I've recently begun taking classes from Canada College's Fashion Department. So far it's been a lot of fun and a lot of work!
I first heard of Canada's Fashion Department a year ago when I attended Artistry in Fashion, the design school's premiere event. I went with a friend who was so inspired by the event she signed up for a class that spring. Not one to be left behind - I waited to hear how her first class went and then I signed up for a class the next fall.
Now back to the challenge! It was coming down to the last couple of weeks of class and I had two major projects due back to back. I had to create two outfits - from scratch! Meaning design the outfit, create the pattern, and make the garment. I had only one open weekend in my schedule to focus on these projects. After working 8 hours on Sat and another 6 hours on Sunday my projects were semi complete. Pattern work was done, and the garments were complete enough to fit on the dress forms in class - but there was plenty of work to be done on finishing touches. I worked the next two weeks, every weekday to finish the garments. Each garment was at least 12 hours of work.
I'm not complaining, it was a great experience to get the practice of creating a pattern and then refining it as you work through constructing the garment.
In the end, all I can say is I don't know how the designers on Project Runway do it! I had more time than many of the challenges on Project Runway and thankfully none of the constraints - but I was exhausted by the time I was done. Given this was my first pattern class - my designs were very simple - not nearly the kind of creative talent you see on Project Runway. But for a weekend I felt like I, kind of, experienced what it was like to be a competitor on Project Runway - in my own mind anyway.
Here are my very simple garments created for my flat pattern class.
I first heard of Canada's Fashion Department a year ago when I attended Artistry in Fashion, the design school's premiere event. I went with a friend who was so inspired by the event she signed up for a class that spring. Not one to be left behind - I waited to hear how her first class went and then I signed up for a class the next fall.
Now back to the challenge! It was coming down to the last couple of weeks of class and I had two major projects due back to back. I had to create two outfits - from scratch! Meaning design the outfit, create the pattern, and make the garment. I had only one open weekend in my schedule to focus on these projects. After working 8 hours on Sat and another 6 hours on Sunday my projects were semi complete. Pattern work was done, and the garments were complete enough to fit on the dress forms in class - but there was plenty of work to be done on finishing touches. I worked the next two weeks, every weekday to finish the garments. Each garment was at least 12 hours of work.
I'm not complaining, it was a great experience to get the practice of creating a pattern and then refining it as you work through constructing the garment.
In the end, all I can say is I don't know how the designers on Project Runway do it! I had more time than many of the challenges on Project Runway and thankfully none of the constraints - but I was exhausted by the time I was done. Given this was my first pattern class - my designs were very simple - not nearly the kind of creative talent you see on Project Runway. But for a weekend I felt like I, kind of, experienced what it was like to be a competitor on Project Runway - in my own mind anyway.
Here are my very simple garments created for my flat pattern class.
Here are some other garments being shown at our last class
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