Differentiating styles, ideas, and fabrics flooded Mira Costa High School senior Kellie Mullin’s mind this past July. She was on a mission of fashion.
Her aunt, Peggy Gebhart, had given her a jacket and asked her to alter it and make it look good. The jacket that Mullin created would be just one of over 50 pieces she has created and altered within the past five years.
“Do what you want,” her aunt told her. “And make it look cute.”
“I was really nervous,” Mullin recalled. “Because I wasn’t sure what her style was like.”
Despite her trepidation, she went to work on the jacket. Mullin added lining and embroidery to the jacket and mailed it back to her aunt. She still wasn’t certain what her reaction would be. Finally, her aunt called.
“I really like this,” her aunt said.
Mullin felt relief.
“Sewing allows me to make things that I want out of nothing,” Mullin said. “I got to show my aunt something that I put time and effort into. And she would rip it to pieces if she didn’t like it, so that was exciting.”
Mullin, 17, started making clothes in seventh grade. When all of her friends were getting sewing machines, a 12-year-old Mullin also decided to take on sewing and altering — as well as creating clothes for herself and others.
“There were so many interesting clothes online that they didn’t sell for children at the time because people expect children to wear specific clothing, like a T-shirt,” Mullin said. “So, I liked the idea of being able to make anything I wanted and just have it.”
Now an illustrator for Mira Costa High School’s newspaper, La Vista, and an employee with the creative design studio, FAB, Mullin continues to sew nearly every day.
“When you’re creating your own clothes, you have so much control over how people are going to perceive you,” Mullin said. “You can make and create yourself. It’s very raw.”
She sews fabric or Goodwill clothing most days after school and on the weekends in her room at home with her serger, a large sewing machine that is frequently used for hemming or seaming. She finds her central ideas online, and her style is generally vintage and feminine.
“I have a natural inclination towards feminine and vintage things,” Mullin reflected. “I just find it really aesthetically pleasing, especially when I wear feminine or vintage things since I’m short. I may as well embrace the fact that I look like I’m 12.”
She also draws inspiration from the 1920’s and 1940’s because she sees the social movements of those eras within the fashion of those eras.
“It’s interesting to make vintage clothing because it’s almost like history,” Mullin said. “You get to feel the vibe of history. For instance, the 20s are known for the flappers, and I think that’s really interesting because it was very liberating for women. It was the first time that women were showing their form, legs, and arms. They didn’t have to worry about having them out in the open.”
Mullin intends to pursue costume design. She hopes to attend a University of California school, but does not plan on majoring in design or any fashion-related sector. But she will get involved with costume design at whatever university she attends.
“I don’t want to commit to design in the future because it’s really hard to break into the industry,” Mullin said. “But, wherever I am, I would love to be involved in whatever theatre programs are available to design their costumes. That’s my short term plan.”
In the meantime, Mullin is working on building her online store, “LittleFabricThings,” which is being facilitated through Etsy, a website where anyone can buy and sell any kind of handmade products.
“I was inspired to make an Etsy because my friends and family have been super encouraging of it,” Mullin said. “I realized I have spent so much time honing this skill that I may as well try to take it further. Design is definitely something that will always be in the background of my life.” ER
