Musings.14: Barbara

ontana - a Claude Montana Vogue Paris Original pattern for Vogue Patterns (#2016, circa 1995-98) was the first step toward "Melissa's" dream upholstery jacket. I saw the pattern all those years ago and fell in love with it, but it languished in a box for years.

A few years before I finally used the pattern I saw and fell in love with a denim jacket pictured in a magazine, a jacket that reminded me a bit of an Elizabethan doublet, of all things. The Claude Montana pattern would give me the look I wanted but I could not find denim of just the right weight and appearance that my sewing could handle.

Back in the box, the pattern languished. I found an absolutely gorgeous tailored denim jacket in the Sundance catalog, which became a beloved staple in my wardrobe, so my desire for a pretty denim jacket was more than satisfied. Then came the destruction of the couch.

The sleeper sofa we'd owned since forever had to be replaced, but I had fallen in love with the slipcover. Of course. The fabric resembled a jacquard with cream-colored leaves on a neutral taupe background. It was understated, a bit elegant, and machine washable. My husband chopped up the sofa and, to save the fabric, I painstakingly ripped the slipcover apart at the seams.

One morning months later I saw in my mind the Claude Montana jacket made from that slipcover. I 'saw' my Elizabethan jacket! I love it. It is unique and attractive and it travels very well. It is also warm enough to be a great 'transition' piece in late fall and early spring. The best part is that the jacket gets second looks, but unless I tell people the fabric came from a recycled slipcover they have no idea of that, or that I made it!

While I am quite pleased to see this element of fashion from recycled fabric appearing in "Melissa's" life, I am surprised and perplexed. Why has this become an element of her story? How does my jacket have an impact on the stories I tell? How does my denim jacket have an impact on the stories I tell?

[[Photos: Top - My slipcover jacket, from a pattern designed by Claude Montana

Bottom - detail from "The Circus Animals' Desertion," oil on canvas, 24" x 36", Barbara Butler McCoy]]

"East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon": "Melissa"

pholstery? Seriously? A jacket of upholstery fabric? I'm supposed to rip apart that slipcover and make a jacket? I cannot say I ever imagined anything like that when I decided to nap on the sofa after lunch! Okay I am surprised, sure, but the dream was really cool so I am going to go with it.

When the dream began I must have been under water because I was watching three mermaids dance around a cauldron. They were singing, too, but all I could understand was that the cauldron was called 'The Cauldron of Dreams' and that it sits at the heart of a labyrinth. As they danced the mermaids used their hands to shape the steam rising from the cauldron into loose cords which they spun into thread before weaving it into fabric. (An interesting 'twist' on the Three Fates and Macbeth's witches!) When the fabric was woven they cut it and stitched it into a jacket which they bade me wear.

Before I could ask why the fabric they had woven looked like the slipcover on my sofa they told me that the prince I sought was imprisoned in a castle 'east o' the sun and west o' the moon.' I love that fairy tale and I was certainly intrigued at the idea of finding a 'prince,' whoever he is, so I started walking.

The wind, like a Botticelli zephyr, pushed me along and soon I was inside a castle. I was shocked, but not really, when I saw that the 'prince' was actually my Crow. There was no time to waste on shock, however, because my princely Crow was telling the assembled court that he would only marry the woman who could remove the stain from his shirt. Girl after girl, woman after woman - how had so many come to find the castle? - tried to clean the shirt, but just as in the fairy tale their efforts only worsened the stain.

The room was emptying and I knew I had to try, but what could I do that all those others hadn't? Then it came to me - the secret was the vessel in which the shirt was washed. That's why I'd seen the mermaids around the cauldron. I knew then I had to wash the shirt in that Cauldron of Dreams.

I woke up feeling such joy because as soon as I thought about the Cauldron of Dreams the carousel horse from the warehouse and a magnificent, brilliantly blue bear appeared in the entrance to the room carrying the Cauldron of Dreams between them. The shirt turned such a blinding white that I was not able to see the face of the man, the prince, my Crow became when I tossed the shirt over him.

I suppose I could feel upset and frustrated that I did not see his face, but it just feels wonderful that there appears to be something I can do for my Crow, who has helped me in unbelievable, loving ways. It will be really very interesting to see how wearing a jacket made from a slipcover can help my Crow, but I've learned that anything can happen and probably will. We shall see.