clothing – BlissNinja

Rainbow Shapeshifter

The Mandala-like Flower form of the Scrappy Patchwork Skirt, in its cascade of ‘stained glass style’ color

See the Rainbow Shapeshifter in Dance and Flow Action

And………Let me introduce you to the latest creation. The Rainbow Shapeshifter Scrappy patchwork skirt…which can be worn also as a poncho or a sundress. This is one of my absolute favorite designs, but so time consuming. And SO much fun to dance in. In fact, I like to think of it as a performance prop in itself. This particular skirt was made with a whole bunch of scraps from the last few weeks creations. Sometimes the last panel/hem process can take several hours Alone. But the real beauty is in the detail. I can make a similar size and style skirt but with much larger panels and patchwork pieces, but the result is far less magical. I love the way it shines like a stained glass window. And its just a bonus that it can be worn in several ways.

Here is another Version, the Spinning Chrysanthemum Skirt, which now belongs to one of the Jesters Playground Kings Court, Cathie Miranda Pottery Lady, who embodies the rainbow Jester (as well as the Jester Queens). She is an amazing potter and artist herself.

To celebrate all my hard ‘sewing’ over the past few weeks, I made myself a new pair of ninja pants. Its been several years since I made a batch of harem pants, another favorite design, but I changed it up a bit with these, and am wearing them now, deep inside the throes of comfort.

Check out my Etsy shop for all available pieces, or stop by the Warehouse Art Gallery in Luray to see them in person and try them on!

Be it in the form of a zillion molecules of whimsical deliriousness that we gave shape to; preposterously deluging every bit of the ecstatically vibrant atmosphere;

Nikhil Parekh

The Last Whimsy

Its been a whimsical week of being snowed in, sewing like crazy, putting together a fun and playful sequel collection of twirly dress tunics because I had so much fun with the design I just couldn’t stop 😉 It takes alot of bodywork and movement to counterbalance the hours spent in a frenzied trance of creation. My theme is whimsy and the silly playful trippy side of Life I so Love. Ive uploaded all my creations to my etsy shop, and my virtual fashion show to Youtube. Check it out if you are so inclined!

“between the universe that can be apprehended by pure intellectual P.erception (the universe of the Cherubic Intelligences) and the universe perceptible to the senses, there is an intermediate world, the world of Idea-Images, of archetypal figures, of subtile substances, of “immaterial matter.” This world is as real and objective, as consistent and subsistent as the intelligible and sensible worlds; it is an intermediate universe “where the spiritual takes body and the body becomes spiritual,” a world consisting of real matter and real extension, though by comparison to sensible, corruptible matter these are subtile and immaterial. \The organ of this universe is the active Imagination; it is the place oftheophanic visions, the scene on which visionary events and symbolic histories appear in their true reality.\ Here we shall have a good deal to say of this universe, but the word imaginary will never be used, because with its present ambiguity this word, by prejudging the reality attained or to be attained, betrays an inability to deal with this at once intermediate and intermediary world.”
― Henry Corbin, Alone with the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn ‘Arabi

“You must not ever stop being whimsical. And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life.”
― Mary Oliver, Wild Geese

Garden of Gethsemane Clothing Collection 2021

I had so much fun making this little collection! Sometimes I get into a zone with certain pieces, and dont want to stop….which can be hard on the body considering the amount of work at a machine. I go from floor to sewing table back and forth, squatting and cutting etc, so that helps with the sitting, but its still a lot of pressure on my back.

The pieces always speak to me and tell me what they want to be, and sometimes I fuss and fuss with something, till I rip part of it away and go with something else, and it feels as if that was the Spirit of the piece trying to tell me that whatever I was doing was not Its Intention to Be. One of my favorite things to do is to upcycle t-shirts with funny, cute, unique, or inspiring things on the front, and turn them into playful dresses, tunics, or hoods. So this collection became the Garden of Gethsemane, in reference to some deeper esoteric stuff in our Dream these days, mixed with the fact I wanted to use a bunch of floral fabrics I had stocked up, as ruffled hems. So I went crazy with my cotton and elaborated on a design ive played with for some time now.

I like to make virtual fashion show videos to honor each collection, mostly for myself, and the creations…..they are like little children one births, and a video is easy to archive than a whole bunch of photos. Plus, they are fun to make, and really brings the spirit of the clothes alive. I can link them to my etsy listings so that interested viewers can see how the item of clothing moves on the body, etc, which photographs just cant accomplish no matter how great they are. So the whole Clothing process for me is many layered. If I dont stop myself from making a collection gigantic, it is overwhelming trying to get everything ready for listing( photographing, video, measuring, inspecting, tagging for the Warehouse Art Gallery, listing to Etsy…..and thats all AFTER the sewing itself is completed). But when I look at a pile of things that exist that were not there before, seeing colors and patterns and textures patchworked in playful and vibrant ways that give new life to the materials they are made from, that had been abandoned to their demise, along with all the stories held in their seams….I experience an ecstatic bliss that is not unlike when I dance in trance in embodied mediation. Sometimes as I am at my machine, I am overcome by surges of Joy and even surprise, I am in the Flow state, and am so ridiculously grateful that I took the risk all those years ago to Live the Life I Love, to sacrifice all for the sake of Creation and Expression and Embodiment of my Spirit in Play, and to have the great blessing to earn my meager living from my own hands, as my own boss, on my own Time, and by sharing my gifts with the world.

I have much to say about the act of fabricating itself, and the art of the Seamstress, which is a shamanic thing really, and as Time opens its mouth to let me breathe into it more and more, I will slowly fill the threads of this Ether Web with my Musings. For now, here is the video for my latest collection, all available on Etsy or locally at the Warehouse Art Gallery.

Garden Of Gethsemane Collection

BlissNinja Clothing on Etsy