Starting work on the "hate dress"

It was always my intention to make a dress out of the pieces of fabric onto which I have been painting troll comments. I think I have been putting off the sewing part of this project since I have never made an item of clothing from a pattern before and I was nervous to attempt it. Some words from a fashion design exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery motivated me...

I decided rather than risking a random pattern off the internet, to base this dress on an existing dress I own, since I know for certain that I like the style and that it fits.

I started off by measuring the size of the fabric panels and drawing them out onto paper.

I cut the fabric shapes out of the same canvas fabric I have been using for the troll comment paintings so the body of the dress will be consistent. I pinned the pieces together and sewed all the panels together using my sewing machine.

All the panels were duplicated, so that when assembled the seamed faces could be sewn together, concealing them but also providing extra support/comfort. I decided that I want the straps to be ribbons, and I needed to order them online so I will attach them later.

I then hand-stitched poppers to the back and miraculously it fits!

I decided to paint the two troll comments I recently received which reference my "tits" - one onto each breast. As one follower pointed out, the two comments seem to contradict each other with one troll claiming that "her tits are as flat as her notes" and the other stating "it's a shame she's a remoaner she's got nice tits". The point I am trying to make is that the problem with this abuse is the commentary on women's bodies, whereas the specific meaning of their words is meaningless.

The irony that I had to use a bowl to get a taught surface to paint the words onto each breast cup - when one of the trolls accused me of being "flat-chested" was not lost on me.

I painted some more troll abuse from the recent deluge from the Rejoin III march announcement onto the back of the dress. I deliberately mixed up the cases, with some in upper case and some in lower case, to emphasise the inconsistency and sloppiness of their commentary.

I then used a thicker paintbrush to add the gestural colour marks and blended them together as I have with the other pieces of fabric which I will attach from the waistline.

These off-the-shoulder cuffs are part of the design of the original dress pattern - I'm not 100% sure if I will use them or not, but I painted them just in case.

Once everything is dry, I will start stitching all the pieces together. I'm planning on using blue ribbons and thread - since this is a relaxing, healing colour for me - and I will stitch it by hand in a similar style to my hanging textile pieces.