Heirloom Reserve;
The Cowboy Coat

I chose to crochet wire and reimagine my grandmother’s old cowboy jacket. This jacket (pictured below on my older brother) was one that my “Gigi” wore when she was little. Its home has been the back of my closet for as long as I can remember. It is kept there to stay safe as a precious family artifact. I was always told to be careful with it. So, it remained in the back of my closet… but it also pitched its tent in the back of my mind.

I have always been told I am like my grandmother; a goofy, creative, kind, wild child, free spirit. She told me just a couple of weeks ago that she would proudly wear that jacket with her red cowboy boots and cowboy hat, and all her girlfriends with their Mary Janes would look at her and think she was a little crazy. Sometimes I feel like that… a little crazy by comparison. I’ve learned to be okay with that. In fact, I think that is my favorite thing I inherited from my grandmother: the ability to hold onto a little childlike wonder and joy. So… just as so much of her character is preserved in me, I chose to preserve her jacket. Now there’s one for each of us.

The process consisted of measuring the individual panels in the original jacket and crocheting jewelry wire until the rows added up to be the necessary sizes. I then used a heavier wire to stitch the pieces together and add finished edges to any of the “raw” hems. I finished it off by stringing glass seed beads on thread and attaching them to the completed jacket.

Wire and glass beads (2023)

22” x 28”