The Process Behind the Stitches : Isabel Maria's Bespoke Embroidered Dresses
We had the honour of creating two custom embroidered dresses for BBC Introducing's one-to-watch and Culture Award winner Isabel Maria to wear on her upcoming 'Because I Care' Tour. If you haven't read our 'In Conversation with Isabel Maria' post, you can read it here.
Our aim for the embroidery was to capture the delicate emotion of her music with her new EP 'Because I Care' imagery and overall artist aesthetic. Initially, Isabel sent over her vision and vibe through a Pinterest mood board, giving us a little more of an idea of what she was hoping to achieve from our collaboration. After discussing which materials would be best, she then brought in two dresses she was planning on wearing for her tour for us to work with.
Collaboratively, we decided to create two different but harmonising themes for each dress, both keeping with the coastal theme. In our interview, Isabel Maria says she "grew up - and still live - really close to the coast, and it’s always been a place I’ve found a lot of comfort and inspiration in", therefore, it was important to show this sentimental imagery in both dresses. The denim dress would be a 'day-time' coastal theme - the other - a celestial 'night-time' sea theme. As Isabel is a "July baby", her star sign is a cancer, often represented as a crab - so this fit so well!
We started with the denim dress - digitising from real photographs of oyster, clam, scallop, cowrie and conch shells and sample stitching them on a swatch of denim. Then, we experimented with embellishments such as sequins, different techniques of placing them, small and large pearly beads. We wanted to keep the embellishments subtle, adding small, delicate bursts of texture and sparkle to the dress, to reflect the sea vibe. Composition wise, we wanted to gently scatter the elements all over the dress, so they could be seen whilst Isabel was performing with her piano, and project onto her audience however she stood.
Isabel at her tour performances in London (Morocco Bound Bookshop) and Edinburgh (Leith Depot).
After figuring out which worked best with the fabric, making tweaks where needed, we finalised the design and composition of the elements with the dress by pinning the samples onto the dress - together with Isabel's input and approval. Using the small hoops on our big machine, we carefully and steadily stitched each section, taking care to line up with the pinned sample. We then finished off with the subtle hand embellishments.
Moving onto the second dress, requiring a different approach due to the slippy and delicate fabric, we experimented with sampling on various fabric. However, eventually, we figured out the best way would be to stitch the designs onto delicately thin organza and slowly stitch them in the carefully considered areas of the dress. Like the denim dress, we finished off with delicate hand beaded and sequin embellishments, this time in a more 'celestial' silver tones, ensured to catch and reflect the stage light.
When Isabel first saw the finished pieces, which she planned to wear to kick-off her tour in Sunderland, she said "I still can’t believe how beautiful they are, nor could I when I first saw them. I felt like the luckiest girl ever to get to wear those dresses for the whole tour, and it was a big confidence boost. I think when you’re singing a set of songs, and wearing something that feels so in line with the themes and the meanings of those songs, it feels really special", stating "the two things work together so well".
Stage Photographer - Victoria Wai Visuals
Bespoke Embroidery Service: Beth Wilson Embroidery