I'd like to thank, in writing, the people who helped me to come this far in life and to such a place as this; a place and time in my life in which I have a clothing line. this is really a dream come true.
firstly, I'd like to thank my mom for purchasing me my first sewing machine, and for not telling me (outright) just how terrible my first "designs" were. I was in elementary school when I started sewing and I've certainly come a long way. for the most part I taught myself, for better or for worse. but if ever became completely confused, lost my safety pin and elastic in a casing, couldn't even gather properly, or just plain thought I had broken my machine completely, my mom was able to help. and when I did finally break my first machine, she helped my to purchase another, much better, machine.
secondly, I'd like to thank my daytime boss, catherine costanza, for her help. catherine tends to push me in all aspects of my life to go farther than I believe that I can. because of her I came into my own style, designed a small collection, sourced fabrics, and sewed almost the entirety of when I had designed in fewer than six months. within those six months she also helped me to facilitate a photo shoot for which I had to make at least seven pieces in the days before. I had to find local, wonderful, talented, and generous models last minute (which I definitely did, thank you jamie and shelby!!!). and so many other things I never even thought that I could do, primarily because of catherine's encouragement. she's also always ready with a steamer as I tend to fold my clothes up a bit messily.
I'd also like to thank the ladies that I work with at catherine rising for being so helpful. I owe them all a custom piece, probably multiple! especially jaime, who took the product photos for this collection, which I am so grateful for. from little fashion shows at work to just suggesting that I take a day or two off to work on sewing in the beginning when it didn't feel as real or important to sew, maddy, bekah, and jaime have been such great support in this endeavor.
in addition to to thanking my family I'd also like to thank my boyfriend and his family. especially his sister madeleine who wore a piece of mine for a photo shoot this summer and has been promoting me and my work so kindly for a long time. her friends have also often asked to purchase clothing from me, especially when I was just getting started, this was a huge help.
and before this gets too long I'd like to thank rachel of rachel liz photography for the photoshoot for this collection! I'll start posting pictures from that awesome day so soon!! rachel made me feel so comfortable and heard during the shoot, and her style felt absolutely perfect for how I wanted my clothing to look and function. I'm so excited to share those photos with you, I can't wait!
ok, just a few more... I'd like to extend a special thank you to my two favorite art teachers and my two favorite english teachers and my two favorite french teachers, all of whom gave me confidence in myself when I probably needed it most. so to mrs kehoe, mrs relyea, mr davidson, mr steele, mr critelli, and mme falkovich, THANK YOU! none of you were directly involved in my sewing, but all of you helped me more than you can know.