ArtWorks Flashback: Fashion Co-op Summer

Over the next few weeks, blog posts will flashback to some highlights from the Summer 2014 program.  Stay tuned!Written by J. Williams, fashion co-op apprentice - July 2014The past four weeks in the ArtWorks program have been awesome. My master teaching artist, Ms. Jeanne, has taught us so much. Our first day starting this program was not what we all expected. I personally thought it was going to be like the first day of school all over again. But it was not; we jumped right in!Ms. Jeanne taught us how to use the sewing machines, the importance of sewing, the different types of ways to sew, and the different ways that the grain of the fabric goes.   She also showed us how to take a large t-shirt and transform it into skirts. Amazing, right!? When we finish making the clothes, we are going to donate them to a women’s shelter called Laura's Home.  Ms. Jeanne took everyone in the fashion co-op to go see what the Laura's home is all about. As soon as we all went through the doors, we felt welcomed to be there. One of the ladies that worked there gave us a tour of the home and told us what to expect it to be like as we all walked through the home. Also, we all got a chance to see the little kids and where they stay.  They gave us a list of all the kids and the sizes of who they thought would be eligible to be in the fashion show that we were creating. So right now we’re making clothes for the kids in the fashion show and who ever models a certain outfit is the one who gets to keep that outfit. We have a logo and brand right now that is called ''MOM.'' We picked MOM because the mothers play a big part in the kids’ lives and the children also look up to their mom. We made a logo with a superhero mother holding a child’s hand and the child is looking up at her. We also picked a superhero because little kids go through this phase of which they look up to superheroes.We also took a field trip to Kent State University to learn more about the fashion industry in the fashion school. They also gave us a tour around the school and they showed us the fashion library, the fashion class rooms, their sewing machines and also how they’re used. It was a good experience for me because now I would like to go there for college. My master teaching artist, Ms. Jeanne is a teacher there.There is a lot of fun things that happen in the fashion co-op. ArtWorks is a very good program and everyone should try to participate.