The Wilcom Associate Award for Digital Embroidery - Fashion Category

In the creation of this dress, Mia wanted to explore elements of the fifth dimension. A realm where the human mind and body have no limitations. This is where we move beyond consciousness, and into the mystic unknown, where there are no constraints to your thoughts. Within the dress Mia has included symbols such as the evil eye, to ward off evil spirits and bring protection, and the caduceus symbol; representing peace and neutrality.

Mia chose to use muslin as this is thought to be the material of the Gods. The ancient Greeks imported muslin from India to clothe their stone statues of deities. Muslin is also one of the world’s oldest fabrics,

dating back 2000 years to ancient India, and 100% natural and biodegradable. Mia mainly used a mixture of electric blue, as this colour has religious and royal connotations, and orange, as in some Eastern religions this bright colour is believed to burn impurities.

For the embroidery design, Mia used a one-needle machine, therefore she had to carefully map out the design, which consisted of 36 different frames, to allow the piece to be continuous. She used techniques of digitising, shading, hand guided machine embroidery, and hand embroidery.