Recap: Part 3

I was a really bad blogger in the fall. School overwhelmed my life... you guys know the story. So there isn't much that I put on the blog that I can recap on, but there are some things I haven't told you!



For example... the time I stayed up til 3am working on my muslin sample book... I started falling asleep on my computer so I decided I'd wake up at 7:30, print my mounting pages off and put it together before the 10:10 class. I didn't wake up til 9:30, and even though I scrambled to get the book together, I was an hour late to my 2 1/2 hour long class. After some apologies and extra credit, things turned out perfectly okay, but I thought for a while that I was going to lose all credit for the project--and there were definitely some tears involved with that.



Or the time I got a great grade on my research paper & my English professor told me he wanted me to submit it to my school's undergrad research paper (that was a good day, and yes, I'm going to follow through with that)... or when my friend gave me highlighter tattoos of owls and hearts (perfect combination!) under blacklights at some odd hour of the night... or the time my friend Tommy & I decided we'd find a shortcut home from church, and there ended up being this 6' chain-link fence... and I was in a dress, and heels, of course. (You'd better believe I climbed it!)


2010 was big and grand, with so many changes. I had a lot of ups and downs, but I did things I'm proud of & made choices I'm happy with. I learned SO much, am much more independent, and feel more confident than I ever have before.

Enough with the recapping! Let's get on with the new year. It's going to be magnificent, I can tell. This year, I'm making choices that are right for me. I'm going to be spontaneous and I'm going to kick my procrastination habit in the bum (for real!). I'm also going to blog... a lot more! Thought you were rid of me this fall, didn't you? Think again! Haha. I'm starting a challenge with a few friends of mine where we blog every day of January & comment on each other's posts. Care to join in? Leave a comment & a link to your blog & I'll swing by every day to check out your posts!

So, bring on the goodness, 2011!

FUSED. part 1

Our final project in my Apparel 101 class was to work with a group to create a company, design a seven piece line, & figure out marketing techniques and a brand and sourcing and everything that goes along with starting a company. I wanted to share ours with you because we're all super proud of it, and it completely took over our lives for about a month.

Our brand is called FUSED, inspired by different cultures and based off of the idea that our line is a melting pot of different ethnic styles mixed--fused--together. We make sophisticated clothing marketed to 18-25 year old women, and this particular line was for Fall 2011.

We started out by deciding on our brand, market, and competitors. Lindsay sketched up a bunch of possible designs for us to pick from, and we all started gathering fabrics. Although it wasn't part of the requirement, we chose to make our entire line, hoping to wow our professor. We spent eight hours sewing one chilly Sunday, after spending eight hours the day before putting together our presentation boards and working on the charity foundation we created to go along with the company.

We did so much and spent so much time on it that I don't think I can even begin to cover it all, so I'll just dive in and show you some pictures. This is a two-part post because there are so many!



Here we are, hard at work in the CAD lab. We had to outline our designs in heavy black pen, scan them in, scan in our prints, & then fill the designs in with color & fabric.





Finished flats & sketches!



We took over our entire lounge when we started to piece the boards together.



Making bracelets for our charity, "Fire."



We hand-stenciled about 90 ribbons, strung them together with some nice cording, and handed them out to the class the day we presented. Everyone loves free stuff, so it was a hit!





Sewing day! Ah, typical apparel majors... I'm pretty certain we had more machines than people in that room!



When we finished our line, we of course had to put together a photoshoot! We hunted around in one of the buildings on campus one evening, and came across this mostly empty, unlocked gallery. It was so perfect for our purpose! Our fried Hannah & I took the pictures, trying to work super quickly so we wouldn't get caught/into trouble for being in there.





More to come soon!

Recap: Part 2

Summer was amazing. May was about finishing up finals & going home, going to orientation at the university I currently attend, and graduating. Hurrah! I also gave up coffee for the summer... I'm not sure if I wrote about that, but it was kind of a big deal.



I was crazy productive in June. I made several dresses, put together tutorials (video style!), snapped outfit photos often, whipped my internet life into shape, and bought my domain. I also re-did a room in one of our cabins--sanding the floor, painting the walls, and refinishing.



I sewed more in July, worked more, threw my graduation party, went camping, had countless campfires, went canoeing and had adventures, splashed in the beautiful water, & watched as the summer flew by.



August was lovely. More of the same summer business with particularly memorable campfires (burning cabinets, eating marshmallows, and reading Shel Silverstein poems)... and then, at the end of the month, my brother and his fiancee flew down from Alaska and got married at our place. It was a beautiful wedding and the reception was a blast... a perfect end to a wonderful summer!

Recap: Part 1

Happy 2011! In the spirit of moving on, I figured I'd recap the last year and put the past in the past before moving on to bigger and better things this year. So!

Last January, I moved away from home for the first time to go to college--while still in high school. It was difficult and exciting and I learned a lot about myself, how to deal, and how to balance.


In February, I began to get into a routine. It was when I made my final decision to transfer in the fall to a school more suited to my interests. I met people, had fantastic times with my brother & our friends, had some rough days where I really questioned my decision to move away, and finally settled in.



March was a fun month. Classes were good, friends were good, and spring break was right in the middle of the month. Went home, made dresses, had a jolly time, etc.

April was crazy busy. I was not only busy with college classes, but I was working on graduating high school as well. Somehow I still fit in time to sew, go to concerts and plays, and swing dance with cute boys. (Recap parts 2 & 3 coming shortly!)

I always wait a couple days to write out my official resolutions, and then I end up making a massive list that is hardly accomplish-able. But I chalk it up to always trying to be better, & one can't say that that's a bad thing! What are your resolutions this year? Do you even make resolutions or do you ignore the tradition?

Playing Catch-Up

It's been a while and I have so much to catch up on! But for the last four days, I've been thoroughly enjoying being home and on break, and I couldn't bring myself to do anything responsible, haha. Now it's time to whip my internet life into shape and get back into the swing of things! I have some major plans for the next few weeks (I don't go back to school until the 23rd or so), and I doubtlessly will run out of time to execute them all, but hopefully I'll be able to surprise you guys with some special stuff to make up for my absences this fall.

How was your Christmas? I hope you all had a lovely day spent with your families. I certainly did! I think my favorite part of the day was after all the festivities and eating and extended family visiting and such. My parents, my brother and I all sat down, and after a devotion, we listened to Loreena McKennitt's latest Christmas album and were just together. My mom was sitting at her spinning wheel, I was sketching, and we finally got to spend some quality family time. That sounds so tame, but it was really the best of times.



hat / handmade by mom | scarf / the niche | shirt / handmade | skirt / mom's closet, shortened by me | sweater / boden | tights / welovecolors.com | flats / gift



More to come soon! Belated Merry Christmas to you all.