My mother was my crafting inspiration, and I find myself channeling her ideas in many ways. About 1959, she tired of her nylon undies, gowns & slips that had grown dingy, as they do.
To surprise my father, she laid out a wonderful array of colorful new lingerie on their bed: aquas, emeralds, corals, turquoise. Had she been on a un-budgeted for shopping spree, we kids wondered?
To surprise my father, she laid out a wonderful array of colorful new lingerie on their bed: aquas, emeralds, corals, turquoise. Had she been on a un-budgeted for shopping spree, we kids wondered?
She had been dying lingeries all day, she explained. I was amazed at how nice and new everything looked!
And so I continue her legacy, dying slips and dresses, but to my own reconstruction purposes.
I take vintage lace, ribbons, lingerie edgings, nylon tricot, eyelet trim & a slip, and plop them in my pre-mixed custom colors dye bath.
The way the different fabric contents take the dye, or how long I leave it in the bath, gives me a unique color "look" that I combine into my One-of-a-Kind hand dyed, hand reconstructed, handmade slip dresses.
I never know what it will look like, but all the combos have come out beautiful.
Not content to just dye a slip -- anyone can, as my mother showed us in 1958 -- I choose complementary or contrasting shimmery thread to add serging contrast.
There is no formula -- each slip tells me what to do, and sometimes changes its mind mid-creation!
Sometimes I just already have fabric that perfectly matches a hand-dyed nightie, as in this olive combination
The final result is beautiful to look at
-- and just as beautiful on!
Come see me work this Saturday, March 17, as part of Art Detour 24 in Phoenix
