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College Classroom Testing

The Contemporary Fashion Education program is developed in Laurel’s continuing professional education classes at two leading Philadelphia universities. Courses now include drafting, grading, and fitting.

Development is based on Laurel’s industrial experience, student requests, and Laurel’s personal sewing for herself and her family using the design room techniques she learned in the industry.

Students’ input and suggestions are invaluable. The material is rewritten so it can be better understood, then handed out the next class day. Students include design room personnel, entrepreneurs, and others who wished to sew more professionally for themselves and their families.

College Research

Asked to teach the new sewing course at Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science (now Jefferson University) in 1990, Laurel discovers the need for sample making textbooks.

Laurel writes an upper-classman sewing course.

Laurel begins writing sample-making instructions for her students, eventually combining the sewing exercises from both courses into Sewing Techniques from the Fashion Industry.

4-H Clover Club

Taught industrial methods, the Clover Club, while still juniors, completes the PA Clothing & Textiles program in three years with perfect scores. The process normally takes 10 years.

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Industry

Lynn Carol – drafted, graded, oversaw factory production.

Corner House – trained in grading, drafted patterns, fit model.

Alfred Angelo – assistant designer; cut couture wedding gowns, hand-sewed lace mantillas; trained in layouts. Shown in the picture on the right is the head designer’s wedding gown.

Anne Pakerdooni/Joie de Vivre – trained in custom couture.

Personal

At age eight Laurel asks her grandmother if she would teach her how to sew. Her grandmother had taken a short sewing course after graduating from eighth grade and had made her living before being married, by sewing for families in South Jersey. See More…

In the picture on the right, Laurel is shown with her grandmother at Laurel’s wedding reception. Laurel was then grading and fit modeling at Corner House.

Five star review:

Before I met laurel I would spend hundreds of dollars on fabric only to have it not fit when I would put it together. Laurel taught me how to grade a pattern to fit my body and it fit EVERY time. No more wasted money and time. This was not an easy course for me and I had a lot of trouble learning the material. But she never gave up on me and I finally learned exactly how to create the beautiful fit reserved only for couture. She is a wonder and her courses are just what I needed to learn how to create the clothes that I wanted. Thank you so much Laurel!

Rose Christopher
https://www.victorianvanities.org

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