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West Van students take a walk on the sustainable side

Sentinel Secondary’s Applied Skills and Fine Arts program hosted its annual fashion event showcasing the students’ own designs.

Sentinel Secondary’s Applied Skills and Fine Arts program hosted its annual fashion event showcasing the students’ own designs.

Starting in Grade 8 students learn basic sewing skills so they could sew on buttons, repair items and use a sewing machine successfully, explains Sentinel textiles teacher Nikki Caine.

In the following years the students build on their sewing skills and with each new grade level, they choose their own projects. 

“Some students do follow the trends but many make or adapt patterns to suit their own sense of style,” says Caine.

Some Sentinel students have go on to design schools after graduating including the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Parsons School of Design, Ryerson School of Fashion and Dalhousie’s Costume Studies, while others have started their own design companies.

The Sentinel fashion show is organized and run by the students, with Caine facilitating.

Each textile class was given a fashion idea with students asked to create their own design.  

The Grade 8 students created a drawstring bag or backpack using a machine, along with a hand-sewn stuffie. Those bags were donated to students at Admiral Seymour Elementary in the Downtown Eastside.

Sentinel has partnered with the Vancouver school for charity projects which see Sentinel students sewing teddy bears, stockings and pyjamas to donate.

Casual was the name of the game for Grade 9 textile students whose design options included pyjamas, hoodies, gathered skirts, shorts or cargo pants.

The Grade 11 students had a choice of projects: rompers, jumpsuits, dresses, skirts, tops, hoodies and pullover sweatshirts.

When it came to the graduating students, they also had a choice of projects which included coats, swimsuits, grad dresses, coats and upcycled items.

In exploring green practices in the fashion industry, some students used donated fabrics from people cleaning out their homes and changed the garments into a current style.

Two textile classes made tote bags from scraps and donated fabrics, some of which definitely came from the 1970s, says Caine.