Last day with Miss November, the real December 6, 2010

Here I am in Baton Rouge sitting with Miss November. She is so beautiful. I have been admiring her accouterments and lacy bits. Tracking her change has been a little weird for me because I too have been changing right along with her. Although she started as a long little black dress, she is ending with a burst of color.

I used a lot of red and pink thread. I created these islands of fabric that kind of became somewhat integrated with red and pink stitches. There are little remnants of fabric from people I know, specifically a white patch from a friends wedding dress and a letter 'T' from a recent visit with friends in Asheville, NC. There are loops of a gold trim that came out of a moment of frustration and anger. There is beige lace that I thought would make the dress look weird, but actually pulled it together more. Under the first layer is what is left of "Penumbra", my first work of trapunto that is the reason I became an artist who works with fabric. The sweater attached to the top came from my mother. The green embroidered humming bird was made to honor the memory of Deborah Veselka, my middle school biology teacher, bird watcher and friend. On the back is the most expensive vintage yellow lace I have ever owned. I couldn't bear for it to go into the scrap bin so it made it's way into this project. There is a scale like wool layer over the left side of the skirt of the dress that in added on an especially cold and wet Vermont winter day.

The front of Miss November is heavy. Her top has become tight from all the stitching and after a wash, she takes an extra jiggle or so to pull her over my head. This last week she has been so tight around my chest that she has been uncomfortable. With all the layers, Miss November's skirts are full. They sway when I move and make me feel really voluptuous in an amazing girly yet sexy kind of way. Sexy may not be the right word, womanly is a better choice.

Even though I have changed certain accessories in my own personal wardrobe, like coats, jackets, tights, shoes, jewelry and glasses, I still feel like the dress is the focus. The accessories have become second tier to the enormity of attention Miss November demands.

Attention, oh my!

The attention she garners is amazing. People look, but don't always ask. When they do, I now have a card that says "The dress I am wearing is a work of art, to find out more visit: dressthatmakesthewoman.blogspot.com". Miss November is her own marketing tool. Perhaps this is why I am apprehensive about tomorrow. The next dress is so plain, dull, lifeless. It will take a month to make her breathe. I think Miss November has set a bar, and now I am asking myself how can I out do myself?