Sustainably Reimagined Bustier Tops — Ms. Bonasera designed, patterned, dyed and constructed these beauties using vintage embroidered and cross stitched tablecloths.
Photo styled by Ms. Bonasera
Photo by: Kyle Sullivan

Dress form wearing a pink floral halter top with a keyhole opening, accessorized with a long teal necklace.

Close-up of a sewing project with fabric, a sewing needle, a thread, and a thimble on yellow and patterned fabric.

A mannequin dressed in a vintage-inspired outfit with a white strapless embroidered top, a red floral skirt, and a wide-brimmed red hat with feathers, displayed in front of a collage of fashion sketches, photographs, and posters.

A mannequin dressed in a red floral skirt, a blue tie-dye top, and a large red hat with feathers and a feather accessory, displayed against a background of fashion sketches and photos.

Vintage mannequin wearing a red wide-brimmed hat with feathers, a floral embroidered top, and a red floral skirt, surrounded by vintage fashion photos and posters.

A mannequin wearing a colorful embroidered off-the-shoulder top with pink, blue, and green floral designs, styled with teal straps.

A mannequin torso wearing a teal backless halter top tied in a bow at the waist, with neck straps hanging down.

A mannequin wearing a strapless, tie-dye crop top with shades of pink, orange, and cream, featuring a keyhole cutout in the center.

A dress form wearing a colorful, tie-dye style fabric tied around the waist in a knot, with an ironing board and iron visible in the background.

Sustainably Reimagined Two Sided Napkin Pillows

Mrs. Bonasera designed and constructed these pillows using vintage napkins. She hand dyed the napkins using fiber reactive dyes and quilted the pieces together with a decorative embroidery stitch along the seams. The pillows were filled using textile scrap waste from Zkano socks (a sustainable sock company based in Ft. Payne, Alabama) that Ms. Bonasera shredded to create these sustainable beauties.

Sustainably Remagined Cactus Pillow and Cards

The cactus pillow was constructed using vintage linens and laces. The lace was dyed with cochineal and the linen was dyed using fiber reactive dyes. The leftover dyes are saved by Ms. Bonasera and re-used for water color pens to make cards, etc.

Experiments with Cochineal

Exploring the use of cochineal to create a splattered effect, by using the whole bug instead of crushing.

Sustainably Reimagined Pillows

Ms. Bonasera deconstructed vintage pillowcases and dyed the vintage textile using fiber reacive dyes. She constructed them into pillows, and created the fill using textile waste from Zkano Socks based in Ft. Payne, Alabama

Inauguration Day Mask

Hand dyed using fiber reactive dyes and machine embroidered using a Baby Lock embroidery machine. The pattern is Ms. Bonasera’s mask design she used throughout the pandemic since the beginning.

Naturally Dyed Dream Catcher

Dream catcher reimagined using a found bike wheel and hand wrapped using lobster mushroom, logwood, onion skin and cochineal natural dyes. The smaller catchers are embroidery hoops wrapped with discarded orange bags and cochineal dyed yarn.

Pokeberry and Black Walnut Houndstooth Scarf

Mrs. Bonasera hand dyed a bamboo/wool mix with pokeberry and black walnut. She hand wove the yarn on her Ashford table loom using the houndstooth weave.

Goldenrod and Onion Skin, Twill Weave Scarf

Naturally Dyed Friendship Choker

Memories of making friendship bracelet are reimagined in this choker. Designed and constructed by Ms. Bonasera using her leftover naturally dyed yarn scraps of lobster mushroom, goldenrod, black walnut, logwood and cochineal.