Today I went to Goodwill to get some materials for my project. I wanted the material that resembles a sweater and I thought it would be better to get material here instead of Joann's fabric. Goodwill has nice sweaters for an inexpensive amount. It only took me 30 minutes for me to find two nice, comfy sweaters. One was a beige color and the other was a navy color. I got over-sized sweater since they have more material on them.
When I got home, I worked on my shorts using the sweaters as the material and the patterns as guidelines. I folded the beige sweater so the inseams would be in the center and I put the patterns in the bottom middle where the ends of the pattern or facing outwards from the sweater. I cut the sweater so it traced over the patterns. After the fabric was cut out, I filled a new bobbin with black thread and set up my sewing machine. I sewed the sides, with right sides facing inward and I folded it so the inseams that was already in the sweater were at the sides of the soon-to-be shorts. The next part was the hardest for me because the bottom of the shorts has to match in length but the lengths were slightly off. I stitched the bottom so there would be two holes for your legs. I messed up a bit and there was a little hole on the bottom of the shorts. I tried to hand stitch the bottom and the hole become drastically smaller but if you see closely you would still see it. I tried on the incomplete short and I realized that I made a big mistake: I forgot seam allowance when I cut the pattern! I had to add an extra centimeter around the pattern to make up for the seams, but I forgot to. The shorts became shorter than I wanted but it still fits. I decided, since I made a mistake and there was a hole in the middle-bottom of the shorts, that I won't finish this pair of shorts. I will use the other sweater that I bought to try to make a pair of shorts again. These shorts were only a practice session, I will perfect it next time!
P.S. I found out how to make shorts by researching online.
Hours done today: 2 hours
Total hours completed: 18 hours
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Capstone Project: Practicing and Making a Pattern
Yesterday I was practicing some techniques of sewing. My mentor told me before that I need to practice sewing straight because when I made the apron, some stitches were crooked. I filled a bobbin with some thread and started stitching with some scrap fabric. I also practiced finishing the sides of the fabric and using the reverse stitch to make the ends of the stitch more strong. I practiced for an hour or so.
After practicing some sewing techniques, I tried to make a sewing pattern. I really wanted to make a a pair of shorts so I looked online on how to make a shorts pattern. It was kind of simple, I just took a pair of short that fitted well on me and I used it as a guideline. I folded the inseams in the middle and the bottom of the shorts in both the front and the back of the shorts. I traced around the folded shorts and make the pattern for the back and front of the shorts. It took some erasing but I finally made it so both the patterns would line up with each other. I cut the paper where I traced and now the patterns were finally finished.
Hours done this day: 3 hours
Hours completed: 16 hours.
After practicing some sewing techniques, I tried to make a sewing pattern. I really wanted to make a a pair of shorts so I looked online on how to make a shorts pattern. It was kind of simple, I just took a pair of short that fitted well on me and I used it as a guideline. I folded the inseams in the middle and the bottom of the shorts in both the front and the back of the shorts. I traced around the folded shorts and make the pattern for the back and front of the shorts. It took some erasing but I finally made it so both the patterns would line up with each other. I cut the paper where I traced and now the patterns were finally finished.
Hours done this day: 3 hours
Hours completed: 16 hours.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Capstone Project: Getting Materials
On March 14, I went to Joann's Fabric to buy some materials that I need for my Capstone project. I knew, before I went there, that I needed material (fabric) to make items that I want to make. I want to make a pair of shorts, not those denim kinds but comfy, pajama shorts. I spent a long time just feeling all the types of fabric. I finally decided to get a white, fleece material and I got 2 yards of it since it was on sale. It was nice because the workers there cut the fabric for me. After I found some fabric to use, I wandered around the store and got some essential materials for sewing. I got a pair of fabirc scissors a pack of sewing essentials.
I completed 2 hours on March 14.
Total hours: 13
I completed 2 hours on March 14.
Total hours: 13
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Capstone Project with Mentor: Making an Apron
On March 9th, I met with my mentor, Sylvia, in her house since she usually makes her clothing there. I brought my sewing machine there and we first did a review on everything I learned 2 weeks ago. I had to set up my machine and fill a bobbin by myself. After that I talked about my plan for my project and how I wanted to make my an apron and also make my own pattern to make my own pair of shorts. She told me it would be hard to make your own pattern but it is still possible.
Once we knew what we were going to do, she told me I could use her apron pattern for my project. I picked my favorite apron pattern and we started working. I cut the pattern and aligned the pattern with the fabric. Then I pinned it in place and I cut the fabric along the pattern. It was very difficult for me to cut the fabric because I used a small pair of scissors and I used a thick material for the apron. She guided me through the work and helped me when I found an difficulty with anything. She suggested that I can add small detailing to my apron because the material was plain white. She went through her things and showed me many different materials I could use and how they are used. She showed me some materials used to finish edges so they don't fray. I used these to finish the pockets and I picked a nice stretchy ribbon I could use at the pockets and the bib of the apron. It added a nice color to it.
Her pattern had instructions to how to make the apron so I followed that very closely. I first sewed the ribbon design on and then attached the pockets to the skirt. It took a very long time to do this because I didn't sew it straight. I had to rip out my stitching sometimes to fix my mistakes. I then made the ribbons that ties in the back and she taught me some new techniques. I attached the ribbons to the waistband and the waistband with the bib. After, I sew the ribbons that tie for the neck to the bib. I found it very hard to sew the waistband to the bib because I had to ruffle the skirt for it to fit the waistband.
She also let me use one of her machines because it finishes the edges of the material. I found it easy to maneuver.
I spent almost the whole day at her house, sewing. She does live far from South San Francisco so I wanted to do a lot of work there. I was there since 9:00 am to 6:00 pm with an hour break. I did get a lot done that day and I finished the apron at that time. Sylvia said I did very well as a beginner.
I did 8 hours on March 9th.
Total hours: 11
Once we knew what we were going to do, she told me I could use her apron pattern for my project. I picked my favorite apron pattern and we started working. I cut the pattern and aligned the pattern with the fabric. Then I pinned it in place and I cut the fabric along the pattern. It was very difficult for me to cut the fabric because I used a small pair of scissors and I used a thick material for the apron. She guided me through the work and helped me when I found an difficulty with anything. She suggested that I can add small detailing to my apron because the material was plain white. She went through her things and showed me many different materials I could use and how they are used. She showed me some materials used to finish edges so they don't fray. I used these to finish the pockets and I picked a nice stretchy ribbon I could use at the pockets and the bib of the apron. It added a nice color to it.
Her pattern had instructions to how to make the apron so I followed that very closely. I first sewed the ribbon design on and then attached the pockets to the skirt. It took a very long time to do this because I didn't sew it straight. I had to rip out my stitching sometimes to fix my mistakes. I then made the ribbons that ties in the back and she taught me some new techniques. I attached the ribbons to the waistband and the waistband with the bib. After, I sew the ribbons that tie for the neck to the bib. I found it very hard to sew the waistband to the bib because I had to ruffle the skirt for it to fit the waistband.
She also let me use one of her machines because it finishes the edges of the material. I found it easy to maneuver.
I spent almost the whole day at her house, sewing. She does live far from South San Francisco so I wanted to do a lot of work there. I was there since 9:00 am to 6:00 pm with an hour break. I did get a lot done that day and I finished the apron at that time. Sylvia said I did very well as a beginner.
I did 8 hours on March 9th.
Total hours: 11
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Prompt:Personal Narrative
I am a kind of person who finds it difficult to apologize and forgive. It’s not like I think I am right all the time, its just that it’s hard for me to accept my faults. I do apologize and forgive at times; I just find doing this very hard. A time where I really knew I had to apologize to someone to make things right again was when I got really mad to my little sister. She was only trying to help but I blew things out of proportion and got mad at her.
During this day, I had so much going on; from school work to family problems. Nothing was going right that day. I had an overload of homework and class work, my schedule wasn’t working well with my parents, and I just couldn’t handle it anymore. When I came home from a long day of school and badminton practice, I didn’t know how I would be able to get all my work done. My sister came in to my room and she was drawing and asking me questions like, “How do you spell family? How do you spell letter?” She kept on doing this while I was there stressing over my school work. After a couple of minutes I finally snapped and I started getting mad at her. I guess my stress finally got to me at that moment. I started lecturing/shouting at her that she should figure things out by herself like I am with my own work.
After my outbreak, she was in tears. She ran to my brothers and she told them everything that had happen. While she was doing that, I had a sudden realization that that was wrong for me to have done that. It ran across my brain that I should apologize or else she would grow up to be someone that doesn’t apologize. I didn’t want her to become that way. The only way to fix this was to say sorry. I looked at what she was working on while she was in the other room. She was making a short letter to her family with colorful drawings and letters. This made it harder for me to apologize since she had good intentions and she was only trying to be nice. I had no reason to get mad at her.
She was still crying when she came back to my room, her eyes became swollen from the tears. I knew I had to apologize and finally when the perfect time came up, I apologized for getting mad at her for no apparent reason. It felt like a weight was lifted up my shoulders and I didn’t feel so bad anymore. The important thing is that apologizing makes you feel better and it is needed to make relationships right again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)