Wishing for Spring!

Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been sewing away for wholesale orders and craft sales.

Here I am at Puces Pop last weekend. I met a lot of nice people and hung out with friends. Work's not so bad sometimes ;-)

Here's my sweet kitty Otto munching on his cat grass.

Here's the view from my bedroom window. UGH! This winter has been sooo long. Spring only starts in mid-April here in Montreal so I still have to wait a few more weeks. Sigh. Hurry up already!!!

In a way, it's kind of a good thing that it's so crappy out. Otherwise my orders would never get finished...teehee.

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.

Back in the USSR

A few years ago, my mom gave me a giant box of slides from Moscow, ranging from the 1970's to the early 1980's. I know, I know...slides?? Hey, we Russians didn't have access to fancy capitalist technology. Har har...

Amazingly, my tech-hoarding bf Freddy happened to have this crazy contraption that attaches to your scanner specifically for film slides. These were pretty exciting to scan in because I actually don't have that many pictures from my early childhood that weren't professional photos. (I find that candid is always better) Freddy joked that I still dress the same.

Here I am with our neighbor's son on their door swing. Ok, it's true...I would still wear that.

We are so excited about that scrawny Christmas tree!

This picture pretty much sums me up. Cats, doilies, over-the-top wallpaper, and giant hair bows.

My clothes in their first music video!

My friend Vanessa, who you may recognize as the model from my Spring collection, just sent me a link to this video. She wore her own Supayana clothes in this great music video by Quebecois band Panache. I love the song and the art direction.

The first outfit is mine...keep your eyes peeled!

Panache || Filles et garçons: un dilemme from Dare to Care Records on Vimeo.

That shirt she is wearing is the good ol' triangle top. She's the cutest.

Thank you Vanessa!

Spring 2011 sneak peek...

I'm sorry if you already saw this on facebook. I decided to leak an image from my Spring collection, hehe. It's soooo hard to keep it secret!

Believe it or not, I finished the collection in October! (Which is actually considered late by industry standards, yeesh) I have been trying really hard to get into the "traditional" fashion timeline, since it makes things a lot easier for wholesale. Anyway, one step at a time I guess!

Here's one picture from my lookbook. This dress is made from mill-end cotton/silk blend fabric, silk floral fabric, and cream lace. Fancy!

The photography was done by Arden Wray, the model is Vanessa Pilon, and the makeup was done 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!