It's official. My first collection of home decor fabrics is in the works. I mailed out the artwork earlier this week. I'm so excited. And relieved. That last part of the design process is pretty grueling.
I can't show any sneak peeks till the copyright process is completed. I can let it slip that one of the prints is called Cakewalk. A great name with an even-better history. (There are no cake illustrations involved though.) I love learning about weird stuff.
Here's the skinny.
The cakewalk is a dance from the civil-war era. It was a tradition begun by slaves which developed into a parody of high society ballroom dancing and dandy mannerisms. Instead of taking offense, plantation owners encouraged the comedic dance. Many would host Sunday cakewalk contests to determine who could high-kick, saunter, curtsy, and tip his hat to best effect. The prize was usually a cake wrapped in cabbage (I'm guessing early Saran Wrap here). It is from this tradition comes the saying, "That takes the cake!"
The dance hit the mainstream around 1890 or so -- Victorian society was due for some silliness.
The high-stepping march of a band majorette stems from the cakewalk as well.
After discovering old-timey cakewalk footage on You Tube yesterday, Isaac and I took a stab at the dance ourselves. Right here in my office. Flag that one for the next church talent show, right? If you need a stress relief, I highly recommend it. Odds are you'll win a good belly laugh and burn off some cake while you're at it. Then again, you might need to be punch-drunk with exhaustion to fully understand.
So excited to see this collection!!!
Posted by: Jenni | October 14, 2010 at 06:37 PM
Congrats! Can't wait to see some sneak peeks!
Posted by: Miss Sews-it-all | October 14, 2010 at 06:39 PM
Can't wait! Finally cute (I assume) home dec fabric.
Posted by: Olivia | October 14, 2010 at 06:48 PM
Oooooh, I'm excited to see your home dec fabric. I can only imagine how fabulous it will be! I really enjoyed the cake walk video!
Posted by: Angie | October 14, 2010 at 07:12 PM
Hi! I totally love your blog and your creations, it is amazing. Please hop on to my blog whenever you free at www.blossominch.blogspot.com
Cheers
yuzz
Posted by: Yuzz Yusof | October 14, 2010 at 10:06 PM
I can't wait to see it!!1
Posted by: Kristin | October 15, 2010 at 06:11 AM
Awesome! I'm so excited for you...another collection and home decor fabric! Really great. I'd love to see your dance. I framed one of your pop garden fabrics in our new place in Ann Arbor. I love how it gives my old stuff a whole new look, plus it's fun when people come over and love the fabric that I can say, "Yeah, she's my friend." It's pretty cool to have stuff that you love and that means something in your house. I have a picture of it on my blog...though I have a crappy camera that doesn't do it justice. Sorry so long! Hope all is well over there and cooling down.
Posted by: Brooke Romney | October 15, 2010 at 06:25 AM
What fun!
Posted by: Natalie VV | October 15, 2010 at 09:32 AM
I've very excited to see the reveal of the dec fabric. I plan to put some of it to use.... and not for home decorating! Home dec fabric are great for making purses and wallet too.
Suzanne
Posted by: Suzanne, the Farmer's Wife | October 16, 2010 at 04:26 AM
Congrats and enjoyed reading about the origins of cakewalk stuff!
Posted by: Andee Neff | October 16, 2010 at 08:12 PM
Thanks everyone!
Posted by: Heather Bailey | October 17, 2010 at 02:55 PM
Wow Heather,
I'm loving your new layout and especially the colorful pattern. Well, I don't really know how new it is cause I usually read your blog via google reader.
I guess I'll stop counting on my reader and start visit here more often ;)
Sending a sunny smile from Israel,
Einat
Posted by: DesignBreak | October 21, 2010 at 04:52 AM
This is so great! I love the name! Can't wait to see the new line! And the story behind it...who knew!! Hmmm....you've given me an idea....next spring I think we will host a neighborhood cake walk....have everyone march around the block extravagantly, with the reward being a giant piece of cake at the end!
Posted by: Dreaming Bear | October 22, 2010 at 04:52 PM
Seriously, Dreaming Bear!? You are awesome. I would love to hear if you pull that off.
Posted by: Heather Bailey | October 25, 2010 at 01:04 AM
Well I guess I'll just have to wait on sewing anymore drapes or recovering all of my couch pillows until I get a peek at the new collection. :)
Posted by: Marcy | October 28, 2010 at 06:40 AM
our elementary school always had a cake walk for Halloween Carnival. you'd buy a $1 ticket and dance around a big circle and when the music stopped, a number was called and whoever was on that #, got to choose a cake from a long table of cake donations. great fund raiser. the kids decorated wild and wacky Halloween cakes and there was a prize for the kookiest one, as well.
Posted by: make me a cake | November 03, 2010 at 07:24 AM
How do you start designing a fabric? It sounds so daunting! Do you sketch by hand or on the computer?
Posted by: Amanda | March 18, 2011 at 04:32 PM