Matching Mani Monday

Rainbow Splotches - Alcohol Ink Vibes

**this post contains advertisement as both fabric and top pattern have been gifted to me to share on the blog**

Today you’re in for a treat. As the start of “Rainbow” week I wanted to start with a bang (or a rainbow pop) and have a stunning Matching Mani Monday featuring pre-order fabric from For Fabric Sake!

Today’s creation features stunning rainbow coloured fabric from For Fabric Sake sewn into a [hacked] Sapphire (Tee) from Little Kiwi’s Closet (see my review here) and the scraps were sewn into some Rad  Patterns Panel Undies. 

My mani features a variety of rainbow coloured polishes painted over a plain white base (scroll down if you’re just here for the nails).

Both this fabric and pattern were kindly sent to me for review, and given I love both brands I was excited by the opportunity.

For FabricSake is a New Zealand owned and operated company based in Levin, New Zealand. They produce beautiful and vibrant designs, and most recently have started a partnership with New Zealand artists to see their stunning artwork on a variety of fabric bases. With great customer service and a fun fabricoin loyalty program they are most often my go to for plain and printed stretch fabrics. I have used their “print your own” service a number of times (and will review that in an upcoming post).

FFS has a handy description here of the fabricoin program and its accessible for all via email! 

At around $31 (NZD) for 1 meter of Cotton Elastane, fabric from FFS is reasonably priced (for my American and European readers fabric in New Zealand generally sounds more expensive as we don’t have big manufacturers).

One of the best things (for me as a blogger based in New Zealand with an international audience) is that For Fabric Sake post anywhere in the world! Postage is calculated based on weight and I’ve been assured by FFS that if the website overcalculates on freight they will refund the difference.

It’s worth noting, for you international readers, that Australia, Canada and USA have been set up on the website – so if you’re not from there just because your country doesn’t pop up doesn’t mean they can’t send to you! They just haven’t set up the other countries yet.

This beautiful print I have today is from their currently open, pre-order collection. For Fabric Sake runs regular pre-orders- which is a great way for them to offer their audience luxurious fabric at a great price as I assume it prevents them from over or under ordering. Pre-Order fabrics are paid for up front with a 6 to 8 week turn around time. This does mean there’s a degree of planning on behalf of the buyer, but it also means you get cheeky little fabric gifts sent to yourself throughout the year!

If you know me, you know I love colour! This rainbow print is giving me alcohol ink blotting vibes. I love that the print looks like the colours blead together which insures a seamless design and makes for easy pattern cutting as it’s a non-directional print. *non-directional prints are simply ones that look the same up, down or sideways. Here is something I made with a directional print for comparison.

As always, I am impressed with the colour depth and fabric quality. This here is a 200gsm weight cotton elastane blend. It gives a beautiful thickness for summer with great stretch and recovery!

When I first saw this fabric I knew it needed to be a t-shirt for me!

So you love it, and want it for yourself!? You can pre-order the fabric here; and buy the Sapphire Tee Pattern here.

What do you think? What will you make with this beautiful colourful fabric? – let me know in the comments below!

If you’ve been here before you may have seen my recent review of the Sapphire tee from Little Kiwis Closet.

I personally find this shape quite flattering (especially as it skims over the tummy). These princess seams suit a bright fabric like this well as it gives a colour block with a feminine curve.

You’ll note this has been hacked slightly to provide a solid colour back. I wanted this for two reasons: 1) I had a fat half of fabric so wouldn’t have enough for the back and 2) I really wanted to keep the beautiful bright pattern up front and centre so wanted a pretty basic back panel.

To achieve this “Hack” I laid the side panel piece over the back centre piece and overlapped about ½”. I checked this worked by lining up the hem line and sliding the piece in until the sleeve line lined up.

Then I traced over this whole new shape to create a back piece to be cut on the fold.

Are you impressed to hear I created this beautiful piece with just a fat half of this stunning For Fabric Sake fabric.

 This beautiful fabric is available now on pre-order. By pre-ordering the fabric you save about $2 per meter; so its definitely worth buying now!

The pre-order is open in a huge variety of bases, so if you want something specific, I totally suggest you pre-order, least you miss out on the base you want!

It is available in:

• ·        Cotton Spandex (200-220gsm)
• ·        Cotton Spandex (240-260gsm)
• ·        Bamboo Spandex (220gsm)
• ·        French Terry – Cotton Elastane (280gsm)
• ·        Muslin (120gsm)
• ·        Poplin (130gsm)
• ·        Cotton Woven (135gsm)
• ·        Double Brushed Poly (210gsm)
• ·        Swim SPF 50 (200-220gsm)
• ·        Boardshort Stretch (160gsm)
• ·        PUL (160gsm)
• ·        Linen
• ·        Activewear

Phew! Good luck choosing just one pattern and base! Haha.

Now, this wouldn’t be a Matching Mani Monday if there was no matching mani.

To achieve this sophisticated look I started with a solid white base created by Colorclub White Tip.

I tried a few different techniques to get the look just right. To be honest I’m not sure if one works better than the other.

Firstly, I tried putting nail polish on a mixing plate (I just use an old sheet of plastic) and then added a drop of Isopropyl Alcohol. When I mixed this it thinned the polish and for most of them created a alcohol ink feel. For the green it caused the colour to ball up and went a bit gritty.

Another method I tried was painting standard polish on and then rubbing around the ‘seams’ (where the coloured splotches met) with acetone. This was not super successful because too much acetone and the polish would run off and expose the nail plate under the white base.

The most successful method was a bit of method one, and spraying my nail with isopropyl alcohol, this helped bleed and blend the colours.

I did try to get this on video which I planned to share on my Instagram account – we’ll see how I go with the editing phase!

Finish off with a quick dry top coat (my favourite is Seche Vite) and voila- we’re done!

I totally love everything about this matching mani today! The colourful fabric is divine, I love this t-shirt silhouette and oh those nails!!!! I never want to take this off!

I even managed to squeeze some panel undies out of the scraps by having a center seam and cutting the fabric on an angle... But that's the beauty of this non-directional print! Every scrap can be used!!! 

these are the Rad Patterns Panel Undies. Aren't they cute!?