Sew Thus is Life...

I won't waste too much time explaining my collection, as you can read all the background here . But for recap's sake this is the final incarnation of my final senior collection/ capstone project at PhilaU. It's titled "Grandstand Diva" and is supposed to invoke the feeling of a day at the races, namely the Triple Crown. All the constructed dresses were named after one of the tracks, and the accessories created in my elective course reflect the horse than won a race there. I now present "Grandstand Diva" The Collection Pimlico- Pimlico (named for the Preakness Stakes) is a 3/4 sleeve peplum cocktail dress featuring a low scoop back, ruched side skirt and an exposed zipper back. Dress front with belt Side; with skirt ruching detail Dress Back with back ruching and zipper Exposed zipper detail Churchill Downs-  Churchill Downs, home to the famous Kentucky Derby, served at the inspiration for this fitted sweetheart neckline sheath...

 This post is very seriously delayed. I am proud to announce that after 4 and a half years (9 semesters, countless months, probably over a $100K in tuition and another $50K due in loan interest...) I am a graduate of Philadelphia University (formerly the College of Science and Textiles). This post is late because I have spent every day since last Friday making up for all the lost sleep. Now that I'm refreshed, I can finally update all on my life. This post will also be split. (I've decided to allow my fashion-y things have its own spotlight.) Looking back, this semester was TOUGH. Tough financially (for my dad). Tough socially (the first semester without half my friends on campus, and most of my core girls gone). Tough on my boyfriend (he had a hard time as to why he couldn't visit... one day he'll understand and appreciate.) Tough academically (balancing a 3 day/ 24 hour a week internship and 3 classes.) But by the grace of God I finished on top. My cumulat...

This is my last week of college. EVER. (hopefully). I'm so stressed that I broke out into hives last night. It's BAD. Add to that the stress of packing to move home and finding a job since it doesn't look like my internship is going to come through for me, despite a positive general review and glowing praise from one of my favorite teams. (At least that's how I feel, one of the managers isn't happy about that either.) A job I applied for last Saturday back in Maryland is already rubbing me the wrong way and upon some research I almost feel this is not where I need to be. It's too much uncertainty pushed into a small window with very little hope. I honestly just want to be done. I just want to sleep.

So when I started my collection I asked a few of my peers (and my very out-there work study supervisor) how they felt about a purse made of lacquered feathers. It was met first by confusion, then intrigue, then finally after some thought, a hearty "Yes! Do it!" So I embarked on stalking eBay for bird feathers. I decided on macaw parrots as they naturally have the greens and blues so prevalent in my collection. I found a great deal on sets of 50 (thanks to kcvpjulie ) and set out to make a feathered bag. I already had hollow clamshell purse frames in my possession and I also needed to make the "shells". My professor suggested using buckram (a glue-covered woven fabric that's used in hat-making  to create the shape of my bag. I found buckram alone to be too flimsy- but backed with oak tag (a heavy paperboard) I found the shape and sturdiness to be quite pleasing. It ended up looking like this: buckram frame from the inside From there I had to practice my...

Recently an old girlfriend of mine reached out to me and asked me to make a video for her kids through Teach for America (shes a Physics teacher in Jackson, MS-- a LONG cry from Gettysburg or Philadelphia). In it she wanted me to profile how I got interested in fashion design, what my job is like, the ups and downs of the field, my educational background and quick advice. Whatever I could cram into 5 minutes or less. Naturally I obliged, but with my nutso schedule what was supposed to be delivered in  a couple days took 2 weeks. (oops!) Anyhow I got a spark and got it turned around and finally made and edited yesterday. So I present: Le Video. If you are interested in broadening the horizons of high school students, my friends name is Veronica Keefer and she is always looking for new material for her students. Email me or her if interested, This is a great way to expose kids to professions they ordinarily wouldn't know about, or may not understand. Shes also looking for more...

Dying the ground color of my fabric. The sateen was stark white and my professor wasn't super excited about the shade. So I coffee dyed it, 3 pots and a million and a half grounds later I got a shade I like but unfortunately I followed ill advice (durn internet) and put the grounds in with the dye solution, so it could continue to "steep" or "brew" if you will. Bad, BAD idea. I had to put the fabric in the washing machine and hope the spin cycle can toss the few straggling grains out of the fabric. I'm a little concerned too now that the finish wasn't quite strong enough and since I hadn't dried (aka heat set) it yet the color will continue to leech out. That's the problem with using homemade and natural dyes. I'll post pictures of the painting process as I go through it tomorrow. You can see the color (before the 4th wash) below. WELL. That was sometime last week. FAIL . However, I made up for lost posting time by being super productive. ...

I promised a new post and here it is! So much has developed with Collection/ Accessory design and I'm super excited today. In fact just this weekend I bought material for my first two dresses AND the leather I need to make my first bag and a matching belt for the first dress. FOR LESS THAN $80! Super proud. Thats not all I accomplished. I've taken to naming my pieces, like many of the stores do and came up with a great back story. We have to do a minimum of three pieces, and there are 3 races in the Triple Crown (If I had truly started planning over the summer I would've done 4 and named the last after the Royal Ascot). So my 3 dresses are named Pimlico, Belmont and Churchill Downs. We also have to do 3 accessories that I'm coordinating as total looks. I paired them by naming the coordinating accessory after the horse that won the respective race in an important year in my life. The Pimlico dress is complemented by the "I'll Have Another (2012)" clutch, ...