So I broke my duct tape hiatus on Sunday...

After Ingenuity, I really needed a break from duct tape. This semester has really been a trying one for me simply because my one class pretty much turned into a part time job. I absolutely love the class but with the whole 18 credit hours plus FYE plus working plus getting observation hours in, my entire life was turned upside down. Observation officially ended last Friday, November 5th. So when else is a better time to get into "comfortable clothes" and work out some of that final relief?

This past Sunday, I went to see a concert at the Grog Shop in Cleveland Heights. The people playing were Austin Gibbs, The Downtown Fiction (I LOVE THEM!), Mod Sun, Stereo Skyline (like them too!), and The Summer Set (here's a video I took of them from mid 2009 "She's Got the Rhythm") (I STILL have to upload more videos from the Spring AP tour this year!)

Since I like both The Summer Set and The Downtown Fiction A LOT, I decided Sunday MORNING that I was going to make my dress for that evening. As a basic description I made a one shouldered shorter purple party dress with the words "Love Like This" for the Summer Set on the side and "I Just Wanna Run" for The Downtown Fiction on the back. I used white and chrome duct tape for the lettering.

I had Mary (my sister, the other girl in the picture) help me place the duct tape lettering on me because I did not take the dress off at all that day because as soon as it was done, it was time to get ready and go!

I absolutely LOVE wearing dresses to concerts! During my hiatus, I've been wearing "normal" clothes and I just never felt like myself, almost to the point where I was uncomfortable. It's bizarre to think that normal clothes at a concert can make me feel awkward! It's really nice to be able to say "Yes! it IS duct tape AND I made it myself!" and it's these little moments where someone asks me for a picture or asks if they can touch it (you would not BELIEVE how many people ask me that!) where I feel accomplished and it reminds me of just one of the MANY reasons I do this! I really want to make something for a band besides flowers for the next show I go to as a fan gift. I haven't decided quite yet what to make but I'm sure I'll think of something. :-)

With Brian from Stereo Skyline

With Josh from The Summer Set

With Cameron from The Downtown Fiction

The first dress I ever made...

...weighed a TON! Pretty much since it was the first dress I ever made, I was just playing it by ear because this whole duct tape thing has been pretty much self taught. I don't use patterns, I don't sew things, I just tape.The skull belt was added to this one just to break up the stripes and is not duct tape. Basically, this is how it all started: I made a solid grey duct tape dress, then covered it in Funky Flamingo and Aqua. Right before the concert, I also added a chrome star burst on the bust and cut out the words "Men Women And Children" and stuck them around the bottom. This is not one whole dress but rather two pieces. This thing was THICK! I had at least 4 layers of duct tape and let me tell you, duct tape on duct tape already has the tendency to act cone-like, so this was a mega cone. I did get to meet the members of Men Women and Children (unfortunately they are no longer together) and they signed my dress.

Find more artists like Men Women & Children at MySpace Music

Since this dress, as you can probably tell, everything has spun out of control.

It's been a crazy ride thus far...

Hello all,

So it's been a week and a half since Ingenuity which was a blasty-blast and now I'm just starting to get resettled into my old life. Prior to Ingenuity we (as in myself and Fashion Week Cleveland) had been having weekly photo shoots and it was just crazy. It was a ton of fun but also pretty much turned my world upside down for a while. I was making new dresses, some of which we not even worn at Ingenuity because of lack of models, trying to attempt to drive to and from Kent a few times a week, and be an honors student with 18 credit hours, work, and assisting 2 classes. It really put my system into a state of shock and I am just now in the recoop phase. I am going to try and cut back on the extra "stuff" for now and focus on my classes. I may continue to do dresses but on a much more scaled back way. I hope to be back up and running ASAP.

Sarah "Sadie" Nedbalski

Ingenuity Fest: September 24th

This was last night at Ingenuity Festival Cleveland. From Left to Right is Claire Macosko in the shorter companion piece of my Butterfly Prom Dress, Myself in the Ingenuity Dress, Mary Nedbalski in the Army Dress of the ongoing Salute your Soldiers collection, and Fiona Gao in the Paint the Club Red dress.

Since we were there with Fashion Week Cleveland promoting the wearable art show, we decided to take a picture with the Fashion Week Cleveland sign.

There will be more pictures coming later and also pictures of older dresses as well.

With Love,

Sarah "Sadie" Nedbalski

My First Post

Hi. My name is Sarah "Sadie" Nedbalski.

I go by either Sarah or Sadie, whichever you prefer. There are too many people named "Sarah" out there (it was the sixth most popular girls name the year I was born)

I am a designer of wearable art primarily made out of duct tape, trash bags, newspaper, and contact paper. I am also currently looking to expand my media with which I work with. I love to create and design, though I am not a Fashion major. I am going for a degree in Secondary English Education at Kent State University, where I am currently a Junior. I have been featured on the cover of The Daily Kent Stater and also on Fox 8 News.

I have been making dresses out of duct tape since about 2006 but had been using duct tape to create flowers, wallets, bags, etc. since before I can remember. I participated in the 2009 Stuck at Prom competition and made it into the top 10 for my butterfly inspired prom dress and matching tuxedo. I do not use fabric for the bases of my dresses, opting for trash bags instead. I only used fabric once and it just didn't feel right to me because it wasn't 100% recyclable materials. I feel anyone can stick duct tape to fabric (although it doesn't stick very well) but it takes a lot more craft to think outside the box.

I hope to one day be able to sell my dresses or give them to Henkle (the maker of Duck Brand Duct Tape) in exchange for more duct tape (because hey, I'm the typical struggling college kid, working part time, going to school full time and it's getting difficult to finance these dresses). I will post something later once I decide if I will be selling them (on something like Etsy) or something else.

I will eventually be putting up a dress evolution timeline including all the dresses I wore to various school dances, concerts, and Fashion Week Cleveland. I am currently participating with FWC at Ingenuity Fest Cleveland. Speaking of Ingenuity, I'd better get ready because that is tonight and tomorrow night! I hope to see you all there!

With Love,

Sarah "Sadie" Nedbalski

(Photo credit: Robert Banks)