This is the last in the series, Making of the Anna Murray Douglass dress. The dress was created from a plum silk taffeta. I machine quilted the center front and then beaded with garnet beads. Although I sewed the majority of the dress on the sewing machine, my thoughts is that the dress in it's time period, would have been made by hand. I didn't have that kind of time. Link in bio for other videos in this series Anna Murray Douglass
It was such a beautiful event. Ms. Lana Turner planned this event in a short period, but the real miracle was how she met Michelle V. Agins from the New York Times. At a party they met and Lana share her idea about Anna Murray Douglass with her. The short is she wanted to give Anna a wedding reception, something she never had. All we knew was Mrs. Douglass wore a new plum silk dress, when she was wed to Frederick Douglass. Lana, who rarely carries business cards, gave Michelle her number on a napkin, Michelle put it in her bra......the rest is a miracle that the number survived the evening and Michelle would remember Lana and her story....Well Lana is pretty memorable so may that part isn't unusual.
Lana Turner: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/the-sunday-styles-of-lana-turner-a-harlem-fashion-icon
Michelle V. Agins: https://www.nytimes.com/by/michelle-v-agins
This was labor of love to create this gown. I also wanted to make a profound statement using the lining in Red White and Blue and also Red Black and Green. Mrs. Douglas was an American, African American. I hand embroidered Anna Murray Douglass American into the inside of the dress. In American, I used Red White and Blue/Red Black and Green embroidery thread. The dress is packed up for the next event which may come up sooner than we think, so stay tuned.
Thanks to my good friends, I couldn't have gotten dressed without them
Patricia and Danese
Thank you to Jennifer from Preview Silks
Thank you to Canada Galleries
....and thank you for all those cell phone photos sent to me
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