When award winning costume designer Soyon An calls - you answer! I may have answered on a flip phone that I hadn’t updated since the *gasp* 90s - but I answered like I was on the newest, most fabulous, rose color iPhone money could buy.
In all honesty, I could barely hear her assistant on my prehistoric cell! Through all the crackles and pops I managed to gather that her boss, the one and only Soyon An, who is best known for her work on “So You think You Can Dance” and “American Idol” wanted little ol’ me to design a hat for the new movie she was working on.
Her assistant gave me my marching orders and the time line was tight - super tight. I worked from the moment she called and all through the night designing and knitting samples. I prayed to the post office gods that the overnight shipping would make it into her glorious hands by morning.
Her assistant had purchased a cat hat in “Grey Marble” from me and they wanted me to take that design and their color scheme and mesh them into something funky and fabulous.
I loved every minute of it. I’ll never forget that night - just me, my needles, Red Heart Soft yarn in funky colors, and lots (and lots) of french press coffee. I made three different options and Soyon let me know her favorite in the next few days. She had me make 4 of her favorite in rapid time and once again I relied on the post office gods to come to my overnight aid.
The three original samples I designed for Bad Hair Day
The designing was done. The knitting was done. But just wait for the kicker - I had NO IDEA what movie the hats were for! Confidentiality is crucial in this business and I understood and signed on the dotted line. I knew that Soyon was working on “Jem and the Holograms” so I put two and two together and thought the hats were for that - WRONG!
Imagine my surprise when one night I turned on Netflix and BAM! There was my cat hat on Laura Marano in the Disney Channel Original movie Bad Hair Day! I quickly pressed play and simultaneously emailed Soyon at the same time - Could this be true? Was it Bad Hair Day I had been designing for all along?!?! “YES!” She told me!
Laura Marano in my cat beanie for a costume test
I was so excited I’m sure I didn’t even hear the dialogue the first time I watched it. I laughed, I cried, I jumped, and then of course I re-watched the movie 10 times!
Now two years later I’m still so thankful for the opportunity. I offer handmade reproductions of the cat beanie I designed for Laura Marano in my Etsy shop and every time I get to make one a big smile crosses my face. The only difference is I’ve finally upgraded to that smartphone I swore I would never get - but hey - I kind of love it because it helps me stay connected to all of you - and as an added bonus I get to look at lots of insanely cute cat pictures on Instagram while I sip my third french press and knit away into the night 😉
Reproductions available in my shop
