Past Beautiful Booths:

September 2011: Tarra Hartlauer, All Together Now

Tarra Hartlauer rescues fabric. From Goodwill and garage sales, from curtains and bedspreads, blankets, t-shirts and shoelaces, and from friends, neighbors and customers. A veteran scrapbooker, she takes those fabrics, rearranges them, recombines them, finds and highlights themes (owls for one) and colors, splices them into and splashes them all over old jeans and comes up with fun and funky Eugene style fashion. Tarra’s upcycled skirts have plenty of pockets, look great when layered up to survive Eugene’s capricious weather, and are still feminine and very expressive. She makes them from all sizes of jeans for all sizes of women, even little girl skirts from little girl jeans. She’s also happy to do custom work, transforming your favorite jeans into a new, even more favorite, skirt.

You’d think that would be enough for one woman to create, but no, Tarra’s got an entirely different line of goods as well - garden signs. Inspired by her need for some garden signs last year, she had her husband, a sign maker himself, teach her how to use the router. A true Marketeer, it occurred to her that she could sell some fine handcrafted garden signs! She’s learned a lot from her customers, including their preference for garden friendly cedar signs with a non-toxic finish (boiled linseed oil is what she uses), and lots of gardening tips. She says the “Please don’t piss off the fairies” sign is a crowd favorite.

Tarra's booth As you can see, Tarra’s booth looks nice and spacious, and I find the checkerboard floor inviting. Racks keep everything organized, and she’s fortunate to have a reserved space that has room for her baskets of signs to sit outside her booth next to a hedge.

About her chosen crafts and Market life, Tarra says “I could not tell you what I like doing better sewing or woodworking. I guess the Oregon weather decides that for me. If its raining I am sewing and if its sunny I am out in the woodshed working. I have been doing market for 3 years now. And yes my booth has been evolving and so have my skills. I am a proud market member that loves to work hard in the form of art. I have achieved a regular spot in #171, and I love my neighbors/friends.” Her business name and logo came to her while sitting on the city bus one day when she was daydreaming instead of studying for school. The Beatles' song ALL TOGETHER NOW was playing on her mp3 player. And it hit her! That’s it, since all her skirts are so many different things coming together into ONE. It had to be. And of course using the recycle symbol was a must.

You can find Tarra and her skirts and signs in space 171, just south of the lamp post near the fountain. She's there nearly every week, rain or shine!

skirts