This jacket was designed from my desire to create a vest with my name on the back like the letterman’s’ jackets you purchase in high school. Created with cross stitch on the back and embroidery freehand stitching using fabric from Ghana. I used my traditional and modern touch to create this vest. The lady on the back is symbolic of my great-grandmother. She had a garden and farmed for a living in Ponchatoula, LA.

Cross Stitch is so much fun and I started this project years ago and it was framed for years. After I not longer wanted to have it as a picture I wanted to repurpose it into a garment. This vest is so much fun to wear. The embroidery threads I used were from weeks dye works I so love the way the threads stitch and pull through the fabrics.

The other stitches on this vest are all created by hand. I created the pattern which surrounds the cross stitch fabric. The front of the vest displays stitching by hand.