On a recent Friday (February 15, to be exact), a young, fashionable and oh-so-hip crowd squeezed into the art space Monster Island for the first night of Williamsburg Fashion Weekend. Curated by Artur Arbit, a designer himself, Williamsburg Fashion Weekend was created to invite "new and intriguing designers to show in a 'neutral' environment and to encourage 'unorthodox' presentations."

A far cry from the Bryant Park tents (but in a good way!), many of the designers who showed at Williamsburg Fashion Weekend made every piece from their collections by hand. It was particularly cool to see so many designers using upcycled materials and organic or sustainable fabrics.

Artur Arbit showed his line, King Gurvy, first: he rolled out a rack of his bespoke suits made of vintage fabrics and proceeded to strip down to his skivvies, trying on and showing off his small line of clothing to the audience. Arbit clearly loves to wear the clothes he makes: they fit him well both literally and aesthetically and I applaud any man who can make such a big fashion statement. I spent the better part of the evening trying to convince my husband to start wearing three-piece suits. 

Next up was Sovereign Beck, the eponymous necktie line by designers Ryan Sovereign and William Beck. Ties are pretty hard to show off on the runway, but Sovereign and Beck had an ingenious concept: to start the show, a model walked out onto the stage wearing all white picked up a guitar and started playing a droning chord. He was followed by another, then another, and another until there was a line of models strumming the same chord, looking like a very well dressed noise band in their natty white suits and ties. Inspired by classic designers Emilio Pucci, Oleg Cassini and André Courrèges, Sovereign and Beck have managed to create a line of ties that would appeal equally to the artist and the accountant.

My favorite show of the evening (because I wanted all the clothing for myself!) was Carrissa Ackerman's one-of-a-kind line Mandate of Heaven. Boys in tweed plaid pants and adorable embroidered sweaters led ladies in cheeky outfits reminiscent of both 1940s pinups and '70s Superfly divas. Carissa makes all of her pieces from found materials: "By mixing and manipulating the best elements of our past and present," Ackerman told Blackbook Magazine, "I want to create the well-lived life of our future." If this is what people will be wearing in the future, I have a lot to look forward to.

Saturday night: same place, two more indie designers. Unfortunately, the fashion gods were not smiling on me that night, as my location was not so optimal for photography. That's one thing about independent fashion shows: you're never quite sure where the runway is going to be.

The night started off with, French Me Please, the new line of women's clothing by Liz Berg and Jeanette Tiso, two very busy 21 year olds, who somehow managed to design a whole line of clothes in between classes at FIT and part-time jobs. Inspired by "French boudoirs and vintage lingerie" the French Me Please pieces were deliciously feminine and totally wearable. I really loved their bathing suits, which reminded me of the big synchronized swimming sequences in Esther Williams films. In fact, I would like one of everything please. The ladies have lots more photos on their site, so please go check them out. I think we will be hearing a lot more from these two.

The SDN show was a fitting and raucous way to end the weekend. Sarah Dixons Nova, the designer, dreamed up a cabaret setting, one part Weimar Republic, one part jazz-era Manhattan and filled the stage with models in smudged make-up, drinking, smoking and carousing. All of this was backed by freeform spoken word and some avant-garde jazz, tongue firmly in cheek. It was a cool concept but it was hard to see the clothing, which was a shame because what I did see was really interesting: understated but well-draped dresses and suits, the kind of clothes any New York woman or man would feel very comfortable in. Plus, all of Dixon Nova's designs are made from found or organic materials.

Williamsburg Fashion Weekend (roughly) coincides with New York Fashion Week, so look out for another one in September. For more information, go to the Willamsburg Fashion Weekend page on Myspace.

Looking for some great handmade fashion on Etsy but don't know where to start? My friend Cal of Hodge Podge Farm has a great tip: search using the tag BFSC (Built From Scratch Clothing) and you will discover a slew of indie designers. Here are a few of my favorites below.

About the author: Kayte Terry, also known as loveforever on Etsy, is a stylist/crafter/writer living in Brooklyn, NY. She has contributed her skills to places like Anthropologie, Adorn magazine and Get Crafty.com. In true Libra fashion, Kayte loves over-the-top baroque and simple modern styles equally and finds harmony in mixing patterns, styles and colors that clash. She lives with her husband and their rabbit/muse, Potato. Kayte's first craft book, Complete Embellishing, will be available in July from Collins and Brown.

You can find more of Kayte at her blog, Thisisloveforever.com/blog, where she talks about art, craft, baking, foreign design magazines and anything else that inspires her. She also did a great Trends piece for the Storque on Scandinavian design.