FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Imagine
(click images to to enlarge)
Outline the story …
There are flowers on my dress.
It is about nature but I don’t feel it. The Earth is a living thing but we lost the true meaning of it. Often not knowing how to connect with ourselves. This year was a revelation for a lot of us here in Ukraine. Amidst the world crisis, amidst war and our loved ones killed, we continued to make steps further, toward our future. Not ours alone but everyone’s. We share it with the planet. There is never somebody’s war, you can just choose not to see it. With bombs exploding and without electricity for days, weeks and months, nature became the closest real thing we had. You need to feel the earth beneath your feet. To feel alive and not get completely shattered. As we start from zero, we thoroughly consider our impact - what our neighbours get from us, what the next generations get from us, and what the Earth gets from us. Will it be the old tune wrapped in shiny armour or we will find ourselves, our true nature and reveal a new connection with the world?
We have the answer. What will be yours?
Outline the construction…
I had a clear vision of the dress once I saw the pattern several years ago. But then it was bought and I never saw the one I liked. When suddenly several months ago the same exact pattern appeared again and this time it was destiny.
There is no wool crepe fabric here while the war is enduring so I accidentally came upon synthetic in the exact green I envisioned. I never worked with synthetic at all but it appeared perfect for the project. It reminds me of my grandmother's skirt she used to wear everywhere (somehow, synthetic fabrics were the only ones you could purchase here 30 years ago).
The embroidery took a lot. About an hour was spent on one flower. There are 26 of them. The thread is antique and really turns the dress from usual to stunning (in my humble opinion). I bound all the seams, some of them (as pockets) by hand. The sleeves are hand-overcasted for movement ease. Also, the zipper is attached by hand and I love the way it highlights the back of the dress.
The front is cut on the bias and I played a lot with construction for it to be simple yet reminiscent of the 1930s.
The dress is sewed during long nights by hand, machine and candlelight.
STUNNING
Beautiful work!
Very understated…but so dang cute! Well fitting…and those flowers!
Your dress is gorgeous. It’s so hard to make more “simple” designs really stand out, but yours does. And your embroidery is so even! It looks great.
The elegance of this dress is amazing! The combination of shape, color both on fabric and embroidery is out of this world. wow!