What Community Looks Like: September FleaScene

The last few editions of Little Flea have been memorable. See you for yourself: check out the September photo album for a brief look at the latest editions of Little Flea.

Kenny Robertson -- historian and collector of African-American photography -- teaching the youth.

This Saturday at Little Flea: Broth

Soup's on! Broth, the newest addition to Little Flea, joins us at the corner of 36th and Butler this week, just in time for the onset of hearty food season. Broth's creative duo includes a classically trained chef and an artist + all around creative powerhouse. Meet the two-woman team behind the soups, try a sample, and then pick up a couple of frozen cartons to take home. Two sizes, small and large, will be available. Though the roster changes weekly, and seasonally, flavors on hand this week are Greek Lemon, Chicken Noodle, and two vegetarian options -- White Bean  & Kale and Veggie Lentil.

Photo Copyright: PrecisionNutrition.com

Featured Vendor: Michele James-Parham

I was born and raised in Oklahoma City, OK, but transplanted to the 'burgh in July 2005 with my family. My husband William, son Elijah and I live on the Northside, in Brighton Heights, on a little dead end street, with our two cats, Lain and Grey.

I come from a long line of crafty women. My paternal and maternal great-great AND great-grandmothers made every piece of clothing and linens that their families needed, which was a lot, because collectively, the 12 of them had 79 children! Next, came my two grandmothers (who had a much smaller army of only five children to craft for); both were seamstresses too (go figure). I spent a lot of time with my maternal great-grandmothers while I was growing up. Both of them lived on farms and were quilters. They taught me a lot about sewing, being farmers' wives and what it was like to be immigrants. I thought I was just playing and that they were just entertaining me, but they were really setting the stage for me to follow in their quilted and caravaned footsteps. My grandmother made me lots of clothes (as did my mother) when I was a baby and toddler. My grandmother also made me dolls, doll clothes and all of my baton twirling costumes, which I later learned to help with making. I think my mother, though she can sew, wasn't as drawn to the needle and thread like I have become -- she is a crocheter.

When I found out I was pregnant with our son, I decided to buy a sewing machine and make some baby clothes and cloth diapers. I was going to be so productive and not need to buy all of that stuff. I set out with the best of intentions, but realized that it was going to take a whole lot more patience and time than I might be willing to give the project. I did manage to make some stuff, but nothing too impressive and we bought plenty more than expected. Once Elijah was a little older, I set back down at my machine and began to sew. I'd stay up late to sew and get early to sew. I'd try to encourage Elijah to take extra naps and longer naps so I could sew. I became a pro at sewing while balancing a nursing baby on my lap. As I kept sewing, I started to remember what all those wise women had taught me. I began to really make things and to find a certain Peace or Zen in the process.

I don't know when I started selling the things that I was making. I remember giving things to friends and making things for friends, but I can't quite recall when sewing became a business for me. I eventually found Etsy.com and was hooked. Up to that point, everything I was making was all new or new from vintage material. In the last three or four years, I have started to up-cycle and recycle linens, blankets, sweaters and reconstruct second-hand clothing. I find a great deal of Joy in turning pillowcases into sweet little skirts, ties into belts, flannel sheets into cloth diapers, scraps into baby quilts, serger trimmings into pillow stuffing and cutting out hundreds of charming little gnomes to make patches that find their way onto many of my creations. It's therapy -- a creative outlet. And everyone needs some kind of creative outlet. If you don't find something to busy your mind, hands and soul with, you risk unleashing all that energy in other ways -- that can be a bad thing for some people (and for those around them). Or, at least that's how I see it.

My goal is to make someone smile when they wear or use something I've made and for them to know that they're holding a piece made by someone with a history rich with radical, wise and talented women. I secretly hope that I never grow up, but I really do want to learn to play the accordion.

I have a sporadically updated blog and when I'm not flea-ing, I sell stuff online.

This Saturday at Little Flea: Justseeds

We are so excited to welcome the kick-ass graphic arts co-op Justseeds to the market this Saturday! This is a great chance to check out their awesome work in person and meet some of the folks behind this collective of socially-conscious artists -- whose headquarters, incidentally, are located right here in Lawrenceville! Members Bec Young and Mary Tremonte will be on hand with lots of goodies, among them prints like Meredith Stern's Cooperation Cats, Melanie Cervantes and Jesus Barraza's EZLN Women Laws, and books like Firebrands and Signal. Can't miss this!

ABOUT JUSTSEEDS
Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative is a decentralized network of 26 artists committed to making print and design work that reflects a radical social, environmental, and political stance. With members working from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, Justseeds operates both as a unified collaboration of similarly minded printmakers and as a loose collection of creative individuals with unique viewpoints and working methods. We believe in the transformative power of personal expression in concert with collective action. To this end, we produce collective portfolios, contribute graphics to grassroots struggles for justice, work collaboratively both in- and outside the co-op, build large sculptural installations in galleries, and wheatpaste on the streets – all while offering each other daily support as allies and friends.

HISTORY
Founded in 1998, and originally the graphics distribution project of Josh MacPhee, Justseeds made the transformation into a worker-owned cooperative in 2007 – the original network being largely in place through past collaborations and friendships. In May 2010, Justseeds moved our distribution center from Portland to a new and larger base in Pittsburgh. We operate an online store and wholesale distribution center; an active, multi-voice blog detailing current art and resistance projects around the world; and a small gallery space in our Pittsburgh shipping office that highlights member work.

Back to School, Back to Flea!

Little Flea's back this Saturday after taking a short, well-deserved break for Labor Day weekend. Everything changes after Labor Day. School's in, vacation time's over, and it's a reminder that only 8 more market days are left until the market's season closes at the end of October.

We love this time of the year at Little Flea. It's a kind of flea harvest time. All the good stuff begins to surface. It brings back vendors who take a pause during the summer as well as new vendors ready to get rid of their great stuff in time for winter. The mild weather obviously plays a great role here too; the pickers among us can now take our time to really sift through until we find that awesome piece. Make plans for a visit these next few weeks -- you'll be kindly rewarded.

Now's also the perfect time to join the fun by becoming a vendor! All are welcome. Learn more and sign up here.