Last Plan

The two things I accomplished within these past two weeks were shipping out my next 5 orders and finishing my dragon pants. Listed below are screenshots showing I shipped the orders and pictures of my dragon pants completed.

 I thoroughly enjoyed taking innovations twice! It was the perfect opportunity for me to have class time in school to work on something I’m really interested in fashion. It helped me experiment in the fashion field as well as helped me start my own brand with now over 60 orders!

 

Next In Fashion Show

I chose to watch episode 5 titled “Underwear”, in which the challenge was to design lingerie for a male and female. The guest star judge was Adriana Lima one of the most famous supermodels out there. The contestants were given different size models and had to design accordingly. I thought it would be interesting to choose this episode because i’ve never seen one of these types of shows with a lingerie challenge. That being said there were a lot of things and skills learned from watching just this one episode. 

One of the main things I took from the challenge was, don’t be afraid to think outside the box. Especially with lingerie a lot of it looks the same with the common lace, silk, etc.The group that did the best and won the challenge was the group that went the most out there. They used bright vibrant colors and really made a statement with both the women and mens look. This really shows how thinking outside the box although may be scary at first can turn out in your favor. Especially in the fashion industry where there is so much of the same old same old even just in average stores, you really have to be willing to take risks and do things that maybe some brands would be scared to do. 

Another thing I took from the challenge is sometimes less is more. The group that the judges seemed to favor the least went a little overboard with the lace material they used. They used different colors of lace and it all just clashed and didn’t look flattering at all. The concept was there as the judges said but it was just too much going on with the large amount of fabric they used. 

Lastly, probably the biggest thing I learned from watching was what really makes the look sometimes is just the right fit. Making clothes that flatters the size of the person they’re for can do more than anything else. Making the model feel comfortable and confident in what they’re wearing, especially in this episode with lingerie, can prove to be one of the most important things. 

Two Week Plan

One of the things I accomplished in the past two weeks was creating more designs to sell on my depop. I made a few logo tanks as well, listed below are a few of the designs.

The second thing I set out to accomplish was selling some of my designs which I have in soaring colors. I now average about an order or two a day. Listed below is the list of orders I have received and now am going to make.

 

I would say my biggest accomplishment is selling my designs to people. It’s really fun to make them but also nice to make a profit off them. Especially during quarantine people seem to be shopping more online which is great for me and my shop.

I could of done better planning out all these sales because once I posted all my digital designs I instantly started getting a lot of messages from people with orders which was great but I hadn’t actually created any of them physically yet. I figured I would create them as I go because I wasn’t certain I would get a lot of orders but now after receiving a lot of them I wish I had created some of the products before hand.

Update On Dragon Pants & other projects

Continuing on with the dragon pants, within the last couple weeks I have finished putting rhinestones on both sides as well as starting to glue on the orange feathers. To do this I have to individually glue the tips of the feathers onto the pants arranging them in a way that makes the pants look good. As of now I’ve finished gluing the orange feathers on one side and am about to start gluing them on the other. I still have to order pink feathers to add to both sides as well once I’m done with the orange. I also wanted to order some orange crystals as well to add on top of the feathers to make the pants shine even more.

Also within the last few weeks on a side note I’ve been digitally designing a lot of new designs that I’m selling on my Depop. I did this whole nostalgia inspired theme with shows from my generations childhood and made tank tops out of them. I recently made a lot of sales off of my designs so continuing forward I will be working to ship those orders out to people as well. Some of the tanks I designed are listed below.

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Dragon Pants

To start the process of making the pants I used a white chalk fabric pencil to trace out the design of the dragon making sure to sketch the head especially sharply so when I went in with the paint I could see the outline clearly. I drew lines and criss crossed them to make the outline of what would eventually become the scales. Then I repeated on the other side trying to make it as symmetrical as possible. This idea of symmetry was one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced thus far. I didn’t use a ruler instead I based where I drew things off the lining of the jeans. However if I had used an actual ruler things would have definitely gone smoother. Also the longer I would look at both sketches the more and more I would find minor imperfections to fix. At points I felt as though I was looking at them so long that my eyes we’re going bad so I brought my brother in to tell me what he thought in relation to the symmetry. He said that they looked symmetrical and gave me the important advice that unless I printed the design onto them from the computer they’re never going to be one hundred percent symmetrical and that I should keep moving in the process. I found this advice to deem very true. However, had I used a ruler they would have been that much more symmetrical.

The next step after finishing the outlines of both dragons I began in with the paint. I used 3D fabric paint, and started painting the yellow part of the dragon’s head with a vibrant yellow color as well as the feathers using orange and pink. This part went a lot smoother than the sketching phase particularly because I knew that I didn’t have to paint the feathers amazingly because I am going to input orange and pink ostrich feathers on top of the painting.

Then I mixed two different shades of pink and a white color to make the perfect color shade for the body of the dragon. Then I painted the outline of the dragon as well as the teeth and tongue too. I repeated that for the other side too. Then I started filling in the scales of the dragon which made it look a lot more detailed and next level even. Shading in the scales added a lot more dimension to the dragon.

As of now I am starting the bedazzling process gluing Swarovski crystals onto the dragon. It may seem as though I’m almost done, however I still have to add orange and pink ostrich feathers once I’m done gluing all the crystals. It was a bit hard to get a clear photo because the crystals are a bit blinding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Back To The 2000’s” Line

Staring off the new term, I’ve been adding a bunch of new designs I’ve created to my line that I’ve officially titled “Back To The 2000’s”. Taking a step back and looking at all the things I’ve created thus far the whole year 2000 theme seems to fit each piece well correlating with the name of the line. I took the time to layout all the pieces I’ve made thus far nicely on a clothing rack which has helped me realize how proud I am of all the things I’ve created thus far and also how much more I want to create in the following weeks.

Thus far I’ve worked a lot with denim, crystals, cute graphic tees. With my future pieces I mainly hope to elevate my designs. My main focus in the next few weeks is going to be these Swarovski Crystal dragon pants with ostrich feathers that I’ve sketched. Much like the crystal snake pants I made previously they are going to take a lot more time to make. However this time instead of using just ordinary crystals I’m going to be using Swarovski crystals as I said before to elevate the design and make the pants shine more. I’m also going to be using different colored Swarovski crystals to match the colors of the dragon in the sketch instead of using only clear crystals. These pants will be a good representation of all the skills I’ve developed so far this year. Working with crystals, sketching, painting, etc., they will no doubt be a challenge as the snake pants were but one that I’m up for. 

Snake Pants

To start off making these pants I had a rough idea of what I design was. I started by sketching the snake on a scrap piece of paper just to visualize my design more. I knew from the start I wanted to make the snake out of crystals so that it would stand out more on the pants. Previously I’ve used crystals on smaller projects so I had a good amount of skill already which made me think the pants would go well. I’m very interested in zodiac signs and everything surrounding them which led to my inspiration for the pants. I was born in 2001, the year of the snake so I thought it would be cool to design pants inspired by snakes. I proceeded to get all the materials I needed at my local craft store. Then I laid out the jeans and used my tweezers to individually place each crystal to outline the snake. In order to make sure I got it right I didn’t glue the crystals down as I outlined the snake to account for any mistakes I might make. 

After I finished outlining the snake and was satisfied with the shape of it I proceeded to individually glue each crystal of the snake outline. Once I finished that I started filling in the snake with crystals, using different size crystals to fill in the snake as precisely as possible. Originally I was just going to fill the snake in with white crystals but my brother gave me the idea to make red eyes so I took his advice and used some leftover crystals from my last project to add the eyes.

After about a week, working on and off, I finished the pants and the work definitely paid off seeing as the pants turned out just how I wanted them.

Overall the process was very tedious and elongated however the end result was worth it in my opinion. Looking back there were definitely things I would change to make the process go by a bit faster. The crystals I were using were actually crystal like stickers from the sticker section at the craft store. Because they were stickers I had to individually take each one off the sheet before I stuck them into the glue and placed them on the pants. Had I gotten actual crystals on amazon that weren’t stickers that would eliminate the whole taking them off the sheet element and make the process go a bit faster. Since they were stickers too sometimes the adhesive on them wouldn’t fully come off and they’d stick to the sticker sheet making some of the stickers not look fully white. If I had gotten actual crystals this issue would have been avoided. On my next project since I have now developed my skills working with crystals I plan on using Swarovski crystals. Regardless of the various mistakes and little imperfections with the pants I’m proud of them overall.

The Process So Far..

To start the process I needed to finalize my sketch once I did that I ordered all my materials. Then once I received them, I took a long sleeve mini dress I already had and pinned outdoor gloves onto it so I could trace what I intended to create properly on the orange fabric I ordered. Then, I pinned the black dress and gloves onto the orange fabric so it wouldn’t move at all. Proceeded to lightly trace the whole thing making sure to leave room for seam allowance and also making sure my lines were prominent enough that I could see them up close while cutting, but not prominent enough that you could see them from afar. Once the lines were traced I unpinned the black dress and started cutting along the traced lines on the orange fabric. Once I finished that, in order to keep the dress all together, as shown in the image, I pinned it again in preparation to start sewing.

I then made the executive decision to hand sew the glove portion of the dress frankly because being inexperienced on the sewing machine sounded like a cause for disaster. However I’m more experienced hand sewing so I thought that would be my best bet. Which worked out well however with the spandex type material I’m using, it requires the stitches to be very close which made the process a bit more tedious and elongated. As expected I made more mistakes on the first glove making the second one come out sufficiently better.

My design for this outfit also includes a coordinating elastic piece that goes over the dress as shown in the sketch. I wanted to make it separate from the actual dress so that it could be worn over other tops as a sort of accessory. So to start creating this piece I used my mannequin and pinned the elastic material in the shape of my design onto the mannequin. Once I did that I realized that the mannequin is significantly bigger than me and I’d need to tailor this to fit me. So I re-pinned the elastic piece so that it was pinned together but not pinned directly onto the mannequin. Then I took it off the mannequin and put it on. I pulled it a bit tighter to fit me in several spots and had my brother make little marks with a pencil to where I was pulling the elastic so I would know how much to cut off. Then I hot glued the piece together and used velcro in the back so I could take it on and off easily.

So far the process has been going well regardless of a few minute challenges I’ve had. Hand sewing the gloves was the right move however at first I didn’t realize that the stitches would have to be so close together so when I tried it on I could see the sides of my fingers and realized I would need to go back and sew it again and be more precise. However once I learned that the next glove went a lot smoother when I went to sew it. I also realized that I left room for seam allowance on my dress but forgot to fold the fabric inward and pin it like to account for that. Not a big issue however now I’ll have to do that as I start sewing on the machine. Overall, the process has been going good so far regardless of my several minor mistakes. However, the mistakes I’ve made have helped me learn to be more precise and careful. So as the process continues, and as I’m sure the mistakes will too, I’m ready to take them on. 

 

Global Warming

I feel compelled to learn more about global warming and all the issues surrounding it. Mainly because people on social media are constantly posting about different natural disasters that are happening all around the world. People posting about it on social media motivates me more to learn about what’s going on and take action in little ways. I feel like if I got involved in the action with something as little as volunteering I’d be able to tell an effective story of my experiences to bring about more awareness because the more you’re informed about something the better you are at telling other people about it. A great way to get involved in the issue of global warming would be to volunteer but specifically in another country that has recently gone through some sort of natural disaster. For example the fires that have been happening in California. Maybe going there and helping clean up or helping the families whose houses burned down. By doing this I’d feel more knowledgeable because there’s a big difference between talking about an issue you’re passionate and actually doing something about it.

“How I Built This” Podcast

I watched the “how I built this” podcast on the company Stitch Fix. It was posted on September 15th and entailed how the owner Katrina Lakes built her company. Katrina owns this company which is essentially a personal shopper for everyday people. Most celebrities these days have personal shoppers and stylists so Katrina thought that this should be an option for everyone because it can be stressful shopping and trying to find a perfect fit and look. So she came up with the idea to create a business centered around this, where people would pay a monthly, quarterly, etc fee and fill out what kind of clothes they like their measurements. Then a personal shopper/stylist would send them clothes to fit them perfectly. 

 

One takeaway from the podcast and Katrina’s career is that things don’t always turn out as planned and that’s okay. She initially planned to pursue a career in the medical field and quickly realized it wasn’t for her. She went into business and started taking more risks in a way in an attempt to pursue what she really wanted to. It’s important to realize that you don’t have to stick to the career path you thought you wanted in face of the fear of trying something else. 

 

Another thing that’s important to note too is most times when you try something new whatever it be in Katrina’s case starting a business you fail at first or don’t do as good as you thought you would. However, you can’t let that stop you from pursuing what you want to. You have to fail first to succeed later, and if you don’t fail, will you really succeed?

 

It’s also important to take risks in your career. To a certain extent risk taking can reward you in the end. Katrina took risks to get where she is now if she hadn’t she probably would have settled for a mediocre career that wouldn’t be as fulfilling as the one she’s in now if she hadn’t.