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. 

Sweatshirt Reconstruction #1: Cut Out

I am really digging cut outs lately. I did this cut out sweatshirt reconstruction a couple of weeks ago. It was inspired by a shirt I made my friend with a sliver of skin showing. I loved it so much that I decided to make myself one. I didn't make my friend's with sweatshirt material so this was quite a bit of an experiment. Sweatshirts and t-shirts are my go to fabrics for experimentation. 

I absolutely  LOVED the way it came out. It really elevates a plane sweatshirt. This one was actually an X-large. I took it all apart and re-sized it and then added the cut out before I re-attached the sleeves. I wore it twice already; once, with jeans,  to play pool, and a second time with a skirt to a parents meeting at my son's school. See how versatile it is?  

What do you think? Leave me a comment letting me know. I always appreciate feedback!