Lufkin High School Fashion II students, from left, Noemi Mendoza, Jaden Wortham and Kho Meh talked to Journalism 101 students about the new sewing and embroidery machines they are using in teacher Katie Pruitt’s classroom. (Photo by NOELIA DELAPAZ/Lufkin High School Journalism 101)
By CRISTIAN GUILLEN
Lufkin High School Journalism 101
Katie Pruitt’s Fashion Design classes at Lufkin High School got a Christmas gift the week before Thanksgiving: new sewing machines.
The Career and Technical Education Department at LHS purchased 15 sewing machines, one embroidering machine and a finishing machine for Pruitt’s students. With the new Brother machines, the class is able to make better stitches and better products.
Students in the class — including Kho Meh, Noemi Mendoza and Jaden Wortham, who talked to students from the high school’s Journalism 101 class — said they were happy about the new machines and that they’re learning valuable life skills in Pruitt’s classroom.
“It’s just nice to know how to make your own clothes,” Mendoza said.
Pruitt teaches two classes that use the new machinery: Fashion Design I and Fashion Design II. She said the second class is new and that it has fewer students — by design — because they’re still trying to “test the waters.”
The embroidery machine cost between $10,000 and $12,000, Pruitt said, while the sewing machines were around $450 each. She compared the machines to the new computers the Journalism 101 class recently got from the CTE department.
“Those are our computers,” she said.
The students said the old sewing machines broke down on a regular basis.
Meh, who also sews at home, said, “The old machinery couldn’t really do much stitches … but the new one is much easier.”
The students can use the new embroidering machine to embroider logos on shirts for school clubs or teams. Pruitt said the class would soon have a pricing sheet for shirts and designs.
Pruitt said her students use mostly donated materials to produce the things they create.
“We are always looking for donated fabric, donated thread, etc.,” she said.
Anyone with materials to donate is encouraged to contact Pruitt at kpruitt@lufkinisd.org.