ErinElsie: fabric

Showing posts with label fabric. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

When Life Gives You Lemon Fabric... Remembering our Most Inspiring Italy Trip!

Ciao!

This past May, we traveled to Italy. Of course it was full of beautiful old sites, landscapes for days, and a constant delicious flow of local food and wine! Sensory memories stick with you and that's what makes traveling the best.

We've started a tradition of picking out fabric from our travels to make throw pillows for our home. I recently finished our latest souvenir pillow, appropriately representing our Italian adventure in a vibrant lemon print!

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Counting our blessings at the Trevi Fountain. It seams like a cliche and cheesy stop to some, but it's pretty incredible that it was originally built in the mid 1700s.

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More delicious cappuccinos than I can count...I love a good coffee moment, and the lack of to-go coffee options all over Italy really makes you sit and take it all in. Of course I fully embraced it.

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It's important to get in your photos to remember how amazing it is that you were actually seeing an incredible thing in person. I feel so awkward trying to pose, and yet strangely more comfortable jumping like a big goober in front of people for photos. Once a gymnast, always a gymnast!

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Lemon ricotta, all kinds of lemon desserts, lemon with fresh fish, lemon sauce on your pasta, limoncello, lemon soda...

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The walk to our house in Modica, a beautiful old town in Sicily. Much like our "New York diet" of walking everywhere, the stair climbs in Modica really balanced out delicious eating and drinking. It's built into mountains and makes for some pretty incredible sunsets.

Cheers from the incredible deck of our rental.

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Lemons, lemons, lemons...

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In Syracuse (Italian name Siracusa), where the waiter brought us freshly caught fish covered in basil and lemon + crispy white wine.

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Beautiful Noto, Sicily.

After accidentally driving our tiny car down a pedestrian only street in Noto, we found the infamous Cafe Sicilia. Yum, yum, yum. We also bought a whole box of desserts to go.

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Waking up in our beautiful Palermo apartment.

Eating one last fried rice ball as we are about to board the ferry from our stay in Palermo to the Island of Lipari.

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The old port on the island of Lipari.

We were lucky to hit wildflowers blooming everywhere.

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Life giving me Lemons - at our Island house.

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We found this perfect fabric in a tiny shop near the port in Lipari.

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I love how the latest pillow came out and what this tradition is adding to our home. Where to next??! Happy traveling friends!

*Check my last post about our Chile pillow: https://erinelsie.blogspot.com/2017/10/living-in-color-textiles-of-chile-and.html

Cheers! Live in Color 🤗!

xo,

Erin

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Monday, November 7, 2016

Coffee Talk & Clothes with Stories

Coffee Talk & Clothes with Stories

Monday!

Hello friends. A new week ahead of us. I like to start off my week with a little positive reflection. Trying to build a creative business can be hard and this keeps me positive in the challenging times.

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The NYC Marathon!

Sunday was the New York Marathon. What a positive way to kick off a new week. Even though we live in this big city, I often am comforted by a collective camaraderie! From that stranger who held the subway door for me, to cheering on the marathon; we celebrate and accept our differences, support the dreamers, and come together at moments like this! Thanks for the good vibes, NYC. Congrats to the accomplished marathoners from all over the world and country- you did it!

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Clothes with Stories!

ErinElsie is all about clothes with stories. I thoughtfully select and curate unique fabrics and thrifted finds. I love the idea that I am adding to the story of that fabric by turning it into a collectable item that someone will own and cherish. Even better, is when my friends and family contribute by giving me vintage bits and fabrics. It's awesome to get fun packages in the mail that are not bills :)

My Aunt Delsie recently sent me the most thoughtful gift! She made this picture using buttons. She's so creative and crafty! The bonus is the sweet handwritten note.

This was not the first package my Aunt Delsie and Uncle Mike have sent me and I cherish every little bit. I'm turning this vintage bit, along with some others into collectible pillows. Coming soon!

I turned some vintage blouses they sent me into these bold little summer dresses for my new baby twin nieces. My first effort into little baby clothes-making!

I also have a box of goodies from one of my dear old friends and creative contributors! She hits flea markets and estate sales with her mom. Although we live far apart now, she'll send me a little curated box of goodies. I always love every item and I can't wait to go through this one. I'll share the details soon!

On that grateful note, have a super week everyone. Thanks Aunt Delsie, Uncle Mike, Jessica, Mom, all the friends who send me things- your inspiration keeps me going!

xo,

Erin

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Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Clothes with Stories, Sewing with Soul

Greetings! I'm getting a little sentimental today...

On my last trip home, I started to help my mom organize this hug box of old family photos. There's a something nice and nostalgic about a time when we actually did have to print out our photos and I miss that! I want to try and preserve as many of those as I can and this was step one.

Spending time with so many old family photos, and being home in general, makes me miss my grandmother. If you're a new reader on my blog, her name was Elsie and I feel lucky to have been able to spend time with her while growing up. I love the below photo I found of her with my grandfather, A.J. I never got to know him, but loved hearing about him from my mom and maw-maw. I love that this photo is on their old property in Thibodaux, LA and has Bayou Lafourche peeking in the background.

Elsie inspired my clothing label, and what it represents. The idea of new things, created and inspired by older things - clothes with stories and sentiment. In the world today where we are bombarded by so many chain stores and endless options for your clothing needs, I long to keep my wardrobe special and to create items that my customers will hold special. Some may say, "It's just clothes," but to me it is so much more than that!

When I returned from my trip home to Louisiana, I was unpacking and trying to organize my tiny closet. If you don't live here in NYC and think you have a tiny closet - I bet mine could make you feel so much better about yours - it's seriously tiny! This old dress I made years ago fell out from the back; it made me so happy to rediscover it, especially since Elsie has been on my mind. The more I got into sewing growing up, the more she would give me a few pieces of fabric at a time from here closet full of vintage fabric. It was special to me that I knew she had this closet full of fabric and she would choose certain pieces to give me at a time. The green details on this particular dress were one of those pieces. The other more neutral fabric was from an old skirt in disrepair, passed on to me by a friend who thought I would love the fabric.

It is now a dress with a story, and a sentimental one at that. A unique piece with my grandmother close to my heart.

I also feel like I've been gravitating to green lately - perhaps inspired by the lush spans of green all over my hometown and also in my Brooklyn neighborhood!

Current project - more green :)

Okay, back to work for me! Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your week friends!
xo,

Erin

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Saturday, March 28, 2015

Spring things are blooming in the workshop...

Greetings! Happy Weekend!

We are nearing the very end of March, and I can't believe that there are snow flurries floating past my window. At least spring is blooming inside the home studio! I have been super busy these past couple of months with freelance styling work, and day dreaming about all the spring things I want to make when I can get back to my design studio.

Finding beautiful vintage, dead-stock, and thrifted materials is really the launching point for what I create. I let the materials inspire me and go from there. I haven't had much time to dedicate to my usual materials hunt lately, and with almost perfect timing, two dear friends have given me some fabrics and items that are just filling me with all kinds of spring inspiration.

I have known my friend Jessica for years, and although we are separated by distance, we stay connected through our vintage love. We are very different, but clicked beautifully when we met, and she knows me very well. Her and her mom love to shop for antiques together and often collect items that make them think of me. It's touching to know that a distant friend thinks of you at little moments, and better than that, they send me these lovely curated boxes of fabrics and vintage bits to repurpose into new modern items. I was so excited to open my most recent box from her and my excitement was met with an awesomely curated bunch of goodies! I'm sharing my favorites with you, and a little bit of the design ideas that they invoke.

It's great to get actual mail in such a digital age, but even better when it's accompanied with a hand written note.

Put a bird on it! The print on this royal blue vintage fabric is so sweet yet modern. I foresee a simple tank, letting the beautiful print take the stage.

Blue clovers? I absolutely love this vintage fabric from the 60s and the quirkiness behind the idea of a blue clover print.

I feel like bold and basic colors bring a freshness to spring- and I'm particularly excited about this tiny, but bold geometric print.

In addition to fabrics, she also included these bits and baubles :)

I fell instantly for this embroidered piece and I wish I had more of it. I can't decide what to do with it yet...

These little vintage remnants really take me back. They remind me of the kinds of things I would get from my grandmother, Elsie. I wonder where they originated and the stories they tell.

It's hard not to like these bold necklaces. Vintage costume jewelry is such a fun and inexpensive way to revive your wardrobe options.

My friend Julia purged her closet for spring, something I wish I was better at! She sent over a bag of old fabrics that exceeded my expectations. They are screaming, "flow-y dresses"and "breezy tops"- can't wait to work with them!