Converse and creativity

From Disney characters to bouquets, Jillian Landry, junior, embroiders designs on her converse. She began this hobby in middle school and it has been her passion ever since.

“I started [embroidering my shoes] in 7th or 8th grade, [after] we did embroidery stuff in our family and consumer science class and then I just did it on my converse and I loved it. I get plain colored converse and I put designs on them, normally I get pictures off of Pinterest and then I put my own spin on them,” Landry said.

She has embroidered four pairs of converse and owns eight pairs total.

“I will either customize them online and do designs that way or get plain ones and customize them myself,” Landry said. “It’s nice having a lot of them because they match my outfits. There is a solid chance that at least one of the colors matches.”

She is currently embroidering shoes for her mom’s coworker who will be the first paying customer she has.

“I have to figure out how much the string would cost me and if I actually have the colors that I need. I [will charge] an hourly fee but there is a flat fee too. I’m really just working [the cost] out with her,” Landry said.

Although she is getting paid to embroider a pair of converse, Landry said she does not want to make her hobby a business. She has embroidered shoes for friends but does not usually sell them for a profit.

“It’s just something I did in my free time. And like it’s a thing I look forward to every time I buy converse,” Landry said. “My mom and my grandma and my aunt all think that I should [start charging for my embroidery] but it was not my goal when I started, maybe I will later on in life but there are not exactly enough hours in the day to [make it a business right now].”

Picking the design and getting to show off the final product is what she enjoys, Landry said.

“I’m proud of myself for being able to do it. I also like to tell my friends that I’m making them and then I won’t show them until I finish. It doesn’t always end up working like that, because I get too excited about the shoes,” Landry said.

The excitement is what makes her hobby fun, Landry says and she thinks she will keep embroidering shoes in the future. Landry enjoys embroidering because she finds it relaxing.

“I am always looking forward to getting a new [pair of converse],” Landry said. “[I like] planning out what my next design is going to be.”

Bagpipes and bandmates

Music has been a part of Victoria Foss, history teachers’, whole life. She played trumpet and was in color gaurd in high school and now honors her Irish roots by playing the bagpipes.

“I learned to start playing the bagpipes in 2015. I was in my late 20s, my younger brother had joined the Shannon Rovers Irish pipe band as a drummer. About a year later, I started to learn the bagpipes,” Foss said. “I did marching band when I was in high school, and I did pep band when I was in college, so I had missed being able to play a musical instrument. This was the best way I could do grown up marching band.”

The Shannon Rovers are the oldest Irish pipe band in Chicagoland. They have been around since 1926 and have been the band at the front of the St. Patrick’s Parade since the parade began.

“I had no idea how much this group of people would end up meaning to me. You think about your 20s and there’s so many decisions that you make, that ultimately will shape where you go from there. In my early 20s, I had not heard of the Shannon Rovers. Now I can’t imagine a life where I don’t play the bagpipes and I didn’t get to meet these people who we consider family,” Foss said.

Not only does she consider some of her bandmates family, Foss also enjoys playing in the band with her younger brother.

“It’s something special that we share. We were in high school marching band together for one year. I was a senior and he was a freshman,” Foss said. “So it’s nice to be able to return to that as adults and play in the group together.”

With her band Foss has gotten many interesting opportunities to play the bagpipes she said.

“One of my favorite memories is playing for the Taoiseach, the Prime Minister of Ireland,” Foss said. “He came to Chicago so we played for him, that was a big deal to play for a dignitary.”