It was only a year or two into learning to quilt that the call went out for size 10 volunteer models for a fashion show at the state quilt symposium. Sounded like fun, so I donned a pair of black pants and black shirt to show off the quilty sort of vests and jackets I had seen at the local shows. What a surprise to show up and discover the wildest thing I had ever seen in form of the "Fairfield Fashion Show"! These were definitely not the "quilty vests and jackets" I was expecting!!! Seeing and wearing silk and velvet evening gowns with appliquéd dragons, painted and dyed fabrics, intricate piecing that actually followed the curves of a three dimensional body, blew my mind! From sexy to weird to beautifully elegant and wearable, it was an eye opening experience.

For the next seven years I volunteered whenever and wherever I could to model in the show... not because I had a love of the stage, but because it was a great chance to see the garments up close and inside out. It was the chance to see details up close, to examine construction techniques, to see every layer and bead and stitch. It was a chance to form opinions on what works and what doesn't on a stage or on a model that must rip one thing off and throw the next thing on in a matter of seconds. I promised myself to never, ever make a large overcoat out of vinyl or rubber, no matter haw amazingly cool it looks (Ever seen a model swoon from heat exhaustion under stage lights?) and to never make an opening more complicated than a zipper or snap. Slowly but surely I fell in love with these wild and wonderful wearable works of art and made it a goal to one day be a designer for the show. Many years, one rejection and one new sponsor later my dream came true. An invitation to design a piece for the Bernina Fashion Show!

Now the real work began. I've been working on my design skills and construction methods for years but decision-making has always been difficult. Too many choices, too many years to dream up all the fantastic wearables I could. One or two had stuck in my head persistently but had never had an excuse to come into being. When something is going to cost you several hundred dollars just for the beginning materials and take hundreds of hours to construct it takes a special event to bring it out and hey, let's face it; as the mother of young children I don't have much opportunity to wear a floaty velvet and chiffon evening ensemble encrusted with crystals and sporting a five foot train now do I?

Design after design scratched itself into my sketchbook and kept me lying awake in bed for weeks on end. My personal favorites in past years of the fashion show have been the sophisticated and truly wearable pieces by artists like Sylvia Whitesides and Mary Ray. Lovely ensembles that would be perfect for an evening out, in colors somewhat less attention grabbing than the average peacock wears. Their tailoring is so impeccable that the pieces are as gorgeous inside as out. On the other hand I have a great weakness for the high drama of the shimmering gold evening gowns, the velvet capes with dazzling silk linings appliquéd in mind-boggling scenes. Some of my favorites to model have shown the humor and creativity of the artist with over the top themes or visual stories to tell. I've heard so many viewers of the show say "nobody could ever actually wear that." but isn't that half the point!? Where else can a designer let her (or his) creativity flow full out if not for this particular stage? If every seamstress looked deep down inside her I just know there is a dragon-circled bustier with silver army boots or fluffy yellow antebellum gown swaying on an immense hoop skirt just waiting to burst out. If these fantastical pieces are not for the incredible Bernina Fashion Show and the bright lights of the stage.... then where else is there for our wildest, wackiest, most "out-there" dreams to come to light?

Now to business. I narrowed things down to two designs. The first, a wild and fantastical creation that probably sprouted from spending far too much time with “Lord of the Rings” and “Star Wars” movies. I'm a costume nut. This piece would definitely draw that first gasp from the audience as they saw it catch the light with a million crystals and float airily onto the stage. My second choice was a more subdued but intricately detailed dress that might someday have a second life out at the symphony or theater. It wouldn't have immediate "wow" factor but hopefully would be appreciated for it's sophisticated elegance. Either one would take hundreds of hours to create.

With these two options vying for creation the information from the fabulous sponsors of the Bernina Fashion Show began to trickle in. My decision was practically made for me when a brochure from Cherrywood fabrics came in the mail. I have drooled over their sumptuous suede-look cottons for years but hadn't realized that they made sueded rayon as well! I have a weakness for rayon with it's drapeablility and ease of care... and to imagine it in Cherrywoods delicious color gradations made it a no-brainer. One week later there were eight luscious colors of rayon in my personal favorites from deep green through olive, gold, rust, and a deep, rich redwood brown hanging on my design wall. Like any fabric-addict I could have just looked at them for ages and ages, caressing them lovingly from minute to minute, savoring their rich color and texture.

Ah well. Time was quickly speeding by and there was a deadline looming ahead. Time to get the details down and the scissors in motion. For this design, small sharp, endlessly clicking scissors were a main ingredient. For many of my wearables I employ a reverse appliqué method that involves drawing intricate designs on wonder-under, fusing it to the top layer of fabric and cutting out each little detail before fusing it to the bottom layer then zig-zagging each raw edge. Everywhere I went for the next month I carried a roll of fused fabric, my tiny scissors and a small bag for the litter. People must have thought I was nuts, sitting and cutting away while waiting for my daughters to get out of this class or that lesson or letting my son terrorize the park.

The next month I spent practically cross-eyed in front of a slowly moving machine needle, sewing endless curves and corners with a meticulous stitch, just big enough to cover the raw edge and small enough to not be noticeable. As I felt about to go blind I often wondered what on earth I was thinking in choosing this design. With my mock-up pinned and draped on the mannequin, my detail pieces nearing completion, and that deadline looming larger every day it was time to get out the big scissors. Cutting big pieces out of that gorgeous fabric was scary to say the least. No room for errors here. I learned the hard way in times past to make a test muslin first to work out the kinks in a pattern or to create a new one instead of blithely cutting into the good stuff. Test first!

The next week I learned something else the hard way... test a lot first! My original design called for a thigh-length jacket featuring detailed cut work around the hem. Fiber Etch (provided by another fabulous sponsor, Dragon Threads) seemed the perfect solution! I spent hours meticulously satin-stitching my designs and applying the chemical, but only minutes testing the process. What resulted was a disaster of shredded fabric with that dratted deadline much too close for a re-do. My subsequent working with Fiber Etch has proved it to be a wonderful and reliable product for cut work. In my rush to get things done I had made my stitching on the already layered and quilted jacket too narrow to keep the liquid from soaking through. Sigh. The product was used extensively in the rest of the piece for all of the curved hems on the skirt with great success but my elegant long jacket was now... cropped. Hundreds of hours had already been put into the piece and the deadline was only days away. Friends keep telling me that the design works smashingly well as it is now... but you know how it is. I had my heart set on one design and it just couldn't be done in the time I had left. Ah well.

With heart in throat off it went. Five long months to wait until the show premiers in Houston. That's a long time to wonder if you will love or hate your creation when you see it on a model, under those bright lights up there on a stage. Will it hold its own or fade next to it's glorious neighbors? I'll have to wait and see. Looking around my studio at the aftermath of weeks of intense sewing it was time to pick up the pieces. Literally. The pieces of fabric, interfacing, thread, and accumulated chocolate wrappings spilled almost wall to wall. I find it refreshing after a nose-to-the-grindstone project is done to shovel through the debris and put things back together. Sort of like putting my brain back together and getting the space in the room and in my head ready to welcome in the next idea. Hmmm.... I wonder if that dreamy, floaty chiffon gown with the five foot train would work better in white or silver? Better make it a ten foot train and add some twisted bugles between the millions of crystals. Hey, if I'm going to go over the top next time I might as well go all the way!

"Spice it Up" by Lyric Kindard (photos courtesy of Bernina USA)

©2003 Lyric Kindard

Read more about Lyric's creation for the Bernina Fashion Show as well as the rest of the fabulous creations at www.berninausa.com
Lyric's own web site can be viewed at www.LyricKinard.com
www.thequiltercommunity.com