You walk through Commons and see the stacks of Hawks’ Herald newspapers sitting there, maybe you grab one, read an article or two, then recycle it. However, Sarah Strzegowski saw something different; she saw a new material that could be used to make a sustainable outfit.
Sarah was assigned to make an outfit out of unconventional materials for her fashion class’s final project. Other students choose balloons, sea glass, styrofoam, and more, but Sarah was drawn to the Hawks’ Herald Newspapers.
Strzegowski originally chose the newspaper because. “I thought it would be really easy to work with. Which I was wrong about.” Sarah started by laying out the newspaper so they featured certain parts, areas that “had a cool picture… a lot of words or something about it was cool.”
She then sketched out her design and got to cutting. She started her project with a corset top she had thrifted and using Mod Podge, glued the newspaper down onto the top. But after letting it dry, she ran into an issue.
Strzegowski let it dry overnight and in the morning she realized it had shrunk because of the glue. But Sarah didn’t let this setback stop her, “that’s when I decided to lace up the back.”
Strzegowski used a piece of a T-shirt to create long strips to weave in and out of the back. With this addition, she was super pleased as she realized, “now anybody can wear it and it’s super adjustable and can fit different sizes.”
Strzegowski’s outfit is currently still in progress, she has finished the top but still has some work to do. She is planning on making a whole skirt to go with the top. Which is going to be layered pieces of newspaper, with the end goal of making the skirt flowy, and poofy, similar to a ballgown.
So next time you walk through Commons and see all the newspapers, maybe take a second and think about all the ways you can reuse, and recycle them. Maybe you’ll make a kite, a purse, or something else just as creative as Sarah’s outfit.
