Rocker Mom T-Shirt Reconstruction

This is a t-shirt reconstruction I made a couple years ago from an Old Navy shirt.

When you are a mother to special needs kids, you need to feel like a rocker mom ever so often, lol.

It's All Good, and It's all Me

I know it has been a while. I go through these cycles where I either work on my blog or work on my shop. I am trying to find the balance so that I can do both. I think that I have a formula for this and hope that I can do both simultaneously as I do love writing and sharing my creations with you as well as  managing my shop, Nelesc Designs.

In that last couple months, since my last post, I have been doing some serious thinking about my blog and my shop, who I am in these endeavors and what these activities say about me. Lately, I have been feeling lead to share the journey that was the catalyst for Nelesc Designs and this blog, The Reconstructed Life.

The title, The Reconstructed Life, does not solely refer to my sewing projects of wardrobe transformations and t-shirt reconstructions. I had to literally reconstruct my life after I had children, two children with autism. Its not like I never mentioned this. I did not hide it from my readers as you can see from several of my previous posts, this one being one of them. But I never really wanted to put this fact at the forefront of my blog. I meant it as a "by the way" type of thing. I didn't want this to be another autism mommy blog. I felt incredibly overwhelmed with my new found special needs mommyhood. I had inadvertingly become the poster child for The Autism Mom in many of my circles and I resented this. I was losing myself and who I was a a person, an artist, a designer, a creative, intelligent being. I wanted this blog and my shop to give me a voice. The voice of a woman, an activist, a lover of fashion, a creative being, a designer, a mom. But not an autism mom.

I love this ad because it so beautifully captures how my fashion and autism life have merged. It also drives home a very important point. 

I have been living this autism mom journey for 10 years and I feel I have learned some really good lessons. Lessons I want to share with you as I continue blogging. My creative endeavors do not happen in a vacuum. My life with autism has informed my choices, from career to wardrobe. Fashion, sewing, art, these have empowered me. I hope I can be of service and empower you and also gain more insight from my readers
.  

So...coming up, you will see more posts about my wardrobe transformations, more tutorials, new items in my shop, posts about meanigful fashion, and yes... my journey, the journey of a Puerto Rican, fashion loving, Christian, Bronx-born and bred woman, living with two boys on the spectrum. Because it's all me and it's all good.

Celebrating Puerto Rican Women: Today, Tomorrow and Always! Saturday, March 10, 4-8PM

I am so honored to be one of the artisans featured at this event, tomorrow, March 10 from 4-8. I will be selling my tops and totes. Come by if you can!

INTERNATIONAL WORKING WOMEN’S DAY

Celebrating Puerto Rican Women: Today, Tomorrow and Always!

Paying Tribute to Melinda Gonzalez, Alice Cardona (posthumously) and Yolanda Sanchez with the Adelfa Vera Award

Saturday, March 10th from 4-­8pm

... @ CASABE SENIOR HOUSES

150 East 121st Street @ Lexington Avenue First Floor Community Room. Directions: #4, 5, 6 Trains to East 125th Street

Suggested Donation $10.

Performances by Mariposa and Bombayo. Artisans and vendors will also be featured.

Please bring a picture of a loved one who has passed to place on the communal altar. Refreshments will be served. Wheelchair accessible.

For more information contact the Committee to Honor Puerto Rican Women on IWWD Day at (347) 267-0115

International Working Women’s Day (March 8th), a Socialist political event celebrated by women’s organizations, the global labor movement and progressive countries around the world. A day we pay homage to the tremendous contributions that women workers have made in the fight for a just society. A day we reaffirm women’s place of honour at the head of our families, communities and movements. More than anything else, it is a day that all workers, whatever their gender, colour, or creed, remind those who seek to divide us that we know that our struggle, our enemy, and our goal, is one and the same.

Sponsors: Casabe Houses, CemiUnderground, Circa 95, the Latino Educational Media Center, ProLibertad, La Reina del Barrio Productions, Virtual Boricua.

Nelesc Designs Giveaway hosted by Hair with Purpose

Hair with Purpose is hosting a Nelesc Designs Giveaway! You can win a gift certificate for $20.00 to my shop with shipping included! Go here to get all the information.

Hair with Purpose is a wonderful blog about natural hair care so it's definitely worth taking a look around. As a curly head myself  I really enjoyed reading about all the natural hair care products out there. I think it's time I changed up my hair care routine!


I am so excited!!!  Here is a pic of beautiful Jamilah (daughter of Hair with Purpose owner) wearing one of my Angela Davis tops. Doesn't she look great! Thanks again Hair with Purpose and I hope you all avail yourself of this opportunity!

Ode to the Puff Sleeve Jacket

Oh, puff sleeve jacket, how I love you...

I have been making puff sleeve jackets for the past two years and I have been loving it!  It all began with this very sloppy Pedro Albizu Campos jacket I made back in 2008. The neck edge was raw and made with only one layer of fabric. It also had no waistband but people really liked it. I, however, did not feel lead to reproduce it. There are certain items I do just for fun, for me.

The original puff sleeve jacket, 2008

But  when people on my facebook fan page started to ask me if I could make them one, I thought, "why should I have all the fun?"  So, I decide to custom make them in 2010.   Using the purple one as a base, I decided to create this one. A cropped version with puffier sleeves, a waistband and a nice two layer neck collar.

Angela Davis Puff Sleeve Jacket

I made a total of 6 in various color combinatins and icons. Here are some pictures I took before I sent them out and pictures I received from happy customers.  

Nina Simone and Frida Kahlo Puff Sleeve Jackets



Billie Holiday Puff Sleeve Jacket 



The Brothers Johnson Puff Sleeve Jacket

These are so much fun to make! But I do have to take a break from them to start on my Spring/Summer line, so you will see them again in my shop in September. My next post will showcase the new improved puff sleeve jacket that I unveiled in 2011.  What do you think of these?

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!

Nelesc Designs 2011 Highlights

Stop Traffic Fashion Show

There were several reasons I was so silent on my blog from July on (besides wanting to concentrate on my shop more). My son was hospitalized for several days from an atypical case of strep, we were in a car accident, and my husband was injured at work. It was a critical time for my family and I had to let some things go in order to be there for them.

That said, there were some wonderful things that happened at the end of the year that I did not get a chance to share here. So here are some pictures from my first fashion show (October), my participation at the Comite Noviembre Puerto Rican Crafts Fair (November), and my first time participating in the Puerto Rican Crafts Fair at Boricua College (December).

I was invited by the Law Students for Reproductive Justice (LSRJ),   to participate in the first annual Stop Traffic fashion show on October 28,  to raise awareness of human trafficking within the fashion industry. The show took place at the YWCA of Brooklyn and also featured local designers Kate Goldwater, chromat, Moira Meltzer-Cohen, and Anthony Posada. It was a wonderful experience and I met some great designers. All the designs were available for a silent auction and the proceeds benefited LSRJ and Kamisetas, a women’s collective in Medellin, Colombia in support of labor and fair trade. If that is not meaningful fashion, I don't know what is! I was so happy to be part of it.  Check out the youtube video here. 

Tara, the organizer of the show, and I

Final walk through, wonderful models



Kiko and I, she was a great model and person!



Serena and Adri, beautiful ladies!

One of a kind dress I made just for the fashion show



Models showing off designs by Kate Goldwater. Check out her blog here.

 On November 19, I participated in the 6th Annual Comite Noviembre Puerto Rican Artisan Fair for the second time! It was so much fun! I consider myself to have a global sensibility who appreciates all cultures but it is also important to take time to be among your people to re-fuel and remember what makes you special. There's nothing like it!  I would like to thank Luis Cordero who makes this possible for me every year. Check out some of his great designs here.



Me and my table



As always, my friend Sheila helped me, I so appreciate her

I added tote bags this year and a new image, Sylvia Rexach!

I made a connection at the Comite Noviembre craft fair which lead me to the Puerto Rican Craft Fair at Boricua College in December! That was a blast too! I was in between Maria and Candida (Warixi) and we sold our stuff and laughed all day long. Maria makes beautiful pottery. You can check out her etsy site called Barro y Agua here. Warixi is a fascinating lady who is a martial artist, a Taino Bohike and a leader in Taino organizations. She makes taino dolls and jewelry, among other things. She can be reached at Shihan@rock.com. Arieana was across from us, a new friend, who has a company called Buttonpress, etc. However, she does so much more than buttons, she also sells mirrors, original paintings, and does face painting, among other things. Check out her site here.

Boricua College Puerto Rican Craft Fair

Not a pretty bad year for Nelesc Designs, huh? Thank you for allowing me to share all of this with you.