My life as a designer started out in a converted garage that was my screen-printing studio. Frustrated with how my life was turning out, I grabbed a t-shirt off of a pile and started tearing it apart. I removed the neck and sleeves, then I built a dress form out of chicken wire and a borrowed easel so that I could begin the process of putting it back together. I hastily pinned the shoulders, then grabbed a paintbrush and some paint I had lying around. Over the course of the next two weeks, a creation unlike anything I had ever seen seemed to materialize before my eyes. Even today, years later, I still have trouble believing that I painted that image out of thin air.
I sat back and contemplated what I had made – a vibrant, multi-colored butterfly with the body of a woman on a limp, lifeless t-shirt. Realizing that I had something special here, I contemplated what it would take to make it into a garment that could be worn by any woman, of any size, that fell in love with it. I proceeded to do a gut-check and grabbed up the scissors once more. I cut, I tore, I draped, I sewed, I grommeted (is that a word? If not, it is now…) and I prayed. When I was done, I had a tunic-length shirt that could be adjusted to fit in both the shoulder and waist in order to flatter any body type.
As you can see, that was only the beginning…
