Textiles 12

Week 15: Dec. 14th – Work on drum bag

Week 14: Dec. 7th – Work on Drum bag

Week 13: Nov. 30th – Work on Drum bag & thinking of inquiry #2

This week I worked on pining and and sewing my drum bag. I also started to think of an idea for my second (but probably biggest) inquiry. A Struggle I had was thinking of a way to get my inquiry done (it will take many hours to do and I probably will not finish it by the end of this semester). A success was when I finally finished pining all of my squares. Next week I hope to work more on my bag and to start learning to do beadwork.

Week 12: Nov. 23rd – Working on drum bag

This week I pretty much just worked on cutting out squares and pinning them for my drum bag. A struggle I had was getting tired on pining so many squares. A success was when I found a bunch of precut squares to use! Next week I hope to get sewing on the bag.

Week 11: Nov. 16th – Finishing button test, Starting Drum bags

 

This week I finished my button test! I also started cutting out squares for my drum bag. My biggest success was figuring out how to make the button holes (after my machine wouldn’t work). My biggest struggle once again was when my machine stopped working. Next week I want to work on sewing my bag together.

 

 

My button test was a rollercoaster for me. At first the machine wasn’t working and kept getting jammed but eventually, we got it unstuck. The button holes also ended up being to small for the buttons, despite me measuring ( i must not have sewn exactly on the line). But I solved this by cutting a little bit higher with the seam ripper. Overall I am very proud of my button test and think it turned out great!

Week 10: Nov. 9th – Away! (crocheting)

This week I was actually on a trip and wasn’t in class but on the plane I did do some crocheting and started making a shirt. My biggest success was seeing how much I got done in only a few hours. My biggest struggle was probably when I ran out of yarn! Next week I hope to finish my button project.

Week 9: Nov. 1nd- Inquiry and second mini inquiry

This week I realized I wasn’t actually done my Inquiry as i decided to topstitch along the bottom in order to make the shirt less puffy. I also found a scrap jean fabric at come and decided to sew it into a shirt as a mini inquiry project. My biggest success of the week was figuring out that topstitching the shirt would make it less puffy. My biggest struggle was when I broke a needle sewing the jean fabric. Next week my goal is to upload pictures to my blog as I am behind on that.

Week 8: Oct. 26th – Inquiry, buttonholes

This week I finally finished my inquiry project! I also started doing my button hole test. My biggest struggle was ironing my shirt to not be puffy since I sewed in inside out as I had the iron on a really low setting to not burn it. My biggest success was when I finally saw my finished inquiry and decided to use ribbon for the straps since i didn’t have enough fabric to make them. Next week I hope to finish my button test and come up with a new inquiry.

Week 7: Oct. 19th – Inquiry 

 

This week I cut out the lining of my shirt and started to sew it together. Something I really struggled with was figuring out a way to do cinch the middle of the shirt and I even ended up ripping the fabric. My biggest success was when Mx. Vittie helped my figure out a way to plan when the cinching would be and to sew over it. My goal for next week is to finish the shirt and start on a new inquiry.

Week 6: Oct. 12th –  Life on land, Inquiry

This week I finished my inquiry project and got started on designing my inquiry project and cutting out the fabric. My biggest struggle of the week was realizing there was not very much fabric of the fabric I had picked out for my inquiry. I also struggled with getting the wrinkles out of the fabric and had to spend a long time ironing it all. My biggest success was figuring out a way to alter my original plans to make the amount of fabric I had work. My goal for next week is to get started and get most of my top done.

Week 5: Oct. 5th – Life on Land 

This week I did my life on land project, I also found some fabric that is perfect for my inquiry! My biggest struggle of the week was once again figuring out all of the tedious embroidery work and getting it done. My biggest success was doing the stem stitch which I really did not understand how to do. Next week I hope to do my first inquiry project!!

Week 4: Sept. 28th – Life on land project and crossword

This week I started my life on land project! I also did a textiles-themed crossword puzzle. I also started to think about and plan my first inquiry. My biggest struggle was finding a way to incorporate embroidery into the design of a butterfly as I didn’t want to just be satin stitching the entire design, but instead to try out different stitches. My biggest success was when I decided to make the butterfly covered in flowers! While it is not as realistic per se, it will challenge me more and put more of my skills learned to use.

Long term Inquiry Project

What would you like to investigate/make as a term-long project? 

 

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What do you need to get started?
  • To get started I will need to find fabric that I like that will work with this design. I will also need to learn how to make a pattern and how to make one specifically from my own measurements. I will also need to learn how to sew this together and add a lining. Many other people have made similar tops with similar satin – y fabric types but nothing identical to how I want. I think this will be something fun to wear and show off and be able to say that I made it myself from scratch.
How will you begin the project?

 

  • I will start this project by gathering the materials, and designing exactly how I want the shirt to look, then I will measure myself and start to plan out and create the pattern. A trouble I may run into is, from never having made a pattern before I may calculate the sizes wrong, have uneven seam allowances or any other number of issues. I can solve these by looking up tutorials for certain parts of the garment/using and combining  many different tutorials. I can also ask Vittie for help and/or advice.

Week 3: Sept. 21st – Embroidery Stitches 2

This week we learned how to do more difficult/weird embroidery stitched. My biggest struggle was figuring out how to do pretty much all of the stitches as they were all very intricate. A struggle

/success was when I found out I had been embroidering with a sewing needle for regular thread. It made my life a lot easier when I started using an actual embroidery thread. My goal for next week is to start my life on land.

Week 2: Sept. 14th – Embroidery Stitches 1

 

This week we learned about embroidery and started by learning 8 simple embroidery stitches I also did my safety test. My biggest struggle was the herringbone stitch and in turn my biggest success was when I finally figured out how to do it. Another struggle was the satin stitch as I had a hard time keeping the lengths of the stitches even. Next week I hope to finish the embroidery and start my life on land.

Life on Land Research
What Gardeners Should Know About the Cabbage White ButterflyWhite Butterfly Insect Facts | Pieris rapae - AZ AnimalsMorpho Polyphemus ONE Real Butterfly White Guatemala - Etsy Canada
The West Virginia white butterfly is a species of butterfly which I chose to hand sew. Despite the name, these butterfly’s reside all over the world including Canada and the lower mainland.  These Butterfly’s are heavily endangered right now due to many man made threats. One of these threats is deforestation, as this is a species that refuses to cross open areas/leave woody areas, the loss of forests are a main factor in their endangerment. These butterfly’s will not even fly across a road or field. Another threat to these butterfly’s is their loss of food and dying larvae. This is being caused by Garlic Mustard, an invasive plant brought over to North America by colonists. This plant takes over space where plants the butterfly needs to survive should be. The plant also releases chemicals which are toxic to the butterfly species.
A solution to deforestation is to reduce our consumption of things like paper, energy and even meat. We can also petition to stop deforestation and implement reforestation in areas. A solution to garlic mustard can be to brush off your shoes, clothing, and any recreational equipment after being in an infested area and also before entering any forest that may be inhabited by West Virginia Butterfly’s. Garlic mustard can also be killed by a pesticide spray or being pulled from the ground in found in smaller amounts.

Week 1: Sept. 7th – Intro week

 

This week in textiles we did a scavenger hunt to meet other people in our class. We also toured the studio and made our textiles page on our edublogs. My biggest struggle was getting used to being back in class. My biggest success was remembering most of what I learned last year and being able to answer questions on the scavenger hunt. My goal for next week is to help out grade 11s as much as possible.