The Nettle Dress: Copying with Consent

Today’s post is going to be a little different. I will be showing you my new favourite dress, but I will not be sharing details on how I made it. Now let me explain why.

In the sewing community, more often than not, we’re inspired by makes from designers. Whether big or small, from the catwalks or from our pinterest boards, inspiration can hit us at any time. So where do we draw the line on inspiration and copying? I’m not really going to speak about that line because I think everyone has a different perspective on where the line is drawn, but I will tell you how that translated to my current make.

This dress came about thanks to a company called Nettle Studios. They make absolutely gorgeous apparel and have a great inclusive size range. I only recently discovered them, but I have been keenly following them since. The dilemma I was in, before I found them, was I had these coloured linens that I wanted to piece together, but was having a really hard time putting it together in my mind. I then found Nettle Studios, and saw that they had released a dress with all the colours I was working through and I just knew that was it. I wanted to make something beautiful with those colours like they had, but in my mind what they had created was the pinnacle of what could be achieved with those coloured linens. I have never actually copied something before, but I really wanted to make sure that I did right by the company, including crediting the original design.

The Original, in all its glory.

I reached out to Nettle Studios via Instagram direct messages and explained I was a home sewist that really loved what they had done and would like to recreate it for myself. I made it clear that if they were okay with me recreating it, then I would not explain how I made the look and it would only be a one-off piece made by me for me. At this point I was willing to accept anything they said. If they said no, or even indicated at all they were uncomfortable with it, then I would have left it right then and there. However, to my surprise they were more than enthusiastic. They even asked me to be sure to show them when I was done. I felt so excited and so thankful.

So here’s my dress that I recreated based on their design. It’s almost an exact copy. The neckline is the only difference and probably the width of the tiers but that’s really being nitpicky. I’m thankful they were happy to let me make this, but most importantly I hope this is helpful for all to acknowledge original ideas and credit the artist where credit is due.

Also, in case I haven’t made it clear enough, this is a wonderful small business to support. Right now they are working at capacity, and have put a hold on any new orders, but I cannot recommend enough that you should start following them and their amazing size-inclusive designs. You can find them here.