When Rebecca of The Clothes Horse contacted me about creating a special commission for her, I was pretty excited to see what would come of it. I love working on collaborations with nice people; it breaks the monotony of having to work independently all the time. It’s also really cool to see what someone else can bring to the table. With a fresh and different perspective, she might choose a fabric I wouldn’t normally go with or a challenging silhouette.
She wanted to base it on this whole “court jester” motif I made in some of my previous shop items. The idea would be to construct a dress that would be made from two separate fabrics on either side. It could either be the same pattern in contrasting colors or two different patterns with a similar color palette. We both decided to go with the latter after narrowing it down to about a dozen combinations.
She said she preferred an overall bell silhouette, 3/4 sleeves, pockets (a must!), and maybe even a little V dip at the back. I took note of everything and got to work.
My boyfriend always pokes fun of how kindergarten my sketches look. Apparently, I am not the arteest that he is; but that’s okay because he can’t flip a perfect miniature grilled cheese sandwich. We have our strengths, I suppose.
After drafting and cutting, it’s time for some actual sewing. (Yep, those are coasters I use as weights for the pattern!)
The final product (on Rebbeca)
The rate at which I point out Rebecca’s hair is borderline creepy. Like Crispin Glover in Charlie’s Angels kind of creepy. On her blog, I leave comments like, “I can’t decide whether I love your dress more, or your hair!” and “I just want to braid it!” Rebecca looks like how Joanie from Mad Men would look if she had been 10 years younger, 25 pounds lighter, and was admitted to law school instead of the secretarial work force. So can you really blame me?
