I have loved orchids for as long as I can remember. Not in a vague, they're-pretty way. In an I-need-to-draw-every-single-shape-they-come-in way. They are endlessly fun to draw, and they carry this meaning of resilience and femininity that feels very Mali to me.
So at some point, inevitably, the orchids became a pattern.
The challenge I set for myself with this one was to go minimalist. If you know my work, you know I am not a minimalist. I lean maximalist, I fill space, I want the whole garden on the scarf. But I wanted to push myself, a small, delicate repeat with negative space, soft and floral and girly without being the same spring flowers you find in every store. I wanted these to be Mali flowers, which meant orchids.
I painted the pattern in watercolor on purpose. I wanted that soft, pastel quality. Something that felt handmade even after it was printed, like you could almost see the brushstroke. And I like how it came out. I really do. Though I will say, the moment I saw it printed on actual fabric, I understood something about myself immediately: I am an all-over pattern person. The tiny minimalist repeat is beautiful. And I am going to do a second version that is completely maximalist, because apparently that is just who I am.
The fabric just arrived as samples printed on cotton poplin, which has this crisp, clean quality that makes the watercolor wash look really lovely. I was playing with it, folding it different ways, holding it up against a sleeve, because the plan is to make a button-up shirt with it. I want to see the different arrangements of the pattern working together on an actual garment before I order the full yardage.
There is something that happens when a pattern you painted on your computer screen shows up as a physical thing you can hold. All the decisions you made: the color, the spacing, the scale. Suddenly have weight. You learn things about your own taste that you couldn't have learned any other way.
What I learned is that I want more flowers. Bigger and everywhere.
The button-up shirt is coming. And so is the maximalist version. Esta semana les muestro más.
With warmth, Bárbara P.V.P 💖
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