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Outer Child | Velvet Art by Emily Olson

@outer.child

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Emily | Fiber Artist
Retro Nostalgia - Velvet Art
We Make Fun Things for your Inner Child
Colorful Apparel & Accessories

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Please just let me have this dream/distraction so I don’t have to think only of impending doom.

Real talk, I’m terrified about the future and I fucking hate AI. I work on slow and meticulous sewing and painting projects instead to just force my brain to believe I still have a unique set of skills.

I have had a hard time since closing my apparel and accessories design business and the only other job I can find is very part time bartending. Which is great, but I need to keep making things. And to keep making things I need some sort of a goal.

So here is my new goal. I want to feel like I’ve earned the title of artist even though I know I don’t need anyone’s permission. I just want to be shown in a legitimate gallery or museum by the end of 2030. I have lots of ideas but I just needed to put it out into the universe. taken in Long Beach, California by @outer.child

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a month ago

When you need to get ahead of the seasonal depression before it hits…

My husband knows I get the SADs as soon as the sun starts to set earlier, so he suggested I make my own cozy fireplace in our bricked up one.

I made some velvet logs, laid down a blanket of sequins, and he set up his led flood light that has color options. We love it and it has even faked me out a few times already.

I think some flickering lights would be ideal so I’m on the lookout for some that would work!

#diyfireplace #seasonaldecor #fiberartists #cozyfallvibes by @outer.child

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a month ago

My favorite part is the teeth 🦷 grrrruffff

Still trying to figure out what’s next for me but I’m trying to keep making things work in the meantime and my work seems to be shifting more towards art instead of apparel and accessories. So maybe that’s what’s next.

#fiberarts #petportraits #fabricart #fabriccollage by @outer.child

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2 months ago

Everything in the You’ve Got Character Collection is $25 and BOGO 50% off! All items are final sale.

Selling what we have left will really help us fund the ideas we have for the future of our business . So, if you like a subtle Disneybound or just retro style colorful tees and sweatshirts, check out what we have left 💜 Thank you! by @outer.child

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2 months ago

Sebastian (Seb to his friendz) is here for the vibes and is diva down to join you for your next festival. He would love to hold your kandi too!

Seb is made from a 1970s/1980s vintage Spring Mills cut and sew panel. He is true vintage fabric with contemporary customization by me!

I take the time to get to know all of my clients before a makeover, and Seb told me he loves festival wear, colorful makeup, sequins and body glitter. He had a lot of his own ideas about his final look, so I just mostly listened to what he wanted.

I wish I could know what the person who originally had this cut and sew panel would think of Seb now! Probably not in their wildest dreams did they think this little thing would end up in a fishnet top and hot pants!

(If you know more about Seb’s exact dates of original manufacture, please feel free to let me know. I am always interested in correctly dating vintage fabrics.) #vintagefabrics #festivalvibes #bagcharms #customizedaccessories #vintagesewing by @outer.child

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3 months ago

🐯Poblano was such a hit, I thought I would bring more customized vintage cut & sew children into the world.

🐰 Bianca Bunny is made from a 1970s/1980s vintage Spring Mills cut and sew panel. She is true vintage fabric with contemporary customization by me!

Poblano is mine, but I thought I would start to see if anyone wanted to adopt some of my creations. Bianca is available on my website.

Let me know if you want to see more. I have fun customizing these and would love to turn it into part of my job!

(If you know more about her exact dates of manufacture, please feel free to let me know. I am always interested in correctly dating vintage fabrics.) #vintagefabric #bagcharms #customized #kitschy #sewingvintage by @outer.child

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3 months ago

All styles $25!

Returns and exchanges accepted on all orders made before July 1. On July 1 everything will become final sale.

I’m so sad about this and thanks to those who are being sad with me 😭

Let me know if you have any questions. Link in bio. Share if you can. I have a lot of stock that it would really help you clear out. (But no I won’t be restocking any sizes 🤣). by @outer.child

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4 months ago

It was fun. I’m freakin sad.

EDIT: I will not be closing the website after all! The You’ve Got Character line will still be discontinued and final sale, but I am working on new things to keep this business going!!! Thank you for all the encouragement!

❌I am probably going to have to close my website soon. I am not currently generating enough money to make it worth keeping open. Idk exactly when but I’ll give you a definite heads up before anything happens. ❌

By the time my You’ve Got Character collection took off, it was already too late. I believed in it a lot, but the universe had other plans. By the time people were asking for restocks of the popular designs, I couldn’t afford it anymore. There were a lot of factors that went into play here, but long story short, our resources and circumstances drastically changed. Now the collection cannot grow and I have a lot of inventory I can’t move.

I know this is partially my fault. As a one-woman business owner, sometimes it is hard to show up when things aren’t going well. There is no-one to help you keep marketing when you aren’t motivated. There are no further resources to dip into when sales are down. I can’t afford to advertise. And at a certain point, I can’t help but feel bad asking people to buy things when I can’t even afford to. Every time I go to a market or make a post about it, I get questions about restocking styles/sizes. In the end, I am too sensitive to deal with it all.

I really couldn’t even bring myself to post anything about it or look back at these photos because now I’m crying. I wish I could keep going. Hell, I wish I could even afford parking at Disneyland let alone to get in anymore.

I don’t want to let people down. I’ve been hanging on too long because I have that sunken cost fallacy. But it is just not the time and I just have to walk away until it is again. If it ever is again.

So, I am still offering You’ve Got Character at a clearance price. $25 each for all available designs and sizes left.

I hope I can create joy again someday. by @outer.child

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4 months ago

What was I waiting for? And more importantly, WHAT IS THIS TIGER’S NAME???

I’m very ritual-oriented at bedtime. It’s a whole thing. I have Kyle, my stuffed broccoli. I have to have my ear buds and my eye mask and my elephant slippers. My husband calls it “dream pilot” because I have to put on my gear and my goggles (eye mask). Now, instead of sad rice bag, I will have a new friend to join the ritual. He just needs 1.5 min in the microwave and a name.

Follow along if you want to see me create fun things for my inner child using my vintage fabric collection!

#vintagefabric #vintagecrafts #outerchild by @outer.child

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4 months ago

Alternative caption: I discovered what “dirty quilting” is.

I decided to use this special panel as a piece to try new techniques and creative something just for myself with wild abandon.

#craftingfun #unicorns #80svibes #80svintage #vintagefabric by @outer.child

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4 months ago

A brief history of the tooth fairy.

Now TELL ME EVERYTING about what you do!!

For some reason I am desperate to know about all the worldwide family and cultural traditions regarding outside bones. It is so strange and macabre in a way to make it a sort of ceremony but that’s what humans tend to do with bones I guess. In the US, apparently we couldn’t resist the urge to both fancify it and commercialize it because thats what we do here.

If you want to make a tooth fairy pillow, you can download the template for free on my website and watch the whole video where I will actually show you how to make a pillow. I just literally cannot resist an opportunity to research retro history that nobody cares about.

#toothfairy #weirdhistory #toothfairypillow by @outer.child

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4 months ago

Create a Junk Jean Jacket with me and watch the full video on YouTube (only 12 min).

You’ve heard of a Junk Journal. You’ve heard of a jean jacket. Well, a lot of people use their jean jackets as journals, we just don’t always think of it that way.

I wanted to create a junk journal from fabric and this denim jacket that I never wear seemed like the perfect canvas for documenting my new creative journey.

I think this will help recovering perfectionists like me because we need to remember to just play sometimes. It’s ok if you don’t even like what you do. Just keep it there. It’s part of the growth. You may like it better when it’s surrounded by other things. It may grow on you. You may continue to hate it and you cover it up one day. Genuinely does not matter.

The main fabric scrap from this patch I added is from the tooth fairy pillow my Grammy made me!!!! My next project is re-creating a new version of that tooth fairy pillow and I’ll show you how! Coming soon!

Let us know in the comments if you already junk journal, or if you’re going to start, what medium are you going to use. Also, let us know if you already have a junk jean jacket and what it means to you!

#junkjournaling #junkjournalideas #denimjackets #jeanjacket by @outer.child

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4 months ago