It was an honor to work with a lettering artist as wonderful as Danielle Evans on this Scarlet Letter collaboration! She developed and refined the sketches, and I got to try my hand at lettering the small quote in the stem of the A. The stitching itself was some of the more delicate work I’ve ever done (process shots throughout my Instagram feed!). Photos and styling by Danielle, modeled by Isabella Silveira.

I imagine The Scarlet Letter means different things to different women. I reread the book as I worked on the project, and was really struck by how strong Hester’s character was- her circumstances were unfair, especially compared to Dimmesdale’s social success, but she owned it, kept going, did her best, carved a useful place out for herself, and achieved a kind of redemption. Her fine embroidery (even on the Scarlet Letter itself) represented a dignity and a refusal to give up. In the end, she keeps the letter on, even as she could probably lose it if she’d wanted, and it seems to become almost a symbol of pride. By contrast, the minister’s dishonest living literally kills him. I enjoyed the book very much, and got way more out of it after all my life experiences, than I did the last time I read it at age 14.