Do you want to cherish your memories in a special way?
Keyla and her mom Jennifer came to me with a huge bag filled with T-Shirts, sweatshirts and leotards that represented 14 years of her life. Keyla started gymnastics as a 4 year old and now as a freshman in college, she is a coach. A knee injury cut her career as a gymnast short, but she still has many fond memories of the years she spent in the gym and in competitions.
As design inspiration I used the swirl or tumbling figure that is part of the gym’s logo where she spent much of her career.
Since all of the materials I was working with were knit, I didn’t have to worry about the fabric raveling, so I could cut them into shapes I wanted without finishing edges. I used a white sheet as a base fabric. All of the Tees, Sweats and Leotards were pinned directly to the sheet. I started with the pieces I knew had the most meaning to Keyla and put them in the most prominent places, then I worked on balancing the color throughout the duvet. I then just started cutting unique curved and twisted shapes from each garment. It is sort of like putting a jigsaw puzzle together without the benefit of a picture to look at! Once everything was sewn on to the sheet, the raw edges were covered with a varigated ribbon.
Now when Keyla is at college, snuggled under her duvet or resting on her body pillow, she has all of those wonderful gymnastic memories with her as she enters the next chapter of her life.
