Sew and Tell: Flower Print Sweatshirt Dress

Let's summon Spring by making clothes with flower prints! At least that's what I was trying to do here. With all the snowstorms, and another one on the way tonight, I decided to brighten up my wardrobe despite the gloomy weather. 

Sorry about the crazy curl in the middle picture, lol. It had a mind of it's own. 

Here, I continue with my idea of paneled sweatshirt dresses, except I didn't screen print the panel. I used stretchy flower print fabric given to me by the lovely Gloria, a lady from my church we affectionally call Bennie. I wrote about another fabric donation of hers here. Bennie just turned 89 but she has so much energy and spunk. I want to be like her when I grow up! 

I was actually debating showing you this flower print sweatshirt dress because the flower material snagged and I now have a couple of little runs in the from of it. Sigh. I am going to have to remake it. But... I really love it and I am not sure when I was going to get around to making another one, so here it is in the meantime.  

Spring before me and winter behind

The flower print fabric is like a polyester type of material. The rest of the dress is made of sweatshirts,  my favorite fabric, next to t-shirts. I hate installing zippers and this is why the material snagged. It's tight fitting but both materials stretch so I can fit it over my head and breasts but with a lot of effort. All that straining, however, caused the runs in the front. I should have put a zipper in.  Lesson learned.

Nevertheless, I love the silhouette created, very Stella McCartney, and I wore it twice already, once to church. I think it's God approved. He loves my Puerto Rican hips! lol. 

Would love to hear your thoughts, and like always, I answer all comments. 

Tuesday Tutorial: Wet Dog Hood to Black Bear Hood, Replacing a Fur Hood

Here's a simple tutorial on how I went from wet dog hood to furry black bear hood. I am just kidding, this is all fake fur, no animals were killed in the making of this tutorial!  

I sported this wet dog hood all of last year, since my hubby put it in the dryer after a wash. It used to be nice and fluffy but after the dryer washing, not so much. It wasn't a big deal last year because I was wearing hats, but this year, I have been employing my hood for warmth to avoid hat hair and well, it was quite embarrassing.  

I sewed the edge of the hood on my sewing machine before cutting it off. That way, the stuffing would be somewhat contained. 

Wet dog fur off! 

I then cut the excess stuffing so it wouldn't get in the way of sewing. 

This is how it looked at this point. 

I found this cute little fake fur scarf in the 99 cents store. 

I measured and cut off the excess

Much better!

I then sewed the edge of the "black bear" scarf to the edge of the hood. Sorry for the cluttered photo. I was also listening to my iPod and on the computer while I sewed. Yes, I multi-task.

Bye bye, "wet dog" hood! Don't get me wrong, wet dogs are okay, just not on my hood! lol. 

Hello foxy mama! Or should I say black bear mama. I love the way it came out and am no longer embarrassed to wear my hood! 

Local Bronx Designer/Vintage Seller: Mixy Mitzy

If you know anything about me, you know that I LOVE jumpsuits! However, I recently had an epiphany that I don't always have to make them, I can actually buy one! What a concept, lol.  Not to long ago, I decided to poke around on Etsy and see if I can find an affordable one. Low and behold, I landed on Mixy Mitzy 's shop and fell in love with this 80's jumpsuit with kitchy seashell shoulders. I actually know the owner of Mixy Mitzy as we are both members of the Bronx Artisans of Etsy Team. She (Shiloh) also happens to be a really cool Bronx person, designer, and vintage seller. As she lives close by, I immediately messaged her and asked if I could go try it on.  It fit perfectly!

This beautiful curly head was modeling it on her shop. I immediately fell in love with it!

Love the glittery seashell detail. 

Here are some other cool items from Mixy's shop that I absolutely love!

Upcycled Urban Skirt

60s Wool Dress

Embroidered Oaxacan Dress

As well as vintage clothing, you can also find some of Shiloh's own designs, pdf sewing patterns, fabric, and stickers. Make sure to hop on over there and check these, and other great items out! 

To know more about Mixy Mitzy, go to http://mixymitzy.com

Tuesday Tutorial: Infinity Scarf from Sweater

Curl shrinkage is real people!

I usually cut my hair during the winter. I don't really notice the "shortness" of it because my hair shrinks about 4 inches when it's curly. When I do the winter cut, I simply flat iron it straight and I have long hair again. But this year is different. I want my hair to be long and curly by the time the summer rolls around so I need to keep the scissors at bay. The problem with that is that I won't have the option of winter straight hair because by now it has lost it's shape and looks too long and lifeless. So winter curly hair it is.  

I apologize for the blurry iPhone pic. 

I decided I needed a thick scarf that would cover my ears since hats tend to flatten my curly hair. If I need more warmth,  I also have my hood as a back up. Here is a tutorial on how to make a thick infinity scarf from a sweater. 

  I started with a large sweater

 I cut the arms off

 I opened them up

 I cut the body in half

 Then I cut the top of each half like so.

 I opened up each torso half and lined them up bottom to bottom.

 I stitched them, right sides together.

 I then added the opened sleeves on the bottom and sewed.

 Then I cut the inside of the sleeves to make it even with the sides it was sewn to.

 Fold in half and sew along the edge of the top making a tube.

 With right sides together, sew the ends to make a round tube.

I had my hair straight in the left photo, thus the hat. The scarf is wide enough to cover my ears and I can even put it over my head in case it gets super cold, like it did a couple of weeks ago.

 I really love it.

What do you think? How do you keep warm in the winter? Hat? Hood? Thick scarf?

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. 

What Advice Would You Give Your Younger Self? Looking Back in the New Year

I know that during this end of year time, we tend to look forward. But I thought, for this new year, I would look back, see how much I had accomplished and what I have to continue to learn.

In 2006, a year before Dan was born, the book, What I Know Now: Letters to My Younger Self by Ellyn Spragins was published. I remembered thinking,  "what a cool concept! I would love to write a letter to my younger self!" I never actually did, but I shelved the idea, knowing that I might do it in the future.

Then, in May of 2012, I  bought this issue of Oprah simply because the cover caught my eye. Isn't it amazing? I wondered how I could do this, how could I put a picture of my older self embracing my younger self and combine it with a letter to a younger me. I never figured it out, (if any of you know, please tell me) but when I found this Ziggy doll, I got an idea. The doll was given to me in 6th grade by a group of friends before I had back surgery for scoliois at age 11. I remembered my mom had taken a picture of me with it so when I found it, I attempted to recreate it as an adult. Here is the result as well as 5 consejos (advice) I would give my younger Nellie. Bare with me as I am still learning these lessons and will carry them into the 2014.

1. Your father's alcoholism had nothing to do with you.  He didn't drink because you didn't get better grades, or because his family was not interesting enough. This is an important lesson, little Nellie, because you are going to have two kids with autism and you are going to refer back to what you know, blaming yourself. You are going to think that you ate something you shouldn't have or that you didn't play enough Mozart to your unborn children. Stop apologizing. Not everything is your fault. You are not that powerful.

2. Don't hide, don't be afraid to shine and celebrate yourself and your accomplishments. I know you like to give the spotlight over to others and that you're a great listener, but we need to hear your voice as well. Just as others are gifts to your life, you are a gift to others. People need you. You are going to have a blog where you will be able to celebrate your accomplishments. Opportunities will come from this. Please don't say no to them.  Stop second-guessing yourself.

3. Don't be afraid to ask for what you need! If you plan on being a healthy mom, you are going to have to take care of yourself, little Nellie. Just because you have needs does not make you needy. You are going to have to learn to ask for help. No one does it alone, we all need each other. If someone says no, just move on and ask the next person.

4. Don't be afraid to switch paths.  You are going to do a lot of schooling and have two degrees that you will not use for a while. You will then teach yourself some new skills. I know it sounds crazy but it will be okay. It's going to be a tough ride full of uncertainties but it will also be fun. You are not your career. Don't get stuck on one track. You are multi-faceted, embrace it.

5.  Little Nellie, please do not take yourself so seriously! Don't be afraid to be a goof, to make mistakes, to laugh at yourself. This is what makes you human, real, and relatable.

Whew! I am kind of glad it does not happen this way. That we don't get a sneak peek or a preview of the future. I think I would be totally overwhelmed. I am glad I am learning these lessons as I go and look forward to new ones in 2014. Happy New Year.

What advice would you give your younger self?

Christmas Show, Special Needs, and God with Us: Thank You Very Much Mr. Roboto

Patiently waiting for Dan's class to perform, this was two or three classes before his. 

On Wednesday, I got to my younger son's Winter Concert on time! I was so proud of myself. It's usually packed and I always end up sitting in the 5th or 6th row because, yes, I am usually late. Not this time. I got there extra early and landed a seat in the second row, square in the middle, with no big person in front of me! Also, after looking at the program and realizing that Dan's class was one of the last ones to perform, I saved all my iPhone's battery life for countless photos of his class performance, I was so excited!

I watched performance after performance and then, finally,  Dan's class was next. There I was, camera in hand, positioned motionless so I could capture the perfect shot the moment he hit the stage. My Dan is a ball of energy that jumps, runs, and fidgets at every moment. Many of my pictures of him are mere blurs so this preparation was quite calculated. I figured I would be able to get at least one good picture of him for me, and yes, Facebook.

Dan's class, sans Dan. You can see a little glimpse of the kids dressed as trains.

The music for his class performance started and I began to look for Dan. I looked, and looked, but there was no sign of him. I smiled, masking my anxiety, as the music kept playing and the kids kept coming out in their costumes. I wasn't sure what he was supposed to be so I didn't know what to look for.  First, kids dressed as trains, came out; then others dressed as rockets. The next batch were teddy bears, and lastly, the robot kids. The music ended, his class performance was over, and still no sign of Dan.

I couldn't understand it. Did I miscalculate? Was his class actually the next one to perform? Was he so well disguised that I had missed him? Didn't I see his class heading to the stage? Then I spotted him with his paraprofessional (para), heading back down off the platform. My heart sank. I knew something must have gone awry. I silently started to cry as the music started playing for the next act. Tears rolling down, I started to get in my head, "couldn't his para handle him?" I thought. "This is a special school, aren't they supposed to be able to deal with kids that have sensory issues and are hyper?" The show was not over but I just wanted to leave. I thought of how I could make a grand exit to show how pissed I was and then write an angry e-mail to his teacher about how they broke a mother's heart.

Photo courtesy of http://shu-media.co.uk

Then I took a hold of myself as I felt a calming presence over me. I looked back and Dan was sitting nicely with his para. I decided I was going to go over to his class and find out what happened. When they laid eyes on me, both his para and teacher had these apologetic faces on them. Before I could say "What the hell happened? They started, "Ms.______, I am so sorry, we tried everything and Dan just refused to go on. He ripped his robot costume off and started to cry. We really tried!" Ah, so there it was, he was supposed to be a robot. That puzzle was solved. I could feel my anger melting away. I couldn't hold it against them. They have a very good track record with Dan. I truly believed they tried their best. I couldn't help, though, to continue to ruminate; this is a class of 6 year old autistic children, could they have placed them ahead of the middle schoolers? Couldn't his para pack some snacks to keep him calm? Aaah, if I was going to to salvage this day, I had to decide to let it go. There was no time for what-ifs and recalculations, I sat down with Dan, bopped him up and down on my lap to the rest of the musical numbers, and enjoyed him. He was smiling and laughing; clearly, he was happy to see me. 

Then I realized, "of course! Dan is not a robot!" I can't just press a button and expect him to perform at will. No wonder he ripped that robot costume off! It was his own little performance art piece speaking against the constraints of society. What an extraordinary act of defiance. The boy is genius! Lol.

That act of defiance spoke to me more than the planned performance. No, I have no picture to show off, and I don't have the "he looked so cuuuuute" story to tell my husband. What I do have is a boy who is his own person. A boy, I need to continue accepting and loving for who he is. A boy that teaches me not to be a robot myself, to live my life to the fullest (John 10:10).

Photo courtesy of Britton Church, http://www.brittonchurch.com

I love Christmas simply because it is a reminder that God is with us; Emmanuel. This is what this season is all about. God is with me in this journey. Through the tears, the pain, the joy, the lessons of life, He is with me. He became human to share in our struggles and experience what we go through. And because we are human, not robots, He gives us the choice to be with Him. He never pushes, but shows up, ever so gently, at the right moment. Like the moment I didn't see my son on stage. He is with me and I, also, choose to be with Him.

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays.