Starting with plain bolts of fabric, her family’s discarded clothes or even old window curtains, senior Jenny Gerber meticulously reimagines and remakes each piece into a brand-new garment.

Gerber has been sewing ever since she learned from her family in 7th grade. Since then, she has designed and created many articles of clothing, ranging from shirts to pajamas to jackets (her favorite), and even applied to Project Runway Junior, a sewing and fashion design competition show. While she wears the majority of clothes herself, she enjoys gifting some special pieces to her friends. Her garments are creative and unique, which reflects her personality and style.

Gerber uses a variety of different materials when designing and sewing her projects.

“It’s mostly from the fabric store or things are found around the house,” Gerber said. “In the past, it was more from the fabric store. But recently I had a surplus of my dad’s old shirts, and my mom just retired some stuff, so they go into my sewing pile.”

The variety of materials that Gerber uses in her clothes and designs both influence her design process in different ways.

“If I have the old shirt then the design revolves more around what that shirt was,” Gerber said. “But if I just have a piece of fabric, then it’s the colors and the texture that determine what the design is.”

Senior Caroline Viola, Gerber’s friend, said that Gerber has a unique style that isn’t what you would generally expect from a designer like her.

“She doesn’t really stick to what’s in style right now, which I really appreciate. She would make a blazer or a jumpsuit, which is not out of style, but not necessarily traditional,” Viola said. She goes above and beyond, and that really adds to it. I think that’s why [her Etsy page] is called Jenny Rose Design because the designing is a big part of the whole thing.”

Senior Rachel Wallace, another one of Gerber’s friends, said that the vibrant style of clothes that Gerber makes reflects her vivid personality.

“Her clothes are so unique and very bright and colorful. A lot of times she has fun patterns or fun buttons or something like that, and I think that is very similar to Jenny,” Wallace said. “Even in the way that she dresses herself, she does a lot of bright clothes that are a little bit on the funkier side, and I think that that kind of mirrors what she makes, which is cool.”

Senior Emiko Iguchi, who has known Gerber for 11 years, said she is very committed to sewing and designing clothes and always makes sure she has time to enjoy it regularly.

“It’s always something that she really made time for. One thing about Jenny is that she always makes time for things,” Iguchi said. “She’s really good at getting her homework done, and if there’s something she wants to do, she makes time for herself to do it.”

Iguchi said that getting clothing from Gerber as a gift feels much more special than buying it at a store.

“It’s definitely more like personal to get a piece of clothing from her especially because it’s something that you know no one else has,” Iguchi said. “It’s very obvious that she really cares about sewing and puts effort into these things. It’s more special than just like buying something from a store.”

Viola said the special thing about Gerber and her designs is that she stays true to herself and her creativity.

“She sticks to the colors that she wants to do. She sticks to patterns she wants to do. She sticks to the cuts that she likes. She’ll do what she wants to do,” Viola said. “I think that’s really just Jenny’s vibe, where she does what she wants and it turns out pretty cool every time.”