Tutus – Here I am designing tutus. Not a far cry from designing them for my Sindy dolls when I was a child. In the book ‘Living Out Loud’ by Keri Smith, Keri talks about how the games we played as children, can be an inspiration in our adult creativity. She says “maybe you loved creating dozens of outfits for your dolls; this might indicate that fashion design is something for you to consider”.
Designing tutus wasn’t something that I need to consider – my love of dance and designing just sort of presented them in my thinking. But it just shows that things we loved to do in our childhood kind of stay with us throughout our lives.
My love of dance, Sindy dolls, fashion, have all come together in these little tutus. I really have been having the most enjoyable time creating them. The colours and styles are limitless, and I’m sure there will be more to come. I have become a little addicted to doodling them.
Whilst I’m designing tutus, I am having the loveliest of nostalgic thoughts. I remember sitting under the kitchen table while my mum stitched tutus for me – and me, waiting for the remnants of fabric to drop to the floor, gathered them up with endless ideas of what to make out of them. These remnants would become tutus for Sindy, or ball gowns and other fashionable items of clothing. I was first allowed to use my mum’s very modern Singer Slantomatic when I was about the age of nine. I’ve stitched ever since.
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