Project+Runway+Challenge

Project Runway Challenge

Amelia Anderson 7-8 B  “Hello,” said Heidi Klum as she walked down the runway. “For this week’s challenge you will have to create a garment out of materials found at the Home Depot.” “Good Luck and I’ll see you on the runway, bye,” she said as she walked off the runway. My mind started to race, what was I going to make out of materials found at Home Depot? When I got back to the workroom Tim Gunn greeted me and the other designers and told us that they would provide thread for us and that we have 20 minutes to sketch. I immediately started to think of what might be the most fabric like material one could find at Home Depot. Then bam, the idea hit me, I would make a dress out of the paint sample strips and I would use the wallpaper cloth pieces that are used to take off the wallpaper for a base material that would go against the skin with the sample strips over the top, then underneath on the bottom skirt panel of the dress I would put a couple layers of bubble rap in the back to make the bottom of the dress bigger. My head was whirling with visions of color and possible disaster all at once! When we got to Home Depot, Tim Gunn told us that we had a budget of 300 dollars and 20 minutes to shop. I immediately got focused and decided that none of the other designers there would get in my way from now all that mattered was that I, Pricilla Char, got my materials. I took off running for the paint area. When I got there I grabbed all of the paint samples and loaded them into my cart. Then I ran for the glue area where I picked up a glue gun and the glue sticks to go with it. After I had gotten those two items I only needed to get a couple more things so I quickly flew over to get the wallpaper remover cloth that I needed for the part of the dress closest to the skin. Then I grabbed some wallpaper for the back of my dress. Finally I grabbed some bubble wrap and went to the check out counter where my thankfully my total came to 298 dollars. Perfect for the budget! When I finally got back to the workroom I started to lay out all of my materials on my table so I could see everything that I had. I taped on my mannequin where the dress would be. Then I started to layout all of the paint strips in piles for different parts of the dress so that when I went to the sewing room I could sew it together in such a way that it would be more like a fabric. Then I went to the sewing room to sew all of the strips together. When I got back to my mannequin with the basic pattern sewn together I sewed on some extra strips so that there would be more room in the dress. Then I went back to the sewing machines to sew the wallpaper remover cloth into the under layer of the dress. After I had the form of the dress sewn, which took a lot of time and effort, I started to twist and glue on pieces of the wallpaper that I had bought to create this twisted crumple effect that would wrap from the top and around the back. Then starting at the top of the dress I sewed the paint strips to the base cloth so that where there was some separation between paint strips you wouldn’t be able to see skin and the paper wouldn’t poke my model. Later that day, when my model came in for a fitting, the dress fit her perfectly. This was a big relief! I went to sleep that night knowing that my garment was almost complete. Whew! The next morning I walked into the work room and my garment was still all together. My concern, while I slept, or at least tried to, was that it would rip apart from the sheer weight during in the night. While my model went to hair and makeup I sewed elastic around the top of the dress on the inside so that my garment would stay on my model and wouldn’t fall down. I also sewed a couple layers of bubble wrap to the inside in the back so that the train of the dress would be bigger. When my model came back from hair and makeup I put the dress on her and it looked amazing! I was so excited! I thought I had a great chance to win this challenge. It was amazing that the dress was made out of materials found at the Home Depot. Then we headed to the runway. ”Hello,” said Heidi as she walked down the runway to greet us, “As you know in fashion, one day your in and the next day your out.” She continued, “We will score your designs as they come down the runway. One of you will be the winner and one or more of you will be out.” My heart started to beat and my mind started to race, a double elimination how could this happen that means that my chances of going home are greater. As I watched the other designer’s garments come down the runway I thought they did a really good job. They had made dresses out of everything from the white plastic bags that hold dirt to thin cut sheets of insulation. When I saw my dress come down the runway I loved it! I had created a long dress made out of paint strips and all the colors looked great. The twisted wallpaper I had attached on the front of the dress at the top by the shoulder and wrapped around the upper arm and had been reattached about halfway down the dress in the back on the side. The crumpled wall paper then made up the back of the low back dress and crumpled all the way down the bottom of the dress that reached the floor. On the other side of the dress the crumpled wallpaper had come around in a curvy sash and attached to the back of the dress on that side. The judges seemed pleased, maybe, but it was so hard to tell. My stomach was doing flip flops. All the designers stood up on the runway with their models so that the judges could tell them what the thought of their designs. The judges said they liked how I used paint strips to create a dress that was full of color. They also said they liked how I had put bubble wrap under the back of the dress so that the back of the bottom of the dress would be bigger. The judges chose me to be in the top three for this Home Depot challenge. I was so glad I wasn’t in the bottom and that I, Pricilla Char had moved on the next challenge which meant that I was one step closer to being chosen for fashion week at Bryant Park in New York. One step closer to the chance of a lifetime!