WhatTheCraft Handmade Giveaway – SugarKitty Corsets satin bloomers

Every girl could use a little burlesque in her life, so pay attention to this week’s giveaway!

This week’s WhatTheCraft Giveaway is sponsored by Shannon of SugarKitty Corsets, who will be giving the lucky winner a custom pair of satin bloomers! The winner gets to choose the size and color!

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Featured Indie Designer – Crossbones Couture

This holiday shopping season, be sure to check out the clothing and accessories chock full of attitude at Crossbones Couture and Crossbones Collateral.

Your Name: Brooke
Age: 28
Hometown: Wheaton, IL (Suburb of Chicago)
Current Location: Schaumburg, IL

How did your interest in fashion begin?
Actually, my interest in fashion stems from being pretty anti-social as a youngster. Since I had no friends to speak of, I decided to use my energy being creative. If I could create clothing that reflected the way I saw myself, and portrayed it to the outside world without making me feel uncomfortable, then that is what I created.

What motivated you to start selling your designs and what were your expectations when you started?
I feel that there are so many young people that either get lost in the crowd, or stand out for the wrong reasons. I go to the mall, or the movies, and see young girls with their bellies bared, and their pants leaving nothing to the imagination, and guys with their boxers hanging out, and the look on their faces tells me that they feel uncomfortable. I am interested in fashion not only as an industry itself, but also as a means for people to be able to express to the outside world the way they feel comfortable being, living in their own skin. Read more

Featured Indie Designer – Devil and Mouse

Your Name: Kim

Featured Indie Designer – Poisoned Creations

Meet the tattooed mommy behind the rockin’ accessories and bad-ass kid stuff at Poisoned Creations!

Your Name: Kim
Age: 26
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Current Location: Dallas, TX

How did your interest in crafting begin? I started sewing things for my daughter and nephews, and it just grew from that.  Reading different tutorials have also interested me into picking up different mediums and trying them out.

What motivated you to start selling your designs and what were your expectations when you started? After I got such a great response from the items I made my nephews and daughter I just kept at it. I didn’t really have any expectations.  Of course you want to be a success, but I was scared at first not knowing what to expect, but I ran into some great people that have helped me along the way. Read more

Featured Indie Designer – DaddysGirl

Go check out the rockin’ gear by Liane of DaddysGirl Streetwear! (But first read her interview…)

Your Name: Liane Marguerite
Age: 37
Hometown: Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Current Location: Strathmore, Alberta, Canada (just outside Calgary)

How did your interest in fashion begin?
Before I was born my mom was a professional dressmaker. When I came along she thrust her love of fashion on me. I never ever played with baby dolls, it was Barbies all the way, and I handmade Barbie clothes right from the get go. My grandmother had a fit when she saw me with a needle and thread at three, and my mom said “relax, she knows what she’s doing.”
What motivated you to start selling your designs and what were your expectations when you started?
All my life I had been making my own clothes and reconstructing vintage clothing. Then about three years ago, my father, who was my absolute favorite person in the world, got sick and passed away from cancer. It made me rethink what I was doing with the time I had, and I decided to spend more of it doing the things I loved. Hence the name Daddy’s Girl Streetwear. I started putting some of my designs and vintage finds up on Ebay with only the hopes that it might be a hobby that paid for itself. As time went on it grew into a part time job. Now I am trying to expand it into a full time job. Read more

Featured Indie Designer – Indiscretion

Meet Mara, the one of a kind, turquoise obsessed, fabric addicted lady behind the unique boutiques: Indiscretion and Haute Indiscretion!

Your Name: Mara Franklin
Age: My age is “optional”….
Hometown: Skokie, Il.
Current Location: Albuquerque, NM

How did your interest in fashion begin?
My mom used to make every single costume for us (my brother, sister and I). We never had a store bought costume for plays, Halloween, etc. I used to watch her sew and became hypnotized by her sewing machine/materials.
Also, my grandfather was very big on educational materials, magazines etc, because he was an art teacher and everything we did with him related to art in some way. However, when I became a teenager, he got me a subscription to Seventeen magazine, out of the blue. I was fascinated with the clothing, and started making clothing for my Barbies, based on the designs I saw. That coupled with my mom’s sewing scraps made for an interesting childhood. Read more

Featured Indie Designer – Zombie Kitten

Rockabilly cuteness by Shelley of Zombie Kitten!

Your Name: Shelley Smatana
Age: 32
Hometown: Houston, TX
Current Location: Los Angeles, CA

Featured Indie Designer – bunnymassacre

This week’s feature is on the unique clothing by UK designer Bunny Massacre!

Your Name: Celeste Cook
Hometown: Bromley (the most southerly suburb of London & widely believed to be the birthplace of Punk!)
Current Location: Southend on Sea (Essex). It’s a cool town.

How did your interest in fashion begin? In the womb I believe. It goes back 5 generations in my family. My mother made almost all of my clothes as a child (my dolls always had a matching outfit too!) & my grandmother made me tailored suits that I would design when I was about 12. There was a while when I thought I would study Fine Art, but Fashion called me back. Since I can remember, I have always been thinking about designs & colours & styles & of course I could then get my mum to make it for me. By the time I was 10 she had started teaching me how to do it myself. The first thing I made was a boob tube, which I embroidered with beads to make 3 stars. It was waaay cool. I can’t help it- the ideas just never stop. Thankfully…

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Featured Indie Designer – aNGrYGiRL Gear

I’m back with new interviews… Okay, so maybe some of them have been sitting around for months, so they’re not technically new. But new to you!

So hold on to your butts… this girl supercharges her pieces with metal, metal, and more metal! Meet everyone’s favorite DiY Outcast: aNGrYGiRL Gear!

Age: (3^2)(2^2) + 2.75
Hometown: Denver, Colorado
Current Location: In my studio sitting in front of my computer …in Dallas, Texas

How did your interest in fashion begin? It all started when I was conceived as a female, I suppose I’m really not into *fashion* ~ I’m not a fashionista, I don’t care what’s *in* or what’s *out*, I have no idea what the stars are wearing out on the red carpet. I know what I like to wear, and that’s the style I go with.
What motivated you to start selling your designs and what were your expectations when you started? Oddly enough I started selling on eBay to support my buying addiction. I was spending quite a lot of money on eBay, and even though I could afford it, I was starting to hear a lot of static from my husband for it. I decided I’d sell my work on eBay so that I could respend that money on eBay guilt free. Up until recently, this has always been a side job for me (I can’t call it part time because sewing 70 hours a week doesn’t exactly qualify as *part time*) and I spent the money on fun, crazy stuff that I couldn’t justify spending the *real money* on. Read more

Featured Indie Designer – Dismantled Fashions

Meet Emily of Dismantled Fashions!

Name: Emily
Hometown: Fredericksburg, VA
Current Location: Same. But Richmond has my heart!

How did your interest in fashion begin? I’ve always loved clothes. I think what made me start making them was I’m a pretty tall, oddly proportioned girl. Clothes never looked right, and sure weren’t the style I wanted. My mom is a great seamstress, so I kinda stole her machine one day, had her show me how to thread it, then the rest is history?
What motivated you to start selling your designs and what were your expectations when you started? Like most DIY designers, I started doing it for myself. Haha, the reason I sold my first piece was I made a skirt too small for myself, so decided to sell it because I can’t stand just throwing stuff away. Then it actually sold, so I made more. Looking back, they were so bad! This was probably 5 years ago, so at the start, I had no expectations. I was just a bored kid. The past three or so years I decided to get serious. Real life expectations? Still pretty low. I just want to have fun doing what I love, and if people get to be fabulously dressed at the same time, then that sounds great to me.
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