Creative Design: Professional
Author: Belinda T. Orzada (University of Delaware)
This flowing silk organza evening dress was designed using fabric hand dyed with azalea blossoms. It consists of three layers of silk organza designed in a low-waste, wrap-across-the-back style with asymmetric hem. I seek to constantly challenge myself by learning new dyeing, surface design, pattern making, and/or construction techniques, combining learned techniques in different ways. Exploration of the contact method of natural dyeing as a new textile design technique was my initial design goal. My second design goal was to seek out dyestuff sources that I had not used before when developing the color for this textile and garment design. Azalea blossoms were a readily available potential dyestuff and one that I had not used in previous designs. I found that use of these flowers as a dyestuff was an experimental opportunity, because no information was discovered regarding use of azaleas in either the historical or contemporary natural dye literature.
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How to Cite: Orzada, B. T. (2016) “Azaleas in the Evening”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings. 73(1).