Dress (Pattern) c. 1936

This drawing, "Dress (Pattern)" is by Nancy Crimi. I can imagine Crimi, with her pencil, mapping out a whole world contained within the lines and angles of a dress pattern. It’s all pale graphite on paper, and the image contains different fragments, shapes and instructions. The artist is trying to show you how this thing could exist in three dimensions. Like, here's how you follow this line, and then fold this other one over. It’s a dance of folding and cutting! I imagine her puzzling over seams and darts, trying to get the drape just right. It’s so beautiful in its simplicity, like a secret language of dressmaking, and really echoes the kind of puzzle-solving I engage with in my own practice. I wonder what other patterns she created? And how these instructions translated into real wearable garments? I bet there are so many stories embedded in her pieces. All this reminds me that we are all connected and creating in response to others, each adding our own voice to the conversation.