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11/20/2007

Trashion team spotlight - Interview: Saint Lexi

Shop name: Saint Lexi
Shop address: http://www.saintlexi.etsy.com/
In a nutshell: old turned awesome with my sewing machine


Tell us a bit about yourself :

My name is Alexis, I am a newlywed who
just got back from our wedding in Spain. I sew like a crazy person,
turning all my fabulous fabric finds into fine accessories. I have sewn
since I was little, deciding dressing weird and making my own style
was way better than looking as poor as I was. My first adventure with a
needle and thread included cutting up the old sheets that had been
banished to the dust rag pile. I saved them, though, and made my
first quilt ever!

Trashion materials:

old clothes, discarded hardware and car parts,
found objects, unwanted and outdated jewelry

I transform them into:

awesome bags, wallets, jewelry and whatnot

How do you do it?

I work a lot of trasion into my purses, from the
fabric they are forged in, to the details holding the handles on. Hell,
even my thread is from a thrown our stash I found ages ago and haven't
worked my way through yet.

What inspired you to do this and why are you involved in trashion?

I have always thought it best to make something from nothing. I was poor
when I was growing up, so I couldn't afford that awesome bag. So I
stormed the attic and found the bag of to-goodwill-clothes that
had been lost and forgotten. And I made my first bag out of pants my
mom would never fit in again. My thrifty ways never left me, and likely
never will. My eye never sees what is in front of me, but what I can
tear it down into and build out of those bare bones. I wanted to join
the community to be able to share the glow of reusing, and be part of
the growing number of people who see more in the world around them.
Those are the kind of people I want to know.


Do you remember the first thing you made using the trashion concept?
yes

What was it?

The aforementioned quilt from the rag pile. I wanted to
impress my great grandmother who was always working on a quilt when I
was over. I realized the grandkids hadn't picked up on her craftiness
and it was an easy way to become her favorite. So I stared at the
quilt on my bed that she had made me, and I recreated the stitches one
by one, learning how to sew while edging my way into her heart. I made
the quilt out of stained sheets that I had always loved and hated to
see go. The ink spots and food marks ruining only a small percent of
the fabric. It was the first time I felt I was saving something from
doom (well besides my ewok doll when my brother would tie it on his train
tracks) and I loved it and never stopped. Now I find it impossible to
throw anything away. Hahaha.


What are your current projects and what is on the horizon?

More purses and better use of strange materials found in me and my dad's garage.

Why should people buy handmade, and buy from trashion?

The world should never move on from appreciating what humans can do. The quality, the
style, the concept is always better when done by hand. And you know
where you money is going and what you are supporting when you make the
purchase. The world is full of unused things. Trashion revamps those
things and makes them into fashion-forward fantastic. It makes you cool
and ecofriendly in one fowl swoop!

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