Have you ever walked away from love?
Yes!? Then you know its bittersweet taste.
Jade has been called by Chinese poets “the concentrated essence of love”.
Well, all that sounds like a Historical Romance novel to me, and Shehanne Moore writes the best .
Art Gown, Jade, is lovingly dedicated to Shehanne.
If anyone knows the twists and turns of romance, it is she.
It all began with 2 vintage decorator pillow shams. My friend, Kat, found them in Wiarton’s Goodwill – 220 km. north of Toronto. She sent them to me.
I wasted no time pinning one onto Judy. It was a natural. Last year Kat sent me 40 pounds of fabrics, much of it stored for up to 25 years. In the poundage was a generous yardage of 60″ wide green polyester faux silk.
That was cut on bias and hung for 2 weeks. I harvested miles of ribbon from an old gown. It was marked with needle holes, so I gathered it to hide the flaws.
The faux silk had been cut without blunting the bottom for a hem. The points were picked up, and attached onto the bodice. This meant no fabric was wasted, and I sewed (by hand) 420 inches of seams & 660 inches of hem.
540 inches of ruffled salvaged ribbon was sewn onto the hem. The decals from the 2nd pillow sham were cut out, and positioned strategically onto the gown. Then began the fun of designing the bustle.
Jade is a dream to drape. That polyester faux silk is like fabric butter. However, it does not biodegrade like butter.
Front lit or backlit, she shines.
OUTTAKES
I’m a huge fan of Shehanne’s books. I’ve read all but one, so far. These are just 5 of her titles. Click on the banner to go to her Amazon page!
D. Wallace Peach – Myths of the Mirror has just read “Loving Lady Lazuli”. Her review will appear in her next books review.
However, you can read it NOW! Just click on the book cover!
I read if you hit a piece of jade, it rings like a bell. Whether for pleasant listening or for ritual practices, chimes, xylophones, and gongs have been created from melodically resonant jade.
I kept hearing this song while doing the post. Maybe because Sade looks like Jade, but an “s” instead of a “j”. When I learned about jade being resonant, I put it in.
On top of it all, Timothy Price – Off Center Not Even sent me a gift of LED lights with 4 filters: red, orange, yellow and blue. Jade is the first Art Gown learning lesson. I experimented in night, and day.
As Jade retires to the plant room, I’m mini Jade here to say thank you for popping by & come again!
Art Gowns 
beautiful moments…
Thank you! Apologies for the tardy reply!
Im hoping this comment comes through this time. This dress is just sublime, has Shehanne got red hair like a lot of my Scottish family and friends? If so jade is such a perfect colour 💚. It’s hard to believe looking at the finished gown that you started with two pillow covers, the bodice is beautiful. When you are hand stitching do you use any gadgets like stitch length clamps or anything or just do it all free hand. I had to fix a few of the costumes during the tour when press studs popped off and just stitching those neat and tidy was enough hand stitching for me, lol. I stitched thousands of beads on a gown for my GCSE final dress and I think its put me off for life!
This comment came through!
YAY!
Shey has brown hair, but she adores and wears green.
All stitching is freehand, but I do use straight pins.
Ahh, after all the machine sewing I’ve done in my life, hand stitching is a Zen joy.
Hey, I was just playing with the tail for a couple of hours.
I’m liking part of what I’m doing.
Then what? I’m loathe to cut.
Sew… haha … I’m finishing the under skirt hem all around, and the front of the voile hem. You need to walk easily.
That will clean a lot up, and I’ll be able to see better.
You should be able to wear the skirt w/o the tail, if you want. Still, a small trail is available off the back of the skirt. (elegant)
Okay, that will keep me busy while I dream about the dramatic tail. I’ve got my heart set on how it splays off the top… but then… does my lynx thing work?
Oh great, now I just got another idea.
Oh my! I need to go try that out!
Meantime one of the Art Gowns is going to a Gala in New York City. I’m having to make adjustments & alts., as the woman is a bit larger. It seems to be going well, and our final fitting is Friday. I’ve been going back and forth between the 2 gowns.
I even got new business cards made for her to hand out.
My new tagline is “Sustainable Glamour”.
I’ll tell more later!
Sending hugs!
Resa
I like the idea of hand stitching being meditative!
Yes – I think keeping the movement free and easy in the dress would be great. It’s so sparkly, I want to be able to move so the audience can see how the fabric shines in different lights to give the iridescence.
On my wedding dress, I had a little button so the tail could be put up to the bottom when I needed to dance and let it down for when I walked down the aisle. I wonder if something like that may help you decide?
Good luck for your fitting on Friday.
I love the new tagline – “sustainable Glamour” is marvellous and it covers exactly what you do perfectly.
Sending lots of hugs back!
Charlotte xx
The button is a great idea. Let me ruminate on that!
I was also pondering the idea of a split tail (the Lynx’s tufts under its chin)
There could be hidden loops under the ends of the split tail, that could fit on wrists.
Then it could look like a boa… of sorts.
Like I said, I won’t cut the fabric until I’m sure. I’ll have time to play and think while hemming.
Exciting!
xxoo
I love the way your mind thinks, and your taking inspiration from nature and just things all around you. Xx00