ErinElsie: sustainable fashion

Showing posts with label sustainable fashion. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” ― Lao Tzu

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
― Lao Tzu

That quote was on the little tag attached to my bedtime tea a few nights ago. Of course it felt timely with spring around the corner, but it also felt fitting to my type of designing and making. I can sometimes get rattled by the fast pace of the fashion industry, always feeling behind. The reality is that I don't make fast fashion items. The world is already full of so much stuff. I get inspired by the challenge of hunting for beautiful vintage fabrics, near and far.
This process is not the fastest, but I want to make pieces that people treasure, keep, and even pass down to others.

Before I work with any fabrics, I wash them all and often by hand. It's tedious and involves some testing, but then I can figure how to tell the customer to take care of the end garment.

The beautiful colors and prints may all seem random at first, but they eventually form little collections and it's my favorite part of the process. I make a huge mess, and then the ideas and stories starting coming together in my head. I'm currently in the "huge mess" part of the process with my latest batch of fabrics for spring, so stay tuned for new pieces ahead. All in good time!

*** These are some of my current favorites! ***

Happy Spring friends, hopefully these New York temperatures warm up soon! Live in Color 🤗!

xo,

Erin

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Thursday, November 8, 2018

Happy Fall! It's been a while...

Hey Friends, Happy Fall!

I hope this finds you all well. Summer seems to have flown by in the best way; a little travel, a lot of amazing outdoor music, beautiful park days, some amateur gardening success, and quite a bit of freelance work.

ErinElsie accessories have been selling, so I'm busy trying to restock my online shop in time for this holiday season. Please keep small businesses in mind when doing your holiday shopping. Gifts should be special! I have been collecting some beautiful fabrics from near and far and they are now being recycled into one of a kind earrings, scrunchies, and some lux winter hats. Follow along for all the new items and updates ahead!

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A few new items below - click on the image to shop or for more info!

Some beautiful fabrics salvaged from some vintage garments!

Pretty gold dangles, for all my hometown LSU and Saints fans!

Handmade from bold recycled sweater fabrics :)

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One of a kind items, one of a kind packages. Love my customers!

Fall Feels in my neighborhood!

Thanks for stopping by. Hoping you all have a lovely weekend! Live in Color 🤗!

xo,

Erin

Follow along the journey of ErinElsie and *Textile*Repurposed*Style.* Subscribe by email in the sidebar of my blog or sign up for Bloglovin!

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Friday, March 23, 2018

Making Clothes with Stories: Spring cleaning, when friends and family give me things...

Happy Spring!

I've been swamped with freelance projects for about the last 2 months and have spent too much time away from creating and my sewing machine! As hard as it is to step away from my design work, I look back and see that it was a much needed break. I can sometimes get burned out and put too pressure on myself to turnover new work quickly. The reality is that that is not the kind of items I make.

When I'm away from my workspace, I day dream ideas with the fabrics I know I have waiting for me. By the time I actually can get back to it, my mind is overflowing with inspiration and I can't wait to begin.

It's always about the fabrics for me; finding and collecting unique textiles that inspire me, and breathing new life into them. Here's a little spring preview of some of the materials I'm about to dive into.

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Friends and family give me old fabrics and discarded clothes when they clean out their closets, and I love it! I often receive materials in the mail. I love that the people in my life take part in the work that I do, making it seem even more sentimental and interactive.

My friend friend Jessica hunts estate sales with her mom in her native Iowa, and they send me lovely little curated boxes of goodies. I love every little piece in the most recent box!

She always includes notes. Handwritten notes are the best, I include one with ever order to my customers. A recent favorite from her was this little silk bundle they found at the estate sale of Lois Rayman, a fifties model and actress.

https://www.cedarmemorial.com/Obituary/2014/Oct/Lois-A-Rayman/Photos.aspx

Picture courtesy of Cedar Memorial

My favorite is this painterly silk fabric 🙌.

oh the ideas...

When friends clean out their closet and think of me... I love incorporating denim into my work, and these old Levi's from my friend William will find their way into some new spring ErinElsie pieces.

While visiting my Louisiana hometown, I collect fabrics here and there. Sometimes from family, old neighbors, thrift shopping with my mom. It's often too much to carry back, so my mom sends little care packages and packs the goodies with fabric. USPS flat rate boxes are the best :)

These items below are from my cousin Jamie, perfect for spring.

I've been collecting a lot of beautiful vintage lace, and I want to try and work them into more modern pieces. This lace comes from a neighbor in my hometown. She owned a fabric store and has passed on a lot of beautiful items to me.

The last care package I received from my parents came complete with a Rouse's king cake - it didn't last long!

These beautiful embroidered bits came a while back from my Aunt Delsie & Uncle Mike, and I've been anxious to incorporate them into some spring summer pieces.

Finally time to get back to my lonely sewing machine!

Thanks for stopping by. Hoping you all have a lovely weekend and week ahead friends! Live in Color 🤗!

xo,

Erin

Follow along the journey of ErinElsie and *Textile*Repurposed*Style.* Subscribe by email in the sidebar of my blog or sign up for Bloglovin!

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Wednesday, February 14, 2018

For the love of Fabric!

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On this Valentine's Day, an ode to one of my greatest loves, beautiful and unique fabric!

And then I saw it - peaking out of a rack at a thrift store - this gorgeous, unique chunk of fabric. It was love at first site, a dress from the 70's I surmised. There was this beautiful, crinkled, watercolor fabric with so much potential! The existing dress was quite sad and falling apart at the seams. I had visions of possibilities in my head...!

I love working with denim, and I felt like it would be a fun way to make this piece more wearable and season-less. I envisioned someone wearing this piece as a wrap dress, a casually glamorous swimsuit coverup, or over shorts or jeans etc.

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I draped, and draped and draped...

Sewed, sewed, hand-sewed and hand-sewed....

I often get attached to the pieces I create and this one was no exception. I sold it as I am typing this post and so guess it is time to let it go to it's new home in Dallas, TX! The love story carries on...

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This piece is a little bold, but reminds me how we often get intimidated by clothes or just getting dressed, and we shouldn't be! Try rocking some bold colors and/or little glamour in an unexpected way!