Here’s the very belated Christmas present I mentioned in my post on selfish knitting.
It’s for my dear friend Jill, who gave me some really beautiful vintage clothing after she moved from Minneapolis to the D.C. area last spring.
One of the pieces was her wedding ensemble—embroidered linen, since apparently she was a bit of a hippie! I knew I wouldn’t wear the blouse, so I asked her if it was okay to cut it up and turn it into something else, and she was cool with that. On our Turkey trip we were reading about Lucretius in a New Yorker that got read cover to cover at least twice, so this project was inspired by a line from De Rerum Natura:
As I ruminated on this line in particular, I became enchanted with the idea of one form of love turning over into another—one kind of love creating another. Elliot and Spencer’s parents, like ours, are no longer married, and as a child of divorce I think about this from time to time: that my parents had to come together because we wanted to enter into the world through them, and that in a cosmic sense they may have had very little choice in the matter. (I don’t actually believe that, but it’s always fun to ruminate on these Big Questions, right?)
So as I stitched, I enjoyed the symbolism in cutting up Jill’s wedding blouse to make something completely different (and equally pretty, I hope).
I did the embroidery 100% freehand. I didn’t have a plan, and I didn’t trace a design onto a piece of Sulky Solvy (though that was my original intention). I wanted to see how it would turn out if I took a more organic, “type B,” anti-perfectionist approach. Actually, I can’t see that it would have turned out any nicer if I had sketched something out beforehand. I’m very happy with it!
I used my all-time favorite calico for the backing.
This is beautiful. I am sure Jill will love it.
I love the thought of reincarnating things from other things. I don’t know if this is a unique thing, but I converted my wedding veil into my children’s baptismal gown.
Thanks, Mieke! My stepsister’s mom used her wedding gown to make my niece’s christening dress, which I think is a lovely idea. Otherwise the dress is just sitting in a garment bag for decades, right?
Love the details you added, they brought it to life. Do you have plans for the rest of the ensemble?
Good question! The linen skirt has a nice simple running-stitch embroidery detail at the hem, and although it’s too small for me, it’s long and roomy enough that I think I might be able to alter it. A future project, for sure!
Amazing work! Beautiful detail and stitches!! Jill will adore it!
It looks so beautiful and such great photography of it!
beautiful. love the point of inspiration too: Thus things for things shall kindle torches new.