ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

Julie Michel thought she knew something about fashion when she started a clothing line three years ago. But the Lakewood resident, whose fashion is based on her own abstract paintings, had to learn the hard way. Early on, she relied on fashion vendors — pattern makers, graders, cutters, sewers — to guide her through the process of getting her pieces made in Dallas. “I was bringing people baked goods because I didn’t know what I was doing,” she says. Her competitors in the fashion game often have more expertise. But when Julie Michel decides to do something, it happens. Michel has a background in advertising, marketing and event planning, but her personal interests are more creative. She was a singer in a local band called Nod. And about eight years ago, she decided she wanted to be a painter. So she took a continuing education course at SMU, and then studied under Janet Reynolds of Lakewood Arts Academy (now Studio Arts Dallas). Her paintings are big and colorful, and she shows them regularly. Most recently, she had an exhibit at Legal Grounds. About three years ago, she started handpainting skirts with French and Italian love poems, and she decided it would be fun to make a clothing line based on her paintings. She found that creating the simple dresses, skirts and tops wouldn’t be cheap. First, she hires a photographer to take pictures of the painting she wants to use. Then she sends the pictures to fabric printers, who use a process called dye sublimation to print the fabric. Michel then inspects the fabric to make sure the artwork is placed just how she wants it — and that’s all before the actual dressmaking process. “I don’t go out and buy printed fabric from a mill,” she says. “No one else will ever have this fabric.” When the dresses are finished, they retail in the neighborhood of $300 each at boutiques including Pome in Preston Center and the Women’s Museum gift shop in Fair Park. “It’s my two favorite things — painting and art, and then fashion,” she says. “I could eat clothes. It’s my passion, so I’m thrilled to be able to do the two together.”

—RACHEL STONE

WHAT GIVES?

Small ways that you can make a big difference for neighborhood nonprofits

THIS MONTH, SWING ... for sobriety at the 18th Annual Maggie’s House Golf Tournament on Friday, Oct. 22 at Sherrill Park Golf Course, 2001 E. Lookout in Richardson. Registration and check-in begins at 11 a.m. Tee time is noon, and the awards banquet and barbecue begin at 4:30 p.m. At $125 a player or $500 for a team, the tournament is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Magdalen House, a non-medical alcohol detox center for women located in the White Rock area. Since the 1980s, Magdalen House has provided a free temporary residence where women could safely sober up and gain the tools necessary to live a life free from addiction. At the small facility, Magdalen House takes in more than 300 women every year. Withdrawing from alcohol is a painful process, board member Julie Harvey says, but after a woman has been at Magdalen House for a few days, “you see the light come on.” For more information about Magdalen House or to register for the tournament, visit magdalenhouse.org or call 214.324.9261.

OR,PAINT YOURLIPSPINK

...throughout October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, when TrueBeautyRX, 6224 La Vista, will donate 100 percent of proceeds from the sale of 2Shea Cosmetics Pink Perfection plumping lip gloss to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Ten percent of any other cosmetic purchases will also go toward the cure. Visit komen.org or TrueBeautyRx.com.

KNOW OF WAYS that neighbors can spend time, attend an event, or purchase or donate something to benefit a neighborhood nonprofit? Email your suggestion to launch@advocatemag.com.

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The Lower Greenville building that burned in a four-alarm fire in March is expected to reopen as early as January.