The Fashion Show and All It Entailed

Part One

So, I've been saying for the last 3 years at Marley that I wanted to have an end-of-the-year fashion show for my Project Runway students. I mean, seriously--what better way to showcase students' hand-made projects? They are always so proud of them; they deserve to show them off to the public. But, between grad school and life and just plain ol' being busy, it never happened. But now, since I'm moving to NJ and won't be at Marley next year (cue tears and tissues... I am going to MISS MY KIDS), I knew this was the year it HAD to be done. I built it up from August all the way through April until THE month finally came: May. [Most] sewing projects done, time to plan.

Planning a fashion show for 50+ kids--and that's just the ones brave enough to walk the runway-- isn't easy. It's time consuming, stressful, but overall it is FUN. I wanted the kids to be as much the main planners as possible so they could take the credit. All six Project Runway classes (truly now over 100 kids) formed committees, made seating plans, wrote blurbs about themselves, made the order of the show, made advertisements, planned outfits, you name it--they did it. With semi-minimal harassment from me.

Meanwhile, I had to--NUMBER ONE--find a runway. Where does one get a runway? Well, thank God for Jericho Stage, Inc. These down-home Baltimore guys were angels in blue jeans (or, at least, I assume that's what these rugged-sounding guys wore). I said, "We have $200 to spend." They said, "Okay, it'll cost you $200 then"-- a huge discount. They were so great to work with. Thank God also for the people who volunteered to pick it all up for us and set it up, take it down, and return it, saving yours truly an out-of-pocket (yet discounted) $125 delivery charge. Three weeks of planning, lots of stress, put it all together, and you get this:

Oh, what fun. The kids got RAVE reviews from everyone. While I'm beyond excited about moving, I will be so sad to leave this better-than-great bunch of kids. This is what being a teacher is all about.

Part 2

So, it seems that I can never plan any kind of major event without torturing myself. I may or may not have mentioned holding a "WIN HOMEMADE PAJAMAS!" contest/incentive back at Christmas? Yeah. This was that, times a kaflillion.

I got the bright idea that, since we weren't charging admission, we could make money for the department by raffling off homemade items...homemade by me. And some students who left projects because they moved...but yeah, mostly me. Sigh. The main project was a quilt--the idea of which I'd been brainstorming my entire time at Marley--made from project scraps from student projects. I literally collected scraps and had the students cut squares from every scrap I could find. Every fabric in every square has a face and a name to me. After two years of kids cutting squares and hours of slaving away, making it up as I go along, I was so sad to raffle this off last Thursday:

 So much fun, and totally worth the aching back it (literally) gave me!

Part 3

So, the rule is, you can't be in the show unless you are wearing/displaying something you made! So of course that applies to me, too. Remember this?  Well, it switched to this:

Awesome, right? So I start it well in advance and then go to find I'm about a yard short (the layout for the pieces is weird). Of COURSE I bought it months ago and it doesn't exist at Joann's anymore; luckily, I found it online at Sweet Bobbins Fabric on Etsy. Man, are these guys my heroes! Here's why: when I found their store, they shipped it quickly and had great communication and the best customer service you could ask for. Then, when it came and I CUT THE PATTERN PIECE OUT WRONG(!!!!!!!!) like a moron, I needed more right away because the fashion show was approaching fast. Mike at Sweet Bobbins searched high and low for me, to no avail. Luckily (or so I thought) I was able to find the fabric in another online store; by the time Mike messaged me saying he had found more, I had purchased it already. I paid stupidly a lot for "TWO-DAY" shipping, which turned into THREE (a.k.a THE DAY BEFORE THE FASHION SHOW).

Fast forward to the evening before the show; I stayed at school until 5:30 finishing the quilt and other raffle items, came home only to find that the fabric I was sent was the upholstery version of the fabric. FAIL. What to do? Start over, of course. Completely new fabric, completely different pattern. Frantic rifling through my patterns to find a simple, yet awesome one. Enter Vintage Simplicity 8783, circa 1970:

(Not my picture)

I had made it before (not yet blogged about), the dress with flowy sleeves. I figure I'd try using the regular sleeves with a sheer fabric this time. Bad-a-boom! Fashion show dress:

 Shockingly, it only took me until 10:30pm to finish it. But, that's not what matters. The Fashion Show was a hit, the kids were adorable and had fun, and dang it, I'm going to miss them.

 

Skirt Mania

Who doesn't want to be able to make inexpensive, simple skirts in mass quantities and many varied styles? I know I do. The simple elastic waist skirt pattern (discussed here and tutorial here) have given both me and my students that opportunity. My girls LOVED making these skirts. Some made multiple ones. Girls who weren't even in the class would pay me money for fabric to make them. One of my favorite students (who is now going into high school...sniff sniff) loved one so much, and I had extra, that she made one too and we both wore them today. Total nerds--gotta love it! Oh how I wish I could post that picture. In any case, I highly recommend this project to anyone who is just starting out and wants to be able to significantly add to their wardrobe.

You can make it simple:

Or you can mix it up a little with ruffles and layers and such:

I saw that fabric at Joann's and just couldn't pass it up. Look closely and you will see that the flowers are 3-D-- they are sewn on and stick out and are AWESOME.

So, in conclusion-- cheap, simple skirts. Thank you, cheap Wal-Mart fabric...and overly priced Joann's Fabric! :)