Written in Golden Ink

My final school collection took its primary inspiration from fairy and folk tale imagery. I wanted to use these motifs as a way to explore the use of alternative textiles, specifically those typically associated with home decor uses, in an apparel setting. With “Written in Golden Ink,” I wanted to create a collection of looks that makes you feel as though you wandered into a warm storybook cottage in the forest, where a fire is burning in the fireplace on a crisp day. Silhouettes in the collection were inspired by popular styles of the 1960s, with elements pulled from various types of traditional folk clothing as well.

In the first look of this collection, I used quilted fabric as the basis for the dress. For the sleeves and ruffle details, I designed a pattern digitally in Procreate, and then transferred it to Adobe Illustrator and had it printed onto cotton. This pattern took specific inspiration from German chocolate covered gingerbread, which my family eats every Christmas, and are typically formed into shapes like hearts, stars, and pretzels. The pattern was also influenced by various types of folk art. The tights are also printed with another variation of this pattern. (The full pattern can be seen in the photo carousel at the bottom of this page.)

The second look of this collection used punch needling to create a fabric with a sort of bouclé effect. To do this, I created a sort of canvas by stapling monks cloth to a large stretcher bar frame, on which I traced my skirt, cuff, and collar patterns. Then I drew and traced a pattern onto both sides of the skirt front. I punch needled within the pattern lines and, afterwards, locked the yarn in place with a textile sealant. When it was dry, I cut around the pattern pieces, leaving room for seam allowance. I hand sewed the skirt pieces together with yarn, and lined each fabric piece, finishing off the edges with a whip stitch. Like the pattern I designed for the previous look, the design on the skirt was inspired by common folk art motifs.

For the final look in this collection, I used a variety of secondhand doilies, a tablecloth, and a lightweight Swiss dot cotton to fashion a dress. Prior to sewing the dress, I experimented with doily and fabric placement by pinning them in a variety of ways to my dress form. I used a multi-layered fabric doily as the basis for the front of the dress bodice, and used a similar single layer one for the back bodice. After sewing the dress base, I attached the doilies to the dress in my desired arrangement by sewing them by machine one at a time.

While these three looks are the “official” looks that I created for my Advance Studio and Exhibition class, I also created two additional looks for my Intermediate Weaving class that correlated with the theme, one of which is the Woven Alpen Set. The second outfit was brought about by examining different Cinderella variations, something that I did in my Introduction to Fairy Tales class. To create a fabric woven on the foor loom, I noted specific characteristics of Cinderella variations, assigning a color to each characteristic. I sewed a skirt out of this fabric, attaching a secondhand trim to the bottom. These two looks were shown in conjunction with the core looks of my collection at the 2022 Wayne State Fashion Showcase, an event I planned along with two of my classmates.

Fashion Showcase photography by Taylor Craft, videography by Ryan Smith

Behind the Scenes - Quilted Dress Sketch

Written in Golden Ink

Upcycled Denim

Woven Alpen Set