Congratulations to our Textile Design Capstone and Thesis Students!

We are immensely proud of our graduating students this semester. They met the unique challenge of having to finish their studies at home amid this season of quarantine. These students rose to the challenge and really made impressive collections using the skills they've learned over the years. We couldn't be more thrilled to show you what they've made. Below is a quick peek at some of the work that came out of this semester.

Click here to see the undergraduate capstone collections.

Click here to see the graduate thesis collections.

Gabriella DeBlasio

Olivia Pagnotta

Nick Hammerschmidt

Courtney Locke

Ana Odiot

Jake White

Sabrina Pinello

Elena Garrido

Sonya Borowsky

Hannah Beckett

Gabriel Ortiz

Kara Beckner taking over Jefferson's Instagram account!

Be sure to check out Jefferson University's Instagram account on Friday, May 1st! Textile Design graduate student, Kara Beckner, will be taking over the university's account to share what inspires her work, her weaving and textile processes, and the ways she keeps creating while sheltering in place. 

Skip on over to Jefferson University's Instagram page, jeffersonuniv, and don't forget to tune in on Friday. You can find Kara's professional IG account here, krbknr. Be sure to give her a follow! And as always, you can see regular Textile Design happenings over on our own Instagram page, textiledesignatjefferson.

Interview with Thesis student Hannah Beckett

I've had the pleasure of teaching Hannah for both her first and her last knitting class at PhilaU/Jefferson with one or two in between. I'm so proud of how far she's come. She has a beautiful final collection to show for all of her hard work. I'll show your her final pieces in a post yet to come, but for now, I'll give you a peek into her process and let her tell you about her journey. 

When did you learn to knit/weave/print, and who taught you?

I actually learned to weave from my elementary school teacher, Mrs. Pilgrim. She had us make clay frame looms that we designed ourselves. Then after the clay frames were fired, we used the frame as the base for out woven. I still have the frame and the fabric woven on it sitting in my parent's house. It is a special thing for me. 

Do you have a background in design or textiles?

When I started at Jefferson, I did have a design and textile background that was more rooted in fine art. My BFA is in fine arts with a concentration in fibers. My undergrad was a lot more free and conceptual in my way of design, with every piece being very personal to me. I love this way of working just as much as I love to work from an inspiration that is not personal but is instead something that I find inspiring through its use of color, pattern, concept, and its use for knitted structures. I also mostly did weaving and beading in my undergrad. 

Who are your design heroes?

My design heroes are Alexander McQueen and Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki is someone who has inspired others since birth. His amazing use of important societal and environmental themes, as well as the beauty and feeling of his movies, make me want to create better work. Alexander McQueen's use of high-concept in luxury fashion is able to transcend to a more mainstream market and his use of conceptual aspects in not only his clothing but in our modern fashion sense is apparent. 

What surprised you the most about Textile Design at Philau/Jefferson?

I was surprised at the immense amount of textile equipment, as well as the amazing technical background that you are given. In my undergrad, I was not given much technical explanation to fabric outside of the basics. At Jefferson, I was able to learn in-depth technical knowledge that has lead me to be a better designer. 

What is your favorite thing about Textile Design?

My favorite thing about textile design is actually two things. The first is something that applies directly to knitting, which is the counting and patterning that is required for designing and knitting.  It is meditative and almost relaxing, that is until you get to into it and mess up. The second applies to all textile design, and that is the ability to create art without having to be great or at least feeling you are great at drawing. As a child, this was always something that held me back from doing art or wanting to do art as a job. When I went to college and realized I could do the same crafts that I had done all my life as a job, I was so sad that my entire childhood and teenage years, I never realized that this was also just as valid as an art form. 

What is your favorite thing to do to distract yourself from school stress?

My favorite thing to distract me from the stress of school is to cuddle my dog or go to the rescue farm I volunteer at. To me, animal energy and the ability to sit quietly with someone who doesn't have societal pressures is freeing and calming. 

Are there any techniques in textile design you'd like to explore further?

I would love to explore beading, knitting, and weaving all more thoroughly. Even though I have been doing all of these techniques for almost 12 years now, I am continually learning and being inspired to try new things. I would love to incorporate each technique with the other someday too! I love the interplay of different textile and embellishment techniques. 

What do you have on your knitting machine/loom/sketchbook today?

Today, I was knitting the final skirt that I have to make for my thesis collection! This skirt is multiple pieces and has taken a few days to complete, but tomorrow I should be done. I am super excited about how it's coming out! 

What drives you to make your best work? 

What drives me to make my best work is continually looking for new inspiration. This varies from conceptual, visual, and for the most inspiring, other knitter work. I love to see all the different ways people are utilizing techniques and find new things I have yet to try to use in my own work and look at different ways of patterning and color stories. 

What are your hobbies? How do you make time for them?

My other hobbies include media of all kinds. I love games, books, and movies. I usually find time for them easily, especially movies. The great thing about textiles is being able to watch movies while you are working! I also love to give myself time at the end of every day that I am working to do something I love from these three things, and its usually playing Animal Crossing on my Nintendo Switch. 

Interview with a Capstone Student: Sabrina Pinello

We all know someone who lights up a room when they walk in; someone who emanates warmth and kind-heartedness; someone who makes each person they come across feel special. Today, I am happy to introduce you to our fun and friendly beacon of positivity, Sabrina Pinello. 

My name is Sabrina Pinello, and I am a Senior Textile Design Major. I am from Long Island, New York, and I am the creative type who always needs to keep my hands busy. As well, I love to be active and am super involved on campus!

How did you choose Textile Design as a major?

It’s quite the ironic story as to how I chose Textile Design as my major. Junior year of high school, I saw a career counselor at a community college, recommended to me by an older cousin, and that was the best thing! I’ve tried all the online career quizzes and research on how to pinpoint what your desired career could be. With that being said, at my meeting with the career counselor, she asked me what are my hobbies, what do I like to do that brings me joy? My answers consisted of everything from arts and crafts, specifically DIY’s, painting, crocheting, sewing, and even baking. The bottom line is “hands-on” for me! The career counselor began to list majors she thought fit that description and would pull up the “definition” of that major along with different potential colleges to attend. When she mentioned Textile Design, I vividly remember her pointing to and pulling her cable knit sweater and saying “this.” I automatically said no, that’s not it. Fast forward to a few months later, I was pretty frustrated, and feeling stuck that I couldn’t figure out this big life question at the age of 17. My mom said, “how about that major Textile Design?” I looked it up, realizing I didn’t fully understand what it was. When I read the description and saw it consists of weaving, knitting, and print design, I was sold! 

When did you learn to knit/weave/print, and who taught you?

I took my first weaving class sophomore year of college with Bridget Foster, an amazing professor. Bridget Foster, I would say, is definitely a mentor of mine because she has inspired me to pursue my passion for weaving. Her class brought out that spark and love I had inside of me for weaving. Through her successful teaching methods, patience, and passion for what she does, I believe she has truly pushed me forward in all the best directions. 

Who are your design heroes?

My design heroes are most of the Textile Design professors such as Marcia Weiss, Becky Flax, Meghan Kelly, Bridget Foster, and Jen Rhodes. I don’t say this because they are my professors, and I want to be on someone’s good side. By no means is that the case! I truly mean that they are my design heroes because, since day one, they have been there to encourage, inspire, assist, and honestly care for me as an individual and my work. They have only looked to assist in pushing my work forward to be sure I’m ready for the professional world of design. What I have learned from them cannot match any price tag. I feel so lucky to have been inspired and taught by these lovely ladies. I look up to them for how they got to where they are today, how they have built their design careers, and how they’ve taken what they’ve learned and applied to the professional world. That drives me to do the same! 

Tell us about the colors, landscapes, artists, or architecture that inspire your design work.

Bright, cheery, colors inspire my design work as well as rustic and muted toned colors. I feel the reason I find bright and muted colors inspiring my design work is because of the scenery that inspires my work. These are very naturistic scenes—specifically, the varying shapes and sizes of florals, trees, and the underlying and apparent textures. The variety in animals (shapes, sizes, colors, patterns), the mountains and how they’ve formed naturally, waterfalls, how rocks have fallen, and broken off into something mesmerizing; the list goes on. Within all of that, a wide array of colors can be found. All those elements bring me peace, joy, and inspirational happiness!  

What do you have on your knitting machine/loom/sketchbook today?

Currently, in my sketchbook, I have a woven piece made from wired jute, wool, and mohair yarn, pom-poms, and straw material. The wired jute ribbon (which is a woven Mock Leno structure), I manipulated into a warp, in which I glued into my sketchbook. To do so, I railroaded the ribbon 90 degrees and cut out the “filling” yarns, so I was left with long vertical strands to provide me a warp. This is an experimental piece for a décor pillow that I am going to weave on my easel loom. I’ve annotated some things for future reference. 

What kind of music do you listen to in your headphones?

I mainly listen to country music, but I also listen to pop, rap, R&B, and hip-hop when I want to switch things up!

What are your hobbies? How do you make time for them?

My hobbies consist of working out, specifically running, crocheting, baking, researching healthy alternatives, because that’s always been an interest of mine, going on Pinterest, and staying up-to-date with the social media health & fitness influencers I follow on You-Tube. With the very crazy and involved schedule I have, the way I make time for the hobbies I love is to incorporate them into my day of work when I feel I need a break. After weaving for quite some time, I may feel I need to look away because I’m having a hard time generating ideas for a new sample, or I’ve been staring at the sample I’m making for so long I begin to second guess myself. That’s when I say to myself that taking a half an hour to go to the gym or going on a run will be more beneficial in moving forward, rather than standing at my loom for an unproductive hour. It may even mean taking 5 or 10 minutes to scroll on my phone or check my Snapchat because I’m feeling fidgety. I will give myself that break. For things that take more time like baking, I’ll do that on the weekend and plan out my schedule for the day in advance so I can give myself that break to do something therapeutic.  

What is your favorite thing about Textile Design?

There is no one thing I love about textile design, it's more like textile design in its entirety. The freedom is yours, you can create anything from woven to knits, to prints, and potentially any size you wish. It’s such a creative environment that makes me feel I can set free and take off. I can let that creativity inside of me free and experiment through all forms of mediums, constructions, yarns, textures, etc. and as a kid, that’s all I wanted to do. Now, I get to do that every single day, and that’s more than I could ask for. The support from faculty is outstanding. Even more so, we, as Textile Designers, are a family. The studio energy is welcoming, inspiring, uplifting, and energetic. Competition between students doesn’t exist. We will all go out of our way to help one another and pay that forward. The community created in our studios is a unique one that can’t be beaten. 

Jefferson Collaborates in the Fight Against Covid-19

Thomas Jefferson University is on the front lines of the Covid-19 pandemic in more ways than one. Below is an excerpt from our university's online magazine The Nexus describing Jefferson's designers and engineers working together to develop advancements to the PPE pieces that are so badly needed right now in hospitals across the country and globe.

With the focus and intensity befitting a life-or-death race against the clock, Jefferson’s textiles, fashion, design, engineering, and other communities have united in an effort to protect those fighting to save lives amid the COVID-19 epidemic.

“These are interdisciplinary efforts,” explains Dr. Mark Tykocinski, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Jefferson. “Projects like these speak to our university’s push to bridge medicine with our strengths in textile engineering, industrial design and mechanical engineering and are part of our broader vision.”

JeffMask and JeffVent, names coined by Dr. Tykocinski during the working group sessions that helped formalize the ideas, are focused on two primary goals.

One team is working to create as much personal protective equipment—or PPE—as possible to help protect healthcare workers at TJUH as they treat patients, at a time when supplies are not forecasted to meet the expected demand. This includes surgical masks, N95 covers, face shields and—among other things—protective suits. They are also investigating ways to potentially sterilize existing items to extend their usage life span.

Jefferson's Michael Leonard takes a look at the textiles involved in the JeffMask effort.

Simultaneously, a separate team is working on prototypes for a “ventilator hack” in the hopes of mitigating the likely scarcity of the life-saving machines, at a time when the number of patients is expected to rise exponentially in the coming weeks and months.

Complicating matters is the fact that team members are forced to work in isolation, or observe proper social-distancing rules when together in person, which is a rarity with the University’s adherence to Gov. Tom Wolf’s stay-at-home order.

“We’re doing what a research-and-development lab would be doing, but remotely, and under siege conditions,” says Michael Leonard, academic dean of the School of Design and Engineering and point person for the JeffVent effort. “The textile design and engineering disciplines have been responsible for creating the materials used in masks, gowns and other forms of PPE since these items were originally created.

Still, they are buoyed by seeing an outpouring of support and desire to contribute from afar, while keeping apprised of progress via regular Zoom meetings and an always-expanding “Jefferson Emergency Projects” folder on Dropbox.

Hayward Hall's Power Weaving Center is one of many sites involved in the JeffMask initiative.

“When the first shortages were projected, textile designers and engineers, garment designers, production and testing experts, and many other fashion and textile members of the School of Design and Engineering’s extended textile family reached out to ask what they might do to help,” Leonard explains. “Support came from all areas of the supply chain.”

There has been substantial progress made over the course of the past three weeks, but the teams are still diligently working toward tangible solutions and products, which would be manufactured by corporate partners or, in the case of some mask prototypes, woven or knit on campus and cut and sewn at the homes of faculty members.

Marcia Weiss, director of the Fashion and Textiles Futures Center and the textile design programs, is leading the JeffMask charge.

Leonard says that all of their work will be open source and made available for others to replicate in their communities.

“We’re not competing with anybody,” Leonard says. “We are trying to solve the problems and are already sharing our information with hundreds of people. … Shortages of materials we usually take for granted usually give rise to innovative workarounds, and innovative workarounds usually give rise to new product development. This disaster is no different.”

Weiss noted that “it is clear that there is a massive need for PPE during this pandemic” and lauded “countless” individuals, businesses and industry partners that have offered to help.

She described the effort, which is informed by fiber and textile science and engineering, as an “accelerated, iterative design process, quickly moving from ideas to initial samples to more fully resolved prototypes.” Industry partners involved in the effort include MTL, Knoll Textiles, WL Gore, Harbor Linen, Noble Biomaterials and Langhorne Carpet. These corporate partners are so important because of supply chain concerns forcing the need for items to be made locally.

Among the members of the JeffVent team are Tod Corlett, an industrial designer, professor, and director of the industrial design programs. Late last week, a vent-hack prototype that he’d worked up was being sent to the clinical side for testing.

What they aim to do is become “instant experts” across a wide array of fields, while supporting the “real experts” as they work to save lives on the medical frontlines.

“The prototypes we are making are about understanding the problem better,” Corlett says. “We recognize better than most, how far from being ready for patient care they are. We know we’re not doctors.

“Anything the global ventilator development effort proposes will need to be reviewed swiftly but completely by clinicians and regulators before can be safely used on patients. We’re here to help with that,” he continues. “We hope Jefferson’s new connections between design, engineering and clinical practice may help us contribute to solutions quickly enough to matter.”

Weiss breaks down the ongoing approach as looking to tackle “immediate needs and long-term considerations.” 

“It’s incredible to see how many people stepped up to say, ‘Tell me what I can do,’” she concludes. “It’s rare to get the opportunity to work for the good of the public as a whole, but with our experience and training, this is what we have the opportunity to do now.”

To read the original article by Brian Hickey, click here.

December 2019 Thesis + Capstone Exhibition

The Textile Design department invites you to our Thesis and Capstone Exhibition at The Design Center on Friday, Dec 13th from 4-7pm. We are excited and proud to showcase the work of Undergraduate students Ryan Wojciechowicz, Julia Ableson, Julianna Palmer, and Neilah Lizwelicha, and Graduate students Lauren Brauninger, Emily Reppert, Jiyoung Park, and Ben Jones.

These students have impressed us with their vision, innovation, and dedication to their studies and creative problem-solving.  Join us in celebrating their hard work and thoughtful textile design.

Refreshments and beautiful designs will be served.

Interview Series with Julia Ableson

Continuing in our interview series, we are happy to introduce Julia Ableson. Julia lends such a positive attitude to the studio. It's been lovely seeing her grow in her design abilities over the years.

How did you choose Textile Design as a major?

When I graduated from high school, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study, so I started working and taking a few classes at the County College of Morris in Randolph, NJ. I had heard of Textile Design programs, but I wasn’t ready to go away to a four-year school yet. I soon declared an Interior Design major because I knew that I wanted to do something art-related and because it was the closest major to Textile Design that CCM offered. For a while, I planned to finish my Bachelor’s degree in Interior Design, but eventually, I realized that I wanted to do something more hands-on and materials related. During my last semester there, I took an independent study course with Daryl Lancaster, an NJ-based handweaver and fiber artist. That course helped solidify my decision to switch majors to Textile Design and to move to Philadelphia to attend the program at PhilaU/Jefferson. 

When did you learn to knit/weave/print, and who taught you?

When I was around eight years old, my mom gave me a knitting kit for Christmas, and my aunt and grandma taught me how to handknit. They also taught me how to sew and instilled a love of fabric and fiber in me. I also remember my grandma teaching me how to weave on a tapestry loom (another Christmas gift!). Daryl Lancaster taught me how to hand weave, from winding the warp and dressing the loom to weaving with floating selvages and color effects. 

What is your favorite book of all time?

This is such a hard question because I love books and the way that words can change your life. I think I’ll go with Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. It feels like home, and it is sweet, wise, funny, serious, perceptive, and joyful all at once. I also appreciate its rich history and how it is still impacting the world today. 

Which design from your portfolio are you most proud of, or is most special to you?

I’m the proudest of the woven collection I created based on the movie To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. I planned out the harness draft specifically so I could weave a sample that looked like a wall in Lara Jean’s room from the film, and I’m really pleased with how cohesive and balanced the yarns and colors are throughout the collection. I’m also really happy that the collection celebrates a film with Asian American representation in its lead cast. 

Are there any techniques in textile design you’d like to explore further?

Yes! This semester, I’ve been playing a bit more with materiality (such as using magnetic ferrofluid to create motifs for a print collection), and I would love to continue doing that. Embracing materiality has helped me to break outside of my design box, so to speak, and to embrace the process more, which has been really good for me. As far as weaving goes, I’d love to try leno at some point. 

What advice would you give an incoming student into the Textile Design department?

Welcome! We’re so glad you are here! You will learn so incredibly much in the next few years. This program is hard and takes a ton of dedication, but you are going to grow so much and make beautiful and innovative things. Don’t try to do it alone. One of the best things about our Textile Design program is how supportive everyone is. You can be honest with your peers and professors about how you’re feeling on both your good and bad days. Whether you’re an undergraduate or graduate student, make friends with the people around you. It’s important to participate in both the giving and receiving ends of that support system. 

And ask questions, lots of them! Ask how to use the equipment, ask what your fellow students are working on, ask your professors what their career paths have been so far. There is so much to learn, and those questions will help you move forward. 

What is your favorite thing about Textile Design?

I think my favorite thing about Textile Design is that the possibilities are endless. Textiles are everywhere, and their purpose can be aesthetic, functional, or any combination thereof. I love seeing people’s personalities come through their work and watching how everyone’s original ideas evolve throughout the semester. Being a textile designer means I get to turn ideas into fabric! It’s pretty incredible to be a part of that.