How did you find out about Make-It Springfield? My school was telling me about Make-It Springfield and, like, Jamila and Roberta came in to talk about Make-It programs and what they were offering. They were telling me about their fashion program and where it was, and so I came after school. I came into the building with my 3 friends and I was greeted by Sheldon. He asked me, “What are looking to do here?” I told him I wanted to learn how to sew. He taught me to sew in like 5 minutes, literally, and I’ve been sewing since.
What would you tell people about Make-It Springfield? It felt like a calm space, there was music playing…it felt equal to reality.
What are your hopes and dreams for your creative career? My goals and my dreams are to be a designer because I always wanted to make clothes. I used to watch Raven’s Home, and she loved doing clothes. When I was younger, the clothes I didn’t want, I would take fabrics and toothpicks and dental floss – I just really wanted to be a fashion designer. I’m getting there, that’s my dream. And my career…my goals to get there are to, like, get internships, get mentors to get to the best places and new experiences, and to do fashion shows. Make-It helps me out a lot with finding out about things like that.
How has your work changed over time? So, I mentioned that I started off with dental floss and toothpicks. Then I was that one kid who would, like, rip my clothes by mistake (secretly, from my mom) so then I would sew them back together. So, I learned how to sew with my Grandma’s sewing kit. And then I came to Make-It and learned how to use the machine. It took me 5 minutes to learn the basics and, like, as I continued on, I learned how to make dresses, sun dresses, and stuff like that. I came a long way and I’m still advancing.
What is the best way for people to connect with you and view your work? My Instagram page is @bellsflashionfashion, my line is “Your Best Friend.” I post clothes that I make on there, products, events and more.
How does being a maker or artist fit into the rest of your life? Being a designer and a fashionista is, like, casual for me but when other people look at it it’s just like, “Oh, hey fashion designer, you look very fancy today.” But I see it as casual. It’s kinda confusing to me but it’s, like, as I go on, doing all these fashion shows, with photographers, they all approach me. So I get fashion shoots and stuff and it’s, like, that wasn’t me before, so it feels Hollywood, but it doesn’t at the same time. It’s like, goals of mine so being known for doing fashion is really key because a lot of people judge my generation for what it is and I feel like there’s a lot of us that actually do a lot of great things. We’re really talented people – everyone is – but I feel like my generation gets talked on so badly but we’re worth more than that. For it to be fitting in, it’s just casual to me. I feel just honored, you know what I’m saying?
