We were lucky to catch up with Ruth Karasik recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ruth, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I began designing in high school out necessity. Clothing for young people didn’t come in sizes above 13 and many times I didn’t fit that size. I made my own pieces so I wasn’t stuck wearing the limited collections for middle aged women when I was still a teen. Thankfully this has changed. I caught the eye of other students and some teachers who commissioned me to design and sew dresses for them. Learning fashion design and construction in college helped refine my skills, but the experience of working with clients before I ever stepped foot in a studio helped inform my design process in an invaluable way. Since then I feel like every project builds upon my skills and expands them. I’ve worked on swim wear, men’s wear, and even made a load bearing suit for physical therapy!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve been designing since before I realized I was designing. I used to make little outfits for my dolls and then expanded into custom clothing in high school. I’ve worked with clients to make so many things I feel like my super power is figuring out how to make almost anything clothing related. I can do design, patterns, samples, help transition the project to production, and even help with fabric selection and graphics. I also love styling and creating wardrobes for various clients entering new stages of life or finding their personal style. Some clients have too many ideas and need help refining and finding direction. Others have a concept and need help adding to it and fleshing it out. Adapting to various clients and becoming their lieutenant who can get their projects moving is my main focus. I also love seeing the projects come to life and succeed. It’s fulfilling to help other creatives expand their ideas.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Word of mouth has always been the greatest help for me to gain new clients. I’ve had production partners recommend me to their clients who needed technical help, and even friends who knew someone was looking to launch a fashion line but needed help refining the concept. One of my clients I’ve known since college decades ago, and when she expanded her painting into printed fabric goods I helped her create her collections.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding part of this work is watching each project grow and develop. For example, weighted suit I worked on came to me as a first sample that attempted to be a tee you’d put on over your head and had wide weight packs. It was bulky and not user friendly. I changed it to a zipped jacket style and put smaller weight packs in key zones while allowing other panels to tailored for fit and firmness. Other panels were made of perforated mesh for ventilation. We even got to add some reflective piping for visibility at night! It gave the suit more style, functionally, and added features it didn’t have before. Being a creative allows me to go from what something is to what it could be. Witnessing that process and being a part of it will never get old.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Ruthkarasik.weebly.com
• Linkedin: https://Www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-karasik-73b30164