Tone Piper has been sewing since she was nine years old. She was born in Oslo, Norway, and her grandmother was a professional seamstress. Her mother sewed too, perfectly always. Tone started with doll clothes and gowns, then moved on to making her own clothes. As her own family grew she sewed all manner of garments for them, including costumes and prom dresses.
"The more experience one has using different kinds of fabrics, the more skilled one becomes." She draws inspiration from the fabric and with a twinkle in her eye says, "it tells me what to do. I love fabrics. I impulse buy something that I really like. I usually don't decide on the design until I have the fabric."
Then she turns it into a wonderful piece.
Such as this wedding dress for her daughter Cassiopia Piper (who will take on the new name Cassiopia Coyne on October 10, 2009). Cassy is a talented actress/dancer who lives in New York City. She acquired seventeen yards of designer silk blend fabric, which she sent to her mother, knowing that Tone would come up with something beautiful for her wedding.
She did.
As I write this, I can see Cassy in it, waltzing around on the dance floor like Cinderella. And Tone enjoying the fruits of her labour(s).
When asked what designing and sewing brings into her life, Tone replied, "joy, peace, a sense of centeredness, focus. It has given me self-confidence in general."
That joyous sense of confidence gets transferred to the lucky people who wear Tone's designs. She has sewn several pieces for me, and I love them all, especially the ones I wear for concert performances.
Hey... who is that behind the dress form? How did he get in here?
No comments:
Post a Comment