DAINTY DESIGNS
Issue #32
Sarah Fox embraces lace with Cursive Design
By Kristina Francisco
Published: June 1st, 2007 | 12:00am
Sarah Fox makes jewelry out of the most delicate of things: pretty lace, thin metal chains, and itsy-bitsy beads. “I was that little girl at the mall who would make a bee-line for Claire’s [Boutique] when I had a couple bucks,” says the now 27-year-old.
Perfect for a night out or with a T-shirt and jeans, Fox makes earrings and jewelry by cutting, dying, and stiffening lace she finds at fabric stores. She started Cursive Design in 2005 to sell her wares. “A couple years ago I was working on a lighting design that required me to sand, cut, and carve a lace pattern out of plexiglass,” she says of Cursive’s genesis. “That project proved to be so difficult and time-consuming that I shelved it, but I was still left intrigued by this lace idea.”
With no formal training in jewelry-making, the Chicagoan took her art-school background and focused on learning about jewelry construction techniques. “My grandma reminded me about her stiffened lace ornaments she puts out for the holidays. So I just Googled them, and I ended up at a holiday craft site with the directions. From there I kept working with it and ultimately came up with a process that worked well.”
In the spring, Fox used her sculpture and lighting design knowledge from the Art Institute of Chicago and expanded Cursive Design to include home accessories. Her first project was an energy-efficient light constructed from vellum, intricately patterned much like her jewelry. The new line is just a natural evolution for Fox, who says, “When I started Cursive Design, I knew eventually I wanted it to be a platform for myself to experiment with other design work.”
Pick up Fox’s dainty creations at cursivedesign.com.
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