Saturday, April 12, 2008

A Week of Sewing

It's been a busy week at the sewing machine. On Tuesday morning I had my weekly quilting session with my new friend. Afterwards, I threw my sewing bag into the car and buzzed down to the college for the remaining open hours at the sewing lab. Another girl and I are working our way through an extra credit pair of pants with a contour waistband. The lab assistant said she'd do demos of various construction techniques for us, so I needed to get my fabric cut out ASAP which is easier to do on those long classroom tables than at home.

On Thursday I spent almost 7 hours at the lab working on those pants. The lab assistant had predicted that we'd be able to finish our pants in that amount of time, but I knew better. I am not only a slow, meticulous worker, but I was trying to write down the instructions for these pants as we went along. (The lab assistant had previously helped me alter a commercial pants pattern so that it would actually fit me. It's now so different from the original that printed instructions no longer apply.)

This morning I'm off for the regular class session where I will continue making a corset. I'm not very enthusiastic about this project because it's an item I will never, ever wear. In fact, it's not even designed to fit me -- just the dress form. But I'm making it for the sake of learning some new techniques. Maybe I can sell it on eBay!


2 comments:

Amanda said...

It's a long time since I've made myself any clothes, but I think I will have a go this summer. Aren't you lucky to have someone so experienced to help you along. I must look out for some classes to help me brush up on my skills.

Catholic Bibliophagist said...

Yes, I think I'm very lucky! I have not natural talent for altering or fitting clothes (one of the reasons I prefer making quilts), but I've become interested enough that I'd like to take one of the pattern making or pattern alteration classes.