crop it up

Yay for summer! (...if we ever get nice weather!), nevertheless, yay! for summer time wardrobes! One particular trend we have found ourselves embracing quite frequently this spring/summer has been oversized/crop tops. They are a perfect wardrobe edition for this time of year being that you can pair them with maxi skirts, shorts, and high-wasted bell bottoms without looking like a total sack of potatoes. and keeping the crop top a bit over-sized prevents you from looking like the hoochie mama's you see workin the boulevard downtown.

Nasty Gal - crochet crop tee

Eyelet top with crochet detail at Shopbop

Obesity and Speed - Black net crop trapeze top at Pixie Market

Over-sized crochet top at Free People

Eyelet cropped cami at Free People

Anywho, we whipped up this lil crochet/lace number, and are quite pleased with the result. We used a soft cotton black lace/crochet-ish fabric, cut over-sized and cropped with elbow length bell sleeves which are adorned with black crochet trim. enjoy rainbows noir's latest creation :)

We have TONS of new pieces we can't wait to show everyone. Stay tuned!!

Have a great day!

xoxo

Viva Las Vegas!

We are happy to say that we have officially just finished working with our very first (paying) client! Haha. We've made lots of clothes for friends and family in the past, but they have mostly been gifts - so it doesn't count! Haha

Anyways...a friend of ours, Shannon, approached us about making her a dress for her upcoming girls weekend in Vegas. We were thrilled and honored that she asked us, and happy to help! I (Heidi) took on the project.  Shannon wasn't sure what she wanted the dress to look like, so she left it up to me to come up with some ideas (we have similar taste, so it was a cinch) I showed her a few different style ideas that I thought would look great,  and we took a trip to the Fabric Store - where we found the most amazing "Vegas-y" looking fabric -a sheer black chiffon lurex jacquard with bronze and black metallic zebra print (subtle zebra, not too showy)

I designed and sewed the dress, with one fitting in between, and the dress turned out PERFECT (I kinda wanted to keep it for myself!) We went with a caftan style/ tunic dress with a deep V neckline, deep scooped back, "cold-shoulder" cut out details on sleeves, and the hem was cut short and sexy with a "high-low" hem (a bit longer in the back)

Shannon was really happy with the result, and in turn I was equally as happy!

Here are a few pictures I snapped of myself in Shannon's dress (It's WAYYY too long on me btw. Shannon is much taller than me!)
I will add pictures of her partying it up in her dress when I get pictures :)

Shannon's custom dress - final product

umm don't look at my rat's nest/post-workout hair please!

again, someday we will invest in a nice camera - we need to sell some more clothes first! haha!

Thanks again to our first "paying" client!

If anyone is interested in a custom piece by Heidi and Nissa - we would be MORE THAN HAPPY to do so! Just email us or call us!

xoxo

bag lady - necklace DIY project

Soooo, we were strolling the aisles of our favorite store, Michaels the other day!!!, and we came across this awesome little "DIY Indian leather section", and we got a little excited...to say the least. Give us any excuse to make something, let alone something American Indian inspired, and you have us on board 100%

We have been seeing these little Indian medicine pouch necklaces around, and decided to make our own version.

Inspirations:

12th Street by Cynthia Vincent Fall/Winter 2011-2012 Lookbook

Cute little medicine bag necklaces -

the lovely Ashley from Purse 'n boots blog styled this shoot

LF stores

LF stores

LF stores

LF stores

What we did to make our version:

• Native heritage medicine pouch kit - which we purchased at Michaels for $8  
• Leather cord - we chose leather, but suede would work as well. Go here
• funky silver charms to dangle - here
• Jump rings - here
• Toggle - here - not entirely necessary, though it looks cute with one 
• Chains to hang your funky charms from -here
  

 and the result -

DIY Indian leather medicine pouch necklace

Loves it. we will be fighting over this baby for sure.

and the DIY'ing continues.....

rooster feather earring - DIY project

You have probably noticed the abundance of feather earrings out there right now in stores and online. They have been extremely trendy for a while now, and the trend continues into summer and fall. We are personal fans of this style - and since we refuse to spend $218 dollars on a pair of earrings, we decided to have a little DIY project! 

Here were our inspirations:

Feather Earrings - Free People

Free People

Rooster feather earrings - Planet Blue

Rooster feather earrings - Planet Blue

What you will need:

• Rooster Feathers - We found ours at the local Tackle Shop. People use them for fishing (crazy right?!, who knew!) but you can also order them online. They are hard to find, if you can't find any, you can use pheasant feathers or peacock feathers as well.
• Jewelry Pliers - We got ours at our FAVE STORE - MICHAELS!!! click here for jewelry pliers.
• Metal chains to hang feathers from - click here
• Earring findings - We like the classic fish hook style - Click here for earring findings
• Jump rings - Essential to all Jewelry making - click here for jump rings
• Finding crimps - look for the crimps with a loop on the end - click here

We decided to make a single earring as opposed to two. because it is a substantial size, it would be too much to wear two at once. It turned out adorable. We suggest cutting the chain in various lengths so your feathers hang at different lengths. It takes time, and your hands will be very sore from clamping, but its worth it. We love them!

behold the result!:

DIY rooster feather earring a la Heidi and Nissa

lace case

No, it's not a new trend, but like all trends that span multiple seasons, Lace is everywhere once again. The Lace influences For Spring 2011 are more to the classic side with quality antique-style fabrics. We have been loving delicate lace and crochet vintage inspired silhouettes.

We've been making a ton of new pieces lately for our spring wardrobes, unfortunately, we haven't had a chance to get pictures of anything else, but we wanted to share this antique lace dress/top with scalloped lace trim on the bell sleeves, boat neck, low scoop back, and high/low hemline. We found this lace at a local fabric store that frequently puts out old vintage scraps of fabric, and we were lucky enough to snatch up this gorgeous lace!

More new blog posts to come - promise!!!

spring fever

from left - Wildfox, Halston Heritage, Topshop, and Winter Kate

Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent

Black maxi skirts

shakuhachi

Erin Wasson in Vintage

Free People

Pixie Market

Ready for spring?

The 70's are back in a big way for Spring 2011... Everywhere we look we are seeing a plethora of "free love" and "disco" era themed styles, including bell bottoms, bohemian style blouses, hippie dresses, halter tops, tunics, and of course maxi skirts...

We will gladly admit that we have both fully jumped on this trend bandwagon willingly... (any excuse to wear loose, comfortable, and flowy clothing is more than OK in our book!)

with that being said, we have been busy making some new items for our personal clothing collections. (still working on samples to hopefully sell in the future...promise!)

current obsessions of ours include maxi skirts, silk prints, peasant blouses, poncho's, capes,  and all things lace or crochet. Here are some of the pieces we've made recently...

black silk long sleeve blouse with uneven hem and peasant sleeves

black sheer silk chiffon maxi skirt with fishtail back

off white burnout cotton jersey poncho with crochet trim

Black lace cape / kimono

 ..... maybe someday we will bring some color into our wardrobes.... we just love black and white soooo much, we can't help it!

xoxo