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3. The Style Shop
19 Plays11 months ago
Liana Gonzalez, from UH, and Marissa Web, the Near Peer for Workshop Houstons' Style Shop, chat about the Style Shop, the curriculum, and issues specific to the Style Shop.
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Transcript
Introduction to Workshop Houston
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, this is Liana Gonzalez with the University of Houston and this is part three of our podcast with Workshop Houston. Today we are talking with Marissa of the Style Shop at Workshop Houston. Are you a new peer, correct? Yes, I'm a new peer.
Marissa's Journey and Business
00:00:20
Speaker
Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself and about how you became a new peer and then we'll get more into the Style Shop.
00:00:27
Speaker
Okay, so my name is Marissa and I am a current college freshman. And I just graduated this year. So yeah, I'm going to Lone Star right now. My junior year. So I became introduced to workshop Houston when I was in middle school, I was an eighth grader.
00:00:48
Speaker
And I was a student here. And first we, I started off in the discovery shop, which is no longer with us right now. We had, it was like robotics almost. And then after that, I was like, I think I want to try fashion. And so from my eighth grade year up until now, I've been in the style shop and I haven't really moved around much. And I started off as a student and I finished all three, I finished all three sections. So there's beginner, intermediate and advanced.
00:01:17
Speaker
And I finished all those and I became a near peer. I think it was my sophomore year or my three year in high school. And that's how I became working here is just by showing that I was able to do everything and finish up. And I showed like that I was doing things outside of that as well. I even started my own business and all that from workshop.
Class Structure and Projects
00:01:40
Speaker
That's awesome. Okay. Well, can you tell us a little bit about what the beginner advanced
00:01:46
Speaker
intermediate, I don't know why I said them out of order classes. What you do in them and how they work in a style shop in particular? Okay, so the beginner class is basically just like the introduction to like the sewing machine and you know them doing straight stitches or curved stitching. Their very first project for the beginner thing is a pillow.
00:02:07
Speaker
So once they finish this, they have a checklist. I actually don't have it with me so I can show you. We have a checklist that we go through and usually they finish that within the first six weeks that they're here. And some students, some students finish sooner, some may take longer, some finish right at the six week mark. But they typically do a couple pillows between the first six weeks and before they're starting into the intermediate, which is the second six weeks.
00:02:33
Speaker
And then the intermediate course is they started going on to other things like they can start making their own bags or like a drawstring bag or tote bags. It just depends on that student themselves. So they kind of get advanced in what they're doing and different things.
00:02:49
Speaker
In advance, you start using the sergers instead of just a sewing machine. They get to style their cells almost. We use a Pinterest board and we let them create their own lookbook based on what they like. At the end of the advance thing, they should be able to create an entire outfit.
00:03:08
Speaker
based on that. We also have one student she started like I think she's in her intermediate checklist but she's really advanced because she's just been flying through everything and she's already created like dresses and stuff like that. That's really cool. Okay so I guess my question about the advanced classes in particular is it kind of like you get to pick what you want to do like you've completed kind of okay so it's like an independent study almost of
00:03:33
Speaker
literally like you're on your own, you've got these skills.
Style Shop Equipment and Changes
00:03:35
Speaker
Okay, cool, cool, cool. That's what I thought. So can you maybe walk us through the types of equipment that you guys have in the shop that y'all use all the time? I know you said regular sewing machine, surge, or what else do y'all kind of use? We use laptops. As far as like technology wise, we do use laptops for like our Pinterest boards, or if we're creating a look book, or if we have to do something like watch a video pertaining
00:04:00
Speaker
to fashion or something like that. We would use the computers. Other than the sewing machines and the sergers, we also use irons to iron the fabric and things like that. We have our scissors and just basic stuff that we need for fashion and style. Other than that, we just use fabric and stuff. Yeah, that's pretty much it.
00:04:25
Speaker
Okay, so fabric, so basic sewing things. So fabric, zippers, pins, thread. Yes. I'm trying to think what, bobbins. Okay. So, and how many machines do y'all guys have from the shop? I believe there's about five right now. What we had, let's see. I'm trying to think, I'm trying to envision the shop right now. I think it's five.
00:04:54
Speaker
And another six, and five of them work, yeah. One of them is, we have to have to fix it. Okay, got it, got it. I guess kind of how, do you know, you've been in the shop for a long time, so what kind of evolution have you seen in the shop when students, as you've been over the years working with the style shop?
00:05:16
Speaker
So over the years, I've seen like evolution wise, we've gotten new sewing machines and new surgery. So from the sewing machine that we had when I started is very different than what we have now. Probably because the ones that we had in the beginning were like digital and they were like more for like specifically beginners. And the ones we have now are kind of like not high tech, but they're like they're more people who are in the fashion industry use it.
00:05:45
Speaker
Now, so the kids are able to use that. We teach them the entire machine from start to finish. And I think another thing I've seen a lot that's changed is the kids that we have come in there. Most students, they envision old fashioned and style. They're like, oh, that's for girls. That's for girls.
Challenges in Technology and Aesthetics
00:06:05
Speaker
And they don't really want to get into it as if they're a male or if they're a boy. They're like, oh, that's for girls. I don't want to get into that.
00:06:12
Speaker
But now I'm seeing more boys come into the fashion shop and wanting to learn about sewing. Because they realize that it's not just for girls, if that makes sense. Do you think that was just a cultural shift? Or did y'all change the name from fashion to style? What created that shift? I think it's more of a cultural shift. It's always been the style shop. OK. Interesting.
00:06:41
Speaker
Y'all don't do leather working or anything. It's all through sewing. I guess you probably hand stitch as well. Yeah, we don't do any leather. We haven't worked with any leather or anything yet. We only do fashion. I'm not saying fashion, but basic things that they can learn on their own that doesn't require advanced machines.
00:07:06
Speaker
So what do you think is the biggest challenge you face on a day-to-day basis at the style shop? The biggest challenge I think is, well, there are a couple of things. I think one, primarily the look of it is like, I feel like we need a better aesthetic in there. It's kind of like everywhere, there's things everywhere. So we kind of need to fix the aesthetics to make it more enjoyable for people to come in and be like,
00:07:35
Speaker
This is where I want to be, you know, and then another thing is our computers we have really outdated computers and Some most of the computers have been there since I was there in eighth grade And I know a lot of them they're like won't charge and stuff like so like technology wise Um, a lot of kids we have to have them try to use their phones for Pinterest or and some people may not have phones So we'll have to like create a board on like the one computer that we do have working so that it can use the Pinterest boards or research or like
00:08:04
Speaker
create a board on based on what they want to do. So I think the computers and like technology is also something. And then also like necessarily everyone has different tastes. So the different types of fabric that we have, we don't really have like a lot of big pieces of fabric in there. So everyone's kind of using the same fabric. Pillows and stuff. So some people are like, Oh, I don't want that color, but that's the only color we have.
00:08:29
Speaker
Wait, so how do you get the, like do y'all just purchase in bulk? How does that, how do you get fabric? Is it donated or like, what's the kind of? Both. So some people donate fabric. Um, if they have like leftover, if they had some from before, I know I do. I still bring my fabric here. Um, and then they add, we also purchase in bulk, like the color, like the specific, if we're working on a collection or something within that six weeks, then we'll purchase that fabric in bulk. Okay. Oh, interesting.
00:09:00
Speaker
Um, okay, so what kind of things have you done, I guess, to try and fix these issues? Like, if you have people donate, right, you said you buy things in bulk when somebody starts a new collection, what other?
00:09:15
Speaker
um solutions have y'all tried that are effective or ineffective to kind of solve some problems y'all face um so with the first one with the aesthetic we kind of try to like change things around in the shop every now and again to try to fig fix it
00:09:30
Speaker
And try to get, not recommendations, but suggestions from the kids on what they want to see in the shop. Or how would they want to... How would they want their... Because we make it seem like it's their shop. Well, it is their shop. But see how they want it to be, how they want it to look in there.
00:09:48
Speaker
So that's one thing that we do is get suggestions from the kids. With the technology, we use our phones or like I have them, I bring my iPad, I let them use my iPad if they need it for like the research or whatever like that. That also, that doesn't like work all the time because sometimes we may have two or three kids with one iPad and that doesn't necessarily work. But if we have one kid and she's only working on something different than everyone else, then that would, that's effective for us.
00:10:18
Speaker
Um, and then as far as the fabric, we do have people donate or sometimes I'll donate fabric or Ms. Jasmine she'll donate. Um, or like you said, we buy it, try to buy it in bulk if we're doing a collection or something like that. Okay. I O'Shea keeps also bringing up, um,
00:10:36
Speaker
the aesthetic thing. Can you maybe go into detail about like how it looks and feels and how you want it or how students want it to look and feel? I just I like it's so funny you guys have both been like the aesthetics of the style you need to change but like what specifically?
00:10:55
Speaker
Okay so right now in the style shop it's kind of like bland. It's like we have the sewing machines and then we have our board where we can put up our patterns and stuff like the kids can put up the patterns but there's really no decorations in there. We don't have any curtains so it's kind of just like open windows right there. No really like posters or anything that says hey I'm in the style shop it's just kind of like this is a building with sewing machines in here.
00:11:22
Speaker
So they're like, what is this? And we're just like, oh, this is a style shop. And they were like, yeah, well, I see the sewing machines, but what is it? So it's kind of like, we kind of want something that says, this is the style shop. There's no decorations. We have lockers in there so they can put their stuff in there. But none of the lockers are decorated or anything. The fabric area we have, it's a closet.
00:11:46
Speaker
but the door is not on, like the door doesn't, it came off, off the hinge. So we kind of just, it's just sitting there and then there's like scrap fabric on the floor, like in the bucket on the floor. So if we can kind of like make that look nice and like put up, then I feel like that also helped the aesthetic kind of make it a little bit more clean in there. And then also as far as decorations or a lot of the kids, they want,
00:12:13
Speaker
base, they wanted to create the, where we put our patterns, they wanted to make that a mood board of some sort. So like when we do our collections, like every six weeks, we'll come up with a theme or something. And they wanted to use that to make it their mood board. So I feel like if we use that as a mood board, it'll also help bring out like, this is what we do, this is what we are. Or this is what we're working on.
00:12:37
Speaker
Yeah, I think too, y'all suffer from a little bit of a bad flow situation in that y'all are kind of the main entrants. Yes. For people to get to really the dance shop and the beef shop. So you also get, you have to keep a large part of the shop that y'all are in is a footpath, essentially. And so that's also kind of difficult to design around. Yes, it is. There's a lot of movement. Yeah. I feel like that's also another thing. I'm sorry.
Student Engagement and Capacity
00:13:08
Speaker
That's another challenge as well. You just made me think about it. A lot of people do come in and out, and I feel like that's a distraction for the kids sometimes. They can't really focus because they're like, oh, who's coming in here? What are they talking about? Instead of focusing on what they need to do. That's something else as well.
00:13:26
Speaker
Yeah, I was talking to Mike yesterday of the media shop and I was like, how do you like being, they're kind of have the opposite problem in that they're really isolated. And he's like, well, it's actually kind of nice and you can really concentrate on there. So, you know, it kind of is a double edged sword for sure. So you lose the traffic. Okay. I have a question about, um,
00:13:52
Speaker
about the number of students you see a week. Y'all have to be one of the more popular shops, correct? Yes. For the most part, it is, but there's also like the B shop. A lot of people want to come in here and rap and
00:14:05
Speaker
make beats and stuff. So based on like, well, every day it changes, it depends. Cause we have different schools or different kids on different days that they can come based on their schedule. I know like Monday and Wednesday, we have the students of like Lawson Academy, they come and that's about two of them in there. And then Tuesday and Thursday we have
00:14:33
Speaker
to boys who come in there. And then we have one girl who's, she comes every day. We are having more kids coming soon, I believe. Okay, cuz y'all just wrapped up the middle of the six weeks currently. Yeah, six weeks, like a couple weeks ago. Okay, so y'all have about five or six a week that are frequent flyers, so to speak. What's like your capacity? Like how many do you think you could actually, how many students do you think you could actually
00:15:04
Speaker
Service is not the right word, but service for like a day. Like what's kind of the daily capacity? I feel like we only have, since we only have like six machines right now, I feel like it would be like maybe eight because most of them are not always working on the machines. They're probably like styling or doing something else. Keeping up seams. That's what I'm always doing. They're either not necessarily specifically on the machines. So I would say about eight.
00:15:34
Speaker
Okay, interesting. So y'all are really at like 40% capacity. Like you could really have a lot more students that you could help or that you could provide. Yes. Provide after-school care, I guess, or it's creative time. I don't know what the right service, I guess, I don't know. I need to come up with a better word.
00:15:54
Speaker
Okay, so I think I've kind of run through all my questions about the style shop and I feel like I have a much better understanding, especially the aesthetic question. What's going on in style shop? Is there anything else that's maybe like important to the culture of the style shop or any problems that are specific to the style shop or anything that we didn't really cover that you'd like to discuss?
00:16:19
Speaker
No, I think that's pretty much it's just really just making it pop and say this is the style shop, you know. And maybe the foot traffic as well, like you mentioned, I think those are only really two major things as well as the technology. Have y'all always been in that space? I mean, since I think the building was built like in 2000,
00:16:44
Speaker
with that, I just wrote this down, 2018 or something. Have you always been in that space, do you know? When I came into eighth grade, the style shop has always been there before, I'm not really sure. I believe it was the same. It's been in that space, okay. All right, okay, well, that is it. Thank you so much for your time. This was really great. It was very nice meeting you, and thank you for all your help in discussing style shop with us. It was nice meeting you as well, and no problem. Okay, thank you.
00:17:36
Speaker
Thank you.