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...
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