Fiber Arts Build Lab
Fiber Arts Build Lab
The Wond’ry Fiber Arts Build Lab provides tools and materials for garment and textile fabrication and alteration. Vanderbilt students, faculty, and staff have access to sewing machines, fabric samples, sewing supplies and notions. Resources are available for people of all skill levels!
Available Equipment
- Sewing Machine
- Semi-Industrial Sewing Machine
- Serger
- Clothes Iron & Ironing Board
- Dress forms (male & female)
- Needle & Thread
- Assorted Notions (Buttons, Zippers, etc.)

Classes
THTR 1001-07 (Commons Seminar) Adaptive Fashion Design & Production
This hands-on journey to design and produce adaptive fashion for a variety of people will include learning about and practicing the human centered design process, fashion drawing, hand and machine sewing, fashion draping and pattern drafting, cutting, and finishing. Adaptive fashion includes clothing and accessories that provide confidence, autonomy, and inclusivity for people who have difficulty dressing independently or sensory issues to certain textures and materials. Gaining empathy for our clients in order to define the tasks at hand will be key to our design success. When possible, we will upcycle existing pieces to serve the fashion sustainability movement.
THTR 3891 Adaptive Fashion Design & Production
This hands-on journey to design and produce adaptive fashion for a variety of people will include learning about and practicing the human centered design process, fashion drawing, hand and machine sewing, fashion draping and pattern drafting, cutting, and finishing. Adaptive fashion includes clothing and accessories that provide confidence, autonomy, and inclusivity for people who have difficulty dressing independently or sensory issues to certain textures and materials. Gaining empathy for our clients in order to define the tasks at hand will be key to our design success. When possible, we will upcycle existing pieces to serve the fashion sustainability movement.
THTR 1111-05 Sustainable Fashion Issues, Practices & Possibilities
Staff
Alexandra Sargent Capps
Assistant Professor of the Practice
Department of Theatre
News
- Fashion with function: Students express themselves through their masks
- Breaking Ground 105 Arts – Vanderbilt’s Adaptive Fashion Lab: Fashion, Friendship, Collaboration, and Inclusion
- Nashville Fashion Week 2021 – Fashion X Design Innovation Learning Lab
External Resources
- Biomimicry Institute – The Biomimicry Institute is leading a two-year, multi-million dollar project to demonstrate scalable new pathways for ~92 million tonnes of fashion waste discarded annually.
- Ellen Macarthur Foundation: Circular Business Models – Discover examples of companies implementing circular business models in the fashion industry with this selection of case studies from around the world.
- Rent the Runway Sustainable Fashion initiatives