Some new things in my shop...

Cat print shirt. I designed the this cat repeat pattern and got it printed using Spoonflower!

Tie back dress made from vintage rayon.

Deer print dress in a new colorway.

Owl dress in a new colorway.

Doe-re-mi blouse

Silk thistle blouse

Maze dress

Thanks to the lovely Vanessa Pilon for modeling.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Back at home

I just got back a few days ago from my friend's wedding in Long Island! In the end, it was a fantastic trip, but it started off as, well...a disaster. After getting stuck in line at the U.S. border for almost three hours, Freddy realized he had left his wedding clothes in a garment bag at home! Ah! There was no way we could turn around and go back, especially after waiting so long.

Anyway, we ended up spending the night in Brooklyn, and woke up crazy early to find him new clothes, as the wedding was that afternoon. In the end it worked out for the best, as he ended up finding sooo much great clothing. I guess NY is the place to be if you forget your clothes. Now, I joke that he "forgot" his clothes at home so he could go on a shopping spree at Uniqlo...hehe.

Here's a picture from our ferry ride from Greenpoint to Midtown. They just started this ferry service a few months ago! I forgot what it's called...but it's pretty awesome that you can go from Brooklyn to Manhattan so easily now. It only took us 10 minutes!

Sadly, I didn't take any pictures of the wedding! (Too busy crying!) My friend Trish and her husband wrote the most touching vows, and oh, her sister's speech left almost the entire party bawling! Way to go guys! Maybe you should have had tissue boxes as wedding favors, sheesh!

Anyway, after NY we went to my parents house in Pennsylvania. They sold their house in Brooklyn a few years ago and now live in the woods. My dad loves it, but I think my mom really misses the city and people! I try to call her as often as I can cause I can tell she is kind of lonely :-(

Here's a picture of my dad and their cat Margosha. Yep, that's his furry little baby...hehe.

Since I've been back I've been doing some sewing and a little gardening. I ate my first kale from the garden last night! It was so delicious, and so rewarding to eat! I've always had a deep appreciation for the food I eat (maybe it's an immigrant thing...we never threw food away in my house) but I feel even closer to my food now that I've been growing some of my edibles. It really makes me appreciate all of the hard work that farmers do for us.

Anywhoooo...I photographed and listed a bunch of vintage skirts today. It's kind of fun to do one kind of garment all at once. Here they are!

Check 'em out in my shop.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday.

Supababy!

My friends Mike and Judy had a baby yesterday! Yay so excited for them!

The birth of their little daughter really kicked me in the butt to start a baby line. I had to make them a present...so....here it is!

It's pretty much a miniature version of the adult-sized "Milkshake dress" I've been making for my etsy shop.

It was a lot of fun to make and it really got my imagination going about other Supababy designs! Wouldn't it be so cute to have mini versions of my regular collection? Ok maybe less buttons and things that babies can choke on. :/ I probably need to do some research on that before I start selling. Anyone have any suggestions of things NOT to put on baby clothes?

Anyway, that's my exciting new project :-D

Digital printing on textiles- a dream come true!

Wow, if a few years ago, someone had told me that I would be able to design my own textiles with no minimums...I would have thought they were crazy! Designing your own textiles used to be reserved for the fashion elite, but now anyone can elevate their brand by designing their own fabrics.

The service I used is called Spoonflower. They are my latest addiction, thanks to Angie, who used them for her F/W2011 collection. I was a bit nervous at first, because I wasn't so sure I could create a seamless repeat pattern....but they make it SO easy. You can also sell your fabric design, and get a 10% cut that you can use towards future spoonflower purchases. They have a great selection of fabrics...and they even have organic cotton.

Here's a dress I made using my very own bird print design!

While it's not really cost effective to use your Spoonflower fabric for an entire garment, it's great for components for clothing- pockets, collars, panels...etc. The possibilities are endless! I printed some "scarves" that Sara Guindon designed for this new Supayana dress and this new Supayana top.

Well, I hope this got your creative juices flowing. I know I have a lot of crafty people reading this blog! Have a good afternoon :-)

Supayana Spring/Summer 2011

Photos by Arden Wray

Modeling by Vanessa Pilon

Makeup by Natacha C.

Sara Guindon + Supayana

I recently did a series of dresses with the talented illustrator Sara Guindon (1/2 of Pin Pals). I initially asked Sara to work with me because I love her illustrations so much, and I think they match my clothing style so well. She made illustrations specifically for this project, and we got the fabric digitally printed on cotton fabric using Spoonflower. (If you don't know about Spoonflower yet, check it out! You can get anything you want digitally printed and there are no minimums! This is the kind of stuff you dream of when you're a fashion designer! Making your own textiles?!?! WAHH!)

Here are some pictures:

Check out Sara's awesome Etsy shop!

Photos by Caroline Lafond (www.carolinelafondphoto.com)

Modeling by Lisa-Marie Charron

I listed dresses one dress in each size (XS, S, M, and L) in my Etsy shop. The dresses are one of a kind, made from vintage fabric so I can't make the same exact one ever again!

Happy New Year!

Hi everyone! I just wanted to thank you all for your support over the past year. I just realized that Supayana is almost 8 years old. I can't believe it!!! There have definitely been a lot of ups and downs, but I'm still going! I'm going to sound like an old granny, but I remember selling on eBay when there were only a handful of handmade clothing designers. When I think about it now, it seems almost unbelievable. Now Etsy has over 200,000 sellers!

So many exciting things happened in 2010. Freddy and I bought a house together. I moved into a larger studio space with some of my best friends. Eight of us went on an amazing group trip to Mexico. Freddy wrote and directed a 3D animation for the NFB. My friends Tyson and Angie got married. Our other friends Mike and Judy announced they were having a baby! What a year! (Yes, all of these friends have websites and make cool things, hehe)

This New Year's eve was pretty low key. We went to a potluck at our friend Krissy's house. There was food, drinks, maybe some interpretive dancing....hehe.

I uploaded a ton of new stuff to my etsy shop! Some popular designs in different colorways, etc.

Collars

Below are a few of my favorite detachable collars from various Etsy shops. I think these collars are a great way to transform any outfit when you're feeling extra girly.

Peach crochet collar by FUDUMUDU

Cobalt blue crocheted lace collar by Callmemimi

1930's inspired ruffle collar by Previously

Teal lace pointed collar by Yeye

Black Peter Pan collar by Luminia

Scalloped grey lace collar by Supayana

(Sorry, I know it's not fair, but I had to throw mine in there!)

New for the holidays....

Bralettes! They are so pretty and come in handy, especially for dresses that have low armholes or low backs....

I made a whole bunch of bralettes during a recent late-night at the studio! Marc, Angie, and I decided to work til 3 in the morning one night last week. I probably wouldn't have liked to do it alone, but it was really great to be there working with my friends!

Corduroy and velvet skirts!

There are always a few vintage supplies I keep my eyes peeled for when I'm out thrifting- cotton lace, pompom trim, and crazy printed corduroy...just to name a few! I've been stockpiling nice vintage corduroy and velvet fabrics with the idea that one day I'd make a whole bunch of cute skirts.

Pretty happy with how they turned out....it's a pretty simple shape but it's really flattering for my body type....makes me feel like a lady! :-D

You can take a closer look at the skirts in my shop.

Some new things...

Just listed a few new things in my etsy shop....

http://supayana.etsy.com

Some cute outfits for summer...

I just added a few new designs to my etsy shop....take a peek.

Even though I've been living in the new house since January, these are actually the first photos I've taken there! (Usually I just take pictures at the studio). That thing I'm standing next to is a vintage washing machine, previously owned by my boyfriend's mother. Apparently it still works, but I'm a little scared to plug it in.

I'm really in love with this kind of over-exposed style of photography. My photographer friend taught me that trick! You know how if you're standing in front of a window and you try to take a photo, you will just look like a black silhouette? Well, if you up the exposure on your camera, the light from the window will look really white, and you'll be able to make out the details of the subject in front of the window. So easy and you get such great, dreamy results!

New tops and dresses...

Here are a few new things I just put up on etsy. Take a peek!

My parents were in town for a few days last week. It was their first time seeing our house! It was also their first time meeting Freddy's parents :-D I don't know why, but I was really nervous about it. Come to think of it, it was actually the first time my parents had ever met any boyfriend's parents, so maybe that's why I was nervous. Everything went well, as it should have, especially since both sets of parents are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. So, we enjoyed some wine and cheese in their beautiful backyard.

Right now, I'm working on some stock for Puces Pop in Montreal this weekend, and another wholesale order for Jupon Pressé. I just mailed some new tops to Nathalie-Roze in Toronto last week.

Alright, well....back to sewing!

Our new showroom!

Our showroom is finally done! I posted these pictures on facebook a few weeks ago but I forgot to repost them here.

We made a showroom in the front part of our studio so stylists and buyers for stores have a nice place to browse our collections when they come. We built this ourselves and with two lovely interns, Emily and Evan. Emily even did some custom screen-printing for us.

Here's Michelle arranging her stuff.

Angie, Marc, and Michelle's beautiful creations...

Chair screenprinted by Emily Paris and necklace by Norwegian Wood.

Me! Standing in front of my little section :-) Oops, we forgot to move the ladder, but it kind of goes...