Virginia del Giudice Archives

What Mending Can Mean

Long out of favor due to the glut of cheap clothing, products and materials, mending and repair is on the rise again. That’s got us looking into the deeper meaning of mending.

Homemade Lemon-Scented Olive Oil For Bright, Summery Flavor Anytime

Casting about for foods that could sparkle things up and remind me of warm places and summer, I remembered my simple Lemon Olive Oil recipe. YES, that’s what I need, to use and give as gifts.

Powerful Teeny Gifts Wrapped in Found Scraps of… Magic

Our friend Virginia del Giudice recently sent us another of her wonderful teeny gifts: a little colorfully wrapped bonbon of some sort. Only an inch across, it is an example of the power that even small gift can have in making the recipient feel appreciated, considered, cared for. We wondered what was in the mysterious cloth wrapping…

The Big Power of Teeny Gifts

Virginia del Giudice of La Percalina in Buenos Aires sent us a tiny gift via a friend. The wrapping was SO wonderful, that we felt as though we had been given something mysterious, deeply special: a treasure. We took our time unwrapping it and were reminded that when a gift is wonderfully-wrapped, opening it is,…

Stylish Fashion from Your Fridge + Market

Virginia del Giudice sent us these utterly fab, seriously-stylish fashions made of fruits, vegetables and a few strokes of a brush. Gretchen Roehrs, who has reinterpreted Givenchy and Sonia Rykiel, has some serious X-ray vision, to SEE the possibilities in the most ordinary vegetables and fruits.

We wish that getting dressed were as easy as opening our refrigerator and grab a leaf of chard or kale to wear. We’ve discovered that…

Spots and Spills on Fabric, Rugs, Clothes: If You Can’t Beat’em, Join’em

We love artist/designer Dominic Wilcox‘s fix for red wine spilled on the carpet (below): Don’t bother trying to get it out…paint a pattern around it. It gives us ideas for fixing clothes and table linens that have impossible-to-remove stains or spots. If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em: transform them by emphasising the transgressions,

Embroidery Fix Redux: Disguise Rips with Images or Symbols

Recalling Virginia del Giudice‘s recent post on using needlework to cover holes in vintage garments, Susan Dworski alerted us to an inspiring iteration on the theme of embroidery fixes:

Permanent Hopscotch for Spontaneous Skip + Jump

Photographer Virginia del Giudice has been sending us sightings from her travels in Amsterdam of random brilliant “everyday” improvisations the Dutch have come up with. Here’s a favorite: numbered tiles formed into a hopscotch grid and placed permanently on the sidewalk, for a quick spontaneous skip and jump on your way to do an errand or go…

An Embroidered Fix for Torn, Treasured Fabric

We recently received another inspiring fabric fix from Virginia del Giudice, photographer and co-owner of La Percalina, a fine vintage clothing shop in Buenos Aires.

Sea Shell Salt Cellar

Our friend Virgina del Giudice sent us a lovely vacation email with the subject line: “Improvising“: We were on vacation in La Pedrera, Uruguay (very beautiful place!) My husband and I rented a forties garage converted into a cozy little appartment for two. The kitchen was small but perfect for improvising nice recipes like croquettes…

A Net Bag Becomes a Scarf and Necklace + DIY

When I was presented with a beautiful net bag recently, something made me loop it like a scarf around my neck so I could wear it. It is one more surprising use for a net bag, which, I’ve discovered you can make yourself.

How to Salvage Stained Cloth: Embroider It!

Photographer Virginia del Giudice has both a wonderful eye AND, we discovered, a fine hand with fabrics. Witness her beautiful “fix” of some permanently-stained fabric. It reminds us of kintsugi, the artful repair of damaged things.