Marine Microbe 2nd Place!

October 22, 2015July 5, 2016 - Eirwyn

SpoonflowerWinner — click image to fabric shop

Awesome news! This design got placed 2nd in Spoonflower’s weekly contest. I don’t think I’ve ever won a contest like this before. I mean, winning a raffle or whatnot is one thing, this is completely different. This wasn’t based on some kind of random chance, it was in my control! Even though this was just a small contest, it still let me get feedback directly from my audiences. For someone who is just starting out on this whole wallpaper/fabric design thing I really appreciated Spoonflower as a platform and community. So thanks to everyone who gave me feedback, and voted for me during the contest.

This is a picture shot by the website.

Here is a mock up of the wallpaper scale, it’s notably bigger than the fabric scale.

Drawing With Patience

October 12, 2015July 5, 2016 - Eirwyn

Paisley Sketch

Lately I found new inspirations in Indian block prints. I’ve avoided them because they’ve always looked difficult and time consuming. To the honest, they were! So many little elements that I wanted to make sure are perfect, but after a while I figured I’d have more fun if I just let it go a bit. My favorite studies ended up being the ones with little mistakes probably only I would have cared. I enjoyed painting with tiny brushes that I rarely used, there is something satisfying about filling up the details

blockprintinspiration

Even though my back hurts from hunching over while painting this, I find it rewarding. You have to be patient to wait for watercolor to dry so you don’t accidentally smear things (thank you Photoshop). You know what, after getting used to the process I picked up my speed. Good thing I could make a repeat in the computer later, so I didn’t have to hand draw everything (yes I cheat). I think I’ll continue with this process, maybe something with paisley and add more color into it.

anom-aly_Porciline_porcelain — Click to see more images on Instagram

TOMS FW 2015

September 23, 2015November 9, 2015 - Eirwyn 1 Comment

TOMS Front Page

I first found out about TOMS back in college. I’ve always admired the fact that they are making a difference as a for-profit company. I was really happy that I got the opportunity to work there as a print designer last year.

Before this, I had never worked with shoes. I didn’t even know these shoes are called espadrilles or alpargatas. I’ve always thought them as “TOMS Shoes” (Way to do your research before starting a job Aly). Designing prints for shoes is surprisingly different from designing for cloth. The scale is especially important because you only have so much space on shoes. Luckily, since the space is so small, it’s less likely for someone to notice the repeat. The number of colors you can use are super limited. Clothing companies are usually okay with going up to 10 – 12 colors for a print. Even though that’s expensive, but if the print is right they are willing to do it. But for shoes, because the base material is so much more expensive the number of color I can use is very limited. Good thing this is Fall/Winter collection, the color palette is pretty restraint to beginning with.

Outside of developing prints, I learned to design shoes for the first time. I would be given an old style, and be asked to make a flat sketch with improvements. I’d then talk it over with the design team and figure out solutions to the problems. Obviously I wasn’t given real important parts, but it was nevertheless a whole new skill I picked up. After the flat sketches, we’d talk about what kind of material should be used on each part of the shoe. I learned that there is a part of a shoe that’s called “cookie”.

TOMS Jutti Flat — I designed the uppers and linings for this Jutti Flat.

The experience was short, but it was rewarding. Hope I get to run into people wearing the shoes I worked on in the streets of LA.

Check out more images for the ones I worked on in portfolio.

DIY Lace Bunny Ear

October 29, 2014July 5, 2016 - Eirwyn Leave a comment

So Halloween is close, very very close, yet I still don’t have a costume. Here is the last minute costume 2 hours to finish!

If you are anything like me, DO NOT WORRY! I got you covered! To quote Mean Girls, ” In Girl World, Halloween is the one night a year when a girl can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.”

Absolutely love this movie, but…. I can do without dressing up like a slut. So let’s just stick an animal ear on our heads without the lingerie.

meangirlmouse
To make an animal ear you’ll need

Plain Headband of your choice
Wires
Pliers
Scissors
Fabric of your choice
Needles and Thread
Possibly hot glue, if you get lazy no judgement here 😀

Step 1. Make the ear shape.
For my bunny ears I measured out 2 pieces of wires roughly same length and shape them with pliers or hand.

step1 Step 2. Cut out a piece of fabric big enough to cover the ear shape.

step2 At first I used a mesh fabric, it became a little slippery for the next step, so I switched it out for a lace with some stretch.

Step 3. Sew the fabric onto the wire. Or hot glue whichever you like. I sewed mine like so…
step3 Then trim off the extra fabric

Step 4. Lastly attach the ears onto a headband. Here I used a plain metal headband I picked up from the craft store. step3_5

Tada~ You can shape it too! Throw on a black dress or something then you got yourself a last-ditch effort costume! bunny2

With the same idea you can make all kinds of animal ears.
cat ear