Had so much fun experimenting with oven-bake clay to create these fun earrings! I love having the freedom to create different shapes and textures. Used various materials and techniques to create these one-of-a-kind designs.

10/10 recommend everyone to try something they've never done before. A friend and I signed up for a ceramics class and we had the best time. Got to create these little bowls that now hold all my jewelry and tiny miscellaneous items.

The purpose of this collection was to create my own textile. I didn’t want to purchase fabric by the yard and create pieces from that… I really wanted to do something different. I’m not even lying when I say that this idea came to me through a dream. The moment I woke up, I went straight to work.

I taught myself how to knit 5 months prior to this project and decided to just go for it. I’m not the best knitter but I knew enough to believe that I could really do this. I also chose to work with denim because I knew I had a lot of old denim lying around…and if I had all that, maybe some friends and family did too. I was 100% determined to just work with secondhand denim (donated or thrifted) or dead stock fabric, and nothing new.

This project took months of prepping, sourcing the material and figuring out how to actually execute this properly. I played with different knitting needle sizes and how thick the denim strip should be.

I would basically cut denim strips up and sew them piece by piece. By doing that, those strips of denim acted as my “yarn”. We all know that denim comes in different shades. I had to strategically place different strips together, so you can see a blend of colors when knitted. I couldn’t really do that, unless ALL the denim was cut. That’s why the prepping process took a while.

Just so you know, this project was so unlike me. I usually go for streetwear or athleisure if anything. I just think that it’s so important to be versatile while playing around with different mediums and techniques. This taught me that you don’t have to stick to one niche, you know? A little bit of everything is cool! It also helped that I dreamt about this idea too. I really felt the need to follow through with it.

The knitting process was super stressful yet promising. You can’t make a pattern with notches and seam allowances for what you’re trying to knit, so I really had to wing it.

I spent endless days and nights working on this project alone. I’m pretty sure I have some underlying ptsd from it. My tiny hands were obviously extremely sore but I could really see this coming together.

In the end, I was super pleased with how it turned out. Never did anything like this but it got easier and easier towards the end. Not sure if this makes sense, but I do feel like I grew with the project. Started off a little naive but as I got to work, everything started to come together and I got the hang of it. I was really trying to manifest at least one award for The Denimist and I was so happy to be coming home with two. That definitely made all the challenges worth it.

Awards:

Winner for Most Creative Collection

Winner for Exceptional Sustainability Application

This mini collection is entirely made out of 100% secondhand denim. All of the pieces except for one has been hand-knitted by me.

Winner for Most Creative Collection

Winner for Exceptional Sustainability Application

This mini collection is entirely made out of 100% secondhand denim. All of the pieces except for one has been hand-knitted by me.

Winner for Most Creative Collection

Winner for Exceptional Sustainability Application

I love a good oversized-unisex sweater. The arms used to be pant legs and the bottom portion of the sweater would be the elastic waist-band/zipper. This has to be one of my favorite pieces because it was so easy to construct….it’s just the silhouette and the super long sleeves that really give it some character.

It took a large pair of jeans (and then some) to help create this. That weaving work is all made from side seams that I would’ve thrown out. But it really helped in creating some texture and design.

The sleeves are actually made from distressed skinny pant legs. The back panel weave was made out of leftover side seams. Everything else was made from secondhand denim.

So this windbreaker jacket was made from a tent that was left around after a music festival. That just comes to show that you really don’t have to buy your two yards of fabric to make this. You can look around and see what you have first. I’m really happy with how this turned out. I hope the person that owns this jacket loves it as much as I did creating it. :)

This is such a long story in my head… but let me explain it shortly.

At the very top of the graphic, that just shows how everything starts off as an idea. Right? like boom, EUREKA.

As you look down, you can see that it took a lot of coffee, endless nights staying up, and pretty much ignoring the world just to pursue this idea, right?

As you keep skimming down, yes you drowned in music to cut out all distractions.

After all that hard word and determination, you finally end it with a fist bump…maybe a metaphorical fist bump to symbolize completion.

Lastly, you sign it off with your name and on to the next big idea.

For experimental purposes only, I decided to work with an old sleeping bag.

Being me, I love to experiment with different types of fabrication. For this, I decided to play around with upholstery fabric.

Fabric manipulation is one of the reasons why I love textile design. I used 100% Cotton Gauze + bleach to achieve this. The bleaching process was absolutely horrendous but I was pleased with the finished product.

I love photography as well. I got into product photography as I was transitioning into a low-waste lifestyle. I started documenting the products I’ve used on Instagram @EARTHI . This soon led me to work with smaller low-waste businesses and skincare brands in need of photos.

Just some vibrant straw content for Surf Side Sips.