This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Rowan chapter.
Savannah is one of Her Campus Rowan’s campus correspondents (along with myself) but she’s not just great at running this online magazine. Making dressses is also one of her talents. Read on to learn more about her fashion designing skills.
Hometown: Mays Landing
Year: Sophomore
Major: English
Age:19
1. How did you start making dresses?
I’ve always been a very hands-on person and fairly creative so making things comes natural to me. I started making dresses in July this year. I was taught the technique of hand-sewing (old school, with a needle and thread) when I was younger, but was always interested in learning how to use a sewing machine. I had a sewing machine, but had no idea how to use it for the longest time. When I wanted to start making dresses, I watched a couple of YouTube videos on how to get started and self-taught myself using the old copy of an instruction manual. Decoding that was the hardest part, but through trial and error (and serious frustration) I finally figured it out!
2. Where do you get inspiration from?
What really inspired me to make my first dress was the movie “Enchanted.” I love how Amy Adams’ character wakes up in the morning and makes a dress for the day. It’s kind of quirky and cute and I just thought, “Hey, I could do that!” Sometimes I look up images of dresses for inspiration and I’ll take elements from several dresses and plan to combine them into the concept for the dress I want to make, but really I just end up winging it.
3. How many have you made? What are you working on right now?
As of now, I have made 3 dresses and 4 skirts. Each of my dresses are like 3-in-1. The skirt is actually removable, so I can wear it separately. The top bodice portion of the dress is actually a short dress, the skirt just conceals that when it’s overtop. So, I have 1) a short, cocktail-style dress, 2) a skirt or 3) I put the skirt over the cocktail dress and I have a fit-and-flare dress. This is the case for each of my dresses I’ve made. The first dress I made has a cherries and sprinkles print. It reminds me of an ice cream sundae. The next dress I made is baby pink and for sure my favorite. I also made a black and white floral-printed skirt. Most recently, I completed a royal blue satin dress. I’m in the process of making a dress for my cousin for her Homecoming right now so a 4th dress is on its way!
4. What fabrics do you use?
When I made my first dress, the “sundae” one, I had a loose idea of what I had to do. The fabric was just some I randomly already had so I just went for it. When it came to slipping the bodice on after I made the dress, it was too small because the fabric I used didn’t stretch at all. I ended up grabbing an old Book Sox I had because it stretches and would give me a little wiggle room and cut down the sides of the bodice and sewed a panel of the hot pink Book Sox on. I think it turned out pretty well and I really like the solid hot pink on the sides because it compliments the cherries in the patterned sections. After learning that lesson, I now try to stick to fabrics that are stretchy (like used to make my baby pink dress) because it is so much easier to ensure the dress will fit. Lately, I’ve started working with elastic waistbands and zippers so I can branch out into other types of fabric.
5. Where is your work space? What does it look like?
As you can imagine, working with large amounts of fabric takes up a lot of space and I’ve actually found the best way for me to work is just by laying all my materials in an open space on the floor. While I’m in the process of making a dress, my set-up gets pretty wild. Scraps of fabric surround me and I have to be careful where I step as to not be punctured by a pin, but that’s what works for me. Organized chaos, as I like to call it. It’s really relaxing and just lets me get really creative and resourceful. I store all of my fabric in a drawer cart, sorted by color. My buttons go in a tin. I have an old tackle box that I keep chalk, scissors, pins, needles and other miscellaneous supplies in.
6. Have you considered starting a business and charging for your dresses?
I don’t know that I have the right resources or skill to make dresses as a business at this moment. Once I figure out sizing, other than being able to just make my own, I may be open to it though.
7. Where do you see your dress-making going in the future?
Right now, dress making is just a hobby for me. I’ve always been interested in fashion and pretty fearless when it comes to what I wear. I think it would be incredible to be able to design and make dresses for younger girls and women that embody my same confidence when it comes to what I wear because fashion is a fun way to express yourself and make a statement!
8. What do you like about making dresses?
I think my favorite part about making my own dresses is that I get to challenge myself to design something and incorporate things I already have on hand. Then, I’m left with a beautiful dress and pride in the work I’ve accomplished!
Additional facts:
- I don’t use a pattern or anything, I just start cutting and sew!
- I’ve made each of my dresses in about 4 hours, straight through in one sitting.
- During October, I started making an Elsa dress out of an un-used light blue pillowcase as the base, just for fun and I finished the bodice, but haven’t gone back to complete it.