Katie-maree Cole was an imaginative child who was always daydreaming of a fantasy world where her toys would come to life and talk. At three she began dance lessons and remembers sorting sequins for her brightly coloured costumes. She liked reconfiguring store-brought Barbie outfits and working with her mother to make clothes for her Cabbage Patch Kids. Her childhood fascinations with costume, colour and doll-like femininity have had a lasting influence on her clothing designs as an adult. Less inclined to follow a pattern, Katie-maree was happy to create her own designs, sewing a few seams, trying on her garment, draping and adjusting in the process. As a cash-strapped university fashion student, Katie-maree made clothes as gifts for friends and had a small enterprise custom-designing t-shirts and hoodies. She closed her label in 2016. The sewing pattern and make instructions for this dress are included in the book Home Sewn, which can be purchased from the New Zealand Fashion Museum shop.