Ronda Chaney
Coordinator of the Fashion Design Department
Instructor
BS Degree from University of Missouri
MS Degree from San Francisco State University

Ronda has been a professor of Fashion Design at Cañada College for the past 20 years and has been the coordinator of the program for the past 10 years. Her enthusiasm for fashion has inspired many students to uniquely express their own creativity. She is co-author of the book Make It Your Own and has written for various other publications such as Sewing Update, Serger Update, Sew News, F.I.T. Review, and Singer Sewing Books. She has appeared on the nationally syndicated television program America Sews. Ronda is known throughout the United States as an inspiring lecturer and has most recently presented at the Annual Conference of the Professional Association of Custom Clothiers held in Portland, OR.

Mary Lou Lange
Instructor
BA Degree from San Jose State University

Mary Lou began teaching at Cañada in 1981. She teaches various courses such as Art in Clothing, Fashion Entrepreneurship, Principles of Design, Basic and Creative Serging, and Techniques of Fit and Sewing. She co-owned and operated a pattern company that designed, manufactured and distributed art-to-wear fashion and stenciling patterns and supplies nationwide. Her work with this company included traveling and teaching throughout the country as well as many local stores and schools. She is currently an assistant editor for Creative Machine Newsletter in Menlo Park, CA. In addition, she has done freelance design and construction for a prominent custom interiors company on the Peninsula for over 20 years.

Connie Ulasewicz
Instructor
MS Degree from University of Maryland
BS Degree from Syracuse University

Connie has over 18 years of apparel industry experience. Prior to the successful founding and operation of Lewis & Lee, a nationally distributed line of infant apparel and accessories, Connie held executive positions at Esprit de Corps and Joannie Char in the production, merchandising and sales divisions. As a partner in her current company, GarmentoSpeak, Connie has provided national/international consulting services and educational seminars in merchandising, sales and marketing, people management and customer services. She is the co-author of Made In America: The Business of Apparel & Sewn Products Manufacturing. Connie is an instructor of Fashion Entrepreuneurship, Textiles and the Psychology of Clothing.

Judith Jackson
Instructor
MA from San Francisco State University

Judith began teaching at Cañada College in 1997, with over 20 years of teaching experience. She teaches a wide range of courses in fashion design curriculum including Textiles, History of Costume, Tailoring, Draping, Flat Pattern, Pattern Grading, and Computer-aided Design. Her graduate research in Clothing and Textiles at San Francisco State was on the development of nineteenth century women's dress. When not teaching, Judith has worked professionally as a freelance theatre costumer and designer. She has worked with Bay Area companies such as the San Francisco Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Beach Blanket Babylon and Lamplighter's Music Theatre.

Kathleen McCarney
Instructor
MA from San Francisco State University

Kathleen is working within the Fashion Design Community as a freelance illustrator creating cover designs for commercial sewing patterns by "LaFred". She has contributed illustrations for Davis Publications and is sought out for private lessons in fashion illustration and portfolio development. Her teaching specialties are beginning and advanced Fashion Illustration, History of Costume, Textiles, and Construction. For the past 18 years she has been teaching at the community college and state university level. Professional memberships include Phi Delta Kappa, an educational fraternity.

Kenneth King
Instructor
BS Degree from Central State University, Edmond, OK

Kenneth has been engaged in his own business of creating couture evening wear since 1987. He has pieces of his work in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the DeYoung Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Kenneth travels and teaches his techniques in a variety of classes and lectures throughout the United States and Canada. He is known also for his appearances as the sewing expert on the series Sewing Today on PBS. In 1996, his book Designer Techniques was published by Sterling Publications. Currently he is developing a new television series, which he plans to market to one of the cable networks.

Fred Bloebaum
Instructor

Fred (a woman with a man's nickname) is a popular sewing instructor who teaches at various locations in the San Francisco area and lectures around the country. Her specialties include: tailoring, sewing with specialty fabrics, figure analysis, wardrobe selection and interpreting fine designer sewing techniques. She is a contributor to Threads magazine and is a member of The Professional Association of Custom Clothiers, a national professional organization. Her most recent adventure is the release of her own line of patterns, "Clothing Designs by La Fred".

Wayne Wichern
Instructor

Wayne Wichern's millinery design and teaching career evolved out of his experience as a classical ballet dancer and his interest in costume design and fashion. He has supported many students in the development of their artistic interests and encouraged some to pursue a millinery business. Wayne's elegant hats have sold in such fine stores as Barneys NY, Nordstrom, I Magnin, and Frederick and Nelson. They are currently available at Fino Fino in Menlo Park, Fetish in San Francisco, smARTwear in Carmel, and stores in Seattle, Atlanta, and New Hampshire. He has designed hats for theater productions of the Seattle Repertory Theater, San Francisco Ballet, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. His innovative hat designs have been featured in Women's Wear Daily, Victoria Magazine, and The San Jose Mercury News, and Fiberarts Design Book Six.

Gloria Toy Rydingsword
Instructor
BA Degree from San Jose State University

Gloria has been an instructor for Cañada since fall 2000, and teaches the Beginning Clothing Construction class. She has a background of teaching fashion design and merchandising, and beginning through advanced clothing construction. When not teaching at Cañada, Gloria is also the Program Coordinator/Teacher at the Joint Ventures Training Center located at Hillsdale Shopping Center and is the STC District Coordinator for the San Mateo School to Career Partnership for the San Mateo Union High School District. She is developing her own business - GTDesigns (Gloria Toy Designs).