Just like most high school girls her age, Addi Rust had found the perfect prom dress. However, the perfect dress was out of her price range, and was unable to get it for her big night. With a few months from the dance, she wondered if she would find one she loved for the right price, and joked with her date Parker Smith, that he should just make one for her to make everything easier.
What she never expected was that Parker would take her up on her offer. Not knowing the slightest thing about sewing, he set off on a mission.
Parker, a junior at Pendleton Heights High School in Indiana, was already a creative student with a love of art and theater. He started watching Youtube videos right away, and with a few tips from Grandma, he learned his way around a sewing machine quickly.
After months adjusting and readjusting the dress to make it just right, it was the night before prom and he gave it to Addi. All of his efforts paid off when he saw her in that gown. The gown that Parker made, she admits, was better than any dress she could have purchased and immediately loved more than the one she hoped for months before. Her face lit up when she saw it and and the blue princess style made her feel like Cinderella.
“Taking a minute to brag on this man because I think this is the coolest thing that I’ve ever been a part of. Parker MADE my prom dress. Straight from scratch and I’m still speechless.” Addi wrote in a Twitter post.
And that was only the start of Parker’s adventures in sewing. Not long after the Twitter post, Parker and Addi’s story went viral and was covered by a few large news sites, making Parker’s sweet gesture more like an event. People were in awe of his creation.
Once word got out that he could sew, a local theater reached out saying that they were looking for a dressmaker. Bob Harbin, the former head of casting for FOX network and the director of an upcoming play at an Indianapolis theater, reached out to his teacher to see if Parker would be interesting in helping him out.
The play was Cinderella, and the dress that he had in mind was one that could transform from maid to princess with only a spin. Parker’s design was incredible and a huge hit at the performance. Not even graduated from high school and he is already gaining experience in the word of costume design!
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