Each Shekina Designs garment is hand painted and sewn one-at-a-time.
Fabric
A muse, the myriad choices of silk fabrics and textures offer unique challenges and surprises.
After designing a garment, silk yardage is stretched onto horizontal frames. Areas for a sleeve, front trim or back are marked off. Then wax is applied using brushes, sponges or tjantings as a resist.
Color
The love for color relationship begins as I hand paint the silk with dyes and brushes. An organic process… one color influencing the next, shading from light to dark, using vibrant bold hues or the nuance of sublime tones.
Construction
Every effort in craftsmanship is made to create a garment that is of the highest quality. Using French seams, the garment looks finished inside and out.
Garment
The painted silk is heat set, hand washed 5-6 times until the water runs clear, dry cleaned, ironed, then cut and sewn into my own design patterns. Exploration continues by adding a surprise color piping or the play of a button to complete a finished garment.
But is a design ever really finished? There is this momentary sense of alignment, and then the next design teases forward from there.
