CMT Blog: Archive

Her latest album is titled Mockingbird, but Allison Moorer also has another bird in mind these days: her line of hand-embroidered shirts called 1 Turtle Dove.

“In this day and age, everything is so impersonal and mass-produced, and I'm always trying to find ways around that culture,” she says. “I also wanted to do something for my female fans, something that was a real piece of me and that embraced a ‘feminine art’ -- embroidery.”

Moorer herself embroidered the shirts, which she sells on her Web site, with whimsical images of birds in a variety of colors. “There are only hand-embroidered T-shirts for sale, but no two are alike,” she says. “I came up with the designs organically. I would pick out a shirt and then decide what it needed. Inspiration came from everywhere -- my front porch in Tennessee, bird drawings, my father-in-law, who was very knowledgeable about birds.”

While shopping in New York City, Moorer caught and set free a dove that had flown into a shop she was in. “As I left, I looked over to make sure the bird had flown away,” she recalls. “I spotted a sign for a shop called Camp and went in. I was wearing a top I had made, and the woman in the shop asked me where I got it. One thing led to another, and I got several handmade pieces of clothing into Camp and sold them. My clothing line was born. If it hadn't been for the dove, I never would've noticed Camp, so I thought I would pay tribute to her.”

Moorer says embroidering is a respite from the rigors of life as a musician. “I like embroidering because it settles my mind,” she says. “It quiets me, and I get all sorts of things figured out. Plus I get the satisfaction of having made something pretty -- and that's always good for an artist.”