Arabella's Original Wardrobe Creations End 2021

Towards the end of 2021, having just dropped out of university, I had a lot of Intellectual energy and time on my hands. Anxiety buzzed around me, what was I doing with my life? I began to make things from scratch and fixate on creating visual structures of information detailing the things I am curious about and want to make. The ways various processes are related. I let myself be consumed.

In September, I officially made my first shirt, though I would not finish it. The intention was to make a cute pajama set out of some nice synthetic material. It was not successful, too small, but I got far enough to know it was very possible. It felt like a failure since the fabric was so nice. It came from the first and only order of fabrics I have ever made. Pajamas have always struck me as the best thing to do first when beginning to make clothes. They seem lower risk because it doesn’t matter so much how they look in the end. This year 2025, I created my first successful garment being night gowns out of this same material. It only took four years and a lot of distance.

In November, I created a bracelet that would zigzag around the wrist. It was made of flat wooden beads, metal beads, and shells. I still have remnants and have continued created various jewelry pieces since. Mostly bracelets.

The final object of obsession for the year 2021 was quilting, which seemed to symbolize the feelings I was having. I remember drawing these pages mostly at my grandmother’s house as her health was deteriorating and she needed constant care. There was something profound about thinking of a quilt in the oldest home in my family. The one which my mother was born and raised. We have no heirloom quilts, but the spirit was present.

Quilting would have also been a convenient solution to a major obstacle in my life which was an excess of clothes. I couldn’t seem to let go of things, a problem compounded by a codependent relationship with someone who had similar issues. His clothes were more suited for quilting, so these squares were made of his clothes mostly. Our relationship was a pile of sentimental mess to sort from the beginning.

I never officially made a quilt. I made squares and meditated on the methods of creating patterns and designs. One day I will though, right? My grandmother was from Kentucky.