Today I tried to finish my dress. And failed. And gave up and threw it in a sack to be looked at during the next Sew-Green session. It was a mess
The first time I tried to sew it, I happily sewed along the pins in nice, symmetrical curves, and then found out that I had sewn the inner layer of the cowl straight across, making a the dress a size -.5 instead of a size 5. The stitches were also unfortunately very tight. So I made the stiches looser, and struggled to undo the seams for a good 45 minutes. I then tried again. And had pretty much the same problem. So I sewed the inner layer to the front of the dress before sewing the back and front together. And somehow I still failed. It was asymmetrical, tight, and when I tried to put it on, it looked like I had tried to squeeze myself into a tube of fabric. BAD!
I realized then that it was time to give up, and quietly put it away. I learned that sometimes, you have to set things aside and give up for the day, instead of struggling until you rip the dress in half.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Sew Green 4/28
Today I walked in to Sew Green hoping I would get to finish my dress. But I didn't. I almost did... sort of. However, I took my time and did my best. I first sewed the arm holes with a rolled hem. This takes me forever. By the time I finally finished, for some reason, it was almost time to go! Autumn quickly fitted the dress so that I could sew the side seams at home, and I happily packed up and headed home. It was a good day of work, even though I didn't get finished. Next time!!!
Also, for those of you who are interested (thank you Mr. Byrne), I did not get to walk to Sew Green :( My parents were out for a week, and I wouldn't have been able to have been able to get a ride home, so I took the car. Shame, shame on me! It was really hard to park because of an event on the commons too!
Also, for those of you who are interested (thank you Mr. Byrne), I did not get to walk to Sew Green :( My parents were out for a week, and I wouldn't have been able to have been able to get a ride home, so I took the car. Shame, shame on me! It was really hard to park because of an event on the commons too!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
In Class 4/27
I missed class due to the aforementioned horrible flight delay, so I checked in with Ms. Lord.
She gave me Mr. Byrne's review, which I found very accurate and fair, and even a bit overly generous in areas. However, he said that I was "self-deprecative," which sort of took me by surprise, since he was talking about my feeling guilty for always driving...? Oh well. It was nice. I got to hear someone tell me I wasn't screwing up, which was great.
I also got an article about adversity and resilience. I'm not sure if I entirely agreed with the article. It said that resilience was taught by parents who let their children figure it out, or had to go through immense hardships, which, although it is certainly true in some cases, wasn't true for me. I led an extremely sheltered childhood. My mom was often there to help me and I never had extreme hardship. Sure, I was left to do my homework on my own, but in many cases I had my parents to turn to. However, my resilience wasn't due to independence, but due to stubbornness, and persistence. I just wouldn't give up. I am a perfectionist, and always like to get the job done. One of my challenges during this project however, is to build my defenses against wasting time on minor errors, like a crooked stitch. During this project, I'm learning how NOT to be such a perfectionist, and to let go a little by saying, "it's okay if it doesn't get done," or in other words, becoming less persistent. Why? Because then I would never get anything done! I find myself set back by my perfectionism, so I need to constantly remind myself that I'm only doing this to LEARN, not create just a dress!
Also, no one reviewed my journal :(
I did a review on paper since I wasn't able to access a computer over break, so mine will be posted soon, but I wish someone from class had read mine. I guess it's difficult since mine is kept private. Maybe I should open it up, but it's so personal, I'm glad it's not public.
She gave me Mr. Byrne's review, which I found very accurate and fair, and even a bit overly generous in areas. However, he said that I was "self-deprecative," which sort of took me by surprise, since he was talking about my feeling guilty for always driving...? Oh well. It was nice. I got to hear someone tell me I wasn't screwing up, which was great.
I also got an article about adversity and resilience. I'm not sure if I entirely agreed with the article. It said that resilience was taught by parents who let their children figure it out, or had to go through immense hardships, which, although it is certainly true in some cases, wasn't true for me. I led an extremely sheltered childhood. My mom was often there to help me and I never had extreme hardship. Sure, I was left to do my homework on my own, but in many cases I had my parents to turn to. However, my resilience wasn't due to independence, but due to stubbornness, and persistence. I just wouldn't give up. I am a perfectionist, and always like to get the job done. One of my challenges during this project however, is to build my defenses against wasting time on minor errors, like a crooked stitch. During this project, I'm learning how NOT to be such a perfectionist, and to let go a little by saying, "it's okay if it doesn't get done," or in other words, becoming less persistent. Why? Because then I would never get anything done! I find myself set back by my perfectionism, so I need to constantly remind myself that I'm only doing this to LEARN, not create just a dress!
Also, no one reviewed my journal :(
I did a review on paper since I wasn't able to access a computer over break, so mine will be posted soon, but I wish someone from class had read mine. I guess it's difficult since mine is kept private. Maybe I should open it up, but it's so personal, I'm glad it's not public.
Mentor Meeting 4/27
I missed my Tuesday mentor meeting due to my flight being canceled. I had to travel for 36 hours straight from Europe. It was evil.
So on Wednesday, we had a very short mentor meeting. I had just been scared witless by my french teacher, who had threatened to not allow me to take my final, and Ms Lasher was very good at cheering me up and helping me calm down. I felt bad for occupying her time talking about something unrelated to WISE, but I really needed to talk to someone about it.
Thankfully she got us back on topic, by asking about the dress... It of course didn't get finished, but it's supposed to be finished during the next session, so keep your fingers crossed!
We also talked about going fabric shopping. Ms. Lasher seemed excited about it, and I asked again if she was okay with going. She said of course, and I'm so grateful that she's offering her time to come with. She said we could go after school sometime. Yay!!
Then we were done, and I walked off to my doomed French final...
So on Wednesday, we had a very short mentor meeting. I had just been scared witless by my french teacher, who had threatened to not allow me to take my final, and Ms Lasher was very good at cheering me up and helping me calm down. I felt bad for occupying her time talking about something unrelated to WISE, but I really needed to talk to someone about it.
Thankfully she got us back on topic, by asking about the dress... It of course didn't get finished, but it's supposed to be finished during the next session, so keep your fingers crossed!
We also talked about going fabric shopping. Ms. Lasher seemed excited about it, and I asked again if she was okay with going. She said of course, and I'm so grateful that she's offering her time to come with. She said we could go after school sometime. Yay!!
Then we were done, and I walked off to my doomed French final...
Friday, April 15, 2011
All Caught Up!!
Yay!!!! I'm all caught up and have posted everything. Please read them, since they are in the order of the day they happened, not the day I wrote them.
All I have left is the Partner Read and the Lists...
All I have left is the Partner Read and the Lists...
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Sew Green 4/14
All righty! I've gotten a move on!
So I started out by showing Autumn my sketches based on the cloth I had gotten last time. I had done a Chinese-style turtleneck (which will be posted soon), which I actually really like. She thought it would be really cool and really easy to make, which was a confidence booster. I have all the materials for it as well (including the buttons!), so that makes it even better! I wasn't able to design anything for the blue cloth, and was going to give up, when I remembered I had had the idea of using it for my blue jay skirt. We had a short brainstorm, and then Autumn came up with the awesome idea of using different colored blue denim pieces for the skirt. It would look fabulous! I was really excited. So Autumn has some old jean fabric in her studio, and I have brought in an old pair of jeans that will be cut for their pattern, and then also used for the skirt. Turns out my project will be pretty green after all!
We then moved on to my dress. I pinned the sides of the dress for the side seams and marked them. I also marked the pins for the draping of the cowl, and then sewed the cloth along the pins. I found out that I really like the green sewing machine. It is quiet and smooth, and runs like an angel. I think I'll try and use it from now on. I like it better than my own machine! And also, today I was able to sew perfectly straight lines!Unfortunately the two sides did not come out even. I ended up sewing the seam again instead of ripping it, since it was a pretty tight seam, and then gave up when it was still uneven. One couldn't really tell, and I'm not in a fancy design school. It probably won't even show in the end.
I then learned sewed the hem of the back of the dress. This was hard. One had to roll it over twice, and roll it while you sewed it on a very thin hem. Autumn cut little slits to make it stay rolled, but then the slits got caught when I was sewing it. We ended up taking out the whole seam (Autumn actually took out most of it, saying that she was partially responsable, and though she wasn't, she's way faster at taking out seams than I am, so I ceded responsability), cutting the extra seam allowance (there was too much), and then after she started the first part (so that it stayed down), it was a lot easier to sew, and it ended up looking really professional! We then sewed the front and back sleaves together, and I tried it on like a smock. It was so cool! Next time we are definately finishing it!
I ran into Wendy towards the end. Thankfully, she barely remembered my name. She commented on how my progress was very slow, and I said that it was still awesome that I had almost completed my first dress. She misheard it as awful, but I made it clear that that was the opposite of what I had said.
So I started out by showing Autumn my sketches based on the cloth I had gotten last time. I had done a Chinese-style turtleneck (which will be posted soon), which I actually really like. She thought it would be really cool and really easy to make, which was a confidence booster. I have all the materials for it as well (including the buttons!), so that makes it even better! I wasn't able to design anything for the blue cloth, and was going to give up, when I remembered I had had the idea of using it for my blue jay skirt. We had a short brainstorm, and then Autumn came up with the awesome idea of using different colored blue denim pieces for the skirt. It would look fabulous! I was really excited. So Autumn has some old jean fabric in her studio, and I have brought in an old pair of jeans that will be cut for their pattern, and then also used for the skirt. Turns out my project will be pretty green after all!
We then moved on to my dress. I pinned the sides of the dress for the side seams and marked them. I also marked the pins for the draping of the cowl, and then sewed the cloth along the pins. I found out that I really like the green sewing machine. It is quiet and smooth, and runs like an angel. I think I'll try and use it from now on. I like it better than my own machine! And also, today I was able to sew perfectly straight lines!Unfortunately the two sides did not come out even. I ended up sewing the seam again instead of ripping it, since it was a pretty tight seam, and then gave up when it was still uneven. One couldn't really tell, and I'm not in a fancy design school. It probably won't even show in the end.
I then learned sewed the hem of the back of the dress. This was hard. One had to roll it over twice, and roll it while you sewed it on a very thin hem. Autumn cut little slits to make it stay rolled, but then the slits got caught when I was sewing it. We ended up taking out the whole seam (Autumn actually took out most of it, saying that she was partially responsable, and though she wasn't, she's way faster at taking out seams than I am, so I ceded responsability), cutting the extra seam allowance (there was too much), and then after she started the first part (so that it stayed down), it was a lot easier to sew, and it ended up looking really professional! We then sewed the front and back sleaves together, and I tried it on like a smock. It was so cool! Next time we are definately finishing it!
I ran into Wendy towards the end. Thankfully, she barely remembered my name. She commented on how my progress was very slow, and I said that it was still awesome that I had almost completed my first dress. She misheard it as awful, but I made it clear that that was the opposite of what I had said.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Chinese Shirt Flatsketch
This is my flatsketch for my Chinese Shirt. It's not very complex, so I didn't add too much detail, since I couldn't think of anything else to add...
In Class 4/12
We were in the library today with the laptops. Unfortunately mine did not work, so I ended up in the computer lab, and I'm afraid Jordan succeeded in totally distracting me. However, since his project sounds very interesting, and I have no idea about what he's up to, I decided that I would do his journal for my Partner Read. We were assigned this today, and it is where we read another person's journal, and then evaluate it. I'm a little nervous about my own evaluation.
I also got the research from the research swap thing that we did. Chezna picked her favorite designer, Zac Posen, and talked about why she liked his work. It's really sparked my interest in finding out who he is, and what his designs are like. Unfortuantely his style isn't quite something I appreciate as much as others, however I found a really cool dress of his, and I really respect his boldness with color. I've put my favorite below, but there was another set that I really liked which had a virus or something on it, so I wasn't able to access it (and got out as fast as possible!!)
I also got the research from the research swap thing that we did. Chezna picked her favorite designer, Zac Posen, and talked about why she liked his work. It's really sparked my interest in finding out who he is, and what his designs are like. Unfortuantely his style isn't quite something I appreciate as much as others, however I found a really cool dress of his, and I really respect his boldness with color. I've put my favorite below, but there was another set that I really liked which had a virus or something on it, so I wasn't able to access it (and got out as fast as possible!!)
 |
| This is the one I like the most. I'm not quite sure about the sparkly stuff on the front (it sort of looks like a Christmas decoration) but I love the flow of the dress. http://inspireandcharm.blogspot.com/2011/02/dream-valentines-day-dresses.html |
 |
| This was a red carpet gown for Beyonce. I'm not sure if it's something I appreciate (even though my own prom dress is mermaid-style! haha!) |
Mentor Meeting 4/12
Today Ms. Lasher and I once again talked about my last Sew-Green session. I told her about the t-shirt refashioning, and then how I had chalked, cut, and pinned my dress, and was ready to sew during the next session! I once again was saying how the dress woudl be finished by the next session, but it seems as though I've been saying that a lot, and it hasn't been happening. Oh well, we'll see. It will be finished when it's ready.
I also told her about how Autumn's been really worried about my project, and how I've decided that this project is not only going to test my skills, learning ability, and time management, but my perfectionism and patience. I'm going to have to try and be less of a perfectionist, because otherwise it will drive myself and others crazy. I just need to try my best, and know that I'm a complete amature, so I shouldn't be worried about perfection, but learning the skill. Thankfully, due to Autumn's expression of concern, I was able to reassure her, and thus myself, that it actually didn't matter how far I got with my project, just as long as I learn and have fun. I've definately convinced myself that my work will NOT be perfect, but it will be a great experience, lots of fun, and still look good.
The concern of cloth was discussed once again. Since I had been able to look through the cloth bins, I was able to sketch something to go with the orange fabric. It's Chinese-inspired, and I really like it! The blue cloth is still being difficult to decide, but perhaps I can use it for a dress of some sort.
Ms Lasher was also really nice in that she said she would be okay with going with me to go cloth shopping. I thought it would be really fun to have her along, and she could give me her opinion on the cloth. The plan is to go buy cloth the week after break, though this may be difficult since my parents will be out of town.
I also told her about how Autumn's been really worried about my project, and how I've decided that this project is not only going to test my skills, learning ability, and time management, but my perfectionism and patience. I'm going to have to try and be less of a perfectionist, because otherwise it will drive myself and others crazy. I just need to try my best, and know that I'm a complete amature, so I shouldn't be worried about perfection, but learning the skill. Thankfully, due to Autumn's expression of concern, I was able to reassure her, and thus myself, that it actually didn't matter how far I got with my project, just as long as I learn and have fun. I've definately convinced myself that my work will NOT be perfect, but it will be a great experience, lots of fun, and still look good.
The concern of cloth was discussed once again. Since I had been able to look through the cloth bins, I was able to sketch something to go with the orange fabric. It's Chinese-inspired, and I really like it! The blue cloth is still being difficult to decide, but perhaps I can use it for a dress of some sort.
Ms Lasher was also really nice in that she said she would be okay with going with me to go cloth shopping. I thought it would be really fun to have her along, and she could give me her opinion on the cloth. The plan is to go buy cloth the week after break, though this may be difficult since my parents will be out of town.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Behind
I am taking down notes and writing about what I'm doing, I promise, just on paper instead. Honestly, folks, with first math overload, then strep, then mono (which I just found out today I have!), and now finals, I'm exhausted, and can only use the computer for limited amounts of time. Besides, pencil and paper is more soothing. I promise, as soon as I can, I will transcribe everthing onto the computer. But not today...
Chinese Shirt
This is my design for my Chinese inspired shirt. The pants will be abandoned. The decoration will be handpainted.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Sew Green 4/7
When I walked into Sew-Green today, I was a little disappointed to find that I wouldn't be working on my project right away. But I quickly got over it, realizing that I was getting a ton of help, fabric, and fun for free, so I better be ready to help out when I can. Our task wasn't even work. It was fun too!
We were supposed to design and remodel t-shirts for Sew-Green's booth at an event in the Women's Center encouraging young teenage girls to be confident and outgoing. There were guidebooks on how to re-fashion t-shirts, and our job was to make a few demos, without sewing a single stitch! At first, I was perplexed. How am I supposed to do that?? But after flipping through the book, I found a t-shirt that had been made into a cowl, and since I've been in a total cowl-obsessed phase, I pounced on the opportunity and started cutting up the t-shirt, and weaving strips of cloth for making the seams. My cowl ended up looking pretty good! It wasn't as good as the demo (somehow they never are), but it was wearable! I'll be able to take it home and show you guys after the show.
After finishing the shirt (honestly I did it a little fast, not just because I was excited to see it made, but honestly because I wanted to move on as well). Autumn was a little panicked. She wanted to start all over with the draping, using a pre-made cowl as an example instead, since she was worried about it not looking like my sketch in the end. It was sort of nice to know that someone was concerned about my project, but also ironic that she was more worried than I was! I felt really bad for making her worry, and reassured her that during my project, one of my goals is to learn how to be less of a perfectionist (an new goal, which I've made up on the spot!), and that if I don't finish five pieces, that is absolutely okay, just as long as I learn more about making clothes. I wanted to learn how to drape a dress, and so it was okay if it wasn't perfect. It was a learning experience, and an experiment.
So I set to work with the design I had draped, and after unpinning it, I set to work using chalk paper and a pokey rolling tool to copy the pattern on the other side of the cloth with chalk paper. I did this by pinning the cloth directly in half, and then slipping the chalk paper under the cloth. I then pressed the pokey rolly thing into the cloth, and the chalk imprinted the other side.
I then added a one inch seam allowance to both sides. Afterwards, and this was the scary part, I cut the cloth along the seam allowance line! After cutting the cloth, I pinned it back up, and it looked like a dress! Yay! I've been told that next time I will be able to finish the dress, but I'm not sure. We'll see.
Towards the end, I was able to look in the fabric bin that Autumn brought in for me to sort through. It was very kind of Sew-Green to offer these fabrics for free! A lot of them weren't usable for my project, but I did find two pieces of cloth that were quite nice! There was an orange stretchy material, and a blue material. I took swatches of both (though I think I've lost them unfortunately!). My homework this week is to design a garment using this cloth, since I need other cloth to start my next few pieces.
We were supposed to design and remodel t-shirts for Sew-Green's booth at an event in the Women's Center encouraging young teenage girls to be confident and outgoing. There were guidebooks on how to re-fashion t-shirts, and our job was to make a few demos, without sewing a single stitch! At first, I was perplexed. How am I supposed to do that?? But after flipping through the book, I found a t-shirt that had been made into a cowl, and since I've been in a total cowl-obsessed phase, I pounced on the opportunity and started cutting up the t-shirt, and weaving strips of cloth for making the seams. My cowl ended up looking pretty good! It wasn't as good as the demo (somehow they never are), but it was wearable! I'll be able to take it home and show you guys after the show.
After finishing the shirt (honestly I did it a little fast, not just because I was excited to see it made, but honestly because I wanted to move on as well). Autumn was a little panicked. She wanted to start all over with the draping, using a pre-made cowl as an example instead, since she was worried about it not looking like my sketch in the end. It was sort of nice to know that someone was concerned about my project, but also ironic that she was more worried than I was! I felt really bad for making her worry, and reassured her that during my project, one of my goals is to learn how to be less of a perfectionist (an new goal, which I've made up on the spot!), and that if I don't finish five pieces, that is absolutely okay, just as long as I learn more about making clothes. I wanted to learn how to drape a dress, and so it was okay if it wasn't perfect. It was a learning experience, and an experiment.
So I set to work with the design I had draped, and after unpinning it, I set to work using chalk paper and a pokey rolling tool to copy the pattern on the other side of the cloth with chalk paper. I did this by pinning the cloth directly in half, and then slipping the chalk paper under the cloth. I then pressed the pokey rolly thing into the cloth, and the chalk imprinted the other side.
I then added a one inch seam allowance to both sides. Afterwards, and this was the scary part, I cut the cloth along the seam allowance line! After cutting the cloth, I pinned it back up, and it looked like a dress! Yay! I've been told that next time I will be able to finish the dress, but I'm not sure. We'll see.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
In Class 4/5
The class started out a little rocky. It seemed like a third of the class hadn't turned in their 3rd Quarter Evaluations, and got a zero. Ouch! Ms. Lord wanted us to learn that despite the class being WISE, deadlines would still be enforced, and that we shouldn't slack off. I was really glad I hadn't slacked off on my evaluation. Actually, I had sort of gone overboard on my evaluation, writing four pages. It was a way for me to evaluate my own work, and it really helped me see what I had done, and what I needed to do. I enjoyed the chance to be able to organize my outlook on the whole project. It wasn't my best writing (I did it pretty fast, honestly), but it was very useful.
We were also told that on Monday, 4/11 at 6:30, our journals would be distributed amongst others in the community in order for them to evaluate our journals! Fun fun! I hope they enjoy mine. I've put in a lot of effort trying to make it SHOW as well as tell.
We also were given an assignment to collect research for a peer. It will be due next class. I thought that I would do research for Katherine, since my line is inspired by birds, and she's doing a nature journal. I just found a cool website on birds, and I think it would be great for her (see Browsing).
Finally, a word of advice from Ms Gergley, which I must keep in mind- if it's ont in your journal, it didn't happen!
We were also told that on Monday, 4/11 at 6:30, our journals would be distributed amongst others in the community in order for them to evaluate our journals! Fun fun! I hope they enjoy mine. I've put in a lot of effort trying to make it SHOW as well as tell.
We also were given an assignment to collect research for a peer. It will be due next class. I thought that I would do research for Katherine, since my line is inspired by birds, and she's doing a nature journal. I just found a cool website on birds, and I think it would be great for her (see Browsing).
Finally, a word of advice from Ms Gergley, which I must keep in mind- if it's ont in your journal, it didn't happen!
Mentor Meeting 4/5
Today I met with Ms Lasher as usual, and we had a very brief talk about what I did at my last sew-green session. I told her that there was a possiblity that I might complete the dress during the next session! We also talked about how, since the MUN team (of which she is the advisor) might be going to NYC, I might be able to take a detour during that trip!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Sewing at Home 2
So I finally tried to sew my pants again... and failed, again!
I first pinned them, which took forever, since it wasn't lining up right, and of course, perfectionist me would NOT let a single pin be crooked. I tried them out, made some adjustments, and set to work to sew them. I realized that the thread was not actually true black, but it was very very close (annoying...)
My hem was actually pretty straight, but I had sewn it towards the bottom of the fold I had made, which would cause the top to fold down. I didn't want to do two seams either. I slept on it, and the next day, I ripped out the whole seam. I need to stop being so OCD!! However, I have become VERY good at ripping seams (before I used to always snag the cloth by mistake, but by pulling the thread back and ripping the loops, it actually goes a lot faster, though it still took me more than an hour to pull out one seam).
Next time I'm going to do it right! I'm going to sew with a wider margin between the hem and the seam, and I'm going to IRON it beforehand! Ironing gives you a nice hem, so that you can sew even more perfectly, without bulges. Although others might not have to iron, I do, and I'm going to have to iron the bags for Sew-Green anyway, so while I'm at it, why not iron the pant's hems as well?
I first pinned them, which took forever, since it wasn't lining up right, and of course, perfectionist me would NOT let a single pin be crooked. I tried them out, made some adjustments, and set to work to sew them. I realized that the thread was not actually true black, but it was very very close (annoying...)
My hem was actually pretty straight, but I had sewn it towards the bottom of the fold I had made, which would cause the top to fold down. I didn't want to do two seams either. I slept on it, and the next day, I ripped out the whole seam. I need to stop being so OCD!! However, I have become VERY good at ripping seams (before I used to always snag the cloth by mistake, but by pulling the thread back and ripping the loops, it actually goes a lot faster, though it still took me more than an hour to pull out one seam).
Next time I'm going to do it right! I'm going to sew with a wider margin between the hem and the seam, and I'm going to IRON it beforehand! Ironing gives you a nice hem, so that you can sew even more perfectly, without bulges. Although others might not have to iron, I do, and I'm going to have to iron the bags for Sew-Green anyway, so while I'm at it, why not iron the pant's hems as well?
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