The Dress Maker's Book

   the dress and the form

              the form lends itself

              inanimate in desire

                allows the other

A Simple Thank You

Tools: Text, 2 pieces of paper, a ribbon, needle and thread or sewing machine.

For My Sister on Her Birthday

This purse was a gift to my sister for Christmas/her birthday. I made her one before, but it eventually fell apart. (My sister's an avid reader). So, I hope this one is sturdier, because I really never want to make another one again. The straps are hand sewn leather, and stuffed with cording. Sewing the leather made my hands raw. My sister picked the outside fabric, and the inside is lined with wool felt. The bottom is the same leather as the straps, and is just something I happened to have, (left over from an incomplete commission). My sister was having a problem with the outside strap falling off her shoulder, so if anyone has any suggestions.

Manners: Rules for Behavior

Although a discussion on manners may seem an antiquated topic
You will find that it is the most progressive form of communication in its specificity to the individual
You parents will try to teach you
And hope you will try to learn
And at first you will extend great effort
After some time, it is completely up to
you:
Whether you practice or not
And how you do (or do not)

The majority of who we are is in the way we present ourselves
Manners are the intention behind this presentation, and the consideration of others in reference to our behaviors
They are the rules we set for these
considerations and for ourselves in order to mantain a consistency in reception
Let's say I hoped to be seen as a confident individual but did not want to be stereotypically categorized
I would amplify my personality in public, emphasizing my most unique or absurd characteristics
I would speak assuredly, but still listen
I would take an active stance on those things which I had read about and felt
confidence in
Or a stance on those things with which I most disagreed, but pretended not to
How I would shake the confidence of the opposition, knowing it as I know myself
My manners are te embodiment of those characteristics by which I hope to be represented
In this specific instance, my manners are:
unique or absurd personality traits
specific, convinced speech
and a little conflict for opposition's sake
These manners are used to achieve:
a personification of atypical confidence
Now you try.


This book is made of muslin, thread, yard, and printed fabric. The words inside were free-motion embroidered on a sewing machine, and the pages are bound in a buttonhole stitch. I wrote this in France, considering the cultural differences in social cues, and how they exist, but if you get down to it, everyone has their own social cues. There are some things which are socially acceptable, and are universal, but they can't be for everyone all the time.

Creating Worlds With Turmoil.

And they probably wouldn't survive the meteorites, which were headed straight for them. These monsters were printed in the spirit of building forts and new worlds when I was five, and Jonathan Hiett made Ken kiss Barbie, under the seat of the car, from the time we left until we came back. My mom told me she saw what we did.














These monsters are hand screen-printed on hand-dyed cotton canvas

Not the best picture, but this is what became of part of the yardage I printed. Jonathan Hiett is the owner of a set of these.
Using the Textile Design CAD program, Texcelle, I created coordinates and a colorway for the screen-printed pattern.

'Patterns' Can Mean Many Things

This is the first blank book I made. It's about 12x12 inches and is bound with the coptic stitch. The front cover is paper, with a reverse appliqued, fabric dress, and the title printed on pattern maker's paper and placed in a recess. The back cover is made with the same fabric as the dress on the front, with another appliqued-on dress. The inside pages are blank pattern maker's paper and fold out to 24x24 inches. The paper came from a store in Savannah, GA called At Home, and the fabric is from an old table cloth of my grandmother's. It comes up several times in my work.

Apron/Aproff

This apron is made of cotton muslin, hand-dyed with natural and synthetic dyes. I created the motifs on the fabric using traditional tie-dye methods such as: clamp resist immersion dyeing, arashi shibori, and crumple resist immersion dyeing. All of the fabric, except for the ruffle ties, was dyed in the same synthetic rose colored dye, and then the two packets were over-dyed for different amounts of time in the same vat of royal blue, synthetic dye. The ruffles were arashi shiboried in a vat of natural osage orange dye, with a few seconds in the royal blue vat.

Disco Dancing Robot...Skirt

This is one of my first complete projects. I can be obsessive compulsive about process, and in the vein of The Little Skeleton, drafted the pattern, hand dyed the fabric, hand sewed the skirt,and hand embellished the narrative. With the intention of creating a subtle disco ambience for the fabric, I used potato dexterin with the base purple dye, followed by an immersion dye in teal. I then embellished the sequined disco ball, and appliqued and stuffed the robot (for dimension). This piece was created for the final project in Embellished Surfaces (spring 2005).