2012 Tessuti Awards

Home / All 2012 Entries / Donna Kirby (Dress Two)

You are currently viewing an archived entry from our Tessuti Awards 2011 event.

View entries from our current awards: Tessuti Awards 2012 »

About My Dress

Pattern Used:
My own design

Fabrics Used:
Tessuti Oat Zin Linen, vintage lace trim

Time To Create:
about 7-8 hours

Dress Influenced By:
I was wanting to work with the linen's natural qualities and after a bit of thought I realised that the linen has both structure and drape, I've used linen a bit before but have never really taken the time to look at it quite that way, so I had the structured top planned and then played with the pattern to include the tucks coming off the french dart - it brings some soft contouring to the body of the dress that I really liked and yet it's still simple and clean which I needed with all that going on at the top. The lace at the top is an old collar that I've had for a while that looks way better opened out as a frill than it ever did as a collar.

Additional Information:

Comments (0)

About Me

Name:
Donna Kirby

Sewing Since:
about 11

My Experience:
Since I was a kid I've just always sewed, I love it and have never wanted to do anything else. After school I studied fashion in Wollongong, competed in and won Worldskills and I'm still involved with the fashion Technology category nationally and now internationally.....come on Tessuti - sponsor our national competition with some of your gorgeous fabric!! After finishing my studies I worked for a few small manufacturers but I've worked for myself for the last 16 years. Made to measure bridal and everything else. So my work has such variety and never really the same thing twice so it's always interesting.

I'm From:
Wollongong,
NSW Australia

My Sewing Goals:
Continue to develop my skills and knowledge, you never, ever stop learning. Raise the profile of skills excellence for young people in the fashion field (that's where Worldskills comes in). Lastly, start to take some time to sew for the fun of it, when you work doing what you love it sometimes means you can't enjoy what you love just for itself....there's always something else (usually a deadline) that seems to take priority.

Additional Information:
In fashion it's definitely beautiful fabrics, historical costume, interesting construction techniques and quirky patternmaking - I love to see new things I've never seen before. In life I really love all manner of desserts and my favourite environment is mountains, preferably with snow, a good book and my family.