Mexican patterns for Violeta

This pattern collection was made to celebrate the birth of my niece Violeta, and it was inspired by our stay in Mexico City. During our stay, my brother and sister-in-law showed us so many amazing places; we visited Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo’s House-Studio, the Teotihuacán pyramids, local markets, museums, the amazing Xochimilco boats, and we also ate so much delicious food!

During our visit, we had no idea that my sister-in-law was expecting baby Violeta. Once we heard the exciting news, I wanted to create something special for her. I knew Violeta was going to be born in Mexico, so I thought it would be neat to highlight all the beautiful things she would be born into and turn it into a cozy blanket she could use.

I digitally traced some of my sketches that were made on our trip.

For the top of the blanket, I made a tossed pattern that included my favorite Mexican icons.

For the bottom side, I thought it would be fun to make a pattern out of this amazing voice I heard coming from their apartment window. The voice came from a megaphone on a truck asking for metal scraps. It was a unique voice that stuck in my head and was very authentic to their neighborhood.

When I was thinking of a color palette, I knew the primary color had to be violet for Violeta. Monochromatic color palettes are my favorite, so I chose different shades of violet and tied in a lot of pink with a contrasting mustard yellow (which reminds me of the warm sun). I felt that pink was a very important color for this collection because it is used all over Mexico city. I was amazed to see that even local uniforms were pink and love that people are not afraid of using vibrant colors throughout the whole city.

I had the patterns printed on organic muslin gauze and picked organic cotton muslin layers to go in-between. My crafty aunt Lenka helped me piece all the layers together. The blanket came with a card that was inspired by the boats at Xochimilco.

I love that each boat has its own name. They all have their unique colors and decorations, giving each boat its own personality. I tried to imagine what a Violeta boat would look like 🙂

I’m happy with how the blanket turned out! I hope Violeta likes her blanket and enjoys living in such a magical place that is full of positive energy, bright colors, and amazing food. Next time we see each other, I’m hoping we can work on some art projects together.