It started with a leaf…

It started with a leaf - a wonderful leaf I found on the floor of the walled garden where Jessie De Salis has her studio in Somerset. I played around in the morning with lots of colour and techniques - lots of scraping and testing! I have a very fun peice of fabric that has all of my testing - let see what this turns into in the future.

Back to the incredible leaf that found me! I didn’t have a super clear vision in my head about what I wanted to print. But all I did know was that I wanted there to be not much print and it to be a large organic shape. The woman in my mind when planning was ‘me’ but if I had worked at the MOMA for 40 years and was an absolute legend on the Art scene - with the warmth of Grace Coddington over the cold shades of Anna Wintour. 

I went into the walled garden and started sketching and looking all around - leaves, apples, vines, all were wonderful but I wasn’t feeling a true gut vibe from them. I then saw right next to my camera - the beautiful and wise old leaf that had curled up into a beautiful shape not so obvious to the eye, but as I observed and spent more time looking at this incredible leaf, the more I saw and the more I experimented with its shape and form. I started drawing it and then moving it around to draw it again, lots of shapes were drawn and then I had found my print! 

I was very excitd to get going and started cutting out. 

Back in the studio I started cutting out and thinking about colours I had tested in the morning. I made a wonderful green by chance - all by mixing all of the colours I use on my playful test! My mud became my magic! 

Rachel, Lydia and Jesie helped me along the way. Having creative freedom in a new way of making is fun but also nerve wracking and it took me a while to allow myself to just go with it! But I’m very glad I did! 

I got cutting out and started printing, thinking about placement on the pattern pieces. I then wanted a larger print for the skirt, so I created the same leaf organic shape but I enlarged it! I chose the delicious and rich orange for this element. Then I made an optional marbled waistband! I had so much fun and really loved the feeling of it all starting from the leaf I found - which I’m hoping to show off for ever more in a bell jar of some sort. This dead leaf thought it was at the end of its life but it sparked something in me that has filled me with joy! 

In the studio at Made My Wardrobe and the task of creating the garment! 

I had lots and lots of fun/ brain overloads when sewing and working out how to turn my dress pattern into a top and skirt, much easier than I thought but when learning a new way of doing things at first can become busy in my head. 

All was well as Rachel, Lydia and Jamilla are absolute legends and are incredibly talented in sewing, pattern cutting and teaching! They were very patient with me and my confusion at times! :) 

Over the next few days the garment came together, with lots of important decisions like - ‘to sleeve, or not to sleeve’ - but summer is here and no sleeve was the answer!

I love my outfit soo much - it can be multiple outfits, and I love that versatility. I then went on to wear it the next day at my friends wedding, and had the most positive comments I’ve ever had at an outfit. The pure joy of saying ‘I made it, I screen printed it and sewed it!’ Everyone loved it and my friend Andrew wants one making!!

I can’t wait to make more clothes and test out different ways of chanmging patterns - here’s to many more sleeveless tops being made and experimented with!