen base I'll use in production. I scanned and printed the flowers from this linen that I got in Tokyo onto self-adhesive stabilizer for placement. #sewing #fashion #ElfkinBags

• View post

  My personal color consultant, @socalgecko , accompanied me to Mood this morning to help choose base fabrics for the utility clutch bag’s production run. He took things in an unexpected and delightful direction. This Italian wool coat material that is almost as soft as cashmere and twice as classy as the slubby linen that I was previously contemplating. #sewing #fashion #ElfkinBags

• View post

  The most tiniest little Epidendrum orchid I ever did see. Each flower is *maybe* 1"/2.5cm tall. On display at the Sakuya Konohana Kan botanical gardens in Osaka. #BloomScrolling #ElfkinInJP Related: I never regret traveling with a macro lens. #photography

• View post

  Listening to Tori Amos’s new album this morning, and the nicest thing I can write about it is that she has certainly maintained a consistent sound.

• View post

  I did a newsletter! If you've always wanted an Elfkin Dandy Shirt of your own, there's big news inside. https://www.elfk.in/blog/april-2026-newsletter

• View post

  I’m back on it in the #sewing room, and Matt’s sloper has been adapted into a Dandy Shirt. Next step: a muslin. #ElfkinCollection #fashion

• View post

  I dare you to walk through Minoh Park outside Osaka and not use the word "Miyazaki-esque." #ElfkinInJP #photography #landscape

• View post

  Have I mentioned that the Sakuya Konohana Kan botanical gardens in Osaka has its very own Hibiscus Island? Grab your sunhat, Mariel. This is (probably) Hibiscus × rosa-sinensis. I did a poor job keeping track of the labels in this greenhouse. #BloomScrolling #ElfkinInJP

• View post

  Here's another smol orchid from the collection at the Sakuya Konohana Kan botanical gardens in Osaka. AKA violet orchid, this is a Cochliostema, and aptly named at that. Each flower is about 1"/2.5cm. #BloomScrolling

• View post

  Like so many male model types I knew in college, elfkin Exclusive Model Chad© finds himself fallen to pieces and back in the closet with the Christmas decorations.