Nail The Runway
Nail The Runway
People's Choice Winner
I have always been an avid sewer, but something I have never done is created clothing. This year, I was given an opportunity to create an article of clothing for Habitat for Humanity’s, Nail the Runway Gala. This gala is in Brookings, South Dakota, aimed at raising money for our local Habitat for Humanity. I have volunteered for Habitat before, so I was excited to see what I could come up with. The rules were 50% building materials that would be used in building a new home, with the design element of carpet. Carpet---hmmmmm, maybe not the most ideal material to work with but I was up for the challenge. I work at Larson Doors and they are also a sponsor of the event, but this was the first year they were going to sponsor a designer, me! They also had a huge live/silent auction at the event and online with over 150 items to bid for.
I started by finding a model. I am blessed to have a mom friend, with 4 daughters, so I called them up and asked if anyone would volunteer. The second youngest, a 5th grader, Bryley, said yes! I started the project at the end of January with the runway show April 6, 2024. Though I would be in Texas for The Texas Eclipse Festival, I still committed to the project. Bryley’s mom and a coworker at Larson, Todd S, said they would stand in my place for the event. Todd is an avid contributor to anything Habitat in our community.
I started by asking for donations of carpet online. Then we went to Joann’s Fabric and picked out the design of the dress. Bryley liked this 1950 Retro Pattern, so that is what we went with. We went around to Lowes, found some dark green outdoor carpet, and decided green was going to be our color. We then went to Lake Campbell to look at a carpet a lady said she was getting rid of. This too, was green, so it was definitely meant to be. We decided to go to Goodwill where we found a sage green and gold curtain, and thought it would be great for the halter part of the dress. We walked around the carpet store, and the guy was generous enough to give us some carpet samples.
I started working on the dress- halter top first. Trying to make sure it fit Bryley and still looked like the pattern was a definite challenge. Here in Brookings, we also have the Habitat Restore. I decided to go out there on my own for a stroll one day. I was able to find some awesome door knobs that I would use as buttons on the jacket, and some bright green woven table mats that I thought I could use as the pockets on the jacket. I wish I would have taken more photos during the project but between work, kids, and then this, time seemed to get away from me.
After fitting the top, Bryley and I decided to go find some fabric to build the skirt. We bought a dark green tutu online to help bring the base of the dress away from the body. We found some gorgeous sage green fabric at Joann’s and decided this would work perfect. I cut it out, cinched the waste and attached it to the halter top. I also added a zipper and snap for easy in and out of the dress. Then I began to assemble the jacket. I had left over super soft fabric that I lined the inside of the jacket with since the jacket was solely made of carpet. I added the buttons and cut holes, tied the pieces together with sage string, and added the pockets.
I began attaching more green carpet in wavy strips to the dress. I didn’t realize that the glue I was using was awful, so I ended up having to buy new glue which helped it stayed on better. I alternated between the dark green and light green carpet. I also had found some sage green wall paper online and attached that to the dress as well. After multiple fittings, the dress was complete and Bryley loved it. Her favorite thing to do was twirl in it. I also took some of the light green woven mat material and attached it to a snap bracelet for her to wear.
The night of the Gala, I had to do an interview with the judges for the event. Even though I was in Texas, I found a spot that got great Wi-Fi and practiced a test call which worked out very good. Around 5:30, I was told we would be up soon, so I ran to the spot and was ready for the interview.
They asked questions, like what it was made of, the inspiration, and they even had Bryley twirl for them since I told them she loved it so much. We went into the festival, decided to go back to camp and on our way back from camp, around 10:30pm, we stopped yet again at the Wi-Fi spot. I looked at my phone, and I couldn’t believe the message I was reading. There were 5 different awards for design such as, Best of Show, Most Innovative Use of Construction Materials, Most Wearable, and Best Use of Design Element, and I was congratulated for winning the People’s Choice Award!!!!!!!!!!
Winning the People’s Choice award was amazing because for this particular award, people had to buy tickets and vote for their favorite! And that was MINE! Bryley got a bouquet of flowers and a Shoe Award which now sits in my craft room. This brought me great joy and pride because for one, I have never designed clothes. Secondly, I wasn’t even present to win. Lastly, I have been given a lot of recognition and praise since the win.
Not only did I win, but I was in the Brookings Register (newspaper) and there were articles written for both Larson Manufacturing LinkedIn page and Fortune Brands (who owns Larson now) debuted it on their Frontdoor page which went out to over 21,000 employees, and I am writing this story now for you all!
Until next year- the design element will be a combination of all past 5 years, which some include keys, paint, carpet and a couple more! A special shout out to Larson Manufacturing and Bryley for helping me out! I’d love to hear what ya’ll think.
*Check out the article written for Larson Manufacturing LinkedIn
