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Dress
Wasteland dress update
Searching through my blog archive tells me that I was working on this dress a year ago.
I am finally ready for it to go out into the world – I’ve taken some proper photos of it, worn by my gorgeous friend, and have listed it in my Etsy shop. I want to share some of the final photos here too.
This dress is one of my favourite things I have made so far. Naturally stained and sculptural, almost like it has grown up out of the landscape.
I had originally planned to eco-print the dress when it was finished. Luckily when I shared it on my Instagram page, everyone convinced me to leave it alone and let the subtle colours and patterns of each piece come through.
I am so glad I listened to them. I’m not usually that into greys, but there is something alive in this cloth…
Another naturally dyed wasteland dress
I recently collaborated with the gorgeous Alice @catinawitchhat, who took some stunning photos of one of my wasteland dress creations. It was such an honour to see her work her magic of styling and modelling and photography with something I had made. Check out her Instagram feed for more of her creative, beautiful photos.
Here is how the dress started off, pieced together from many scraps of white stretch cotton, some of which had already been eco-printed. I used a combination of hand-stitching, decorative stitching and machine stitching.
After I had finished sewing it, I decided to dye the whole garment, to unify the different parts. In the photo below, you can see some of the prints from the big, round eucalyptus leaves that I used. They created quite a gentle, scattered pattern in earthy greys, which was perfect for the grey goth aesthetic that Alice does so well.
And yes, this dress has pockets! Repurposed from the sleeves of the old tops that I cut up to make the dress, which I simply pulled inside out and sewed shut at the end.
I love how the grey looks against Alice’s vibrant orange hair, and the soft oranges of the dry bushland behind her. She really brought the magic of Gumnut Magic to Life. Thank you Alice!
A wasteland dress
I’ve been working on something a little different. Sculpting this dress from many years worth of naturally dyed fabric scraps. Beautiful leftovers from wrapping bundles, with so many unique marks and memories. Using what I have, embracing imperfection and delighting in texture.
