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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: On the look you did last night, would you have changed anything?
TERRI STEVENS: My look was never supposed to be that! I had to use the fur because some of my fabrics were missing. You could see previously that there was going to be a Terri backlash, and Jerell headed it all up. I still, to this day, don't understand what I did to Jerell besides be a good competitor. There was never an infraction, and I stepped up to him — and now maybe I'm packing balls — because I stepped up to him and was like, ''I'm noticing some attitude. We used to be cool. What's going on?'' If someone comes to me with that approach, you're supposed to say something. He was like, ''Uhhh, uhhh.'' I was like, ''OK, so basically you have nothing?''

Maybe he was just threatened?
They all kept saying I had a sweatshop under the table. That's what I do — I sew fast and quickly. I don't drape. I don't cut-out. I just go. While people are already doing things — draping or whatever — I already have the pieces done. So, I mean, I made pants, but they're probably the sickest pair of pants you've ever seen in your life. But they forget about the skirts and dresses and the corsets and the jackets. Like, I gave you many layers versus one, every challenge.

So what about the pants. They were just your point of view, right?
Well, if I didn't do it, no one brought it. I get so tired of people thinking that designing is all about a girl in a dress. It's not. Like, I did do a dress. I did dresses with pants. I'm a tomboy — I sit with my legs spread wide open. That's what I do. If I do it in a skirt, I make sure it's long. But yes, I do pants, and that's what I do. But I can work with anything: I've done leather jackets, I've done fur, and I've worked with all types of fabrics.

I loved when you did the New York nightlife challenge, using the photo of graffiti as your inspiration.
Oh, my God. Ohhh, I loved it. I think Sandra Bernhard still has her mouth open from what I did on the runway. She couldn't believe it! She got my girl. When I came out and saw that the special guest judge was Sandra Bernhard, I was so excited. Tim was like, ''You're taking a risk,'' and I was like, ''I'm willing to take a risk.'' When I saw Sandra, I went to Korto and said, ''I'm OK.''

Was Korto a good friend?
Yeah. I hate that they portrayed her as the angry black woman. She was so funny! She is funny. Hilarious. Like, she was the first one to crack the joke on the scarecrow jacket. They made it look like I was dissing her, but she said it in the first place!

So with Keith last night — was he just harboring a grudge?
I had helped Keith on several challenges. I totally helped him on the Olympic challenge. First of all, I think most of it was for the camera. He was like, ''Terri, you're really hard to work with.'' I hate to put something back in someone's face, but I was like, ''Was I difficult to work with when I stitched in your zipper for the Olympic challenge? When I sewed your belt for you in the Olympic challenge? When I hemmed your skirt for that challenge?'' You know, I wasn't difficult at all then. Many of the cast could tell you I helped them. I sewed in everyone's zipper on the second challenge because they didn't know how to sew in a zipper. So, I'm like, all of a sudden, there's a backlash. I can't take it back. They asked me, ''Looking back, would you not have helped everyone?'' That's me. That's just what I do.

Where are we going to find Terri going forward?
Terri has her line going on. My website just launched, www.terristevens.net. You can see me in several boutiques in Chicago, and I'm hoping to see my clothes in beautiful boutiques in Brazil and Paris. And you'll see me at Fashion Week.

More Project Runway:
Project Runway exit Q&A: Blayne Walsh
Project Runway recap: Bad signs

Originally posted Sep 11, 2008
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