Mason Art Museum
3-PIECE FAMILY SET
My client’s wife really loves to wear dungarees in the field. That was the starting point for the set. The thought of matching mom and daughter dungarees in denim closed the loop. Dad didn’t want exactly that, so I decided to make him comfortable working shorts, with a functional front pocket, in the same denim. Each piece would come with matching Tshirts in olive green French Terry Cotton.
A client in Zambia was planning to celebrate his wife’s birthday and asked me to design a 3-piece custom set for him, his wife and their baby girl. The brief included a request to have their family pets, an English Bulldog and African Grey Parrot included in the set.
The family live and work on a farm which meant a large part of the brief was to create something hardy without losing out on creative design elements.
A client in Zambia was planning to celebrate his wife’s birthday and asked me to design a 3-piece custom set for him, his wife and their baby girl. The brief included a request to have their family pets, an English Bulldog and African Grey Parrot included in the set.
The family live and work on a farm which meant a large part of the brief was to create something hardy without losing out on creative design elements.
My client’s wife really loves to wear dungarees in the field. That was the starting point for the set. The thought of matching mom and daughter dungarees in denim closed the loop. Dad didn’t want exactly that, so I decided to make him comfortable working shorts, with a functional front pocket, in the same denim. Each piece would come with matching Tshirts in olive green French Terry Cotton.
This was the first time I had ever attempted to make dungarees. Creating the pattern took the most time but I find if I put in a lot of work at this stage, I don’t to rethink my decisions later on. A pair of dungarees has a surprising amount of individual pieces.
Once I am happy with the pattern, I cut each piece of the set by hand-pinning each piece as meticulously as I can. This ensures the fabric pieces are as straight and correct as I can get them.
While I try to include only hand-made finishings, things like jean buttons are hardier and will extend the lifetime of these pieces. So I chose to include them. Learning how to add them was interesting. Can’t say I didn’t almost lose a finger.
I try to make as many of the accessories I used by hand. These polymer clay circles eventually became buttons for the tiniest pair of dungarees I ever thought I would make.
I decided to digitally redraw both of the family pets and have them DTF printed onto the finished pieces. This process took about 20 hours to finish but I am obsessed with detail and wanted that all to show up on the print.
The end product came together beautifully. A denim 3-piece family set for mom, dad and baby. Dungarees and shorts with matching olive green tshirts.
As an additional birthday surprise. Mom got a silky green 2-piece. Perfect for time at home with the family.
Extra buttons were added to match the sets together even more.
Project 02
I use either plumbers tape or waterproof roof paint to create grommets. They will last through multiple washes and have been tried and tested.
I love it when a plan comes together.
The African Grey in process. What I like about this idea was that the client now has a digital drawing of both animals to use however he likes in future.
To further customise each piece, the names of mom, dad and baby were added to the digital designs and printed independently on each piece.
I absolutely love how cute the olive green Tshirt and tiny dungarees look together.
Mom’s set looks good and ready for a day on the farm. Swap out the Tshirt for something sheer and it could easily work for a comfy night in too.
Each piece was custom stitched hand embroidered detailing. It’s the final details that I find really start to bring each piece together.
As an extra surprise for mom, she received a silky, super comfy two-piece in a gorgeous green.
With hand made buttons of course.
To mitigate as much waste as possible, I print all care labels on off cuts from a variety of different projects.
A client in Zambia was planning to celebrate his wife’s birthday and asked me to design a 3-piece custom set for him, his wife and their baby girl. The brief included a request to have their family pets, an English Bulldog and African Grey Parrot included in the set.
The family live and work on a farm which meant a large part of the brief was to create something hardy without losing out on creative design elements.
My client’s wife really loves to wear dungarees in the field. That was the starting point for the set. The thought of matching mom and daughter dungarees in denim closed the loop. Dad didn’t want exactly that, so I decided to make him comfortable working shorts, with a functional front pocket, in the same denim. Each piece would come with matching Tshirts in olive green French Terry Cotton.
This was the first time I had ever attempted to make dungarees. The pattern had many intricate parts so I took my time and made sure I had done everything as meticulously as possible. Once happy, I cut each pattern piece in a beautiful denim. It’s hardy but has a good stretch to it. All decorative buttons are handmade but I stuck with shop-bought accessories for the closing buttons to ensure the structural integrity of the pieces. I chose to digitally redraw both family pets and added other customisations to each piece with handmade elements.
