Three dresses. A blazer. A skirt. These are all items Alex Lambrecht, junior, has created with nothing but her imagination and her sewing kit.

Lambrecht has been creating outfits for herself and others since she was in third grade.

“I’ve always loved clothes and fashion,” Lambrecht said. “It is my passion and I love being a part of it and creating my own designs.”

Lambrecht made her first item—a purple tweed blazer—in third grade. Ever since then, she has continued to expand and increase her skills.

Lambrecht said one of the biggest challenges of her career was a design contest hosted by Jo-Ann Fabrics over the summer. The rules: make a prom dress and accessories using only materials from Jo-Ann’s. The winner would be awarded $50,000, with second place receiving $5,000 and third place winning $2,500.

Lambrecht created a prom dress using Becca Blaise, junior, as her model. She also created a necklace and gloves to finish the ensemble.

“It was a strapless white prom dress, embroidered with a black flower, with a cut out in the front of white and black flowy lace,” Becca Blaise, junior, said. “I really wanted to keep it and wear it to prom.”

Lambrecht said it was the hardest thing she’s ever made. The dress took her a full six months from start to end.

Lambrecht said sewing usually doesn’t take her that long.If worked on every day, it takes Lambrecht only a couple of weeks to finish a simple item.

“She finished my casual dress pretty quick,” Blaise said. “It was a purple, gray and green day dress and it didn’t take her that long at all.”

“I don’t usually get to work on things every day, but if I could, I would be able to finish everything pretty quick,” Lambrecht said.

Lambrecht said she hopes to take her passion into the business world and follow her dream into college.

“Alex understands the principles of design and can put it into a project without it looking forced, which makes her stand out and can be a valuable asset when breaking into the business,” Jill Kehlenbrink, fashions teacher, said. “She may have to start in a low level position and work her way up, but she definitely has the potential to make it.”

Lambrecht said she has visited three fashion colleges when she went to New York a couple of weeks ago: Pratt, FIT and Parsons.

Lambrecht said her dream college would be Parsons, but the school is one of the most selective fashion schools to get into throughout the whole country. She said she is trying very hard to get in but she also said a lot of successful designers come from FIT as well.

“I want to be a big name designer, runway, someone people know,” Lambrecht said. “My favorite designer is Christian Siriano because he has a very feisty style and I want to follow in his footsteps.”

Siriano won the fourth season of Project Runway and has since then created his own line and become a successful designer, which is the dream Lambrecht herself is chasing.