DUNZO: THE STITCH WORK OF CHEYENNE DUNN

26 year old Cheyenne Dunn recently started a small brand of clothing and other stitched goods called Dunzo. The Wenatchee artist is not new to the craft, however. She’s been stitching together one of a kind creations since she was 9 years old using her mother’s sewing scraps to make outfits for her dolls.

“This sparked the desire to be a fashion designer when I grew up because I had so much fun designing outfits, playing dress up, or playing those online fashion games.” Dunn said.

She later took a break from making clothes as she pondered where she wanted to take her professional life.

“I stopped making clothes when I stopped playing with dolls, and for the rest of my school days I had many dreams of what I wanted to do that had nothing to do with fashion. A couple of the more serious ones were becoming a painter or opening up my own restaurant. In high school, I began thrifting because it was cheap and I was a freshly licensed driver who had new freedom to shop without my moth er’s approval. Years went by and I rediscovered my love for sewing again, this time combining fashion design with thrifted materials. In 2021 I started Dunzo, and here we are!”

The Comet reached out to Dunn to chat more about this creative medium that doesn’t often get its due spotlight in the world of fine art.

Tell us more about how you found your way to working with material as a medium?

My mom has sewn her whole life so I was around fabric and sewing machines since birth. I grew up playing with Barbies, Polly Pockets, and American Girl dolls, and it was the early-mid 2000’s when fashion was super bright, colorful, and fun, so fashion easily became an interest. When I was around 10 I started making clothes for my dolls and that took it to another level, now that I could design the outfits myself. The dolls had fabric bodies and movable arms so they were basically a mini dress form. This taught me a lot about the curves of a body and how to piece together something that’s flat in order to create something that fits a 3D form. I’d drape and pin the fabric on them and then (poorly) sew it together with my mom’s machine. I’ve always had an interest in clothes and the way they can instantly make you feel different or help express your mood of the moment. I also love that you get to choose whether you want to be bold and stand out, or dress down and blend in. There’s so much versatility with fabric. So many patterns, textures, types, and the possibilities of what you can create are endless.

Are you making clothing for the most part? What kinds of other things are you stitching together?

I mainly make clothing but I experiment all the time. My brain is a bit chaotic when it comes to making anything and I can never stick to any niche. I’ve made hand-sewn and machine embroidered patches, done free-motion embroidery, dabbled in quilting, made pillows, keychains, and more. Painting and drawing used to be my main medium so I really like to mix visual design with textiles to create a textured pic- ture you can wear.

What (who) are some of your fashion influences?

In general, I steer towards 90’s grunge, skater fashion, and modern takes on vintage classics. But, honestly, I don’t know if there are specific big name designers or brands I pay attention to. I just know when I like something and take note when I see it, whether it’s something I see on the internet or on the street. I follow a lot of creators on Instagram who make their own clothing, so I get a lot of inspiration from people who upcycle, design, and create custom clothing.

The “upcycled” look is becoming more and more mainstream. Think of anything patchworked: denim pants, exposed seam tops, jackets pieced together with different fabrics, etc. It drives me crazy seeing fast fashion brands steal designs from independent creators, while using all new material, defeating the whole reason for the design in the first place. When you only have smaller pieces of material to work with, it takes a lot of thinking outside the box, planning, and adjusting to turn it into something cohesive and wearable. All of these independent designers have created such amazing pieces that people love, that even high end designers take inspiration from them.

Talk us through your process from concept to finished product. Are you sketching out ideas in the early stages?

My process feels like it’s different every time. I often save photos or write in my notes when I see something that sparks an idea, then either draft a pattern if it’s simple enough or I’ll find a pattern to work with. I get really impatient when it comes to sketching out ideas so I’ll use the Procreate app on my iPad to visualize an idea when needed, and that involves combining a photo of the fabric with a basic outline image of what I’m wanting to make.

Once I have a general plan, I’ll cut out the pattern and start sewing everything together. I run into obstacles all the time so there’s a lot of time spent with confused facial expressions (think of that confused woman doing math meme, it’s exactly that) while sitting in silence so I have full thinking abilities. That’s basically the process. Design, cut, mental math olympics, sew.

Any specific materials you love to work with more than others?

Corduroy and denim tend to be my favorites. They’re sturdy and reliable, unlike knits, those capricious tricksters.

What’s the atmosphere in your creative space when you’re working?

Tunes cranking? Movies on in the background?

Most importantly: open curtains to bring in lots of natural light. But also lots of podcasts and music, and lots of looking for the remote to skip YouTube ads.

Is this a job (or side job) for you? If so, how do you sell your pieces? And are you making stuff most of the time?

It’s a side hustle. I’ve been learning throughout the past year that there’s a fine balance between it being a fun job and a burdensome hobby. I might enjoy making clothes for myself too much to make clothes for others full time, but I only have so much closet space. I go in waves of productivity but there’s always a project that I’m working on along with a queue of clothing that’s in need of mending or tailoring. I have a website where everything that’s for sale is listed, and I post most of what I make on Instagram.

Any pop-up shows or collection sales planned?

Nope! I’m in a bit of a production hibernation period right now, but maybe I’ll venture out of this cave soon.

Links: IG: @so.dunzo

Website: sodunzo.com C