Rachel Cernansky
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When a local artist was asked to teach a workshop at a local school, she decided the theme would be recycled art: fashion from found materials. She would give the kids a couple weeks to collect whatever materials they could find—fabrics, buttons, bottle caps, anything they had an imagination for—and then hold a weeklong workshop in which they would use those materials to make 1) an item of clothing, 2) an accessory, and 3) a piece of jewelry.
By the end of the week, the kids had blown her away with their energy, their dedication—and their creations. She "had so little to do with any of their ideas," and was impressed with the quantity and quality of items they were able to create, all in just five days. Some kids made items beyond the required minimum, and their excitement was so visible that outsiders asked to leave their own workshops and joined in for a day.
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| Rachel Cernansky |
The kids piled all the materials they'd found onto a table. That became their communal source for supplies, from which they made things like bracelets and handbags out of old t-shirts.
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| Rachel Cernansky |
One student, Emma, made earrings from old wine corks, and another made a locket from bottle caps. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the blue bottle cap actually opens with a clasp Kierra made in the class.
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| Rachel Cernansky |
Kierra, who is in the ninth grade, was also determined to transform old clothes into something she could wear. She had grown tired of an old hoodie of hers, so she set to work sewing the sleeves and hood from that onto a fleece vest that she was also not getting much use of anymore. She had never really used a sewing machine before, but when it came time to try it on for size, it fit perfectly. Her excitement was obvious: "Sweet!"
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| Rachel Cernansky |
Local painter and art teacher Sarah Tracy led the class, which the school was so impressed with that they invited her back next year to be a regular part of the curriculum. She's modeling a scarf one student made from found fabrics and a bottle cap-fringe.
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| Rachel Cernansky |
This fork-turned-necklace is a gift that eighth-grader Noah made for his mom's birthday.
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| Rachel Cernansky |
Ephie designed a dress that would utilize knitted fabric from an old sweater for the bodice, trash bags would make the poofy skirt, and the cups would be made from vinyl scraps that her mother had left over from a children's hospital arts and crafts event. The bow on the back is made from used plastic packaging, and she planned a flower with old bottle caps that she flattened—and ended up not leaving the flower on the dress because she didn't like the final look, but she turned those into earrings instead.
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| Rachel Cernansky |
Every single student came out of the workshop feeling accomplished, more resourceful, and proud of their new skills and the creations they could now take home. Who knows: maybe they are tomorrow's hottest fashion designers for a more sustainable future.
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