Sweatshops

Overall, I am a supporter of sweatshops.  If the people that worked there didn't have that job then they would not be able to support their families and would most likely die of starvation.  There are however, a lot of things I do not support about sweatshops, such as, the long hours and extremely low wages.  I think that it is a good idea in retrospect but is not being carried out appropriately.  Sweatshop workers are often forced to work long hours for little or no pay, regardless of any laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweatshop).  Another thing I do not support is the fact that there is no job security.  If a worker gets sick one day after never missing a day, they are replaced immediately with no questions asked.

My Own Designs

A lot of things inspire when me when I'm designing/making clothes.  It could be a picture I se in a magazine, or something I see in nature.  Whatever the inspiration is, I love to make my own clothes.

Most of the time my friends and family will give me there old clothes that they don't want.  That is what i make my clothes from.  I love mens button-down shirts because it 

gives me a lot to work with.  So my process isn't really that i sketch something or use a pattern, I find old clothes and make them into new ones.  My inspiration comes from these old clothes.  I can look at an old shirt or old dress and see what it could be. Most of the time I will combine lots of different fabrics to make something new for myself.  This is a picture of a dress that I made.  The top black part of the dress is a black T-shirt turned inside out.  I cut the sleeves off the T-shirt and also cut a deep V-neck.  The bottom half of the dress was the bottom of a long prairie style dress that I found in a vintage shop.  It was a lot wider but i cut a section of the bottom out to make it fit my hips.  I then sewed together the remaining part of the section which give the dress the long piece on the o

ne side.  

So as you can see I don't really start with an inspiration or a sketch.  I use what I can find to make some that I would love to wear.  I hope to continue to do this throughout my life and maybe start my own line based on the pieces i've made from scraps and old clothes.