Hello!
The past week has been crazy! I have been cutting yards and yards of denim and plastic in order to knit it! My roomate Elin has also been cutting, but she’s been cutting cotton paper, and knitting it!
Too much work!
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Monthly Archives: March 2011
Cotton Dress
Here is my cotton dress thus far.
Week 3
So, a few weeks ago I delted facebook because I found myself being distracted by the nothingness that happens on the site. In this video, you will hear my roommates ridiculous reasoning to why I should still be on the site. Feel free to laugh. You will also see my dying process for the cotton dress….and my distractions in between. Feel free to laugh, again. Finally, you can see kids “dancin’ for change”, the work of my classmates, my skype date, my very “lived-in” room and one of the subways that I depend on every single day! Oh, btw this is one of my favorite songs —U2~ “It’s a Beautiful Day” <3
ENJOY, my friends!
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A Little Recap
So we didn’t find out we were doing this blog until our first ensemble was practically finished. Now, it seems a little funny back tracking to write about events that happened 4-6 weeks ago. So instead I decided to put together a little film that more or less sums up some of the moments of those first 6 weeks. I hope you enjoy.
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Carolina Hererra Critiques a Fashion Design Class – Special Occasion
Carolina Hererra with fashion design student
Carolina Hererra with fashion design student
Carolina Hererra with fashion design student
Carolina Hererra with fashion design student
Life After Graduation
First and foremost, CONGRATULATIONS to all the new 2011 bloggers, you’ve almost made it through 8th semester!! That should be a triumph in and of itself!
8th semester for me was very tough. I thought the previous 7 semesters weren’t going to pay off, but I was definitely wrong. 8th semester made me want to give it all I had and put all my effort forth in whatever I did. In the end, everything fell into place (and believe me when I say life goes on, even if you don’t get picked for the show).
I am currently working as an assistant designer for Le Mystere, a well-known intimate apparel company that I interned for during my 8th semester. I can remember how good it felt to be recognized for my hard work and offered a job. Your first paycheck, your very own business card, your own desk, your first real design! There is life after FIT! I have already learned so much working at Le Mystere, more than school could have ever taught me, because this is real life, the BIG LEAGUES! I am very busy most of the time, but honestly it feels good. I have become part of not only a great company, but I feel as if I am part of a tightly knit family.
Christina surrounded by Le Mystere bras (size 40G, if you're wondering)
I just want to say that even though you’ve heard it a thousand times, putting forth your best effort and taking pride in ever little thing you do (no matter how menial the task is) will be recognized. Even if you don’t get the A+, the spot in the show, or even the job, its all life experience that will help you be a better person for when the right opportunity knocks at your door.
Good Luck!
Christina
Knitting Plastic
Hand knit knit knit, go for a run, hand knit knit knit, have a nervous break down laugh on the couch, and go back to knit! That resumes my week-end!
I am glad that it was sunny, I got to enjoy some of the sun as I ran across Greenpoint’s cool avenues and streets.
It is now Monday morning, 8:30 AM, me and my roomate Elin (she also is in knitwear, final year), are already in the knit lab. We could feel the pressure as people walked in. We merely have a few weeks left and crazyness is upon us. Each and every student has to deal with different sorts of issues. Unfortunately, machines are over-booked for the weeks to come, and we all have to use our time wisely!
Here is a bit about my inspiration and what I am doing:
Plastic
versus Nature.
It all started on a sailing vacation. I kept seeing pop color supermarket plastic bags on the beaches. I thought it was very interesting to analyze the paradox “plastic versus nature”, and how, inevitably, plastic bags become part of our every day landscape scene. I did some trials over the Christmas break, and decided that, indeed, I would want to continue researching and experimenting with plastic.
I started my research looking at landfills in Cambodia and Brazil. What I found to be interesting is that, seen from far, plastic landfills can be very colorful and charming.
I started to collect all sorts of plastic bags, and denim as well. Cotton denim, which is a natural fiber, is in fact, a very polluting one. Entire river ecosystems are being destroyed in china because of waste denim discharge from the factories.
And so, I have tried to manipulate plastic with knitwear.
I glued plastic bags with liquid latex on top of machine knitted fabric.
I knitted “plastic jacquards”. Jacquard is a machine knit fabric that has a print knitted in. At school, we can only use a maximum of 4 colors, so I have re-worked photos of plastic garbage, and narrowed down the colors to 4 on photoshop, and running the image as a jacquard.
I experimented knitting the actual plastic bags, and introducing denim and a mixture of natural fibers. The results were pretty awesome and I decided to make an entire coat from it!
And…I did dozens of other experiments, but no all were successful, so I am only talking about the cool ones :-*
Here is a picture of some of my swatches, the left one is plastic turning into denim and other natural fibers, the middle one is a pop jacquard made from picture of plastic bags, and the one on the right is a Dubied machine lacey fabric I created last year.
Photos, WK2
Casey and her bright and fun dress!
Eunmi's garment! 
My little model, Lily and I!
Week of Wonders
This has been a LONG week! Full of interning, applying to jobs, fittings and of course being goofy with my bff’s. Too many things going on, this week…I will let my video speak for me. (at the end of the movie is what happens after a long day of interning and schooling when all you want is Cold Stone and the line is around the store!—oh yea, that’s Martha and Grace!)
Oh, good news!….Interview next week!!!
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(Inspired by my friend Molly who creates short movies if awesome times in her life!)
Lace, ripped chiffon ruffles, and diamond quilting- These are a few of my favorite things
I must admit, 7 weeks ago I had a life. I used to go see movies, I had friends, and even showered on a regular basis. Now those things are gone and have been replaced with a senior collection. Is it worth it? I sure as heck hope so.
These past few weeks have been the hardest to date. I wasn’t really sure how I was going to knock out a masterpiece in 5 weeks, but BOO YA, it happened. This semester has already had a couple set backs. We missed the second day of class due to a snow day. Then half of the class missed an entire week of class when we went to Las Vegas for the Curve Expo. Of course, then we had President’s Day on a Monday and there went yet ANOTHER class. I have chosen to blame this absence of class time for the craziness that ensued the last two weeks. First off, we come in on Saturday…. every Saturday. That said, our Professor is just as dedicated as we are, as she also comes in on Saturday mornings to see our progress and make changes. After all, if you were going to have to start over, wouldn’t you rather know Saturday than Monday? We’ve also discovered this amazing new feature FIT has introduced called 24-hour lab availability. With a simple signed letter on an FIT letterhead that lists all of the students names we are able to stay past the restricting 2am deadline, and work up until the next class arrives at 9am. Longest amount of consecutive hours in C714? That award would have to go to Francielle. I’m fairly certain that in the last week, she has only left that room for food and energy drinks. Many of the students prefer to work from their apartments because they are commuters and have dress forms in their rooms. This is always my favorite because on presentation day, you have about 8-9 garments on the forms that you’ve never seen before. SURPRISE!
First ensemble was set to be due on Monday, March 14th. Given the state of everyone’s garments, the professor extended the date to Wednesday, March 16th. Our critic, Flora Nikrooz visited on Wednesday to see the finished garments and had only nice things to say about everyone’s ensembles. She really Oohed and Awed over a couple, but maintained a pretty good poker face throughout. Thus, the candidates for Critic Award will remain a mystery to us all.
From here it only gets worse. Most of the class still has to finish up their robes for Monday and EVERYONE still has HOURS of beading to do. Our second ensemble, made of 95% Cotton, is due 3 weeks and 3 days from today. How am I feeling? I feel very similarly to the time I flipped my father’s four wheeler into a ditch and saw him RUNNING at me with a look of rage on his face: I’m shaking in my boots.
My cotton ensemble is actually more difficult than my first ensemble. It consists of four pieces: A long-line bra, garter, panty, and petticoat robe. I still have to go shopping for fabric, and if it is any sign of what is to come, I actually DREAMED about buying cotton tulle last night. In the dream everyone in the city sold out of it and I was forced to buy it from Mood for $183/yd. (They jacked up the priced because of high demand.) Hopefully is was only a dream as I will be needing atleast 10 yards.
My roommate questions my existence since I am never home. Needless to say, the doorman to my apartment must think I’m a hardcore party girl: I come home at 4:30 in the morning looking haggard and slightly stumbling, mumbling nonsense about ripped chiffon ruffles…