FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Un Jardin de Nuit (The Night Garden)
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Other Credits
Photographer: Alyx Morgan-Smith
Outline the story …
I live in a large, noisy city, which means during the day the neighborhood is swarming with people, noise and harsh lights. When I am out in nature, it’s usually when I’m walking my dog after dark so I can enjoy the hush and peace of the night. As a result, I get to look at everyone’s gardens in the moonlight and starlight. You might think night means “black”, but reflected light reveals such a variety of textures and deep, muted colors: blues, purples, greys and greens. Some of my favorite gardens are ones that have strung fairy lights through the trees, creating a magical, mystical wonderland. When I heard this year’s theme of Nature, Un Jardin de Nuit (The Night Garden) is what I wanted to embody in a corset. In addition, I had the great fortune to be able to do a photo shoot during the Astra Lumina event at the botanical gardens to show off my corset in an actual night garden!
Outline the construction…
I’ve made a few Regency-style corsets from patterns in the past, but I wanted to challenge myself with an Edwardian-inspired S-bend corset that would enhance my hourglass figure. Additionally, I wanted to add cups. The pattern is self-drafted, sewn with domestic coutil. There are 12 pattern pieces, 12 spiral steel bones, 2 flat steel bones, and 11 hand-set grommets per half. I used twill lacing in the back, a 2” twill waist tape and a front metal busk closure.
I wanted to create depth and shimmer, so I used satin as the outer layer, and hand-basted navy organza to each piece before sewing together. The floating lining is striped 100% cotton. The layers are held together at top and bottom with hand-made bias binding, hand stitched to the lining. The 5 varieties of flowers were all made from scraps of silk, satin, organza, velvet and lace out of my stash. I hand-beaded the centers of two varieties. I had strands of silk leaves on plastic vines left over from my daughter’s wedding, which I dyed with Midnight Navy Rit dye.
To add the touch of magical and mystical, I made little organza “blossoms” and sewed them over the bulbs of LED string lights to diffuse the light. The battery packs are hidden in satin Velcro pouches under the large flowers on the hips. I twined the LED lights and ivy together and thread-tacked them down. The hairpiece is constructed of the same materials as the corset.
The beautiful dramatic flowers add a really sculptural look and really tie the whole ensemble together. Lovely