New computer

as of recently I have been sewing a lot more for other people than myself. But I recently bought myself a new laptop and it renewed my creative spirit! it is a convertible laptop so I can use it as a tablet and design on it. here are a few of my first attempts.

gauchos in Canada

While I have been doing a lot of reupholstering I have had some time to so for myself. The first project was a pair of gauchos made from chambray. I love that the cropped wide leg is coming back into style, but I am so short (5ft) that even if I buy a pair and hem them it takes away from the drama of the leg, so I decided to make my own! I found a basic pattern at JoAnn fabrics and altered it to fit what I wanted cause people who pattern draft understand, sometimes you just don’t feel like making your own pattern from scratch even if you can. I put an elastic waist with a ruffled top into these to give them a little more drama and cropped them at mid-calf. Over all I love these pants! I wear them constantly and I brought them to Canada when I went and got so many compliments! I think I will be making them in every color when I have time!

flare legged pants

The other piece I got to make myself was a stunning pair of pants that I wore to my brother’s graduation party. I couldn’t love them more, they are an earth tone green with pleats and a wrap flare leg that opens! I’m obsessed! They have a back zipper and a fitted waist band. 1i toyed with the idea of elastic but decided it would take away from them if they had it. I drafted this pattern myself which took some trial and error to make sure the slits would line up right, so they didn’t open all the way up. I love them and wear them all the time and people can’t believe I made them and always want a pair for themselves.

pattern making

Because my collection was so patterned I remade every sketch with the corresponding pieces numbered so when I made the patterns I would know what went where, as well as what fabric to cut it out of.

Senior collection

Some detail shots of my collection.

senior collection

Here is my senior collection walking the runway! I was awarded first place best craftsmanship by the judges, it was a wonderful experience to go though this process and creating a collection that I truly loved!

concept sketches

Here are some of my concept sketches for my senior collection before I had a full idea of the direction I was going to go in.

Evening Gown

This is my final project from junior year draping. It is an Art Deco inspired strapless gown with a patch worked bottom. I was honored to received first place in the junior draping competition for it.

sketches

Here are just a few sketches I've done in my free time that I wanted to share

WeBe Bags

This past winter I had the pleasure of working for the company WeBe bags. They create eco-friendly bags out of canvas and other recycled items to create cool and quirky styles. These are the bag prototypes I created for them. Check them out! http://www.webebags.com

Wicked sketches

Here are the sketches of my three final wicked looks before I digitized them for my final mood boards.

trench coat

This is one of my most recent sewing projects. The jacket and pants are made from beautiful suiting fabric I got on south street in Philadelphia. This outfit was inspired by reflection and the reflections that come off of buildings, so I tried to create an outfit that a woman possibly working in those glass high-rises would wear.

Reversible Jacket

This is a reversible jacket that a made for another class. I was inspired by nature vs. the city. The brown side is a loose woven that looks almost like bark up close. The grey side is a corduroy, the stripes in the fabric reminded me of all the metal you see in a city. the collar is red to symbolize a setting sun and that no matter where you are, a city or somewhere in the country we are all on one earth.

patch skirt

I made this outfit for one of my basic pattern making class at school. It was inspired by the architecture of the engineering building here on University of Delaware campus. I hated this skirt when I was making it because I sewed every individual piece together to make the full skirt, but I was very happy with the final outcome. The skirt and collar of the shirt are faux suede and then the bodice of the shirt is made of a light weight woven polyblend.

summer Kimono

This is a Kimono I made for a friend. she wanted a over sized and flowing Kimono cardigan which was very in last summer. This is what I created for her.

handkerchief sweater

This is a sweater I made in my spare time. I found this great textured knit that makes up the body of this sweater in Philadelphia and had to have it. 

collard shirt

This was one of the first pieces of clothing I made at the University of Delaware. It is a jean shirt with a woven cotton plaid as the accents.   

Shift Dress

This was my first project in my draping class this semester. It is a 60's inspired shift dress with a bow closure in the back.