Living in Color! - Textiles of Chile and at Home with Our Sentimental Souvenir

Living in Color! - Textiles of Chile and at Home with Our Sentimental Souvenir 

It's fall ya'll and I'm back from a blogging hiatus. This past spring, I did a road trip adventure through a region of Chile. Of course I couldn't get enough of the textiles and art. We've started a tradition of collecting fabrics from our travels to make throw pillows for our sofa. It keeps us surrounded in our colorful memories!    

In Chile, we were on the hunt for an authentic Mapuche textile. The Mapuche are one of the most native indigenous inhabitants, and are best known for their wool textiles. Chile is home to some of the finest wool in the world and the Mapuche have long woven this wool into fine ponchos and home furnishings. 

Source: http://vidamapuche.blogspot.com/2010/

I love that this shopping instantly made us dive into the story of these native people and their craft. It gave us an appreciation for these artists and the lands they inhabit. There's a strong chance you and I have seen copies and reproductions of their work pop up in mass market chain stores without even knowing it.  

Source: http://vidamapuche.blogspot.com/2010/

We found a great market in Pucon, Chile selling Mapuche textiles. They are not cheap, but as a maker, I totally understand needing to be compensated for your work. 

So many beautiful things, I wish we could have bought them all!  

Ponchos and high quality wool everywhere! 

Color inspiration overload!

Another fun shopping stop was a cultural center and local artist collective in Licanten.



We were excited to also find an awesome coffee stop next door after being on the road all day. For a girl who enjoys a proper coffee moment, they don't really offer to-go options, hehe. You have to sit and have your coffee! They served ours in a pottery native to Chile, mostly produced in the village of Pomaire; which we later learned eating and drinking throughout our trip. 





We picked out this beautiful green Mapuche textile for our pillow.  

Floor time! I am a total floor person, so I made this pillow big and full to double as a cozy floor cushion. 



 We are loving what this tradition adds to our home. Live in color friends!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a lovely week!


*Check out this old post about our sentimental souvenirs :)
http://erinelsie.blogspot.com/2014/04/sentiment-and-souvenirs.html

P.S. Shop great new items in my ErinElsie online shop, created with special bits of reclaimed vintage fabrics, recycled denim, and leather remnants. Save 15% off  these totally one of a kind items by using code FALL15 at checkout or the shop link below!  

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A few good things from my October

Happy November!

 I hope everyone is having a good fall. I'm grateful to be back to working in my home studio this week. Here are a few other good things from my October:

 Going home...I went home to Louisiana for a family wedding and it was a good time per usual. The sugar cane behind my parents house was high, all the food was amazing, and the weather was beautiful.

My mom's crab stew...I could go on and on with the laundry list of awesome home cooked food I ate when I was home, but next to my dad's fried fish, my mom's crab stew was my favorite. She waited until I was home to cook this for me, and it did not disappoint - I ate it for three days. Yum! 

Treasure hunting... I love good shopping one on one time with my mom. This trip, I found a few thrift store treasures, some vintage inspiration, and some unique handmade items. 

Fall Festival at the Laurel Valley Village in Thibodaux   

Great vintage inspiration... Check out this awesome vintage Mardi Gras Tableau dress and headpiece at the Laural Valley store and museum. So much detail, and I love he bold color combinations- that's what festival wear is all about. 

 Discovering local emerging artists in Louisiana... At the festival, I also came across a gal, Lauren Rebert, making these most unique bags. As a maker, I love to see others doing interesting and innovative work. Lauren's accessories are called Fiber Chic and she makes them by tediously machine stitching together rope - quite impressive. She doesn't yet have a website, but I will surely keep you posted. My mom got me this one, and I can't wait to sport it. It's the perfect little, lightweight cross-body bag for cruising around New York in the Spring and Summer.  

 Great thrifting fabric finds... One was a very large and dated 2 piece leopard outfit- which for me means lots of yards of the perfect scaled leopard print cotton fabric. I've been wanting some leopard fabric to incorporate into a few upcoming fall floral looks so the timing was great. The second find was this dress with a Gerard Darel Paris label- pretty neat for a thrift store find. The shape was large and pretty matronly, but the fabric is great. It's a super lightweight wool, woven into this most vivid paisley print. I'm already working on transforming these, so stay tuned!

Getting out of town...This past weekend my guy and I escaped to the Catskills for a little nature and one on one time. It was the perfect combination of taking in the sights and enjoying doing absolutely nothing! The leaves were literally falling while we were there, and I'm grateful we got to catch this most beautiful fall time. 

Fireplaces...We stayed in a little cabin and the weather was perfect for enjoying the fireplace with a good glass of wine. I could have stayed so much longer!

Campfires...We enjoyed one night outside cooking our dinner over a campfire. 

Antiquing in upstate NY...I picked up this cute jar of vintage buttons to replenish my stash. I love vintage buttons and almost always use them in my work. 

Alright, back to work for me! Hope all is well and thanks for following along friends! 

All the best,

-Erin

http://www.erinelsie.com 

Follow my ever day along on Instagram:@ ErinBlank_Designer

The Easy Piece of Summer, Swathed in Beautiful Prints!

Oh how time is flying by! I can't believe that July is almost over. I have been trying to enjoy summer here in NYC, but mostly busy in the work shop plus a 7 day stint in jury duty. I am so happy to be finally putting new pieces out there!

The first of the new things are a group of kimono-style tops. For me, inspiration starts with the fabric, and these tops are the perfect canvas for displaying beautifully printed and dyed fabric. I have been hunting and collecting some beautiful vintage fabrics, and I hope that the new pieces to come give them a new life and add to their story. This is certainly one of the most versatile trends of this summer. They are an easy way to add a pop of color or print to your basic pieces. They are also so great to travel with as they can be worn with shorts during the day, as a swimsuit cover up, and even dressed up at night.

Violet & Gray Tie-Dye Boho Kimono

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Turquoise Tie-Dye Boho Kimono

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Red Vines & Floral Boho Kimono

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Graphic Tribal Print Kimono

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Beautifully Bold Red Print Kimono

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Please follow along this week for other new items!

Wishing you all a great week ahead! 

Cheers! xo,
 Erin 
http://www.erinelsie.com 
Follow along on Instagram: ErinBlank_Designer

Many Thanks to:

Photography by the one and only Ben Kulo http://www.benkulo.com/

The red-headed beauty, Stéphanie Rupe, stephaniearupe.wix.com/stephaniearupe

Silk printed shorts - My easy DIY thrift store conversion!

Happy Monday Folks!

I was so excited about my recent thrift store conversion, a little project I did just for myself, that I wanted to share it with you all! In one of my past thrift store material hunts, I had picked up some printed silk shorts for about $5. The original pair were drawstring, with a very awkward length. I knew with just the right tweak, these could be some of my favorite shorts of the summer. 

Below a glimpse of the original pair. This print on long, dated shorts would be a bit overwhelming on any figure.  

I've been loving the trend of soft and easy printed shorts for summer. You can dress them up or down, they travel super easily, and they keep you cool on hot days. Mine are real washed silk - natural fibers breathe so much better than all of the many poly blends out there. That's one of my favorite things about treasure hunting in a thrift store - finding great quality fabric inexpensively.  

 This image courtesy of www.thefashionhive.com .

The Project

Step 1. I think short lengths in bold prints are all about proportion and you should find the one that works best for your body. Also, if your someone who is a little self conscious about wearing shorts, these are a great trend. They are not form fitting and I love that. I created a slightly curved cuff that worked best on me and pinned it in place. These is probably the step that takes the longest and might be easier if you have a friend helping you pin them. 

Step 2. I top-stiched this cuff down. I usually like to hand sew hems, but for these the sturdiness of the machine stitching worked better to create the shape I wanted with this soft silk. I then gave the finished hem a light tap with an iron and...   

Voila!

 

I hope you had a great weekend and find a little crafty inspiration with this easy DIY project idea. Many thanks for following along! 

Have a great week!
xo
 Erin 
http://www.erinelsie.com 
Follow me on Instagram: ErinBlank_Designer