Screenprint Cut-Out Tunic: Armor/Vulnerability Collection

Happy New Year! It's time to start blogging about fashion again. For my first post of the year, I wanted to show you this cut-out screen printed sweatshirt tunic I have been working on last year as part of the armor/vulnerability collection I have been working on and wrote about here. This is the third piece. The two that I showed before had a faux lace print (the beige dress and the grey sweatshirt). This one has a print made from a picture I took of a gate. For this post, I'll also share a little of my creative process with you.  

Here's the picture I took of a gate in front of a building near the Central Park Zoo two summers ago.

I played around with design ideas on Photoshop

I decided on the image which seemed playful.

First image from www2.prgov. Second image from sangriataina.webs.com

I was not trying to channel Taino imagery in any way but the print ended up looking a little like el Sol de Jayuya. El Sol de Jayuya is a petroglyph shaped like a sun found in the town of Jayuya, Puerto Rico. Many of these petroglyphs were carved by Taino natives which inhabited the island before 1493. 

I screened and printed it onto this deconstructed sweatshirt. The idea of the gate was to symbolize armor and the cut- outs were meant to represent vulnerability.

Front and back. The front consists of three panels and the back is one solid piece. 

The cut-out ended up a little lower than I wanted. I plan to do a sweatshirt version where the cut-outs will be higher.

Note to self: take your hair elastic off your wrist before you take pictures.

Would love to hear your thoughts. These will all be going up in my shop for custom orders soon. 

Happy Birthday Julia de Burgos and FREE shipping!

Julia de Burgos was born Febuary 17, 1914 in Carolina, Puerto Rico. She is considered by many as the greatest poet to have been born in Puerto Rico and generally considered as one of the greatest poets of Latin America. She was also an advocate for the independence of Puerto Rico and an ardent civil rights activist for women and African/Afro-Caribbean writers.

So....to honor this amazing woman, I would like to offer free shipping on each of the the two Julia de Burgos items in my shop. I will simply return your shipping fee to your PayPal account after you check out. This will go on for the rest of February and the entire month of March. I can also print this image on a top you send me and I will ship it for free.

Feliz Cumpleanos, Julia!

I'm Back!

Wow! I have not blogged for over a month and a half! I do apologize. I have not been abducted by aliens or anything like that. I actually have been working really hard on my business, http://www.nelesc.etsy.com/. I have been printing, sewing, listing and promoting on Facebook and etsy.com. It does makes sense to also blog but I just couldn't keep up with it all and I do love the immediacy that Facebook offers. However, there is something so special about blogging and I don't want to let it go. I am definitely committed to posting more often.

A major change that I made the last couple of months was to hire a babysitter for my little D. I realized that I needed to give creating some importance in my life. I was continuously feeling frustrated by the lack of time to sew or print and making things piecemeal was just not cutting it for me so I decided to do something about it and hired a babysitter once a week. That day I would sew and print all day. It has been glorious and I have seen sales go up because of it. Summer sales have been slow, though, so D hasn't been at the sitter this past month. I am taking advantage of the time to think about my fall fashion line and sewing for moi.

I also started a fanpage on Facebook for Nelesc Designs where I offer promotions for just fans and share tidbits about the business. To become a fan go to http//www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Nelesc-Designs/96002340477?ref=ts I will be offering free shipping this month so stay tuned.

Here are some items which I posted this summer so far. Some have sold, others are still available.

This is how my summer is going so far, how about you?



Angela Davis reconstructed top. This sold to someone in England!

Julia De Burgos top.

Frida Kahlo top made from scratch from shirting material.

Frida Kahlo dress made from reconstructed t-shirts.

Billie Holiday top made from t-shirt scraps. This one sold.

Julia de Burgos Screenprinted Top

Hello all! Here is my new addition to my etsy shop. It's a new face, Julia de Burgos! De Burgos was born February 17, 1914, is considered by many as the greatest poet to have been born in Puerto Rico and generally considered as one of the greatest poets of Latin America. She was also an advocate for the independence of Puerto Rico and an ardent civil rights activist for women and African/Afro-Caribbean writers. She fits perfectly with the line and I am so glad that I finally added her. Let me know what you think.