constrvcting

obsession does not begin to describe what i have for the new fashion label, CONSTRVCT. it's art. on clothing. created by users. mind = blown. i have been incredibly excited about new technologies allowing digital printing on fabric to be cost effective to the casual user. sites like Spoonflower really do provide top notch service for fabrics that, if you spend time in fabric stores in urban areas, aren't that much more than their retail counterparts.

production diagram from constrvct

the only drawback is losing the tactile nature of going to the fabric store. running your hands all up and down the bolts in their tidy rows. breathing in the smell of formaldehyde and other preservatives that off-gas and fill the store. pouring over pattern books, with your mother, before christmas or easter to find the perfect dress. i was practically raised in fabric stores. from a very young age, my mother made both my sister and i dresses for every major holiday, and made our halloween costumes months in advance. it was common for me and my sister, in the early years, to have coordinating costumes. one year, we went as mickey and minnie. i'm sure i cried to get to be minnie, or perhaps my older sister was feeling magnanimous that year, but the result was this:

yep, socks with open-toed shoes. it was COLD.

yes, those large headdresses were handmade by my mother, after working as an elementary school teacher all day. she chose to come home and sew. sometimes late into the night, though, i'm sure it was only about 8PM, as my bedtime was much earlier back then. i have the sewing machine she used in my studio apartment now, and whenever i pull it out to sew, i'm immediately taken back to those moments: late at night in bed, when i'd hear her sewing downstairs in the dining room, where she could lay out the fabric on our large table. the machine, unsurprisingly, sounds exactly the same.