Woman Creates Outfits Using 1940s Illustrations Drawn by Her Grandma Who Dropped Out of Fashion School

Granddaughter Sewing Designs By Her Grandma in the 1940s

Photo: Screenshots from TikTok

A TikToker named Julia is making her grandmother’s dreams come true. When visiting her grandma Georgie in January 2021, Julia began looking through sketches of dresses that Georgie designed when she was a teenager. Julia’s grandmother, it turns out, had wanted to be a fashion designer. She even attended school for it in the 1940s but was forced to drop out to care for ailing family members. Her designs stayed on paper for decades until her granddaughter came across them.

“I knew grandma was talented, but I was like, wow, these are really much better than what I was envisioning in my head,” Julia said. “And she mentioned that when she dies, she wanted them to get sent out to magazines or displayed at her funeral.”

But Julia didn’t see why they had to wait to experience her grandmother’s creativity. She posted the sketches on TikTok, briefly sharing Georgie's story. The video went viral, and Julia started to learn basic sewing skills to make the designs a reality.

Using material leftover from her grandmother’s collection of vintage fabrics as well as thrifted materials, Julia has sewn many of the garments Georgie envisioned. She notes that she doesn’t always follow her “grandma sketch,” as what looks good on paper might not translate onto the body. “Grandma encourages that,” Julia explains.

This ongoing intergenerational collaboration has led to a captivating—and extremely popular—TikTok series in which Julia shows Georgie what she’s created. It’s also sparked sweet conversations between the two of them, which are shared on video. And in one of the greatest moments of the project so far, Julia even got to debut the designs at New York Fashion Week 2023. (Georgie couldn’t attend, but she watched the live stream.)

Check out the designs below.

A TikToker named Julia is making her grandmother’s dreams come true. When she found her grandma's fashion sketches from the 1940s, she knew she wanted to bring them to life.

Her grandma, Georgie, is delighted.

Julia started to learn basic sewing skills to make the designs a reality.

Not every creation follows the “grandma sketch,” as what looks good on paper might not translate onto the body.

In the two years that Julia has been working on the project, she was able to debut the designs at New York Fashion Week 2023. (Georgie watched the show from a live stream.)

Julia: TikTok
h/t: [Bored Panda]

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Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled "Embroidered Life" that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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