Jess Wrobel: Textiles and Decor

I love a good design challenge.  It gets the blood flowing and exercises lazy neurons.  It all started with a simple request from a wonderful photographer, Sara Jensen.  She was looking for something vintagey—rough around the edges.  Lots of texture (yes!  that’s my department!) .  I mulled and turned things over in my head for a while.  Had a glass of wine.  I had visions of burlap and the vintage hand crocheted lace I found in an antique store in the Catskills.  But really, I wanted to do something for her that was rough, yet fragile.  I wanted to create a foundation from which you could tell a myriad of stories, whether they are real or make believe.  And then I remembered…

What seems like a lifetime ago, I designed a sweater that was knit entirely from torn strips of muslin.  I don’t recall what prompted me to do that, but it was fabulous.  I don’t mind saying.  So—and trust me, I am not digressing—we bought a couch a few weeks ago off of Craigslist.  It’s divine.  Restoration Hardware.  HUGE savings.  We will leave it at that.  But the crazy lady we bought it from also gave us a really nice sheet to help protect it in its travels.  I dug it out.  I tea stained it in the tub.  I ripped it into strips, sewed them together, and knit a bonnet.   Then I cut ribbon.  And I melted it, and I burned it.  I made a flower.  Then I drowned it in tea.  Because it wasn’t fully distressed, it was simmered in coffee.  More ribbons and delicate branches, and I’m lost in a woodland reverie.  A fairy tale comes alive.

Can you tell that I’m excited about this design?  I already see it in so many different colors and variations–personalized in so many ways.  I see this bonnet on the most precious babe for her first voguing moment before the camera or adorning the littlest flower girl at the wedding.  I see blooms that perfect soft shade of blush cherry blossoms or as vibrant as the deepest red rose.