Walking down the red carpet wearing clothes and holding bags they put hours of work into, home economics students celebrated their creations as they hosted a fashion show on Dec. 4. Students shared how they learned to overcome their own self-doubt regarding their ability to create.
Making a variety of projects such as bags, dresses, and pillowcases throughout the semester, despite not knowing how to sew at the beginning of the class, students agreed they learned valuable life skills after taking the home economics class for sewing.
Vania Tlapale Reyes, a senior from Mexico studying graphic design, said seeing the result of her hard work gave her a sense of satisfaction. “I never thought it would be not that difficult to do some of the stuff… but now I can actually say, ‘I can [create].’”
Bucket bags, a bomber jacket, a shark pencil case, and dresses were some of the finished projects showcased in the fashion show. The creators modeled their own work as they walked down the carpet while their instructor, Sister Marilee Ching, introduced the students, along with a brief description of the things they made.
Ching shared, “This is actually a new format, our red carpet. I’m really grateful to the faculty of education department for purchasing it. We used to do a stage, but this is just more convenient.”
Jaylea Ho, a sophomore from Hong Kong studying TESOL, shared the reason she chose to make a bucket bag for her final project was that she always wanted one, and she saw her finals as an opportunity to start on it.
“In the process, sometimes it frustrated me because the instructions were so complicated at first. I just sewed according to the instructions. But I did it wrong, so I had to re-do it. Then I just asked Sister Ching about it, and she guided me through the process,” Ho said.
Reyes added the purpose of the final project was to do it yourself. “The instructions I found were not really specific, so I tried to do it on my own… and I was really having a hard time trying to understand [it].
“I needed to be patient a lot. I’ll be like, ‘Okay I can do this because nobody else is going to do it for me.’”
One of the spectators, Zheng You Chen, a senior from Taiwan studying marketing, shared if he had more time left in school, he would have taken this course. “I’d like to design my own clothes so I [wouldn’t] have to go out for shopping.”
Chen explained whenever he goes out to shop, he’ll usually find some piece of clothing with a design he likes, but it ends up not fitting him well. With this class, he said, “You can tailor [clothes] yourself. You don’t have to find someone to change the length of your shorts or your pants. I feel like it’s a really practical skill.”
The main takeaway of the class is “to embrace new things, learn from them, and use that to share with others,” said Ching.
As a piece of final advice, Reyes shared, “Wait until the end and don’t lose patience. You just have to really focus… Don’t feel like you cannot do things. You can… do it.”
Writer: Esther Insigne