News / made in the usa

Lisa Solomon and Candice Gold of Modify/D are two very talented local ladies with a passion for turning high-end fabric scraps (think cashmere and lush jersey cotton) into all manner of wearable and and usable things for the home. Their stuffies, pillows, dog beds, and infinity scarves are always a big hit in the shop. Be sure to drop by the shop THIS SATURDAY the 7th between the hours of 12 and 6 p.m. to meet them in person and peruse the MODIFY/D TRUNK SHOW! Lisa and Candice will be workin' the shop and have a bunch of their merch on hand, including their beloved owl stuffies. Here's a Q&A with the gals to whet your appetite:

You have such fun products. How do you come up with new ideas?
A lot of the inspiration comes from what fabric we get. We look at a swatch and say, "Oh, that will make a great pillow!," or, "That is perfect for an elephant ear, " or, "That pocket is so cute! We have to find a way to use it," or, "We can just take the hood off of that sweater and make a head/scarf thing…"

So all of your items repurpose garments that would have been discarded otherwise?
YES. We work directly with companies and get their extra yardage, damages, discards, samples, overruns, etc. It's fun because we never know what we are going to get. And we try really hard to use up what we are given with very little waste. We even keep tiny scraps to make patches, or scrap flower pins… we even save tiny scraps to use as stuffing. Most of our cashmere and sweater materials come from White + Warren in New York. Most of our knitwear and denim comes from Isda & Co. in San Francisco.

What are your favorite MODify/d products right now?
Hmmm. Always a fan of the stuffies. They are so cute and each one turns out a bit differently since they are hand-cut. Also, we're really loving our super soft infinity scarves, made from an amazing bunch of really lovely high-end jersey. Finally – our Jacquard Pillows are definitely high on the list. We got these super pretty swatches in, and it was fun to match the knit with menswear. 

How did MODify/d get started?
Candice and I have been friends for quite awhile now. We're both interested in fashion (shoes in particular), design, and the environment, and Candice has a history of working in the garment industry. At some point she was working with a cashmere sweater company and showed me the boxes of stuff that were going to end up being thrown away. It seemed criminal to allow such amazing fabric to end up in the landfill… so MODify/d was born. It's great because we have really similar aesthetics. We are also driven to try and make a difference (even if it's small. You have to start somewhere, right?). 

What are your arts and apparel backgrounds?
I'm a mixed media artist who moonlights as a professor and freelance graphic designer. I'm currently working on an exhibition that is exploring the number 1000 – sen in Japanese, with an installation featuring 1000 doilies in 100 colors pinned to the wall. Candice is an apparel industry executive (she owned her own company in New York) and is currently a consultant with Isda & Co. in San Francisco. 

We are excited that some of our vendors are nominees for the Martha Stewart American Made award!

As you know, Marion and Rose's Workshop is committed to the American Made movement and shares in the thought that change happens on the street level with small businesses supporting one other and sharing their message to customers.  We feel that planting the seed and helping it grow is our job and it is our commitment.  

As proponents of the movement it makes us happy to see a large company embracing these small makers. It's these steps that will help rebuild the Main Streets of small towns and Cities, restoring pride in these communities.  When you can say "I helped make that" or "this is my neighbors company", it gives you a renewed desire to support your neighbor and your community. Quality, craftsmanship and knowing the maker are all important aspects of how we curate the shop, and we are so happy to be able to relay their stories to our customers. 

Our friends at Modestics put together a great reference list to make it super easy to vote. Included on the list are a few of our vendors Blue Chair Fruit, Cuppow, Native State, Peg and Awl. and Peterboro Baskets (these guys have been around since the 1800's!) We've also added a few links below to more of our friends and neighbors.

Outlaw Soaps (soon to be a vendor at the shop!)

Poppy Von Frohlich - amazing jackets made in SF. Want them all.

Kate Ellen Metals- our awesome neighbor and amazing jewelry designer

Please vote for your favorites, you can vote up to 6 times within a 24 hours period.  

Thank you for your support of the American Made movement and of our little shop!! We are cannot express how happy we are to be here.

Remember "We are all in this together".

-M & R

With a long, lazy Labor Day weekend almost upon us, and some new limited edition and hand water colored letterpress pieces in the shop by Quail Lane Press, we're feeling inspired to do some day tripping! We posted up some of the photos below to Instagram with our ideas for some weekend excursions (pretty please, follow us on Instagram if you don't already), and got all kinds of love from folks who can't wait to load up their gear and skip town. We hope these photos make you want to get out and get going on a California adventure.

Weekend excursion #1 – Pt. Reyes. Doesn't that red plaid Faribault blanket make you want to plop down and enjoy a hearty picnic while observing the antlered elk of Point Reyes? We asked folks where they want to take their next day trip and got a bunch of fun answers – Pescadero, Boonville, Napa, Healdsburg, Stinson, Memorial Park, Tilden, Muir Beach, and China Beach. Just don't forget your anchor mugs by Harstone Pottery and mason cocktail shaker.

Weekend excursion #2 - Monterey Bay. If you have a hankering for some beach-side clam chowder, perhaps Monterey Bay is calling your name. Be sure to pack your waxed canvas satchel by Peg & Awl, Kinfolk Magazine, infinity scarf by DDCCSF, woolen iPad sleeve by Willow & Company, and mason jar with Cuppow lid.

Weekend excursion #3 – Anywhere on the California Coast. You can't go wrong on a sunny day, as long as you've got your camera on hand to capture the majesty. Leather camera strap by Uniforma and waxed canvas lunch bag by Peg & Awl.

And just look at this next letterpress piece celebrating the San Francisco Bay. *sigh* There's almost no need to day trip when we live in such a beautiful place.

The summer months are coming to a close, and with September right around the corner, it's time to dust off your dreams, get reinspired, and go out and kick some butt. Whether you are headed back to school or jump starting a new project, it's a good time to clear out the old clutter and reinvent your work or study space.

Lucky for you, we're throwing a big sale in August to make way for new Fall merchandise, and all of our desk and office friendly back-to-school stuff is 20% off. The cute things in the photo above are sure to make your shopping list:

Lunch Bags by Peg & Awl
Made of sturdy, wipe-down-able waxed canvas.

America the Beautiful Field Notes
Limited edition and ready for note taking and doodling.

Woolen Laptop and iPad Bags
Technology looks so much better when accessorized.

Handwoven Trash Basket by Peterboro
Made by a family in New Hampshire for 150 years.

JFish Wall Planters
Slipcasted ceramics made at the Berkeley Potters Guild.

We were so thrilled to receive the new issue of Kinfolk in the mail! It's a beautiful ode to Japan, with all of the usual photographs, recipes, essays, and anecdotes we've come to expect from the expertly curated publication. In the editor's words, this volume is a love letter to a "unique country, including the basic values, skills and recipes that come together to form the beautifully simple lifestyle."



Some of the most interesting stories include:
- An interview with Fog Linen’s Yumiko Sekine
- Recipes for Cherry Blossom Macarons with Black Sesame, Salt-Pickled Napa Cabbage, Wakame Cucumber Salad, Red Bean Mochi and Matcha
- Harvest essays on green tea, wakame seaweed, and wasabi.
- A guide for learning shibori (hand dyeing indigo fabric) and creating beautiful floral arrangements using ikebana.
- Thoughtful essays on Japanese concepts such as wabisabi, mono no aware, and ichi-go ichi-e.
- A summer playlist.



And the bonus? A profile on Oakland's Ramen Shop! Too cool. 

We only have ten copies here at the shop, so come on over and claim yours. Hope you enjoy thumbing through this issue as much as we did.

Some of our favorite pottery in the whole dang world is made by Jennifer Fish of JFish Designs (check out her cute stuff in our shop, above!). We were excited to be able to visit her studio yesterday down at the Berkeley Potters Guild! She's busy coming up with tons of new designs for the holidays, and engrossed in slipcasting all sorts of cool ceramic tableware.

Jennifer has a super interesting background, with degrees in Engineering Psychology at Tufts University and Industrial Design at Pratt Institute. She was a product designer for years and years, spending some time at Smart Design where she worked with companies like OXO, Hewlett Packard, and Toyota. She also worked on kitchenware products for brands like KitchenAid and Cuisinart as an industrial designer at Lifetime Brands.

It was awesome to see Jennifer in her environment, and to get a little taste of her creative process. Come on down to the shop to check out her goods live and in person.