1. Brief Overview of what you did this week, including photo documentation of process.

This week, I started my kid’s size T-shirt. It was hard choosing the fabric, because I needed to find something comfortable to wear, somewhat stretchmy y, and something appropriate for a kid. I ended up choosing a butter yellow fabric for my project. Luckily, my friends had a pattern cut out already for me, so I was able to start pinning and cutting my fabric right away. It was important to ensure that everything was lines up correctly. After cutting the body, collar, and sleeves, I sewed the body together. The final element I completed this week was the sleeve cuffs, which involved pressing, folding, and sewing.

Outside of school, I also did some sewing. I hemmed a skirt that I bought from the thrift store to fit my proportions better. I was able to take the skills I learned in the classroom, and implement them into my daily life.

2. Your biggest struggle of the week.

Personally, this week was fairly smooth sailing. If I had to name a struggle, I would say that it was hard to ensure that the body of my shirt (front and back) aligned correctly, as they didn’t match up perfectly in the pattern. However, after I sewed it, it looked great.

3. Your biggest success of the week

In my past entries, it has been a goal of mine to improve my time management and to be efficient in class. I am proud to say that this week has been my most efficient week yet. I prioritized getting as many steps as I could done, and I also tried extremely hard to make my work look neat and professional, in hopes of improving greatly from my tote bag project. Considering I sewed the entire body and sleeves of my shirt, I would say this week has been full of accomplishments.

4. Goal for next week.

My goal for next week is to continue on the ball that I have got rolling. Hopefully I will finish my shirt and begin to cut the pattern on the matching shorts. As I become more confident with the machine and my skills, I aim to trust my instincts more and not rely on my friends as much.

1. Brief Overview of what you did this week, including photo documentation of process.

Over the course of three weeks, I embroidered and sewed a tote bag. The reason this project took so long was because I was sick for the majority of week 4 and all of week 6. First, after choosing an appropriate and thick fabric – to hold weight – and tracing and cutting the pattern onto tracing paper, I was ready to go. Before I began sewing, I decided to embellish the material with some floral embroidery. I think the contrasting colours of the thread against the dark blue fabric really added to the overall aesthetics of the tote bag. I made a set of handles which ended up being much too short, so I cut a second pair at the correct length.

2. Your biggest struggle of the week.

Apart from simply catching up to all the work I missed while I was home sick, I would say the biggest struggle I faced was with my straps. As I mentioned, the first pair of straps I made were much too short and too thin to flip inside out using a knitting needle. I had to recut a wider and longer pair which slowed down the process. The hardest part was finding the perseverance to turn the fabric right side out, which was a big challenge. Furthermore, I was having issues with my machine which lead to many loose threads and the back of my fabric being knotted and messy. These inconsistencies were related to my bobbin.

3. Your biggest success of the week

My biggest success of the week was the embroidery. I have embroidered flowers once before, but not all different varieties like I showed in my tote bag. I am very proud of the different flowers and colours I used to embellish the design.

4. Goal for next week.

Next week, my goal is to read the instructions of the assignment before I begin any sewing. With the tote bag, I embroidered in a section that later, I would sew under. To avoid little mistakes like this, I will read the instructions beforehand, that way I know what to expect from the pattern.

1. Brief Overview of what you did this week, including photo documentation of process.

This week,  we worked on multiple things, such as measurements and our first real machine project, The Mini Pillow Case. I began the pillow case which was pretty straight forward. I also learned to use the seam gauge for the first time, which was quite helpful. Second, we did noted our measurements for garments and other projects in the future.

2. Your biggest struggle of the week.

This week, my biggest struggle was staying on task and being on top of my assignments. This was a busy week for my friends and I because we had to miss class for senior sail. When I got back, I prioritized finishing my pillowcase and staying on task. I made sure to manage my time, but it was a challenge to catch up.

3. Your biggest success of the week

This week, I got much more comfortable with my machine, which was actually my goal from last week. I was able to complete my project efficiently and with ease.

4. Goal for next week.

My goal for next week is to a more challenging project and create a tote bag that I will use in my day to day life. I think the tote bag will be a nice challenge for me and seems like the perfect next step in my textile journey!

23/9/2024

1. Brief Overview of what you did this week, including photo documentation of process.

This past week, we moved on from hand stitching, and transitioned into using the sewing machine. Before using the machine, we familiarize ourselves with the parts of the machine and learned how to use it. Once we were proficient and confident in our machine skills, we selected the fabric to start our Machine Stitch Examples Assignment. At the end of each stitch, we back stitched the row to lock the thread in.

2. Your biggest struggle of the week.  

This week, I overcame many hurdles with my sewing machine. With some of the more complex stitches, the thread would overlap and get stuck. Even after adjusting the bobbin and double checking all the parts of the machine (feed dogs, etc.), nothing seemed to be working. I even wondered if the texture of my fabric was contributing to the problems I was having. Eventually, I moved my project to my friend’s machine, and all of the issues magically solved. Even though the process took extra time to solve, I was still able to produce a final result I was proud of.

3. Your biggest success of the week.  

In my opinion, the most important thing I learned this week was all the parts of the machine. Last week, I was unsure on how to refill a bobbin or create a decorative stitch. Now, for my future machine projects, I will be able to utilise all the parts of the machine and take advantage of all the features it has to offer.

4. Goal for next week. 

My goal for next week is to regulate the issues I have been having with my machine this past week. Even though I spent lots of time trying to fix it, I still was not able to make it work. Next week, I hope to figure out what’s wrong to reduce the stress in future projects.

Date: 12/12/2024

1. Brief Overview of what you did this week, including photo documentation of process.

This week, we made a pillow that featured 6 different basic hand stitches: baste stitch, backstitch, chain stitch, whip stitch, blanket stitch, and slip stitch. In the end, I unintentionally made a pillow that looks like a pickle 🙂

2. Your biggest struggle of the week.

Over the course of the project, I found the slip stitch to be the hardest. It was a challenge to make an invisible stitch because both the felt and the thread were quite thick.

3. Your biggest success of the week

I think my biggest success was the three main stitches going down the center of the pillow. In my opinion, they were quite neat and clean. Also, I was able to manage my time well and finish my pillow within the given time.

4. Goal for next week.

Next week, I hope to move on to something more advanced such as embroidery, since the natural next step from hand stitching with embroidery thread could be embroidery. I have some experience with embroidery and cross stitching, but I hope to improve my skills in the weeks to come.