Memories colour a winner

Hay Daysie came third in the open section at the World of Wearable Arts.

Kate MacKenzie and Deidre Morgan got a huge surprise on the opening night of the World of Wearable Arts (WOW) in Wellington when they found out their design, Hay Daysie, came third in the open section.

MacKenzie, a Havelock North artist and Hawke's Bay Opera House ticketing-marketing manager, came up with the concept and enlisted the help of Morgan, a dressmaker, also from Havelock North, to help her with the sewing. The garment has also made it into the WOW 2014 calendar.

"It's definitely a huge highlight of my life. I am now hooked and going to enter next year," says MacKenzie.

For inspiration MacKenzie thought back to her "fun, colourful and carefree" childhood in the'60s and'70s, and the special moments shared with her family watching their black-and-white TV from their mustard-coloured vinyl couch. It became the focal point for the design.

Hay Daysie was escapism from the recessional, technical world, she said, looking back to a time when families spent more time together in contrast to today's family which spent more time apart, doing their own thing on computers or watching TV.

MacKenzie says her decision to keep all fabrics as authentic as possible probably made the early stages of the project the hardest.

She spent countless hours on Trade Me and in secondhand shops sourcing materials, the costume design gradually altering as she gathered more 1970s fabrics and ornaments.

Having no luck tracking down the couch fabric she wanted, she bought new vinyl from James Simons at Hawke's Bay Trim and Canvas, which helped her with the finishing of the couch squabs while Morgan worked on sewing the thick vinyl fabric.

As'70s households still had many items from their parents' and grandparents' era, she decided to incorporate an older-style clock into the design. With her grandparents' mantel clock in mind, after weeks of searching she finally spied the perfect one to fit the head of a model.

She also decided to include a crucifix, as religion seemed to be a bigger part of people's lives back then.

She was raised a Catholic and her favourite time of the week was driving home from church and stopping at the dairy for an icecream.

The train of the garment is made of a busy, patterned Axminster carpet, almost identical to the one MacKenzie's family had, and she cut it and wired it - using good old no 8 wire - into the shape of a staircase.

"Making Hay Daysie was the hardest and most rewarding thing I have ever done. It was a roller coaster of emotions when things didn't go according to plan and when they did."

Morgan is also considering entering the competition next year, possibly in the Bizarre Bra section.

Anna Maria Gori and Keryn Whitney, from Napier and Raukawa respectively, also had garments selected for this year's WOW.