UDMessenger

Volume 12, Number 2, 2003


Combining computers with sewing

Christie Vilsack, first lady of Iowa, wanted an inaugural gown designed and produced in the Hawkeye State by Iowans.

She got a one-of-a-kind dazzler--with a small assist from a Delawarean, Bethany Angell, CHEP '02.

Angell, a first-year graduate student in Iowa State University's textiles and clothing program, assisted two of her professors, J.R. Campbell and Jean Parsons, in creating a gown featuring images of the famed stained glass windows in Iowa's gubernatorial mansion. Capturing the windows with a digital camera, the instructors uploaded the photos to a computer and digitally edited them to create a unique fabric design.

That's when the Delaware connection stepped in. Using skills in textiles that she had learned at UD, Angell steamed and rinsed the fabric, cut pieces, removed telltale backing and did some of the construction of the complicated lined and innerlined gown.

The computer creativity and the homegrown design drew reporters' attention. Vilsack and her gown were featured on CNN and the Associated Press. When Mrs. Vilsack wore it a second time for a White House dinner, she didn't have to fret about anyone else wearing an identical outfit.

This fall, Angell is returning to Iowa State as a graduate assistant. Campbell says her amalgam of superior sewing skills and computer know-how puts Angell in demand in an era when a complete sewing basket may include a digital camera. She works more hours than any other graduate assistant in the department, editing the web page, teaching sewing classes and monitoring a sewing lab.

Angell says her foundation in textiles at Delaware was invaluable, along with the inspiration she received from her professors--Jane Lamb, Belinda Orzada and Mary Jo Kallal. She says Lamb was the reason she stuck with the program the first year, and Kallal helped her see the future in computers and sewing.

"It's going to be a big thing,'' Angell says. "People want to design their own clothing on the computer and have exactly what they want, not just what's in the store. I had been interested in computers before and interested in design, but I didn't realize how they could be combined."

Angell says she might work in industry after grad school, but her ultimate goal is to teach. Again, Kallal is her role model.

"I certainly want to get my doctorate and stay in academia," she says. "Jo Kallal inspired me to do that because she's just so enthusiastic and she loves what she does.

"I would say to anyone who has already graduated from Delaware's program, 'Congratulations. Good for you. You made it.' It was tough, but it was a wonderful program," Angell says. "If I could do it all over, I'd definitely go to Delaware again."

Meanwhile, Angell is beginning to think about another design people will notice--her wedding dress.

When she weds fiancé Luan Chan in the summer of 2004, she'll wear either a dress of her own design or a vintage gown hand-beaded and embroidered by her grandmother.

"It's kind of a choice between traditional and doing my own dress," she says. "It definitely won't be a store-bought dress.''

--Kathy Canavan