The Tamesis
Hello from Craft Corner. Late last year, I took on the challenge of sewing a Fendi embroidered Baguette during New York Fashion Week. This is the story of its making.
It all started with a PR blast in November, announcing that Baguette, Fendi’s embroidered kit first launched in 2009, had been relaunched. I had no idea at the time that DIY bags had become an internet fad; I was excited about a project that would bring together my work and personal passions: fashion and embroidery.
My hobby was sparked when I passed The Village Ewe, a local sewing factory in Old Greenwich on my way to the city. Although I worried that it would make me the most Connecticut woman in the world, I was quickly drawn to the manual and meditative nature of sewing. As you fill in all the boxes on the canvas, you can measure your progress. My only problem is that I’m not very happy with my stitching and often want to pull out all the yarn and start over. (Actually, one of the questions I’ve been asking about Fendi Baguette kits is: “Can you redo it multiple times?” Theoretically you can, but the canvas will start to stretch.)
I contacted Fendi to see if they would be interested in collaborating. My idea was to use archives to design baguettes Fashion image. The PR team arrived and soon a giant yellow bag arrived at the office. Inside is a large yellow box containing a canvas baguette surrounded by many colored strands, a needle, thimble and a suggested Greek key pattern. Putting the guide aside, I logged in Fashion Archive and enter “Christian Bérard”. Known as Bébé to his friends (including Coco Chanel and Christian Dior), he was a fixture on the Parisian fashion scene both before and after the war. Nearly a century later, Anna Sui continues to quote him. He is one of my favorite artists. I love his free and expressive lines and the way he uses color.
I knew what I was looking for: a page of his 1937 butterfly painting. It’s always fun to have someone with human eyes. The second step is to start experiencing Fashion Covered year by year. I drew on a lot of Art Deco choices, as well as an outlier from 1908. It features what I describe as a dripping logo that foreshadows the graffiti of Craig Costello (aka Krink). But I digress.
