Reading Design Lobster frequently brings me such solace and validation about being a designer. This post prompts me to share an example of nobly asked for this from my own life.
Lucy, my mother and, in all seriousness, my most influential design teacher and mentor, made me a special dress for graduation. The dress fabric was an exquisite, hand screened Swiss cotton featuring a stylized print of red, raspberry and blue tulips on a dark navy background. The idea of using dark navy thread to hem a ruffled edge, even for tiny stitches, and how it would mar the fabric’s darling blossoms disturbed her. So, she decided to change the thread color at each and every blossom to assure a match. The result was an exquisite hand-rolled hem held by invisible stitches, enough to satisfy any couture standards by a long shot.
My mother's motivation to sew like this - whether arduously matching thread colors or tailoring something to drape perfectly- is her quiet way of honoring exquisitely beautiful fabrics and design. To this day, the sewers at Ginny’s Fine Fabrics use the phrase, “to do a Lucy” when referring to any ridiculously over-the-top technique used when taking great care to honor beautiful fabrics.
Reading Design Lobster frequently brings me such solace and validation about being a designer. This post prompts me to share an example of nobly asked for this from my own life.
Lucy, my mother and, in all seriousness, my most influential design teacher and mentor, made me a special dress for graduation. The dress fabric was an exquisite, hand screened Swiss cotton featuring a stylized print of red, raspberry and blue tulips on a dark navy background. The idea of using dark navy thread to hem a ruffled edge, even for tiny stitches, and how it would mar the fabric’s darling blossoms disturbed her. So, she decided to change the thread color at each and every blossom to assure a match. The result was an exquisite hand-rolled hem held by invisible stitches, enough to satisfy any couture standards by a long shot.
My mother's motivation to sew like this - whether arduously matching thread colors or tailoring something to drape perfectly- is her quiet way of honoring exquisitely beautiful fabrics and design. To this day, the sewers at Ginny’s Fine Fabrics use the phrase, “to do a Lucy” when referring to any ridiculously over-the-top technique used when taking great care to honor beautiful fabrics.
This is such a lovely example of taking care, thanks so much for sharing!