The State News gave three students with different styles, different majors and different interests a challenge: Make something with a yard of fabric and a spool of thread. They were free to add their own details and some of their own fabric, but their creations had to feature the particular fabric they chose.
Kristen Gray Lindley
anthropology sophomore
What she made A high-waisted pencil skirt and matching hat
Why she made it Lindley has always loved pencil skirts so she sketched a small version of what she had in mind. In a process Lindley called trial and error, she worked with it until it came out right.
“It was supposed to be only two pieces but it ended up being three,” Lindley said. “I had to lay the fabric out and stare at it for awhile, because if I cut it and it was wrong that was the end of that.”
The hat, which Lindley called her formal hat since it’s floral, is patterned after a line of signature cycling caps Lindley makes and sells.
Her story Lindley’s interest in cycling caps stems from her love of bicycles. She owns two, named Sir Pista and Bev, and tries to use them every day.
“It’s a good day when I can get up in the morning and go for a nice bike ride,” she said.
Lindley organized a weekly Friday night bike ride around East Lansing that started at Beaumont Tower. Lindley couldn’t make it to the first one, and since the ride was her idea she asked a friend to be the ride leader for her.
He said he couldn’t do the job without a ride leader hat, so Lindley pulled out her sewing machine and stitched one up. She decided to start sewing more for her friends, and OhKayGray Cycling Caps was born. Now she sells caps for about $15 each, she’s sold about 20 so far and she has orders from two cycling teams.
While Lindley said she loves the bicycle community and culture, her passion is archeology. She dreams of working in Greece, where highly advanced ancient civilizations with indoor plumbing, heating and cooling systems and running water were destroyed by volcanoes.
“Every archeology and anthropology major will smack me but I’ve loved Indiana Jones since I was little and that really has nothing to do with what real anthropology is like “ Lindley said. “But I’ve always been fascinated with finding something new … even if I don’t know what it is it excites me.”
Lindley has been sewing for years, and she used to sew almost all her own clothes in high school. Nowadays she’s busier and lazier (her words) but still buys things from thrift stores and alters them. She said she’s not sure how her love of bikes, sewing and archeology will come together in the end.
“Maybe everything I start sewing will be beige,” she said. “ I’ll start sewing button-downs and cargo pants, beige bike hats.”
Jennifer Andries
apparel and textile design senior
What she made A hobo bag with a zipper up the side
Why she made it Andries started making a loose-fitting strapless top that tied in the back with a bow. When she didn’t have enough fabric to make what she wanted she tried to alter the look a little.
“It just wasn’t what I wanted, it looked awful,” Andries said.
Left with a pile of already-cut fabric, she decided to scrap the shirt idea and try making a bag. It ended up wide and slouchy so she stitched the top shut and added a zipper on the side — that way, her stuff can never fall out.
Her story Andries, a punk rock-loving independent movie buff, has always loved fashion. However, she doesn’t want to design clothes for a living. Instead, Andries chose the apparel and textile design major to pursue her dream job as the fashion director for a fashion magazine.
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One of her fashion influences is Stella McCartney, a designer who only uses all organic. Andries said it was great to see someone who designed top fashion and put on runway shows but uses organic cotton, which shows people can serve the environment and still dress stylish.
Andries took a class about negative environmental side effects of the textile industry, which she said will help her make environmentally-conscious choices in her future jobs.
“You would not believe t how much the textile industry alone produces pollution and waste,” she said. “They’re probably one of the No. 1 groups of companies who waste a lot.”
Right now Andries is looking for an internship in New York City, but she said most magazines also have Los Angeles offices, where she hopes to end up. A self-described West Coast girl who visits family in the San Diego area once a year, she vowed not to live in New York longer than two years to avoid getting stuck on the east side.
Still, any job in the fashion industry won’t be easy.
“A lot of people don’t realize this industry is an industry, it’s not just people sitting around making clothes all day,” she said. “The whole fashion industry isn’t that glamorous. It can be, but at the same time it’s a lot of work to design, it takes a lot of hours.”
Jo Schmidt
journalism sophomore
What she made A half vest and matching “cig holder” or clutch
Why she made it Schmidt, who’s inspired by pirates, classy men in traditional suits and cowboys, said she made the vest because she’s trying to bring vests back. Although vest turned out different than Schmidt originally envisioned since she didn’t use a pattern, she said she’ll continue to wear it.
The clutch was created from the leftover material with a practical use in mind — it’s the perfect size to hold a cell phone and a pack of cigarettes.
Her story Not using a pattern is nothing new for Schmidt, who said she usually just wings it when it comes to a sewing project. Her mother used to be a seamstress and Schmidt recalls watching her mother sew.
Schmidt said a recent trip to the mall, rare for her, reminded her why she sews her own clothes.
“I was nauseated by all of the shop windows, they all looked exactly the same,” she said. “Part of the reason I would sew my own things was so I could look how I wanted instead of how everybody else looked.”
That individuality resulted in an effort by Schmidt to avoid looking like anyone else and to avoid all style, which, she admitted, is rather difficult.
When Schmidt’s not sewing vests and avoiding malls she plays guitar, draws nudes at Kresge Art Center and covers local concerts for an online magazine she interns at, Thrill Magazine.
She’s interested in the graphic design and photography aspect of journalism and dreams of working for National Geographic — which she said will likely never happen — or Outdoor Living.
“I don’t want to do just art, I want to do things with people,” Schmidt said. “I figure if I go more with the graphics aspect of the job I can put a story with it.”
