Teresa brings a deep knowledge of indigo dyeing and shibori to The Cut & Sew Show, with a practice rooted in traditional textiles, material history, and the beauty of everyday objects. I was excited to see how she would approach the chore coat, and she created something that feels both timeless and completely unique. The jacket is fully reversible, with each side revealing a different perspective on the history of workwear, mending, and the textiles we choose to hold onto.
This piece bridges two iconic working-class traditions: the French utility jacket and the agricultural noragi of Aomori, Japan.
Indigo is the common thread connecting these cultures—a pigment chosen not just for aesthetics, but for its durability and ability to age alongside its wearer. In France, indigo gave rise to bleu de travail ("working blues"), where deep blue masked daily dirt and became a badge of the working class. In Japan, indigo provided strength, warmth, and longevity to rural farming garments.
Rooted in mottainai (rejecting waste) and mingei (finding beauty in everyday utility), I transformed an undyed canvas chore coat using indigo dyeing, antique Japanese fabrics, and threads salvaged from my own past shibori projects.
Historically, Japanese farmers hid their heavy mending on the inside of their clothing. Today, collectors wear boro inside-out to showcase and celebrate that raw beautifully layered history. Inverting this dynamic, I brought that concealed internal landscape to the exterior, anchored by a hand-dyed kamon (crest) on the back and mirrored by my hand-dyed shibori work on the interior. This jacket is designed as fully reversible, inviting the wearer to uphold both perspectives.
As an indigo and shibori artist, this coat honors the anonymous hands that spun, dyed, and mended these textiles long ago—a reminder that profound beauty lives not in perfection, but in the everyday items that endure.
- Teresa Misagal
The Cut & Sew Show brings together some of the most exciting independent artists and designers working today, each given the same unfinished chore coat to reimagine through their own creative practice.
Presented by Shelter Cultivation Project in partnership with April Cornell, the exhibition explores the intersection of art, fashion, design, textiles, and making. Each artist brings their own materials, techniques, and creative language to the garment, resulting in a collection of one-of-a-kind works.
