Weekend Review: Dorothy Grant, an Endless Thread

 

Dorothy Grant: An Endless Thread / Dorothy Grant
Victoria, BC: Figure 1 Publishing, c2024.
176 p.

I came across this book in my library's online catalogue; until then I hadn't heard of Dorothy Grant. I'm so glad I found this! Grant is a West Coast Haida designer from what is now Alaska. She began designing in 1989 with her show called Feastwear, which launched her into a very successful career selling first in a boutique, and then via trunk shows and bespoke items.

This book is partly a memoir of her career and partly a look-book of her many pieces and designer lines. There are photos of many Indigenous celebrities and leaders wearing her work, as well as politicians -- one image of Governor General Mary Simon greeting Pope Francis during his visit to apologize for Residential School harms has her wearing a white Dorothy Grant capelet that echoes the Pope's robes, something I found fascinating.

Grant's work has also been collected by museums and galleries. Her designs incorporate traditional Haida motifs as well as garment types and kinds of embellishments like shellwork and embroidery, or traditional spruce root weaving. They play those elements off of modern design to create amazing pieces. 

This book was put together for a retrospective at Haida Gwaii Museum in 2024, so there are also essays by the curator, India Rael Young, and Haida repatriation specialist and museologist Sdahl Ḵ’awaas Lucy Bell, alongside some of Grant's own reflections and memories, and those of her longtime assistant, Haida curator and artist Kwiaahwah Jones. All this, plus the many large photos, make this book a wonderful read, with so much to examine. I really enjoyed it. If you can find a copy, I would recommend it to any fashion lover. 

You can find lots of fascinating information and fashion on Dorothy Grant's website, too,

(Flip through with more images, details and a short video interview with the author can be found on the publisher's website) 

Hinterland Bodice Tests: a beginning

I've begun working on fitting my Hinterland bodice in order to start on the design course I signed up for at the beginning of the year! I don't usually make muslins too often, but the bodice has to be well fitted in order for the following design changes throughout the course to really work.

I looked up the Hinterland online and found quite a number of people had varied issues with the bodice, so I was aware of some areas to look for. I first decided that I would cut a 12 according to my bust size, so I did, dropping the bust point by 1/4". And taking a small 1/4" dart in the front neckline as well. But it was way too close fitting across the shoulder/upper bust area -- except for the back, which was very, very gapey, I had to take a 1" dart on each side of the back bodice. 

But I realized that 12 was the wrong size. The Hinterland is designed for a C cup, so I had chosen the wrong size entirely. Looking at my upper bust measurements, I realized that a 16 would be a better choice, if I then also incorporated a small bust adjustment.

So I retraced it, and made the SBA (using Gina Renée Design's post as guidance). Then I trued the front and back side length, and made my other adjustments (back darts, small neckline dart) and tried again.

When I made the SBA it completely eliminated the bust dart so I didn't have to worry about that! I muslined it and this time it fit well except for one thing. The slope of the shoulder was off & making the back bodice gape weirdly. I took a 1/2" wedge, starting at the inner neckline & tapered back to nothing by the shoulder seam (so it remained the same). This fixed all the remaining fit issues with the back bodice.

I didn't have to make any changes to the sleeve and so now that this mostly seems to fit I am going to try a real version. Hope it works! 

Weekend Review: From the Rez to the Runway

 

From the Rez to the Runway / Christian Allaire 
TO: HarperCollins, c2025.
272 p.

Christian Allaire (author of The Power of Style) has just published a memoir about his rise from Ojibwe teen from Northern Ontario to Vogue fashion writer -- and it's a great read! He's really honest about the trials and tribulations of reaching his goals, recognizing both his own hard work and his luck. As well as the support he received from his family and community. 

He shares how he was always into fashion, reading magazines, watching Fashion Televison & admiring Jeanne Beker, and dressing himself as style-forward as he could with thrift store finds and more. He decided to go into fashion journalism and headed to Toronto, where he found himself one of the few Indigenous students in the journalism program, and certainly in the fashion journalism subset. 

During school he also interned and worked very hard to make connections that might lead to work or further opportunities - he seems to have had endless energy and drive at this time. In this section, he mentions that the professors told him he shouldn't be working, that he should be focusing on academics instead - but that it was all the work he was doing that led to the footholds he was able to get in the industry. This is a great point for many students to think about. 

When he moves to New York to take on some internships, the stories get wilder, until he realizes he needs to take control of his life and manage addictions, so that he can succeed instead of burning out and disappearing. There are lots of entertaining stories during his internship years, including one at a magazine where a roomful of Chanel couture was inadvertently destroyed (not by him), or when a celebrity wore all the designer clothes from a shoot home, and Christian, an intern, had to go get these pieces back to return to the designers in the morning. 

But he also shares stories of how being true to himself and his Indigenous community led to opportunities, especially at Vogue. His pieces on the Santa Fe Indian Market and a variety of Indigenous beaders, designers, jewellers and more were big hits, and he was able to parlay this into the right role at just the right time. And when the book ends, he is giddy, at the peak - he's on the red carpet at the Met Gala, interviewing guests. 

This is an engaging memoir from an important voice in the fashion community right now. I enjoyed the structure and the progression of the book and thought it was well done, incorporating a variety of stories for someone so early into their career. Definitely worth a look!

Thrifted Threads, literally

On a recent thrift store round, I found some DMC perle cottons and rayon stranded thread, priced very affordably. I have a lot of regular cotton 6 stranded threads but I haven't actually seen DMC rayon thread before. So of course I bought as much as I could. It's so shiny! 

I'm looking forward to experimenting a bit and seeing how I like working with it. Maybe I will even use it on my next project, one I've designed for myself. Here's a sneak peek. 

I first designed the colour version in Canva, then made a line drawing from it that I will use for the pattern. The original can serve as colour inspiration. I'm planning on doing a lot of sampler style filling stitches according to whim, as I go. Once I start on it I will also start sharing my progress! Can't wait to show it to you :) 

June Sewing Plans

 

Well it is halfway through the year, and I am, as usual, behind in all my plans! My planning eyes are bigger than my doing stomach ;) 

In May I was able to finish 3 projects, all for specific purposes. I've made a list of some items I'd like to make this month, just for fun! There are a number of things I'd like to accomplish in June. 

First, tracing off a handful of patterns - some newer ones and some old classics that I've been meaning to make for YEARS. (looking at you, Chalk & Notch Fringe Dress!) And I would like to get busy on that Hinterland bodice, a goal I've noted for the past few months. I've gotten as far as pattern adjustments and cutting a muslin, so I am hoping a real Hinterland will materialize this month. I would really like to finish up a couple of summer dresses this month, including just a plain navy one as a basic. 

Hinterland and Fringe
both on my wishlist!

I'm also planning on prepping a fun embroidery project that I designed a while back, getting it ready for summer stitching. It's always nice to have something portable for the summer so that I can work on it outside or during trips. I'll share that when I have it all ready to go! 

Looking at my sewing lately, I realistically make 1-2 pieces a month on average, so I'm trying not to overplan. But there are so many wonderful patterns and wonderful fabrics I'd like to use. I think that reorganizing the sewing room might appear as a plan later on this year, too, in order to make everything more accessible and user friendly. We will see... 

Do you have big plans for summer sewing this year? 

Weekend Review: The Power of Style

 

The Power of Style / Christian Allaire 
TO: Annick Press, c2021.
96 p.

This is a book aimed at younger readers, the teen demographic. It talks about clothing and style, and how fashion choices can represent identity, signal belonging, and help people express themselves fully. 

Christian Allaire is an Ojibwe fashion writer at Vogue, and he put together this book to show the kinds of fashion, style, and people he didn't see in fashion when he was a teen. He shares Indigenous content -- ribbon skirts/shirts, beading and more -- but also then goes on to cover topics like drag, hijabs, makeup, hair and cosplay, to point out the connections between fashion and social justice. 

This is a photo heavy book, fairly short, so I did find it didn't get into heavy sociological depths -- it is an intro, a survey class if you will, for readers new to these ideas. It's colourful, celebratory, and joyful despite some of the more serious themes. 

I would like to see future volumes more narrowly focused on some of the themes of these chapters, as at times the transitions between chapters felt jumpy because there was so much to cover. But if you have a younger reader interested in cultural identities, gender, and the wider fashion world, this would be a great book to share with them. The many photos really give it visual appeal, almost magazine style, and there are lots of thoughtful threads to follow further. I thought it was very interesting! 

Literary Sewing Circle: A Project Roundup!

The deadline for sharing makes for this round of the Literary Sewing Circle (featuring All the Things We Leave Behind by Riel Nason) was last Friday, and so today I'm sharing a round-up of all the projects shared in various places online.

Over on PatternReview, there were a number of projects shared: 

DTSewingStories was inspired by the stream that Violet retreats to on her lunch hours, and the pebbles on the stream bed, with this great fabric and the Closet Core Kalle.

SewPerfect was inspired by a fabric in her stash that even had ghost deer on it and made a journal cover. She also wrote a haiku inspired by the book and transferred it to the project. Cool! 

VivianZ made the StyleArc Quinn Top, in natural tones of cotton to reflect the rural nature of the community in the book - and as a nod to the character Quinny, too! 

SewLSC decided to go with the Purple Barn as her inspo, making a New Look 6393 in a pale lilac. 

MsIngie made a pair of 70s vibe jeans from Simplicity 8701, reflecting something that Violet or Jill might have worn themselves. 

On Instagram we saw a couple also! 

Sarah (@sew.focused) decided on a Charlie Caftan in a nod to Violet's father Charles, and her own grandfather Charlie. And the fabric was purchased in Canada, the setting for the book :) 

Jan (@conlon.jan) was inspired by the cobalt glass and white shelves of the Rainbow Room to make this gloriously summery dress, a mash up of two patterns.

Laura (@laurasnowden5180) decided on the Lilac Mini Messenger Bag by Blue Calla as her project, referencing the lilac colour of the Purple Barn, and perhaps a little nod to the 70s in style as well! 

And of course my own! I was inspired first to make a Liesl& Co Terrace Dress in top length, using an upcycled tablecloth referencing both second-hand goods and the marigolds planted outside the Purple Barn.

And then I went ahead and made another, a blouse inspired by the Rainbow Room and all that coloured glass, using Simplicity 8964 from 1999. This was a fabric I've owned for ages and have been waiting to find the perfect project for. This was it!

If you made a project but didn't quite finish it by deadline, please share a link in the comments - we'd all love to see it! Hope you've all enjoyed this round of the Literary Sewing Circle. Keep your eye out for the next round sometime in Fall 2025.