Arielle Simmons

Fabric dyeing is my Jam!

This journey began during my sophomore year in college when I volunteered to shadow a fellow fashion design student Kara*. She was going to create a line to present at our club’s fashion show. I was extremely excited because I knew I was going to gain a new experience, and at the same time be up close and personal in my first fashion show. I was eager to help in any way possible. Kara* wanted to try a fabric dyeing technique called marbling to create a cool surface design. This technique was done in a gel bath we created with PVC pipes for the frame and tarps (expensive and lots of assembly required). The process was a rough start, but the results were amazing. Once we finished dyeing Kara’s* fabrics for her line, our professor Patti* encouraged me to dye some fabric that she supplied.