“Sew” stylish: A DIY fashion twist

Photo courtesy of Jaedlyn Arzadon

Junior Jaedlyn Arzadon sews the pieces of fabric together for her homecoming dress.

Silence and a peace of mind are all she needs. Perched on the edge of her seat and gliding her hand over her Singer® heavy duty sewing machine, junior Jaedlyn Arzadon grabs some purple fabric and vows to make the perfect Homecoming dress. 

With five years of experience under her belt, Arzadon has sewed and altered nearly all her clothes as a self-taught seamstress and tailor. Her criteria for choosing fabrics are less geared toward appearance but more towards the comfort and vision she wants to create that day. Her talent ranges from making her clothes by scratch to tailoring ready-to-wear clothing to fit her own style: silhouettes that flatter her body as well as fashion that keep up with trends, like the 2000s Y2K fashion.

“When I’m sewing, I feel a sense of peace. It’s hard for me to sit down and focus on things [like school]. When I’m sewing, I can do it without music and not be stressed over what my next move is,” Arzadon said. “I know some people prioritize comfort [and] some people prioritize the way [clothes] look on their body, so my priority when it comes to sewing is just making myself feel good.”

Arzadon’s main inspiration outlets are through Pinterest and TikTok. Once something replicable catches her eye, she starts sketching her vision and heads to Goodwill, her go-to thrift store, for fabric materials. In addition to her own clothes, Arzadon often helps tailor clothes for her family. 

“I think [her hobby] is very valuable and cool because sometimes she comes home from the thrift store with some raggedy looking shirt and turns it into something awesome,” her younger sister, Kaelyn Arzadon, said. “She hemmed [my pants] so it was short enough for me. They fit me perfectly.”

Arzadon’s interest in sewing began at a young age. Because both her mother and grandmother took on sewing as a hobby, this environment influenced her to pick up the same interest. In seventh grade, she started sewing more passionately, starting off with simple, stretchy fabrics until she moved onto mix-and-matching different styles. She has now created many of her own alterations, including sweats sewn into jeans, cheetah print tube tops as well as a shortened tennis skirt she plans to use during the season.

“[My grandma] would repair her pants, maybe add lace to her tops. I thought that was really cool, that she could customize anything that she had into whatever she wanted,” Arzadon said. “The first time I made a shirt, I remember my parents being very proud of me for making it. I was like, ‘Oh, this is cool. I have the ability to do this, and I think I want to continue doing this.’”

To share her hobby, Arzadon is involved with the new Upcycling Apparel club on campus, where they would host workshops to teach people how to hem, crop, bleach or alter and upcycling old and thrifted clothing. However, while Arzadon enjoys her art, she hopes to keep it a stress relief activity.

“It’s really valuable to learn that you can upcycle your clothing and not have to buy everything as new,” she said. “I think it’s a great hobby [and] really productive because you’re making something that someone, maybe you, maybe someone else, will actually wear.”