Ugly Sweater Suits

If you don't already know me, fellow readers, you should know that my passion and love for textile design and patterns runs DEEP! That's why when I stumbled upon Shinesty  and their collection of mens Ugly Sweater Suits, I nearly fell over!  (The rest of the site is dedicated to kitchy holiday and themed attire) 

Naturally, each suit is 100% polyester and the brightest of colors. I would love to show up to a holiday party wearing one of these jackets over a black dress, or the pants with a solid top. Anyone interested in splitting up the red, white and blue suit?

Where am I and What am I doing?

Hello world!!! It has been FAR too long since I've written something. I figured I would start by answering the questions "Where am I?" and "What am I doing?" 

Shifra Whiteman, struttin' around in one of her textile designs.

First of all, I am still in the great city of Chicago. However, I am now a graduate student! I am currently in the middle of my first semester in the Business and Entrepreneurship program at Columbia College Chicago (not to be confused with Columbia University in NYC). I am hoping to gain as much during these next 2 years so that I may be able to focus on establishing my own creative and fair trade business. So far, I have been taking courses in accounting, economics, marketing and fundraising. Yes, it's true, the majority of my classes have to do with numbers! I will still be designing while I'm in school, so stay tuned because I have so many goodies that I will be sharing oh so soon.

Pinwheel Print

In the Fall of 2010 (the beginning of my senior year at University of Michigan), I filled a moleskin journal with many hand drawn patterns that eventually resulted in my thesis project . I only used a few select patterns for the overall project but had many others sitting in that journal waiting to be used in the future. Luckily for the Pinwheels, that time was a cold day last February, while designing the Mata Traders' Spring '13 collection. 

From left to right - Dahee Dress, Garden Party Dress & Shanghai Shift Dress. 

After sifting through colorful and complicated designs, we realized that what we were lacking was a simple, monochromatic print that was playful and quirky but also sophisticated. I brought in a few ideas from my moleskin journal from college and we all decided that the Pinwheels would translate effortlessly from paper to fabric. We loved it so much that it was paired with 3 different garments (2 of which are almost completely sold out!) 

This has also been a popular pattern to be blogged about. Check out these three posts by Walking with Cake,  Birds-of-a-Thread and LindaLind.

Bloggers who have featured the Pinwheels print from left to right: Walking with Cake, Birds of a Thread and  Lindalind.

Bringing Patterns to Camp!

For many summers, I had the amazing opportunity to attend Camp Tel Yehudah, Young Judaea's Teen Leadership camp. Summer months as a camper were spent mastering the art of kissing with braces, challenging ourselves creatively on how to best raid the boys bunks and learning a thing or two about Zionism, leadership and Jewish identity. I spent these same months as a counselor figuring out how to connect teenagers with art & Judaism. However, one of my favorite parts as an art specialist was preparing for the last night of camp, otherwise known as "Banquet". Banquet is a huge themed night where the typical dining hall is transformed into something special and spectacular... and the entire staff dresses up according to the theme... It's a kind of a big deal.

 Last summer my amazing, talented younger sister, Leah Whiteman, was the supervisor for the art program at Camp Tel Yehudah. After 2 weeks, she decided on "Africa" for the 1st session banquet theme. Besides sharing genes, Leah is also a wonderful artist who is currently a senior at the University of Michigan Stamps School of Art & Design,  and has taken a few fiber arts classes (I swear we have differences!)

Within the theme "Africa" she wanted to focus quite a bit on traditional African kente cloth and African Dutch wax batik prints.  Kente Cloth is a type of interwoven silk and cotton fabric, native to the Akan ethnic group of South Ghana. Each color used in the cloth has a different symbolic meaning. They are beautiful pieces with rich traditions and history. African Dutch wax batik prints are patterns printed on one side of fabric using both wax as a repellant of ink in addition to ink and dyes. This is a common but beautiful process in African textiles and the fabric is used on many native garments in the region. Incorporating traditional elements of African textiles added a respectful and authentic touch to the theme while also made it look so cool! I wish I could have a backdrop like this at one of my own parties!

Painted panels of traditional Kente cloth and African Dutch Wax batik prints.

Using camp art materials like butcher paper, tempera paint, cardboard and paper mâché, Leah and her team of art specialists truly transformed the dining hall into a beautiful African paradise!

Check out these panels of replicated fabrics! They managed to create an elephant sculpture and a staff member took on the challenge of dressing up as a giraffe! Disney's "The lion king" played on theTV screens in the background and I'm sure the campers were in awe of the space and had quite a memorable "Banquet". 

Animals were created and welcomed! ...Also, check out the awesome Mata Traders dress Leah is wearing!

Closer Look: Harvest Textiles

While perusing pinterest yesterday I happened upon a pin I adore. These little purses in the image below stopped me dead in my tracks. My jaw may or may not have dropped  (ok it totally did!) and I was in awe. This image is from Harvest Textiles in Melbourne, Australia.

Harvest Textiles.

Harvest Textiles was established in 2010 and is run by a team women who are passionate about quality handmade textiles, learning, sustainability and community. They run screen printing and textile workshops, host guest lectures & seminars, exhibits, pop up shops and Artist in Residency programs from their workroom in Melbourne, Australia (I am clearly very jealous). 

Products, projects and process at Harvest Textiles. 

This place looks like a textile and craft workspace haven (I so wish we had something like this in Chicago). They have such a vibrant community filled with artists and creative individuals who want to go through the motions of textile design by hand. Most textile design for the industry is done digitally but Harvest Textiles does everything the old school way, using screens, stencils, squeegees and arm strength! To me, that really is the joy of textile design and screen printing - working with your hands and sharing that process with others. 

Screen Printing Workshop at Harvest Textiles.

Harvest Textiles has many wonderful Artist in Residences that have passed through their work room; Some of which include the colorful Emily Green, the porcelain work of Sophie Morris, the team at Full Drop Co., illustrative pieces by Alice Oehr and many, many more! Their blog is chock full of collaborations, events, samples of student work, photos of workshops and other wonderful things to explore. Check out their flickr page which is loaded with wonderful photographs of these creative people at work. Their products are beautiful and if I had some spare change I would buy everything! 

Luckily I have a reason to fly to Melbourne, Australia within the next three years, but I am now putting this wonderful place on my to do list when I visit down under!