This is a blog about my school and professional life. It consists of updates on my fashion shows, crafts, school projects, Threads and my internships with John Varvatos and Nautica.
Enjoy!
--Kerrie
Wow! Has it really been a whole year since I graduated?? This last year flew by and while I didn't find a job in the fashion industry right away I was very very busy working on Disheveled Designs, traveling, and learning tons of stuff on my own.
I'm writing to you from my apartment in New York. Yes! I did go back to New York -- however I'll be returning to the south after the new year. While being here I have met so many amazing people working as a seasonal sales associate at Madewell, Inc. I've learned even more about denim, and how to style a variety of clients.
I'll just give you a few highlights of what I've been working on since my last post.
I finished my first ever quilt! Yes, quilting! I'm into it! It's probably one of the most addicting things I've ever tried. I'm itching to make another one. It is pictured below (along with Charlie my cat) and it is linen on top, and the batting is 100% cotton. I made the pattern and cut miles of biased binding. I use it every night and it is super cozy!
My products are still available on Etsy (though I haven't updated since my move to New York) and also at Civic Threads in downtown Greensboro, NC. By far my best seller is the padded laptop cases. I've done a few custom orders, and I can make one for any size you need. Though I am out of stock of the fabric pictured below.
Surprisingly I didn't end up making much clothing at all this year. My favorite thing I made was this summery dress. I can't wait for it to get warm again so I can wear it!
My favorite custom project I did this year was this 50's style apron. The pattern was fairly simple to make, however my favorite part was picking the coordinating fabrics.
I also tried my hand at a number of other little crafting projects such as pressed plants like the one pictured below -- I found that clover in my front yard, so far I feel pretty lucky.
I also made little fabric envelopes using cotton fabric and fusible webbing.
I also made a few everyday totes the black one is the one I used all summer, and the red patterned one I made for my mom on her birthday.
Well that about wraps up my year! Happy New Year everyone!
Here's some news since my last post.
-I'm now a UNCG Alum!
-I've launched my accessories brand; which can be found at www.disheveleddesigns.com
-I am still located in Greensboro, NC and how have my own studio space where I work out of for my brand and free lancing
-Between Etsy and working two jobs, I am still open to relocating to a new city.
-I am selling a line under Disheveled Designs at Civic Threads located in downtown Greensboro. Below are examples of the products available. Follow my blogspot for DD here: www.disheveleddesigns.blogspot.com
The class chose three looks for my line. The first step is creating toiles for all the garments (6 in all!) and tech packs to accompany all the pieces.
I created a logo for my "company":
The first look I tackled was the grey pleated dress, below:
Then I created a flat sketch in Illustrator to put in the tech packs:
Then I worked on the body of the dress by draping it on a size 8 form:
Once I did the math on the pleating, I made a muslin sample:
After I make a few small adjustments, I'll sew it in the fashion fabric and post it!
After hours of sketching it's finally done! Tomorrow I will be presenting these to my professor, and we will narrow it down to 7, then my classmates will get to narrow it down further to 3 in a few weeks. The final collection will have one menswear look and two women's looks.
Over the years I've developed my own style of preferred sketching. Initially I hand sketch the garments and bodies, then I scan it in and color it with Adobe Photoshop. This is the second project where I've scanned my fabric, which takes a bit longer. With my fabric, I tile it so that it looks uniform on the screen, so essentially I have a "sheet" of fabric, then I overlay that on top of my garments. My favorite tools for shading are the "Burn" and "Dodge" tools located in the main tool bar in Photoshop, and this is the last step of the process.
If I'm feeling particularly like an over achiever, I'll put in skin tones and shading as well - didn't happen this time... I
Here is the presentation I presented as my initial mood board for my Senior Collection. We are to make three looks. I intend on making one male look and two female looks.
Most of the images on this board came from things I've found on tumblr and reblogged, follow me! http://everysewoften.tumblr.com/
I haven't had too much experience sketching males (20 sketches are due this thursday!) So I've been making some male croquis as a base for the garments. Here's a little sneak peak!
I'll be doing an update with some of the final sketches in a week or so!
I know it's been dreadfully long since my last post, but I promise I'm still alive!
I've wrapped up my internship at John Varvatos, and am back in the South. I had am amazing experience there, and learned more than I could possibly have imagined. As soon as I got back I traveled around NC a bit, on family vacation and with friends. Though I have a special place in my heart for New York City, it was great to come back to the beautiful landscapes of North Carolina.
Sunset at my parents home
Since my last post, I've procured my own domain name! www.kerrierogers.net which leads you to my portfolio site. I've also printed new business cards! They have a QR code on them, so if someone wants to add my info to their smart phones, they just have to scan it! On my iPhone, I've downloaded the RedLaser App to scan codes, and it works quite well.
I am in the midst of my last semester of school! Yes, it is quite terrifying... however I can't wait to graduate and start a new life. This semester I am taking a fashion illustration course (finally) and my final studio is a technical design course, and we are creating a senior line.
So far I have created a trend board and come up with a color palate. Later I'll post a presentation link to the trend board, but for now I'll leave you with the picture that inspired the collection and color palate that I wish to find fabric swatches for. The collection will be for fall/winter 2012 and will have two women's looks and one men's.
Friday June 17, 2011 Today I transferred base trim sheets into the new tech packs I’ve been working on. Trim sheets hold all of the details for the garment including buttons, zippers, and thread. It also has specific information about the factories and venders each garment comes from. Because we don’t know the factories yet for all our new pre-fall garments, we just use the base trim sheets as a placeholder or outline for the new garment. I am definitely completing one of the learning goals for my summer internship class: (#5) “Learn how to produce line and trim sheets in the Design department in association with the Technical department”. The trim and spec sheets get continuously updated with each sample that comes in. I also finally got to sew something! I had to replace all the buttons on a vest…
Saturday June 18, 2011 Today my roommate Kathryn and I explored all around our neighborhood. It started with a beautiful lunch in Union Square:
Then we found a friendly community garden in the East Village:
She and I are both cat lovers, so of course we had to visit Ollie's Place for Cats - a no kill animal shelter. We both fell in love with a few felines. When I'm living in NY permanently, I will definitely be back.
Monday June 20, 2011 Today I altered the spec sheets that I put into the system last week for the Star USA design team. They had a free lancer come in (who used to be a an intern there!) to do large technical sketches for the new designs. I will be shadowing her, to learn how she makes the large technical sketches, which look like a mix between a pattern, and a fashion sketch. The idea is the sketch she is making is life size, and has exactly the measurements that they want the factory to produce. The design element makes it easier for the factory to understand exactly how they want smaller details, such as pockets, to look. I also had one of my first problem solving projects. For our some of our garments, we are placing a screen-printing detail over a pleat. My job was to figure out how to make the graphic be pleated, but to the eye, not altered. This took a couple prototypes, but I figured out that I needed to slash and spread the graphic so that when it gets pleated, it doesn’t lose any of the center details. To do this I brought it into Photoshop, cut it in half and spread it at the angle I needed, then I filled in the gap with a continuation of the graphic, so that if the pleat is spread apart, the graphic doesn’t lose any of its edginess.
Tuesday June 21, 2011 Today I continued transferring and updating spec sheets for Star USA design. The most exiting part of the day was getting to sit in and watch the technical designers spec garments. I learned the points of measurement, and some other little techniques on how best to get an accurate measurement. It was really interesting watching them work, and be able to get such accurate measurements, even though they seem to be moving so fast. One of the tech designers said, “sometimes we have just a few minutes to spec a garment if it comes in just before the fit model arrives. That definitely makes you get faster - trying to beat the clock.” They said I’ll be able to do some practice specs soon!
Wednesday June 22, 2011 Today I completed one of my learning goals! “(#1) Learn how to properly spec samples for final production.” One of the tech designers gave me a blank print out of a garment that he had already finished and a tape measurer. After I was done, I was able to compare my measurements to his, and ask questions to see if I could do anything differently. In total I did two shirts and two pairs of pants. The first two took a really long time for me because I was just starting out. But by the fourth piece I was comfortable with where to measure and was so much faster. I really liked it, and I’m now considering becoming a technical designer! Not just because I think specing is fun, but also because the job is so detail oriented, which I think fits my personality and strengths. The second half of the day, I worked on finding inspiration for the fall 2012 collection. This involves researching and looking through countless blogs and websites to find pictures I think the designers may like, or garments that they may be inspired by.
Thursday June 23, 2011 Today the other interns and myself were introduced to a summer long project; organizing the archive. The archive holds a sample from each collection from the start of the brand (2000). It also has racks of the fashion show looks – still in their garment bags and in order from the show. It’s a large storage room with really tall ceilings, and rolling walls that could be scary if someone didn’t know you were in an aisle and you got squished. It’s all sorted into leathers, outerwear, blazers, pants, jeans, knits, woven shirts, shoes, bags etc. There is also a large section of vintage clothing that John found and liked that he uses as inspiration for future lines. Our job is to further organize and clean up the room, which can get disorderly with so many people coming in and out. Towards the end of the day I got my first taste of technical sketches by being given the job of fixing any of the sketches that needed to be updated after the technical designer viewed them. This included whiting out top stitch lines, and re-drawing them, 1/16th of an inch from where, to changing the size of the buttons drawn. I learned that Buttons are measured in lignes, and zippers in gauges. We have a special ruler that has perfect circles in the size of the buttons for you to draw onto the technical sketch. The fun part is making the buttons look 3D by drawing on the threads and such – like the one I drew below:
Friday June 24, 2011 Today I continued updating and changing the large technical drawings that the free lancer didn’t have time to change. Next week I should be doing a couple sketches on my own!
Saturday June 25, 2011 Today my roommate Kathryn and I went to Central Park and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I love going to places like the Met because I get so much inspiration from all the Art and Architecture shown there (it's also donations only!).
I've always loved stained glass, and I loved the draping quality of the dress she's wearing. I expect to keep referring back to this picture for some projects.
I loved the draping on this statue; of course, if I made one it would be a bit more modest.
I also get inspired by the shapes that I see, like this early 20th century elevator gate. I see a textile pattern in the making.
We made our way to the roof top garden at the Met and I attempted to take a picture using the panorama app on my iPhone.
The Ukrainian Institute of America Building has a beautiful arch at it's entrance.
Sunday June 26, 2011 Today we went to the Pride March:
After the march we walked through Washington Square Park and to the Peanut Butter and Co Shop for a gourmet peanut butter sandwich. Mine was called the Elvis - Crunchy peanut butter, banana and honey on whole wheat bread and it was sooo good.
