Highlights from Stitch

We were pleasantly surprised to see so many designers selling baby wear. Mommies couldn’t get enough of the laminated, appliqué bibs too cute for words made by Berwyn, Illinois’ Sheriff Peanut.

And it was hard to look away from Seattle’s Ruffeo Hearts Lil’ Snotty booth. The designers and their parents looked like Rainbow Bright, wearing their own Bill Cosby-meets-Urban Outfitters colorful pullovers and dresses with tons of pockets and bike-friendly, anorak-esque face covers. If we had $180, we would’ve purchased one of their hoodies constructed from salvaged fabric. Instead, we dropped $40 for an equally neat-o hoodie that looks like it could go for four times as much at Factory People by Panda Songs— hand-silkscreened, sewn and bleached tops and dresses with a Japanese-punk edge made in Denton, Texas.

Several people were wearing glittery, gold slip-ons purchased at Tom’s Shoes’ booth. While admiring the flannel versions of the simple flats, a little bird confirmed that Tom’s is indeed opening a store in Austin some time in the spring. Guess what everybody’s going to be wearing next year?

Looking at jewelry, Austin’s own Ornamental Things had the most beautiful pieces created from vintage watch mechanisms. We also loved the delicate, sterling silver fawns, birds and branches made by Figs and Ginger from Salem, Massachusetts.

An hour before the runway show, the crowd gathered around the stage to watch Double Dutch Will Take You Higher. The gold and black dressed girls took us back to our elementary school days as they performed an impressive yet loosely choreographed jump rope routine.

Local comic Matthew Bearden was the MC, using the word “fabulous” once or twice without a hint of irony while reading his script off a laptop. He announced that Swear Jar Designs, maker of belt-buckles, won $1000 from Carlo Rossi. Chia (voted Best Clothing Designer in the Chronicle's "Best of Austin") and House of Dang won the Stitch Grants. Then the shy and awkward Project Runway alumn, Bradley Baumkirchner, presented trench coat dress he donated in the raffle. The raffle, by the way, included $5000 worth of Baby Lock sewing machines.

The fun thing about Stitch is watching friends model for friends. Several of women let their personality shine—flirting, smiling and giving off some major attitude while they walked to the perfectly timed music by DJ Bigface. Standout collections included Hot Pink Pistol (tropical dresses and jumpers decorated with glittery portraits of contemporary presidents), the creatively styled House of Dang (jersey and knit-wear evoking a mix of ’70s vintage and late ’90s Marc by Marc Jacobs), Laura Dahl and Wifebeater (easy to wear American Apparel-inspired jersey pieces in black and hot pink), and a not-so-marketable yet highly entertaining Hazel and Melvin (entirely knit and inspired by sock monkeys).

After the show, several people headed to the afterparty at Mohawk for some stellar music by DJ Orion and Abominatron. On top of being creative, those DIY girls and boys can dance!