Etsy Shop and Patches Market

 Firstly I would like to thank all those who dropped by my stall last Sunday during Patches Market and aided in making it a very pleasant and successful day. I have now have finally filled up my Etsy Shop with the items that were left! Drop by to see if there's anything you like!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/alexandraaquilina

And in the meantime, enjoy some of the photo's from the market! Photo's curtesy of Patches founder Denise Scicluna. You can see her works on https://www.facebook.com/denisesciclunaart

It's finally here!

Remember a few posts back I spoke of Victorian obsessions and the potential of a new made to measure coat?

Well here it is! Carefully stitched together by tailor Joe Parnis at His'n'Hers between sewing Eurovision costumes, wedding gowns and Holy Communion dresses. And with fittings squeezed in between crazy bridal trains and invasively rude mothers of the bride (who think that this status allows them them interrupt other people's fittings)  Joe finally let out a sigh of relief an "Himnejjek sabih gie dal-kowt eh" and now its mine ALL MINE!!!

Panelled, flared skirt and contrast collar with leaf detail.

Contrast buttons and cotton patterned lining.

Patrick Duff returns!

Just over a year after my first blog post about Patrick Duff's gigs in Malta and my ears have been delighted yet again to this wonderful artist's magical voice. He has been by far the BEST artist to have graced the tiny stage at our local gathering spot - Coach and Horses (and the best to do an impromptu cover The Suburbanite's chorus of "Dance with me" for the competition - https://www.facebook.com/notes/yasmin-kuymizakis/dance-with-me-competition/10150591382798727).


Former lead vocalist of UK brit-pop band Strangelove, Partick is now travelling to different venues where he entrances the audience with his captivating stares, haunting voice and beautiful songs. Again the atmosphere was intense and magical albeit rudely interrupted by an overly chattery bunch. However, all bad things have a silver lining, and although these rude idiots very visibly distressed Patrick, his performance of some of the songs was greatly improved by this contained anger. Unfortunately the audience was not treated to an encore on the first night, and understandably so. However, in a very special moment which I shall cherish, Patrick was kind enough to treat myself, Daniel, Emerson, Tim, Nigel and Stimpy to a special encore in the shaft of the pub where he sang "Spider Woman" - one of my personal favourites on his album "Mad Straight Road". As the seven of us huddled together in the 2m x 2m cold and wet shaft , everything about us seemed to fade away as we were carried elsewhere with Patrick's voice and soon we were all singing softly with him, reliving all the times we had sung the song in our cars and in the pub, waiting for him to return to our tiny island.


During the set we were graced with songs from his up coming album, "Luxury Problems" and "Mad Straight Road" thus treating us to new songs we hadn't heard him play last year while also giving us songs we have come to love over this last year among which were "Dead Man Singing" and "Maria" and the newer "Hail Holy Mother" written about an experience he had the year before in our old capital city - Mdina, which we had visited after his Saturday concert. We were all especially lucky to have been treated to two songs performed on the piano. Despite him justifying his lack of technique to do being self-taught while under the influence, I adored his playing. Being self-taught myself, I am a firm believer of not going to lessons or doing grade exams to learn an instrument as I find that this limits the user with the full exploration of what this tool can do. Granted, I will never play as well or as quickly as a trained pianist and I am surely limited by this in certain ways. However, I am also sure that the creativity and passion of self taught musicians is in its own way more valuable. And this belief was proven yet again while I heard Patrick play on the piano as I heard my new favourite song - "Early Morning Birds". 


A word of advice for anyone who enjoys music and likes to attend such events: always try to attend both nights!
And if you want to be there, but find yourself uninterested for whatever reason? Please step outside or into the side room, were you can shout and chatter all you like without disturbing everyone else.

Victorian Obsessions

Yes, I admit. I have a fetish for all Victorian. It started a long time ago, I was perhaps 16 or 17 when I first was BBC's Tipping the Velvet and The Fingersmith. I then proceeded to reading the books and sewing myself an authentic corset (used in the music video Napoleon). My enamor of this period was only recently rekindled with another BBC drama - The Crimson Petal and the White, and its been non-stop dramas and the quest for sewing the perfect Victorian coat for which I have already purchased a lovely petrol blue wool and patterned cotton lining (and possibly in the distant future, wedding gown). Here are a few pictures to satisfy your taste buds.

Oh that beautiful collar!

Wasp waistlines, lace and trains.

More t-shirts in the cage!

As part of the highly anticipated launch of Brikkuni's second album - Trabokk, I was asked to design and finally print t-shirts for them. Here are the digital versions of them! Will soon upload pictures of the screen printed t-shirts!

The tees are available by pre-order by emailing your name, choice and size to brikkun@gmail.com

Trabokk

Brikkuni tee - designed by the lovely Maria Muscat from Babettopolis

Qabel il-pappa

And while you wait for the day to arrive.....here's a teaser of what is to come...sit back and enjoy!

Mon Dieu!

I realised that I haven't updated in quite a while what with being caught up with Christmas, Brikkuni's recording and the final preparations for Skimmed's upcoming album!

However before going on further....here are some of the items which I made for Patches 2011 (all entirely screenprinted and designed by yours truly) some of which you can find for sale on my Etsy shop!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/alexandraaquilina

The Hooded Beastlies on the very popular Xmas cards

And on stockings

Motivational calenders

And a special version of the calendar I made accidentally for myself

Tote bags

and more tote bags (all hand sewn by myself also!)

Wine holder bags. 

Dance don't Worry t-shirt

Fenek tal-indie and Shooting stars are moon jizz t-shirts