Rachel Hughes’ crochet fashion. Brook Tramel’s photo.
It is a small amount Rachel Hughes was a young girl who carried a fashion sketchbook around with her to elementary school. Her classmates stopped by to see her artwork and asked if Hughes would please show them what she had designed. Hughes would sometimes be asked to speak with the teachers about all the noise, but students wanted to see her artwork.
Similar to the students, crowd members today turn their heads and drop their jaws when they see Hughes’ designs come to life out of yarn.
“In those sketchbooks, I would draw the women on a runway because I just wanted What is the best way to get in touch with you? looks to be there,” says Hughes. “Something that I’ve just dreamed about since I was a little girl is really happening.”
Hughes finally achieves her dream as a child to become a designer after learning self-taught from YouTube. However, she doesn’t know how to use a sewing machine. She crochets each outfit by hand using over 24,000 feet (or meters) of yarn. This is her Heartland International Fashion Week Collection. Her designs, which have a fringe theme and a flower motif, feature scrunched yarns that mimic boa scarves. They also include draping vines and an outfit inspired by lily pads. Her passion can be difficult to balance with her full-time career, two children, and husband. Hughes tells us that she takes a few days to complete a simple outfit.
Her crochet journey didn’t always come naturally. Hughes remembers that it took almost two weeks for her to create a single crochet stitch in order to make scarves as gifts for the Christmas season of 2018. It was a frustrating process but she reaped the rewards when family members and random strangers complimented her on her work. Even today, when challenges arise in her crochet career, she repeats her mother’s encouragement to keep going. Hughes makes summer-friendly clothing and doesn’t limit herself to heavy winter garments.
“I sucked. “I was not getting the point. Instead of sewing it, I just wanted to throw everything away. But my mom—she just said ‘stick to it,’” says Hughes. “Once I realized that I could crochet clothes, I mixed my new hobby with my longtime dream.”
As a 2020 New York Fashion Week designer, Hughes’ eye-catching crochet work receives appreciation from models. If the piece isn’t fitting a model correctly, Hughes makes crocheted alterations without the yarn unraveling or starting over. She uses YouTube videos, Facebook groups and her internet skills to create original designs and prepare for changes. She sometimes adjusts tops with triangles or layers of fringe, as well as the outfit’s bodice. Hughes is able to tailor clothes for any body type and develops friendly relationships between models. Hughes never knows which model will be her connection for the next fashion show.
“I’m watching reruns now of Project Runway like it’s on pause on my TV right now,” says Hughes. “I always wanted to be a part of New York Fashion Week, and for [a model] to give me that opportunity was just amazing.”
Hughes is preparing to showcase her latest designs at both the Critique Fashion Show as well as the Exclusive Productions Fashion Show this month, but she will be under pressure without any additional hardware. Hughes, who is hand-crafting all of her pieces for two collections while also preparing them to be shown at the Critique Fashion Show and Exclusive Productions Fashion Show this month, feels jealous of sewing machine designers. With an immense to-do list, she stays organized and carefully maps out what looks she’d like to accomplish each week. Her explanation of why some crochet items can cost more than other hand-made clothing is also interesting. Hughes’ material takes longer to weave than that of other designs. Other designers can draw out their piece, cut the fabric and sew, while Hughes has to spend more time on her weaving.
“Unfortunately, with crochet, I don’t have that [fast] luxury. I have to create the fabric myself,” says Hughes. “A hat could be 1200 stitches that you’re creating by hand, working your wrists.”
Hughes, who is a weaver by trade, does so in the mornings and at night while her family sleeps. Sometimes she does it with her hands wrapped around her three-year-old child while her six-year-old girl hangs from her head. Hughes watches her children and can tell how they are trying to figure out the workings of the crochet needle. She hopes to pass on the craft to one of her kids, but even if that doesn’t happen, she wants to be a role model. Hughes wants to show her children that anything is possible.
“Especially since I have children, I would love for them to look at me and say, ‘Wow, look what mom did,’” says Hughes. “‘I can grow up and be whatever I want to be because mom did it.’”
When Hughes isn’t designing for a fashion show, she crafts pieces for her Etsy shop. It features bucket hats as well beanies and necklace accessories. Her designs are sometimes made for the family. For example, a rainbow-colored tunic for her daughter with a unicorn-face bodice. They challenge her when they ask for custom designs. Her favorite custom request is a mushroom-colored hoodie, with red and white dots on the cap. It also has neutral flared sleeves.
“It was probably one of my favorite pieces I ever did because it’s something I wouldn’t have done on my own. To have that customer push me to do something outside my normal box, that was really cool,” says Hughes.
Hughes is proud of her fashion style and hopes that more designers who crochet will follow in her footsteps. That said, she’ll have to compete with upcoming fiber artists. Hughes will now elevate her work by creating intricate designs that are more detailed than any other. She is excited to take on the challenge, and she hopes that the crochet community will expand their influence in fashion.
“I’m so positive that in the next few years or even months, you’ll start to see a lot more crochet artists joining in these runway shows,” says Hughes. “That’s gonna keep pushing me to do better.”
For anyone struggling with a passion, Hughes says it’s important to never give up. Her first stitch was only understood after watching 8 different YouTube videos. Even though Hughes’s greatest enemy is time, she still persists against the clock and stakes her name in the fashion industry. With many roles as a mother, wife, full-time employee, and designer, she says it’s never too late to follow your dreams.
“I just really hope that people get inspired to do something that they questioned whether they could or should do,” says Hughes. “If my mom didn’t tell me to just keep going after I got frustrated, then I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you today.”
Brooke Tramel, all images by