Reconstructing Jesus

Top is" before" and bottom is "after"

I print cultural icons on t-shirts. I love that I do that, I love bringing attention to heroes from the past, especially, African American and Latino/a heroes that people simply don't know enough about. These images have empowered me immensely and it brings me great joy to be able to share them with others through my shop. However, my most beloved hero is Jesus Christ. He stands for, love, justice, redemption, everything I am passionate about.  

A long time ago, I decided not to design an image of Jesus in my cultural icons collection. I knew I would never be able to do Him justice. Actually, this image, also falls short. He looks too white, and most agree that Jesus most-likely had olive skin and "wooly" hair.

"While forensic anthropology is usually used to solve crimes, Richard Neave, a medical artist retired from The University of Manchester in England, realized it also could shed light on the appearance of Jesus...For those accustomed to traditional Sunday school portraits of Jesus, the sculpture of the dark and swarthy Middle Eastern man that emerges from Neave's laboratory is a reminder of the roots of their faith. 'The fact that he probably looked a great deal more like a darker-skinned Semite than westerners are used to seeing him pictured is a reminder of his universality,' says Charles D. Hackett, director of Episcopal studies at the Candler School of Theology in Atlanta. "And [it is] a reminder of our tendency to sinfully appropriate him in the service of our cultural values."  - Mike Fillon, The Real Face of Jesus. 

I do however, love this shirt, the image is super powerful and I love that it says "won by one", more on that later. 

Anyway, I bought this t-shirt about 12 years ago. It was of course, giant, too big for me, so this is how I reconstructed it then. I simply made it smaller on the sides, cut the length, and opened the sleeve.

The length became a little awkward as years went on and it was still too boxy. Last week, I decided to reconstruct it yet again.

I added black t-shirt material on top in order to lower the image and make the shirt longer so I can war it with leggings or slimmer pant. I then scooped it out...a lot, maybe too much, but with a tank top underneath it looks fine and I actually like having it off the shoulder, giving it a little edge.

So here it is! Tell me what you think, oh, yes, the "won by one" actually reminds me of Sting's song "All this time." One of the lines in the song is "men go crazy in congregations but they only get better one by one." I LOVE this song and I always substitute the "one by one" in the song with "won by one" from the t-shirt. I'm on this journey to becoming a better person. I can't do it alone though. The whole idea of Christianity is that you can't save yourself. I need someone greater than me, I need a Redeemer and I also need people. You don't win in isolation. I know this isn't popular these days with the idea of self-glorification through social media, fashion, art, etc. Recently, I have been relying on God and people more and more as I go about my journey. Asking for help, trying to be of service. I'm a work in progress, a reconstruction of sorts, if you will. Who would have known a t-shirt reconstruction would bring about such deep thoughts, lol. 

On a lighter note, I m going to blog about these cool drapy pants next!

Tutorial Tuesday: Wrap Dress to Jumpsuit

I've had this wrap dress in my closet for the longest! It's an Old Navy dress I bought on clearance for $3 but I never wear it. I put it on recently, and now I know why. It does nothing for my waistline! I don't have a super defined waist as it is cuz of my narrow shoulders and small boobs (sorry TMI) but that's the truth. If I had bigger boobs, I'd have the perfect figure but alas I have to work with what God gave me.

 Anyway, part of the problem was that the top wrap part was  big on me even though this was a small. Old Navy sizing runs big. So, I turned it around to evaluate the situation

I cut the top wrap part form the bottom below the seam

For the bottom part of the jumpsuit, I remembered I had these pants that I also never wear because they are too big on me.

 Here they are layed out.

I cut 2 inches off of the waist band

 Now back to the top. I put the top part on, pulled tight so that it could feel better and more snug. Remember, the top part was big on me.

I then pinned and sewed.

I then sewed the pants to the top and voila! Instant jumpsuit/romper

What's a romper if you can't romp around in it! This was also my kids' first day back to school so I was a bit extra happy!

Even though it's a bit low waisted, the snugness of the top (which fits me better) coupled with the volume of the pants on the bottom, creates a silhouette I can live with. It's all about balancing the proportions. As I get to know my body and what looks good on it, I feel better and more empowered to face the world! I really do believe in the power of clothes to transform, to influence your mood, to change your attitude. Now I have something in my closet that I really love and will wear a lot this fall. 

Would love to hear your thoughts!

X-Large Men's Hoodie into Ladies Hoodie Mini-dress

I love it when my husband gets into donation mode with his clothes. He donates most of it but I always get a couple of pieces that I could tranform into something cute. This is one of them, X-Large Florida Hoodie.

It started out like this:

Sorry, for the pic, I was trying to get the entire sweatshirt, but I think you can figure out what I was working with.



I basically took a sweatshirt that fit me well, turned it inside out and measured, seam to seam, for a bust, waist and hip measurement.  I then took the Florida sweatshirt apart, cutting the arms and side seams. THAT IS ALL, I CUT NOTHING ELSE. Then I applied the measurments to the Florida shirt and stitched with a sewing machine as you can see below. With a shirt as large as this one, it required to sew up some of the arm hole. 

As you can see from my measurments, I am quite a pear! lol. I also serged the seams for durability but you don't have to.

I like the fit because it is comfortable without being tight.

It looks great with leggings and boots. I have also worn it with skinny jeans. Oh, and it's oh so warm!



From Sandal to Cuff

This is what I worked on yesterday. Last year I made my sister and I cuffs from boots, you can see it  here and get the tutorial. 

Now I am on to sandles. I have had this idea in my head a couple of months after one of these sandles got a hole in the sole. I think I purposefully buy cheap shoes so they can break and I can make something from them. Well, I love the way they came out! Tell me what you think. More pics and a tutorial coming soon!

More Romper Love: A Semi-tutorial

Two years ago, I wrote about my love affair with rompers/jumpsuits and made about three; this one, this one and this one. I finally got the fit I wanted by the last one. 

This year, the love affair continued and I found a cool way not to have to sew them from scratch. I thought to myself, "why don't I just sew two pieces together, a top and a pair of pants? This was a great way to take another look at my wardrobe and see what I could recycle into a jumpsuit. This is what I came up with:

The left was a dress I cut into tunic length thinking I would actually wear it more with skinny jeans. I didn't. On the right, are harem-like pants that I like and wear a lot but didn't mind using for this experiment sine I have another pair just like it.  



I put the tunic on and measured where, on my waist, I wanted to attach the pants. I marked it and then cut. 



 



The pants band was a bit too high so I cut it as well.

Finished product!

I loved the way it came out! I liken the jumpsuit to a super hero uniform, if you will.  It's easy, you put it on in one swift pull over each leg and then shoulders, and you're ready to run to the post office, do grocery shopping, and pick up the kids in a single bound. You can even squeeze a sensory play session in there if you're really feeling adventurous!  

Transforming Low-Waisted Pants to High Waisted Pants

If you're like me, I love skinny jeans but hate the very low-waisted variety that show off your undies when you ever-so slightly bend down. I'm not a prude, I just don't want to flash the world my undies. They are called intimates for a reason, lol. Anyway. I have a whole bunch of low-waisted pants that fit nice on my thighs but alas, again, too low waisted.

Here's my solution. I bought a pair of high-waisted bell bottom pants at Old Navy a couple of years ago. I outgrew this look, so I decided to transfer the high waist onto my low waist pants.


My low-waist pants



High-waist bell-bottom pants from Old Navy

I simply cut off the high waist part of the Old Navy pants below the seam, right above the zipper. Then I did the same thing to my low waist pants, cutt off the waist band right above the zipper.

I then attached the high waist to the low-waisted pants and voila!

My new high-waist skinny jeans



Looks great with a top over it. Will try to see what it looks like with a cropped top.

These are super comfortable, I love them! If you don't have a high waist part, you can also band the top of your low-waisted jeans with stretchy material but you would have to cut the zipper out too. However, if not done right, it could look too much like maternity pants. But I will try this method and report back.

Let me know what you think!

Camouflage Jacket to Camouflage Tote Bag

Face it people, sometimes it feels like there is a war going on out there, and you need to be armed with your camouflage tote bag!

This is a recent reconstruction that I wanted to share with you. It's a camouflage jacket that I turned into a tote. I love the way it came out and I decided to sell it in my, shop. 



Before picture




Camouflage Tote Bag, $30.00.
Available at http://www.nelesc.etsy.com/

 I transferred the pockets to the bag,  two in the front and two  in the back and I lined it with recycled denim. There are more pictures of it in my shop so check it out and tell me what you think.

Another Wardrobe Transformation!

So here's another wardrobe transfomation. This past summer, I was looking through my closet and noticed this aqua blue top that I hardly wear. I had to ask myself, why don't I wear this top?  What's up with that? I realized I didn't wear it because it was kind of ill fitting, so I said to myself, either you transform it or it goes to the salvation army. I chose transformation and this is what I came up with.

Here's a pic of the top pre-transformation. My son took the picture so he chopped my head off, lol.

Then I looked in my fabric stash and found this cute polka dot fabric that sort of had the same aqua color as the top. You might recognize it from this post.

I made a skirt out of it. Then I cut the top so that it met the skirt at the waist and sewed the two together leaving enough space so that I could insert an elastic. Voila, instant dress. I paired it with a belt and it looks really cute. I wore it a lot in the summer and even wear it now, with a long sleeve top and boots.

What do you think?

WARDROBE TRANSFORMATION: Maternity Top to Cute Little Shrug!

One thing that I wanted to add to the blog this year is to post more of my wardrobe transformations and tutorials. The whole idea of redemtion and transformation is very important to me and it extends to my own clothes.

So here's a maternity top that I converted to a cute little shrug. Boy was I big! I liked wearing form fitting tops to show off my belly. I think I was pregnant with my second here, although I can't remember because I wore this top for both pregnancies. Anyway, this was super easy. I just cut it in the back and added the ribbing to keep it snug on my shoulders. Voila! What do you think?

Reconstruction from the Vault

As you might know, I love to reconstruct clothes. Taking an existing garment and transforming it, gives me such a sense of satisfaction. It's Fashion redemption!!!! I love it. I just got my burdastyle weekly e-mail. They had a remake challenge that they posted a while ago. I am trying to concentrate on my shop so I didn't enter any of my stuff, but if I had, I might have entered this little number that I made back in 2008. It's kind of space agey but I love it. It was my mom- in-law's sweater. She gave it to me a while ago but it looked a little frumpy so, voila! I turned the collar around, placed the placket diagonally across the body, cut the sleeves, and added ruffles to the shoulders. I look like a space age Jedi fighter. I like it. What do you think?

Happy New Year!!! Blog and Nelesc Designs goals for 2010.

My first blog post of the year!!! So sorry it took this long. I am really hoping that this year I can post more consistently. I know I said that last year, and although I improved from the year before, I still was not as steady as I wanted to be. I do want to do some new things with this blog which I hope will keep me motivated. As well as posting newly listed items from my shop, I would like to feature other Etsy shops, write about my creative process, interview other creative people and find out about their process, review books about art, fashion, spirituality, and motherhood, and feature contemporary, modern and historical people who have made a difference in the world. I know, I know, for someone who is not a consistent blogger, these are lofty plans but hey, at least I have a goal!

I also decided to focus my attention on three key elements concerning my shop. I will offer more ready made tops with my cultural icon screenprints in multiple sizes and colors. This has been a major request from my clients and I listened! I also plan to create more screens, particularly of men since I only have two males featured in my collection, and, in order to feed my love for design and reconstruction, I would like to do do more t-shirt reconstructions from pre-printed t-shirts and t-shirts I print myself. Not to mention, I still plan to be available for custom orders. I know I will probably vear a bit from this plan but again, a girl has to have a plan to vear from. LOL!! No, really, I really want to stick to this for 2010. When my smallest boy starts school in September, I will be able to do more, but right now I need to focus!!!

So, here's a little taste of some of my newly listed tops in multiple sizes and colors!!! Go to http://www.nelesc.etsy.com/ for more information on sizing. Enjoy, and please let me know what you think!!!

Back from long hiatus

Sorry for the long hiatus. M was home from summer school starting August 11 and I had to constantly think of trips and stuff to do to keep the kids busy. We had a good time, lots of museum, Bronx Zoo and playground trips. Then M started school and I was busy with that. But things are now getting back to normal and I am soooo ready to start sewing again. I did print on new and recycling clothes this summer and added them to my shop, http://www.nelesc.etsy.com/. I also did a couple of t-shirt recons too.

DIY style today and project I worked on

So first off, I got dressed quickly this morning because I realized that I had run out of milk and when I glanced at what I was wearing, I realized that it was all my own clothes, that is, I made them all. The vest is grey, i made this recently but the pants were made a while go, maybe 6 years ago, wow! That's a great feeling when your creations become so much part of you, your life. That's when I realized that I would like to sell the stuff I make, cause I like them so much, so maybe someone else would too. Oh, wait a minute the tank top underneath the vest is not mine. I did purchase it.

Also, this is what I worked on today. It's a dress made from three different t-shirts, a grey one that was given to my son but did not fit him, the blue with stripes was also given to him but didn't fit him either and the blue from the skirt was a purchased one. It is still quite unfinished. Needs some type of binding on the neck and sleeves and the back is longer than the front for some reason. It came out shorter than I wanted to so it could either be a beach dress or a tunic worn with jeans. I think I'll add a graphic and have it go towards the Nelesc line. I keep keeping the stuff I make, it's time to start creating towards the collection again. I had to take the pic while leaning back because the straps are still not attached in the back.

My DIY Recon Style Today

Well, I am really making up for lost time. Here is a pic of what I wore today. It's all DIY (do it yourself). I found the Evita shirt in a thrift shop in Queens. It was big so I took in the sides and shortened it and cut the neck out. The pants I had from about 7 years ago. I love them so much but they were getting a hole in the knee so I cut them from the knee, added triangles in the sides and back and voila! gauchos are born.