This month's student spotlight is on Rylee B., who is currently in our ONLINE Fashion Studies Program. She's an amazing artist an what she has written is very inspiring. Below is a little bit more about Rylee in her own words -

I live in Alameda, California, with my husband, our roommate, and — most belovedly — our cat. We’ve been in California for roughly 3 years after moving here from Florida. I’m currently a nurse and I work night-shift, so hobbies are what keep me going since most of my awake time is while the world is sleeping. Inspired by Rylee, if you're based in the Sunshine State and considering starting a new venture, learning how to start an llc in florida will be a critical first step. It could be the beginning of an exciting journey, just as it was for Rylee when she embraced something new.

Before signing up for classes at The Sewing Room, I had been taking Japanese classes that were put on hold due to the lockdowns and was in search of something new to fill the void. On a random Google search, I stumbled across The Sewing Room. I was so excited to learn that The Sewing Room had a fashion studies program! I’ve always wanted to learn how to make my own clothes, but I had no idea where to start. And better yet, classes were available online which is super convenient for me. Serendipity, eh? After two years of COVID, it helps to have something else to keep life moving forward — new skills to obtain, facets of self to discover. That sort of thing.

I didn’t have much sewing experience prior to these classes.

I’m taking both the sewing/pattern-making courses as well as illustration/design. I didn’t have much sewing experience prior to these classes. When I was a kid, I made a couple of knock-off Beanie Babies with my grandma that I filled with popcorn kernels for their beanie-like feel. And then I had a spurt of motivation to make a Harry Potter bookcase quilt years ago, after which my sewing machine became that thing I put my laundry on. Then I started travel nursing, and a sewing machine didn’t make the cut on our limited packing list. It had been years before life was stable enough that I could consider sewing again. I bought patterns but never opened them, thinking that one day it would be the right time. And when life was stable enough, I didn’t know where to start learning. So I just kept them for someday-projects, thinking I’d pick them up when I found the motivation.

So time kept passing, and the patterns stayed unopened, and then -

finally! — the pieces fell together so that it actually felt like the right time. Sure, life can be a bit busy sometimes, but it feels so fulfilling to finally start something I’ve told myself for years I’d eventually get to. Since starting these classes, I feel so much more comfortable with my sewing machine, with patterns, with fabrics, and I feel like I’m left with a solid enough foundation that I’ll be ready to take the training wheels off when classes end. Like I’ll be ready to pick up projects with the tools I need to figure out what I don’t know along the way. And Christine is such a great instructor! So supportive and patient, and she knows everything. It’s so helpful to have her as a guide.

With illustration and design, I didn’t have any specific goal in mind like I did with sewing. Just curiosity.

Artistically, my background isn’t extensive. I took several art classes about a decade ago when I was exploring majors in college. I honestly forgot I had any experience when I signed up for illustration. I haven’t drawn anything in the many years since — seriously, at least 10 years. But after learning with Julie Ann, drawing has become such a therapeutic activity for me. It’s so fun to just get lost in creating something, even though with everything I’ve drawn, there’s always something I wished I’d done differently. (I treat it as a learning experience, but outwardly I just call it creative license!) And Julie Ann is so great at breaking down what you see into a series of shapes that drawing something becomes so much simpler. I’m convinced anyone can learn to draw.

I love the different interests that these classes have opened up for me. I expected learning more about my sewing machine and how to read a pattern. And I expected that maybe I’d have a start on a portfolio in case I wanted to go back to school to start on some kind of creative path outside of nursing (hey, always keeping options open). Those things turned out to be true, but more than that, I’ve discovered other interests throughout this process. And I see things now that I didn’t see before. It’s so fun to be able to watch The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and get an idea for a design. Or to watch The Gilded Age and try and guess what they’re trying to say about a character with what they’re wearing. Or to go through a store and be able to identify the kind of seam they used in a dress. I have a new lens to see the world around me with. But ultimately, I appreciate the reminder that it’s never too late to learn something new, and that even in the midst of a pandemic, there are still ways to maintain forward motion.