ALL WORK AND NO PLAY...

We usually post our sillyness on our Etcetera, Etcetera blog, but we had a little too much fun with this project not to give it a fair amount of credit :)  A girl who has our hearts at the Design Lab, Saralane, had a big birthday and welcome home party, and we couldn't let her go dressed in just anything...we created a custom bday/holiday shirt that she sported out and about on the town in New Orleans...it was also nice to let loose and let our creative juices flow; you know what they say about "all work and no play" ;)  Creative side projects keep us sane here at the Design Lab :)
Make sure to notice the custom snowflake neck cutout, custom rudolph "handlers/antlers"equipped with bells and light show, and how could we forget 3D Frosty...
Enjoy the fruits of our labor:

Saralane turns 31!

Gifts that Give Back - Donate a Sewing Machine!

Here at the Design Lab we love hearing about projects with similar socially responsible initiatives.  Women for Women International is a great organization that provides women survivors of war, civil strife and other conflicts with the tools and resources to move from crisis and poverty to stability and self-sufficiency, thereby promoting viable civil societies. They're changing the world one woman at a time.
DONATE A SEWING MACHINE
One of their projects close to our heart supports women in Afghanistan, Kosovo and DR Congo; the path to economic self-sufficiency often begins with a small home tailoring business. As tailors and seamstresses, women are using simple sewing tools to provide an income for themselves and their families. By donating $75 through their organization you can help destitute women in each of those areas get their start with the tools and training they need to succeed.

Final Sew-ups and Fit Sessions for Pre-Fall

We're chugging right along, trying to prepare for our Pre-Fall collection(s)...Marci is AMAZING, just these past two weeks she's learned how to drape a torso block, transfer to paper pattern, and design a custom pattern from that torso block (process documented in pics below).  

In the midst of all that we're doing some fit sessions to assess what mannequins and dress forms lack which is how the samples look on an actual body - thankfully we have a great and patient fit model, Breanna, who's allowing us to stare her up and down and "him and haw" over what needs to change...can't wait to see our fabrics when they come in cause our muslins really leave something to be desired :-/ ...our actual custom fabrics are going to be show-stoppers (fingers crossed) and we're anxiously awaiting their arrival...

Marci working on her first torso sew up

Truing up lines for her custom design created off of her Torso Block

Marci's final custom sew up, sketch, and intense pattern work in process!

20% off Today at Noelie Harmon

Check out some of our Fall Collection favorites available in store at Noelie Harmon - 20% off today!

Sensi Blouse, Accha Pant, Accha Blouse, Arabella Maxi, Toto Sweater, and Lima Short

Milma Sweater (Black&Cream, Purple&Cream), Galla Vegan Leather Skirt, and Kikuyu Blouse

Speaking of Cable Knits...Shout out to Toto Knits!

While we doted all over our favorite cable knit Toto Sweater in our last blog post; we barely mentioned the ladies that made it happen!  To create our Toto Sweater, we partnered up with another socially responsible organization Toto Knits based out of Kenya.  They specialize in childrenswear, but I came across their organization while I was working on my graduate thesis a few years back, and I haven't stopped working with them since!  They're an amazing organization, and you have to check out their website.  Below are some of the ladies working on our very own Toto Sweaters available for sale at Noelie Harmon.

the ladies of Toto Knits

our favorite pairing of the Toto Sweater with the Arabella Maxi
Both available at Noelie Harmon

the Toto Sweater started as this simple sketch here in New Orleans...
and with a few pattern specs, it came to life with some knitting needles in Kenya!

How We Style the Classic Cable Knit...

Perfect time of year to break out your classic cable knit sweaters and style them in theDesignLab way ;)

Thanks Noelie Harmon for some great social media love seen below!  Now go get shopping for cozy fall sweaters and the perfect maxi skirt to pair with them courtesy of theDesignLab!

Call up Noelie Harmon and place your orders now, limited quantities available!

Facebook Love from Noelie Harmon, our Burnt Orange Arabella Maxi Skirt available in store!

Instagram Love from Noelie Harmon, our cableknit Toto Sweater available in store! 

How we style it on the runway! Arabella Maxi Skirt is GORGE in motion!

Close up of our Cable Knit Toto Sweater

Statuesque! Toto Sweater and Arabella Maxi both available at Noelie Harmon!

Classic Cable Knits never go out of style! Grab yours at Noelie Harmon (ours not pictured here)
 

Other ways to style our fabulous Toto Sweater, we love the details

 

Our socially responsible Toto Sweater supports Toto Knits of Kenya, we love supporting like-minded organizations!

PreFall Runway Thinktank

Getting ready for Fall; in between refilling orders, we have to start getting ready for our Fall runway show!  We're hoping to be ready for New Orleans Fashion Week in March...despite a few life changing experiences that might be occurring around the same time (cough cough - my first baby expected to deliver March 4th!)...so we're trying to get a jump on the game.  We had some great inspiration weeks where we designed and reviewed prints that will be produced exclusive to the Design Lab.  We're currently reviewing sketches based off of this inspiration; Marcella and Kristy will both be premiering their first capsule collections during NOLA Fashion Week as extensions of our main line, so there's lots of work to be done!  Stick with us for updates on progress and our design processes; we'll be documenting the whole thing!

Train+Empower+Employ...learning how to drape a torso block from a dress form

Thinktank in progress...Reviewing Sketches, getting/giving great feedback

Kristy editing a pant pattern

Marci proud of her first block! (as she should be!)