Every year has its notable fashion accessory – for 2020 that must be the mask. It may not seem as fun as some silly ‘Sex & the City’ flower, but it serves both style and safety, which is more than most fashion fads can claim. Many of us are stocking up on masks for the foreseeable future, and if we can do it by supporting a local artisan, so much the better. Andy found Kema’s Kreations right on Orange Street in Albany, convenient to where my office is located, and Kema supplied the very first masks we bought back in March. Since then we and my parents have placed several orders, each time just as satisfied and pleased with her products, which are as pretty as they are comfortable. She offers a number of fabric options as well. As can be seen here, I found a mask to perfectly match one of my ties (and my black and white hair for that matter). As they say in ‘Steel Magnolias’, “The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize.”
To that end, a few talented designers have stepped in to provide masks at such an important and dire time in history. Kema is one of those artists who has used her designer seamstress skills to become a vital supplier of face masks. While she was happily going about her business, specializing in bags and embroidery, the pandemic hit, and masks were suddenly all the mandated rage. Turning her keen eye to the business possibility at hand, she shifted her products to include face masks, which suddenly took over in everyone’s haste and demand for face coverings.
Today she says the face masks are one of her most popular items, and given the variety and quality, along with the exceptional customer service she provides, it’s a moment of synergy where artistry and demand and function blissfully intersect. You can have her items personalized through embroidery too, so if you need something special or simply want to stand apart from the masked crowd, special requests are always entertained. If and when the mask business wanes, her bags and embroidery and other design options are worth a look (she has some great t-shirts too). Her website offers a recounting of her journey, revealing how she has come to hem and mend our crazy world.
She remembers the feeling of her 4-year old finger sliding across the tile floor, gently tracing its delicate floral pattern. The sun warming her face as a gentle breeze carries the scents and sounds of Panama throughout her mother’s sewing room as she was… Hemming and Mending.
Years later, home economics reawakened long suppressed memories of the time she spent with her mother in the warmth of her sewing room and all her beautiful and vibrant creations. Her deft fingers quickly set to work, and the admiration of classmates resulted in requests to wear her creation of long, straight lined dress with short sleeves. Kema created in her mind and developed her craft by Hemming and Mending.
The appreciation for her creations developed her confidence and she applied to Fashion Industries High School to major in fashion design and merchandising. Her sewing addiction was supported by winning dance contests, always wearing a Kema original to showcase the finesse used to command the stage. Brooklyn’s Hoyt Street, and Delancey Street in Manhattan, were more than happy to share in her success. Disenchanted by an industry that didn’t support the beauty of curvaceous women, Kema decided to design and create captivating pieces which accentuate the body in all its marvelousness. Kema’s Kreations hems society’s definition of beauty by entertaining the senses with visual statements of amazement and mends the soul of its people by giving them original craftmanship to celebrate their unique beauty. ~ Kema’s Kreations
{For more information and to order face masks, visit Kema’s website here.}
