Quick-Fire Quips is a questionnaire where we get to know people who stand out in the State of Alabama!
Today, Alabama Public Radio host Baillee Majors talks with of Birmingham artis April Bonasera of Dress Dye Magic, a Professional Bespoke Fashion, Costume and Dye Atelier.
Baillee: Hey, April, how are you?
April: Hi. I'm doing well. How are you?
Baillee: I'm doing good. So excited you're joining me today! So let's start off with Dress Dye Magic. What is it all about?
April: It is all about bespoke clothing, putting value into sewing professionally, building garments and altering garments that last. And with my own art, combining natural dye with vintage linens and textiles from my childhood that I grew up with and reimagining them from beginning to end, from pattern to finishing.
Baillee: What mediums do you typically work with?
April: I work with plant dyes that I grow. I have a dye garden, and I use those vintage linens. I love using Quaker Lace tablecloths. Any lace tablecloths.
I use a historic costume technique called flat lining a lot. It's where you combine fabrics and give them structure so that they're one. So I love to do that, but anything vintage, basically vintage textiles, and combining that with dyes and also my experience in the costume world in terms of sewing, and there's a lot of techniques that we use in the costume world that can apply to modern-day wear and kind of give it longevity.
Baillee: What is your favorite natural dye that you've used so far?
April: It's really hard to say a favorite! But I'll say two. The Cosmos sulphureus, because it's not native to Alabama, but it's an orange flower. And it is the only true dye of the cosmos family. And what's cool about it, or one of the things, it's not often that the color of the plant is what the color when you use it as a dye that it's going to be. But this flower is. It's a gorgeous orange. And when you dye with it, you get that orange. And it actually grows really well here. It's just a happy, cheery flower.
My other favorite, just because it's native to Alabama, is sumac. I use if for almost everything I dye as a base. It's a great, versatile plant. And a lot of people think that it's the poisonous sumac, but it's not. It's the staghorn and smooth sumac. And it's also, it's just a very interesting plant.
Baillee: And what color does the sumac come out?
April: The sumac, you will get a light pink, but it won't stay that way. Really, it's like a light tan. You can add an iron modifier to get grays. I use it as a base a lot before the mordanting. It's quite a laborious process to dye cotton.
Baillee: Now the introductions are done, let's get you warmed up to answer the questionnaire. And to do that, I want you to say "Quick-Fire Quips" three times fast.
April: All right, here we go! Quick-Fire Quips, Quick-Fire Quips, Quick-Fire Quips!
Baillee: Here's the first question: What comes to mind when you hear Alabama?
April: Nature.
Baillee: What is a hidden gem in Birmingham that more people should know about?
April: I would definitely have to say Continental Bakery and Chez Lulu. They are classic, Birmingham classics.
Baillee: What is your favorite thing about living in Alabama?
April: Oh, again, I would have to say the nature. It's such a beautiful state, and I really didn't appreciate it as much when I was younger. But after having moved around and, it's just gorgeous and green.
Baillee: What is something that you don't like about living in Alabama?
April: I think that sometimes the attitudes and things can stay the same and not let new ideas and artists in because of that kind of like "this is how we've done it" mentality. And I think it really holds back artists like myself from being part of the community in that sense.
Baillee: What is a bad stereotype or something that people get wrong about Alabama?
April: I think that people think that it's like flat and like nothing, kind of like Kansas. And that we're definitely, that we're all uneducated and things like that. So I think that people don't realize what a beautiful forest that we live in and that there are intellectuals here.
Baillee: Yeah, we have a lot of trees! We have the beach, we have the mountains, we have rivers.
April: Yes. There's a diversity of geography and places and things to do.
Baillee: What is your favorite getaway spot in Alabama?
April: Double Oak Park. Double Oak Mountain. It's close to Chelsea. I've been going hiking there... It's kind of like a hidden gem of hiking, and there's all these switchbacks, and they are named after different musicians and like Grateful Dead songs and all this kind of stuff. It's such an interesting place, and it kind of makes you feel like you're out in the middle of nowhere, but it's like right outside of Birmingham and Chelsea.
Baillee: Let's talk more about Dress Dye Magic. How did Dress Dye Magic come to be?
April: So 2023, I was living in Atlanta and working on a film, and we... gad already been talking about the strikes happening, the writers' and then the actors' strike followed. And probably about four months into the strikes, I just kind of had a feeling that it was going to be a long time. And we just made the decision to move back to Birmingham. And honestly, like I said earlier, I really put value in the work that I do. And I am adamant about seamstresses and tailors getting paid a fair wage.
Unfortunately, I just couldn't find any opportunities where that was the case. So I decided to do it myself. And I was doing my natural dye already. And I really thought that that's what I was going to be focusing on. But I have been blessed with some really wonderful clients who have kept me busy really since I moved back. And I've done bespoke builds for them.
I do high-end alterations, and, but I don't do piecework, like getting paid per piece. I'm really adamant about making a fair wage. So that was kind of the, the gist of it. I do still do costume work. I haven't done it here in Alabama yet, but I did a commercial a couple weeks ago in Auburn for a production company outside of Alabama. But, so that's kind of how it got started.
Baillee: That's awesome. So you mentioned you have a history with costuming. Opera and different shows like that and movies. What has that experience been like?
April: Oh, I love it. I have been very lucky to work on some of the things that I have, because I was working with master tailors and master cutter fitters that you just learn so much. That's irreplaceable, that kind of learning and education. So I am lucky to have worked on those things just because of knowledge. I love soaking up knowledge and learning about my craft.
But my favorite is definitely the opera because there, because of the scale, there are so many people on the stage, especially like Los Angeles Opera—also worked for Atlanta Opera—but LA Opera, there would be over 100 people on stage. It's just crazy. And it's always historical costumes and there's so much detail. I'm happy to do any costuming anytime, as long as it's a fair wage.
Baillee: Where do you find your inspiration for the pieces that you work on?
April: Definitely nature. But I feel like I used to read a lot... I still read, but I used to read a lot when I was a child, and I just use my imagination a lot. But when just reading about history, especially from the costume aspect, like anytime I've costume designed a show, there's a lot of historical research, and it just kind of opens your mind to different things, different ideas, looking at things from a different point of view. So that's kind of how I approach everything.
I kind of like combine historic costume with sewing techniques, especially ones that have been used throughout history that serve a good purpose, like longevity and things like that. But so it's kind of a mixture of things. And definitely the arts. I'm a huge supporter of arts, local and far away and wherever, so art is always inspiring.
Baillee: Are you able to share any other movies or shows or anything like that that you've done costuming on?
April: I did do a film that's on Netflix called Pain Hustlers with Chris Evans. I built several dresses for Catherine O'Hara, so that was definitely a highlight of my career. I will never forget it. And that was actually on the same lot as That Stranger Things is filmed on, or the same studio lot.
Baillee: How does being a fourth-generation seamstress shape the way that you approach a piece of fabric?
April: Probably everything. I love textiles so much, and I definitely can attribute that to my grandmother and great-grandmother... I think it's contributed greatly to everything I do and the appreciation for older textiles... I haven't bought new fabric in five years. I solely try to use vintage fabric or linens and tablecloths and things like that. So I think having all that, growing up with all that, kind of gives that appreciation.
Baillee: What is your favorite part of your job?
April: Seeing people's faces when they have something that is really fitted to them, like truly fitted to them. There's such a psychology behind it. It changes their attitude and confidence and how you feel about yourself. So I love that look after working on something and then being in the fitting and seeing their reaction and just the mood completely changing.
Baillee: You've had some recognition recently. First, let's talk about being featured in the global fiber and textile arts magazine called Fiber Art Now. Tell me about the coat that is being featured.
April: Yes. I built the coat over the holidays. It was something that I have been thinking about for several years when I worked on the film, the Francis Ford Coppola film Megalopolis. The costume designer used a lot of oversized collars, and I thought it was a really unique take on different things that she did.
When I saw those and I was building some of those, I just thought it would be cool to take that technique and then use the flat lining technique and combine it to showcase tablecloths in a new way, so that when you look at it, you wouldn't know that it was a tablecloth. It looks like lace. It's part of the coat. It makes up the collar and the cuffs.
I just think it highlights natural dyes that are so gorgeous and have such depth. And I used avocado food waste from 2025 to do that. It was a Quaker Lace tablecloth, and then I flatted it to another linen tablecloth. And then the quilt was a diamond-filled quilt that's 100 years old. And I got that at an estate sale, which is where I get a lot of the pieces that I use. And just wanted to do a fresh take on it, and, you know, with my costume background and the natural dye techniques to make something unique. And handmade!
Baillee: You're also recognized as an emerging artist cohort with the Southern Highland Craft Guild. Can you tell me about that?
April: Yes. I'm very excited to be doing their craft fair in October. I have been really searching for fairs and events where the textile arts have to be made 100% by the person, by the artist. I feel like that's kind of getting lost. I think that textile arts might be one of the only arts where that might not necessarily be true in some festivals and things like that. So I think that that's something that stuck out to me with them. And Asheville, of course, is a great place to be around other artists.
Part of getting that cohort is you get to take classes that help set you up for craft or commerce, for putting out your art, pricing it, all those things, which is something I always need help with. I'm always in the artist frame of mind, and it's hard to think about all those other little details when it comes to the business side of things.
Baillee: You were speaking about how it's hard to find outlets where that require artists to kind of make everything that they're producing. How did you get into the natural dyes?
April: I started dyeing in 2003 when I started at the University of Alabama getting my degree in apparel textile design. And one of my professors who was a mentor—and I talk about her often, Dr. Virginia Wimberly—she was my draping professor, but she also taught natural dye and weaving. And when I took that class, I just fell in love with it.
Several years after graduating, my husband and I moved to Iowa, and we lived in this 1910 farmhouse. And it was just surrounded by natural dyes, goldenrod, pokeberry, black walnut, Osage orange. And so I really started diving into it past the research and learning, and that's kind of what got me started.
Then during the pandemic, I really started playing around with dyeing vintage linens because I've gone to estate sales and like antiquing with my grandmother since I was a little girl.
Baillee: Not only are you a globally recognized artist, but you're also a survivor of a near-death experience. Can you tell me about the crash that happened after high school?
April: I don't have any memory of this, but I was on Pine Tree Drive, and I had a Jeep. And it was actually right next to St. Vincent's East. And I hydroplaned. I left work and it was storming, and the last thing my mom told me was to just come home, but I wanted to go to a friend's house. And my Jeep landed in the front yard of this couple at 2:00 a.m., and they heard the crash.
My head hit a telephone pole and swung back. And the ambulance told my mom that I had a severe head injury, and he said, "I know that we're right here next to St. Vincent's, but I would take her to UAB." And so that's what they did. And UAB saved my life. And when you have a head injury, the state of Alabama takes away your license for a year and all these things. So it took me a year to recover after I got out of a coma.
But what's crazy to me—because I'm just now realizing some of this stuff—I went to Alabama two years after the wreck, like started college.
Baillee: Wow, that's incredible!
April: I think that kind of gave me a different appreciation for getting my degree. I mean, to me, it means the world to have a bachelor's.
Baillee: How did designing and working in your craft help heal or challenge you during that time?
April: Oh my gosh, it does it every day. I don't know where I would be without it, honestly. It's kind of like a backbone of strength and creativity and knowledge and happiness. And I couldn't imagine my life without it.
Baillee: Can you describe one of your favorite pieces that you've done?
April: I think my favorite piece of mine is the coat that was published in Fiber Art Now, just because it's kind of an accumulation of everything that we've talked about in the sense of my ancestry. You know, everybody, all the women in my family quilted.
So to incorporate a quilt and then going back to estate sale shopping—shopping with my grandmother—and just having that eye for stuff. And really, it's taken me over ten years to really have the confidence of natural dyeing. There's so much to learn. It will take me the rest of my life to truly understand it. So I think it's always enjoyable to learn something new from your practice.
I'm about to do a workshop. I started doing a medicinal color workshop series a couple of years ago where we explore the dye plant, but also the medicinal value. So since indigo has so much historic medicinal value across many, many cultures—from the Southern folk hoodoo to the African hoodoo to the Asian medicinal communities—there's a lot of different interesting things that they do with the plant.
So we're going to drink indigo tea from Nagasaki and some other things I don't want to give away yet. But the participants are going to do dyeing with the indigo vat that I already have. But we have maybe two hundred or so indigo plants right now, somewhere in that range. But we are going to pick the leaf. This is so cool: I have my logo and other screens and stencils, but you can take the leaf off the plant and rub it and get green.
Baillee: Oh wow. That's cool!
April: It amazes me because green is a very hard color to get in the natural dye world. That's the only plant that I know that you can literally take it off the plant—you don't have to do anything to the fiber—and that color, it's just gorgeous.
Baillee: We have some miscellaneous questions here: Do you have any superstitions or irrational fears?
April: I'm terrified of heights.
Baillee: Do you have any guilty pleasures?
April: Chocolate.
Baillee: Chocolate? That's a good one. What is something on your bucket list?
April: To be honest, building a costume for a show in Alabama, like a theater. Especially because I have four nieces and all of the work I've done in those terms have been in other states. So I would love for them to come to a show that I costumed.
Baillee: What do you want to be remembered for?
April: Kindness.
Baillee: I think that's a good one! People take that for granted a lot these days.
April: They do.
Baillee: What is a piece of advice that someone gave you that you still think about?
April: Actually, my dad. I remember when I started at Alabama and started to kind of follow in my grandmother's footsteps in terms of sewing, my dad just said, "Nobody will ever be able to take this away from you. You will always have this knowledge." And it's saved me so many times, like the pandemic. Making masks was how I made my income for that year. So having that knowledge, especially now... because it's not something that you can rush, it takes a very long time. So I'm grateful that I started that journey when I did.
Baillee: Here's our last question: What does Alabama need?
April: New ideas, open-mindedness. I think I already mentioned that, but it's not going to hurt anybody's position or career where they're at right now to bring in new ideas. I think it might help, especially in the arts.
Baillee: That's it for today's Quick-Fire Quips, a questionnaire where we get to know people who stand out in the state of Alabama. That was Birmingham artis April Bonasera of Dress Dye Magic, a Professional Bespoke Fashion, Costume and Dye Atelier. Find us at APR.org for more Quick-Fire Quips!
