Chic Squad Fashion Design Camp
About
I have been teaching Fashion Design, Draping and Sewing for 15 years at Bergen County Academies, where I co-run the Performing Arts Department, at my summer Fashion Camp and privately out of my home. I have a strong online presence of instructional videos and most recently co-founded the Bergen Mask Task Force creating over 28,000 masks for frontline workers. I love teaching Fashion and Sewing as I think sewing is one of the most fulfilling crafts and anyone can do it!
The joy of watching a person who has never touched a sewing machine become increasingly comfortable with the process. It sets that person free to begin to explore their creativity in entirely new and thrilling ways in a very short amount of time. My own work centers on Sustainable Fashion where I have trained hundreds of young designers to make something fabulous from what less imaginative people would have simply discarded.
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Frequently asked questions
What is your typical process for working with a new student?
We get to know each other by learning to sew. There is no better activity for chit chat. But first, we sit down, learn about how the miracle of a sewing machine works, learn to the thread the machine and in about half an hour, start sewing! From there I teach the basics of pinning, sewing various stitches and add to skills as we go. Online videos are plentiful so once a student has learned the basics, that student can grow as quickly as s/he likes simply through practice.
What education and/or training do you have that relates to your work?
I have been sewing clothing and costumes since I was 10 years old. My education includes degrees from Northwestern University in Theatre with a focus on Costume Design, The Fashion Institute of Technology, Ohio University (Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Direction) Mood U - 2 years of Draping, and 23 years of working as a professional costume designer in NY and NJ. I am in my 15th years of co-running the Performing Arts Department at Bergen County Academies and run my own Fashion Camp, Chic Squad Fashion Camp.
Do you have a standard pricing system for your lessons? If so, please share the details here.
$40 per hour.
How did you get started teaching?
I began teaching 22 years ago when I started my own camp, The Shakespeare Institute, in NJ, one summer. I was directing and producing on and off Broadway but had to be home that summer expecting my third child. That gave way to 22 years of Shakespeare and Fashion Camps and, of course, I teach at Bergen County Academies.
What types of students have you worked with?
I am currently teaching formerly incarcerated people to sew medical masks. I have taught the brightest highschool kids in NJ at my school and children as young as five years old at my camp. I teach all ages and types of people because anyone can learn to sew. Sewing is magical. You can make something incredible from so little and there are very few things in life that work that way; that something so simple is filled with endless possibility and a lifetime of creativity.