Lindsey Thornburg and Pendleton team up again for artistic, beautiful capes.

September 9, 2016March 17, 2021 / pendletonwoolenmills / 1 Comment

Cape with toggle closures in a warm geometric pattern.

Lindsey Thornburg has done it again.

Our favorite New York-based, western USA-raised designer has once again taken beautiful Pendleton blankets and transformed them as only she can. With careful attention to the play of each blanket’s patterns, she’s created magic. We’ve linked to the blanket used in each cape so you can see them flat, and truly appreciate what she does. The cape above is made from a Spirit Guide blanket.

A model wearing a cape stand in a field of purple tulips.

Above, a cape made with J. Capps & Sons Tribute #7.

A model wearing a blue cape stands in a field of yellow tulips.

The cape above is made from the gorgeous Stella Maris blanket, designed by artist Alyssa Pheobus.

A model wearing a black and white white cape reclines in a field of red tulips.

The capes above and below are made with the Sky Walkers blanket, which celebrates the Mohawk ironworkers responsible for so many of our country’s urban skylines.

See more here

As worn by celebrities and fashion devotees across the world, Lindsey’s capes are available at www.lindseythornburg.com .

Some Lindsey Thornburg and Pendleton News

December 10, 2014September 8, 2021 / pendletonwoolenmills / Leave a comment

Celebrity Spotted

Lindsey Thornburg is in the news again with her beautiful cloaks made with Pendleton wool. Blake Lively was caught by the paparazzi in a cloak made with the Raven blanket.

(images of Blake Lively courtesy eonline and Us magazine)

Where to Buy It

You can find this cloak for sale at Blake’s Preserve.us site, where she has curated her favorite American products. And here’s the blanket, available at pendleton-usa.com.

RAVEN

The Raven blanket is a fine example of Coast Indian artistic style. Here’s the legend behind the pattern:

North American Indian folklore reflects the many stories surrounding animal spirits. Every animal has a reason for existence and a legend of how and why they are on Mother Earth. Raven is the counterpart of Coyote. Even though Raven can be an expert trickster, often fooling other animals out of food or shelter, Raven can also be a friend when other animals need help. With sharp eyes, he has a keen skill of knowing when danger lurks. Raven identifies the danger and notifies all other animals in the desert or forest to be cautious or to hide. Raven is a solid reminder and teacher of the good versus evil and is always available if there is a decision to be made. The Blanket exemplifies the black colored feathers of Raven; the red color of potential danger that surrounds him. The blanket is bordered with the Sun, Moon and Stars that are celestial facets of Raven’s life.

More Collaborative Blankets?

Lindsey has also done a collaborative blanket with us based on hand-dyed devoré velvet fabric designed by Lindsey and created by Tye Dye Mary®.

Isn’t that amazing? Lindsey works with so many fabric artists to produce her line, and we are excited to be one of them.

We hope you’re having a terrific December, and that you’re staying warm, wherever you are. Like Blake. Who is looking fabulous and staying warm in Pendleton wool.

(images of Blake Lively courtesy eonline and Us magazine)

Made in USA label with eagle for Pendleton

Pendleton’s Tamiami Trail Blanket and Seminole Patchwork

November 14, 2014September 8, 2021 / pendletonwoolenmills / 1 Comment

A Modern Favorite based on Historical Treasures

Pendleton’s Tamiami Trail blanket has been making some noise this year, showing up on the pages of Lucky:

web_lucky_10_14 Lucky Magazine spread featuring several Pendleton blankets

InStyle:

And DOMINO:

Domino magazine spread featuring several Pendleton blankets

The most exciting appearance was on Blake Lively, wearing a Lindsey Thornburg cloak that you can find on preserve.us.

Blake-Lively-leggy-in-boots--wearing a Lindsey Thornburg cape made from a Pendleton Tamiami Trail blanket

That’s quite a bit of press for one blanket. People are responding to the intricate, colorful pattern, but there is a story behind the Tamiami Trail blanket. And it isn’t just a good story. It’s an amazing story about resourcefulness and creativity thriving in diaspora.

The History

Tamiami Trail’s design is based on Seminole patchwork designs used in quilts and clothing. By the end of the Seminole Wars in 1858, the Seminole population of Florida was reduced from thousands to a few hundred. By the late 1800s, most had been driven out of Florida, but small bands remained in the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp. Seminoles quietly retained their culture — farming, hunting alligators and visiting trading posts along the Miami River with pelts and egret plumes to trade for supplies. Their thatch-roofed homes were called chickees, and they traveled in dugout canoes made from cypress logs.

It was a long canoe trip from the Everglades to trade for cotton cloth. Seminole women began sewing with whatever materials and scraps they could find, including survey pennants, fabric selvedges and end-bolts. The patterns themselves tell stories.

Click here to read about the symbology of these patterns.

Vintage tourist postcard of a man and woman wearing traditional Seminole strip clothing

“Strip clothing” became the traditional dress for Seminole men and women.

Below is a Seminole strip dress from the permanent collection of the Met.

A Seminole strip dress in the permanent collection of the Met museum, photo courtesy of the Met

The sewing machine became available to Seminole seamstresses around the end of the 19th century. “A sewing machine in every chickee” was the rallying cry. Seminole quilting evolved using ever-smaller and more intricate piecing.

A Seminole seamsress sews garments on a sewing machine

In 1928 the Tamiami Trail, the highway from Tampa to Miami, opened. The Seminole saw new trade opportunities in the tourist market for crafts such as patchwork and palmetto dolls.

A museum display of tourist dolls dressed in Seminole strip dresses

Vintage tourist postcard of Seminole people in strip clothing

So yes, This is a beautiful blanket. But its design tells a larger story about a beautiful Seminole artistic tradition. Their entrepreneurial success along the Tamiami Trail is a testimony to Seminole resilience. Strip clothing is still made and worn today, and it’s every bit as beautiful.

Additional information here:

http://www.colliermuseums.com/history/seminole_patchwork

http://www.semtribe.com/

http://funandsun.com/1tocf/seminole/semart2.html

In Other Style News: Blake Lively in Lindsey Thornburg x Pendleton Cape

October 23, 2014September 8, 2021 / pendletonwoolenmills / 3 Comments

Yes, that’s the beautiful Blake Lively in a Lindsey Thornburg cloak!

Blake-Lively-leggy-in-boots--courtesy US magazine

Our Tamiami Trail blanket makes a beautiful outerwear piece.

Blake Lively, fashion icon, offered this cloak on her Preserve.us website, but it appears to be sold out. Check Lindsey’s website! And be sure to read about Lindsey Thornburg’s inspirations on our blog. Her beautiful cloaks are dramatic innovations on the tradition of blanket coats that stretches back to medieval times in Europe. And centuries ago in the Americas, Native weavers made outerwear of their blankets, and adapted the styles to manufactured Trade blankets when they were introduced in the late 1800s. We have to tell you this stuff because we’re Pendleton, and we go back a ways with blankets.

But enough history lessons.

For now, just enjoy those photos of a beautiful woman in a beautiful cloak.

Lindsey Thornburg Trunk Show Tomorrow!

October 25, 2013September 15, 2021 / pendletonwoolenmills / 1 Comment

A surprising Hello

Sometimes you’re sitting down to write about a talented designer who uses Pendleton fabrics in innovative and beautiful cloaks, and that very designer comes knocking at your office door.

That’s exactly what happened today when the beautiful and talented Lindsey Thornburg dropped by.

You can meet her, too

Lindsey is in town for a Trunk show tomorrow at our Home store.

Stop by, because you’ll love these designs and you’ll love Lindsey.

Pendleton and Lindsey Thornburg: Art that Tells a Story

September 25, 2012September 17, 2021 / pendletonwoolenmills / 3 Comments

A Fresh Viewpoint

Designer Lindsey Thornburg is a former philosophy student who grew up in Colorado and Montana. She has been working with Pendleton fabrics since 2008, when she returned from a trip to Machu Picchu and started bringing her inspirations to life with vintage Pendleton blankets from her father’s Montana home. The cloaks she makes use familiar Pendleton patterns, geometrically realigned for a completely new (and utterly stunning) effect.

The Cloaks

Cloak by Lindsey Thornburg made from a Raven blanket

Lindsey brought her work to NYC in 2008. Her signature cloaks were featured on street style blogs and the mainstream press sat up and took notice. Thornburg continued to use Pendleton fabrics for her first cloak collections, making trips across the country to personally select fabrics at the Pendleton Woolen Mill Store. “Pendleton is the American wool company making the best textiles in the game,” says Lindsey. “People are inquisitive about Pendleton. Its iconic fabrics are now seen on the streets of New York and across America.”

In 2012, Ms. Thornburg and Pendleton have made it official with a new co-brand, Pendleton by Lindsey Thornburg. The new collection is available early fall in specialty boutiques, the Pendleton Home Store in Portland, Oregon, online and in the Pendleton Home catalog.

“We have been watching Lindsey since first meeting her in 2007,” says Robert Christnacht, Pendleton’s Home Division manager. “She honors the Pendleton fabric with her creative cloak designs.”

Lindsey Thornburg cloak made from a Los Ojos blanket

Lindsey is just as excited to be working with Pendleton. “It is an honor to be working with a company that is over 100 years old and incorporates Native American ideals. I am inspired by them, and love their American fabrics.” Lindsey adds, “Look at the Chief Joseph image. The photo expresses the same idea; a blanket covering for practical reasons. I give the blanket sleeves, adding a modern twist on how they would want a blanket to be used.”

“It’s art that tells a story.”

Pendleton Woolen Mills

Since 1863

Lindsey Thornburg