I received my first Friendship Bracelet many years ago from a college friend. It was a chevron design of navy blue and green thread and I wore it every day. Even though I don’t have the bracelet anymore, I remember it fondly.
Recently, with the rise in the maker’s movement, the craft of making Friendship Bracelets has become a focus and London-based crafter Maria Makarova (AKA Masha Knots) is on it! After more than ten years of making the colorful bracelets herself and offering YouTube tutorials, she has written a book – The Beginner’s Guide to Friendship Bracelets: Essential Lessons for Creating Designs to Wear and Give (Rocky Nook).
The popularity of Friendship Bracelets has ebbed and flowed over the years, but as an endearing sign of friendship they never really go away. New generations of teenagers, young adults, and now even older folks can’t resist the charm of a handmade symbol of connection.
In her book, Makarova explains in detail how to make simple and more complex bracelet designs. She covers tools of the trade, basic loops, embellishments, fixing common mistakes, and she even offers “tricks and tips.” The instructions are user friendly with lots of diagrams and step-by-step photos. In Chapter 12 Makarova provides photos of her original designs.
I’m thinking Valentine’s Day (or Galentine’s Day, the celebration of female friendships, on February 13th). Get the book for the crafter in your life or for yourself and start a new hobby. What better a gift for the people you love than a handmade bracelet? And when it comes to making gifts, it’s never too early to think about the holidays, as well as birthdays and graduations coming up this year.
(ODFL would like to thank Rocky Nook for providing a review copy of this book.)
Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage | Tagged book review, crafting, crafting books, Friendship Bracelets, friendship presents, Galentine's Day, handmade gifts, holiday gifts, Maria Makarova, Masha Knots, Rocky Nook, unique Valentine's Day gift, Valentine's Day | Leave a Comment »
I met Debbie Ferman last July at the Shadelands Vintage Market, where I was among the vendors selling vintage jewelry and other goodies. Debbie came up to my booth and made a beeline for the basket of buttons I had sitting on the table. We got talking and she mentioned that she makes hats for newborn babies, and she uses buttons as decoration. I was taken with her enthusiasm for what she does and asked if she’d be willing to do a Q&A with ODFL. “That sounds like fun,” she said.
Debbie retired as an RN just before the pandemic. She was a nurse for 43 years, the last 30 of those years at John Muir Medical Center. When she joined the Alamo Women’s Club in 2021, she started making hats and never looked back. She now averages about 40 hats a month.
And here we go with the Q&A:
Did you knit/sew before you started making hats for the Alamo Women’s Club?
I have been knitting for more than 15 years mostly doing simple sweaters and scarfs. Now that I’m retired, I’m happy to knit/loom and donate the items.
What inspired you to get involved with making the hats?
I wanted to do something to give back to the community and was so pleased to find I could do so with making hats!
Tell us about the hats themselves, what are they like?
The hats I make are done on a round loom which comes in multiple sizes, and I think it’s easier than knitting. I also do know how to crochet and my curls and flowers on the hats are done with crochet.

When we met and you mentioned your volunteer work, I could see how excited you are about it – what is it about the work that brings you such joy?
It’s very relaxing to loom and gives me a chance to be creative which I love to do. I’ve always collected antique items including buttons, which I use to decorate the hats.

What are the rewards of volunteer work?
Recently I made over 30 hats that were sent to Ukraine. In this case I made mostly adults and a few child size hats. I used warm wool yarns as they are so cold there and in such need of these items. I also collected warm clothing for the Ukraine people. The person that sends the hats to Ukraine attaches a note to each shipment which says “Sending love from your friends in California.” How wonderful I felt knowing I could do something to help these people.
The Alamo Women’s Club has lots of interesting events and I hear there’s a jewelry show coming up. Can you tell us more about that?
We have a huge jewelry sale multiple times each year. There are thousands of items so you can always find something. All of it is donated and proceeds go to needy Bay Area College students and support the other Alamo Women’s club philanthropies. We have vintage, collectible, new, fine and costume items. Many antique dealers frequent the sales. Our next sale is February 1st, 10-5 and February 2nd, 10-4, at our clubhouse 1401 Danville Blvd., Alamo.
I can’t wait for that sale!
Thank you, Debbie for taking time with ODFL and for all the knitting and volunteering you do. What an inspiration you are!
Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage | Tagged Alamo Women's Club, Debbie Ferman, jewelry, jewelry sales, knitted hats, vintage jewelry, volunteering | Leave a Comment »
Growing up in San Fransico I remember my father and I going to the movies together. On Saturday afternoons we’d head over to one of the city’s grand movie theaters – The Alhambra on Polk Street or the Metro on Union Street, just to name a couple. Later when I was in high school, my friends and I hit those theaters and others.
I have fond memories of that unique movie theater experience – the buttery popcorn smell swirling around the vast theater space, the rough texture on the wide cushy seats, the pinch of excitement I felt as the lights dimmed and the curtains raised. Those grand (single screen) theaters in SF and across the country have since either been sliced up into multiple shoebox size mini-theaters or (worse) turned into fitness centers. The movie theater experience is not the same.
Now the last grand movie theater in SF – the beloved Castro Theater – has a new partner and the plans are to replace the plush seating with tiers without seats to add standing room for concerts.
Here’s a more detailed explanation from the Art Deco Society of California:
New management (Another Planet Entertainment) has plans to remove the seats on the main floor and replace them with staggered tiers without seats or temporary seats which will not be conducive to movie going or for film festivals in the future. This would be a terrible loss as the Castro is the last remaining historic “Movie Palace” in San Francisco in which to have the magical experience of watching a film with a sloped floor and plush theater seating. Designed by Timothy Pflueger in 1922, it is an Architectural Treasure, inside and out.
The Castro Theatre, famous around the world, is the sole surviving single-screen movie palace in the city of San Francisco. The seats on the main ground floor are from the second period of significance in the landmark amendment, which covers the important LGBTQ history and programming period, from the 1976 to 2004 time frame. The balcony still has some original seats from 1922 and many others from the 1937 remodel. All the seats together in the theatre, the aisles and the sloped auditorium floor are among key character-defining features of this historic theatre.
The Castro Theater is known and loved for its many film festivals, including the annual Film Noir Festival.
Currently The Castro has landmark status for the just the outside of the building. Please consider signing the petition to “Save Our Seats” and expand the landmark status of The Castro to include the inside of the building.
Enough of the destruction of all that is stylish and good in the Bay Area! Please spread the word. Thank you.
There is more we can do – click here for information about other ways to help.
Posted in Arts, Events, Uncategorized, Vintage | Tagged Art Deco movie theaters, Art Deco preservation, Art Deco Society of California, Art Deco Style, grand movie palaces, petitions, San Fransico movie theaters, save the castro theater, the castro theater, Timothy Pfueger | 2 Comments »
One day something magical happened. Something forbidden happened.
Polka Dot met Stripes and after that, fashionable life was never the same.
Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion, Uncategorized, Vintage | Tagged fashion, fashion history, fashion news, fashion trends, mixing patterns, patterns, polka dots, polka dots and stripes, stripes, style | Leave a Comment »
Magenta comes from the red family and it is described by Pantone as a shade with “vim and vigor” and is “expressive of a new signal of strength.” Inspired by nature, more specifically the cochineal beetle, Viva Magenta is meant to reflect strength, power, and compassion in our ever more stressful and challenging world. (Click here for the full Pantone blurb.)
Well, it’s also very bright and hard to wear for a lot of us. Still, I see it as an interesting accent color in patterns for dresses, shirts, and accessory pieces such as scarves, gloves, and socks.
To help us incorporate the new color into our fashion, the British luxury fashion retailer N.Peal offers a list of suggestions. Here are a few:
Magenta trousers paired with a fitted t-shirt for a casual look.
A magenta sweater allows us to play with the new color and can be dressed up or down.
For those feeling a little shy about the new color (or you know it’s not right for you), try it in an accessory such as a pair of shoes or a handbag.
Great ideas, thank you!
What to you think, ODFL readers? Will you be adding a little “vim and vigor” into your fashion looks for 2023?
Posted in Events, Fashion, Uncategorized | Tagged 2023 color of the year, color in fashion, fashion news, fashionable colors, N.Peal, Pantone color of the year, Viva Magenta | 2 Comments »
Well, we are at the final day of our brooch adventure. I have so many brooches we could continue for another twelve days. But we’ll wrap it up with this lovely embroidered bird brooch.
This unique piece belonged to my mother, but she gave it to me some time ago. I have always loved it and I know that she bought it at a shop called White Duck Workshop on College and Ashby in Berkeley. WDWS was a boutique that sold handmade clothing for women. Known for a certain California aesthetic of the 1970s, WDSH created dresses and skirts in patchwork and appliqué corduroy. As times changed, so did their style. I remember by the 1980s they’d dropped the folk patchwork look for the oversized power look of the day, but still keeping the handmade Berkeley aesthetic.
The bird and flowers are embroidered on silk and I think perhaps the fabric was part of a larger piece – a kimono? – and was made into a brooch. Or it could have been a button. Either way, I suspect the fabric is antique. I think my mother bought the brooch in the 1970s or 1980s. She didn’t wear it often and I don’t either, as it looks delicate. But when I do, I pin it to a rust colored sweater that was also my mother’s and one of my favorite sweaters to wear on cold days.
This brings us to the end of The Twelve Days of Brooches. I hope ODFL readers enjoyed the series. Next year we will do it again with another vintage collection.
Posted in Arts, Events, Fashion, Mom's Closet, Uncategorized, Vintage | Tagged antique brooch, brooches, embroidery, fashion history, The Twelve Days of Brooches, twelve days of Christmas, vintage fashion, vintage style, White Duck Workshop | 1 Comment »