The Silk Beetle Dress

The Silk Beetle Dress is blue silk, cut close over the bust and gathered from a high waist, so the skirt takes the whole walk with it. Two beetles face each other across the bodice, beaded by hand in pink, green and turquoise, oversized, their antlers clasped like hands. Insects are easy to overlook, and yet they are the making of a garden.

Materials: Silk; coloured glass seed beads
Technique: Sewn silk dress; two oversized beetles hand-beaded across the bodice, beaded chains tracing the cup seams and the waist
Production time: ~200 hours of handwork