Funk & Weber Designs | Mr X Stitch

Welcome to the The Funk Files. I'm Jen Funk Weber from Funk & Weber Designs, and I'm here to explore textile and embroidery frontiers. I plan to look up, chase down, and chat with the most adventurous and creative textile, fashion, and embroidery students, and I will trek around the world to investigate the earliest and latest textiles and embroidery. I live and stitch in Alaska, The Last Frontier. Exploring, learning, and new experiences are some of my favorite things, and I'm thrilled to undertake this adventure on the embroidery frontier. I look forward to how it impacts my own sewing and embroidery and yours, too. A Disclaimer While I'm comfortably well-versed in sewing, textiles, and embroidery, when it comes to fashion, well . . . personally, that's not my strong suit. In fact, I can trump the first fashion card played. Fashion and I, we go together like couture and RefrigiWear. (You don't even know what that is, do you?) In Alaska, I wear long johns pretty much year round: two pairs in winter, one pair much of the summer beneath clothes large enough to fit over them. It's a special day when I'm long john-less. I maintain that my stunning, many-layered ensembles always match: You just never know which layers I'm referring to. No one in Alaska bats a false eyelash at one's attire. Alaskans are all about individuality and adventure. These are the kinds of students we'll talk with here: Individuals exploring their studies with a sense of adventure. If you are such a student or you know one, please give me a shout at jen {at} funkandweber {dot} com. I look forward to improving my fashion sense with these up-and-comers, expanding my own stitchy horizons—and yours. Perhaps there's a future for me in fashionable, embroidered, rural-Alaska, uber-cold-weather wear. Adventure Stitching Speaking of embroidery, adventure, and Alaska . . . there's an embroidery adventure happening in Alaska, August 5–11, 2015, and you're invited. The Stitch In Alaska Tour is a seven-day, all-inclusive trip exploring wild places on the Kenai Peninsula while visiting three wilderness lodges: three nights at Kenai Riverside Lodge, situated along the bank of the beautiful Kenai River; two nights at Kenai Backcountry Lodge, a historical and ecologically managed lodge; and a stay at Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge, the first and only lodge in Kenai Fjords National Park. We'll enjoy guided activities such as hiking, rafting, and kayaking, and we'll squeeze some stitching in between, while hearty, home-cooked meals are made for us and the sauna heats. I've partnered with Alaska Wildland Adventures (AWA) to bring this trip to stitchers. AWA (pronounced "AA-wah") is a first-class, ecotour operator. Trips are limited to 12–16 guests, and offer the best of adventure by day and the most relaxing, comfortable Alaskan lodge experience by night. Oh—ours will also offer embroidery! Our trip is a customized version of the Alaska Wildland Collection. You can check out the detailed itinerary here. Non-stitching friends and spouses are welcome: All the usual lodge activities will be available, so there will be no shortage of things for non-stitchers to do. In fact, stitchers should plan on not sleeping if you want to get a lot of stitching done. Your guide for the trip will be yours truly. I first came to Alaska twenty-five years ago to be a natural history guide for Alaska Wildland Adventures. I'm dusting off my guide boots for this trip! Don't worry, I don't think they'll let me row you down the Kenai River on Day 2, but I could. I camped with and cooked for the builders of Kenai Fjords Glacier Lodge seven years ago, and there are photos at the lodge to prove it. I caretake at the lodge in the fall and sometimes in spring. It's a place I know and love well, and I look forward to sharing it with you, fellow stitchers. We're going to have a mountain of fun! I invite you to join us this summer in The Last Frontier. You can see and experience Wild Alaska-wear for yourself and do some adventure stitching with me. Learn more about the trip here. I'll see you back here next month with an award-winning student on the embroidery frontier.