Artist

Sam Bennett

Medium

Handmade cotton jacket with merino wool darns and bakelite buttons. Artificial silk (rayon?) dress with silk embroidery and darns*

Technique

Delicately repaired and gently embellished jacket and dress using plain weave darns, back stitch embroidery, and a good long bath with a gentle soap

Dimensions

18" x 18"

Time Period

Handmade c. 1942, repairs began 80 years later in 2022

Statement from the Artist

This was my Grandma Billie's baby outfit, most likely when she was 2 years old, based on some photographs we have of her in it. We found it in a box with some other delicate baby clothes and some report cards where it was mentioned that Billie talked too much. *I am unsure of the exact material, but based on the time period (WWII) and knowing that my grandma grew up poor, I can only assume it was handmade by a family member from cotton and artificial silk. I imagine these pieces were worn together for special occasions like Easter. Certain areas were worn out or ripped, so I darned them in contrasting colors (peach-pink on the blue jacket and blue on the peach-pink dress) so that the two pieces felt more intertwined. I have begun adding embroidered text based on postcards my grandma sent me throughout the years, mimicking her funny handwriting mixing capital and lowercase letters. She ended up having a very rich life even though she came from humble beginnings in Pottsville, Arkansas. When you are little, you wonder what your life might be in the future. I wanted to capture that in some way.