FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Sound of Her Wings
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Outline the story …
This jacket is based on the character of Death from the story “The Sound of Her Wings” in the Sandman comics. It’s a story about a lot of things, but for me, this story is about finding meaning and satisfaction from daily tasks and not letting life pass you by.
In this story Death’s wings are heard and seen once in the shadows, but never shown on the page. Each time they are described the comic panel is a beautiful blue colour. I wanted a garment that represented these hidden wings that are so important to the character and the story, but never shown. The idea was to represent Death’s wings as a voluminous jacket, and use the blue from the comic panels as feathers in the lining. That way, as the jacket was worn bits of blue would be seen, but the wings wouldn’t be visible unless they were spread.
I took inspiration from 1950’s style swing coats, but this is in no way historically accurate! I love the beautiful swooshy style of coat and thought it would make an excellent base for wings.
Outline the construction…
This jacket started off as a swing coat pattern from Mrs. Depew, drafted using the golden ruler method, then rapidly veered off into fantasy territory from there. I heavily altered all the pattern pieces to get the shapes and effects I wanted, including massive pockets that can each easily hold an A5 sketchbook. I also made the jacket swing almost a half circle so it could look like wings if spread out.
Before starting this project I’d never tried smocking, tailoring techniques, drafting patterns, or working with any kind of silk. The smocked silk lining was the biggest challenge! I ended up needing 6m of smocked fabric, which was about 12m of actual fabric, and was much heavier than I anticipated. I used horse hair canvas and pad stitching for the collar and am really happy with the shape I was able to achieve. I put canvas in the back yoke too, and this helped with the weight of the lining. The shell of the jacket is made from wool and it was wonderfully tolerant of my attempts to make it a jacket!
That is so amazing! I love your idea and story! Now I can only imagine the sound of your wings!
Thankyou! She makes a soft rustling sound of the lining moving, I like to imagine it’s similar to giant feathery wings.
Oh my! That beautiful smocking!
Okay, but I need eight of these.
Sitting and smocking all the fabric turned into a lovely meditative process for me, I highly recommend giving it a go!
Oh this is great!
Thankyou! I’m so glad it turned out well!
And it really did turn out well! The movement of the jacket is stunning! The fall of the collar as it goes over the shoulder/neck too!
Love your idea! And you executed it perfectly♡
Great work Kate, the smocking is amazing!
This coat is glorious ! (I kinda want one like this now XD )
The smocking just kills me 😭<3 Absolutely gorgeous coat, fantastic job 👏👏
The movement of the coat is fab and the inset pockets delightful but the real star of the show is that lining – oh my golly goodness. Words fail me.