Bethany Mallino was still dealing with the sting of a recent divorce. Instead of celebrating her 11th anniversary with her husband in 2014, she decided to enroll in the Penland School of Crafts in Bakersville, NC.
The divorcee registered for a weeklong weaving class with instructor Ismini Samanidou. The teacher asked each student to bring in an object of personal significance for their project.
Immediately, Bethany knew she had to bring in her wedding dress. She knew she had to restore the object that represented so much heartache and transform it into something beautiful.
"I knew I had to take my wedding dress and repurpose it. It needed to be transformed from an object that made my heart sink to one that made my heart soar," she says.
Bethany documented her project, and the end result truly does soar. She uses different techniques like spray painting and stamping. At first you'd think she is merely creating a new, lively pattern for the dress. That is until she cuts the fine garment into dozens of strips of fabric.
She then weaves the fabric together into something new. It couldn't have been easy to tear apart something with so much sentimental value, but the transformation is a metaphor if there ever was one.
Through the end of Bethany's marriage, she was able to begin something beautiful and new.
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Image via. Flickr Creative Commons / Starmama
