Fashion Construction introduces young designers to fashion with an emphasis on discovering their own style, learning foundational skills in garment construction, and exploring the materials of fashion and their environmental impact. Students build skills in fashion research and drawing, altering existing garments, pattern-making, and machine sewing.

Activities guide students through the process of developing ideas, finding inspiration, responding to the work of other artists, and considering the impact of fashion design on their community and communities around the globe. As their designs develop, additional technical skills are introduced, including fabric printing, embroidery, and finishing techniques.

Students will design and build their own unique pieces. In order to develop a complex and broad view of possibilities for creating clothing and using textiles, explorations will focus not only the Fashion world, but on fashion in everyday life––how people communicate through clothing and how we use fashion to express ourselves.

Fashion Construction Camp will culminate in a runway fashion show and clothing swap for all students, their families, and the public.

Student supply list: Instructor will provide most supplies, students will need to purchase fabric for the final project.

Teacher: Mel Williams has over 20 years of art education experience, including teaching and program directing for younger students, teens, and adults, a directorship for a non-profit that represents disabled artists, and extensive experience in an art college-to-community engagement program. They have taught iterations of this specific Fashion Construction course for middle school and high school students four times previously, in addition to several garment mending workshops held at libraries and community centers. They are currently completing a Masters of Art in Art Education at School of the Art Institute of Chicago.