Juki, My Assigned Industrial Machine
For the past 16 weeks, I have spent my Mondays in a class that was designed to provide me with an…
Introduction to fashion, career concepts, research and clothing construction. Orientation to fashion careers, aptitude to fashion, life skills, time management, and education planning. Industrial sewing equipment, tools, and materials will be used to produce samples of elementary level garment construction as foundation to the understanding of pattern construction, fashion design, manufacturing and production.
The first half of the semester focused on introductory level sewing and the second half focused on draping and “designing” a basic skirt with a hem detail of our choice.
Even though this course is the “intro to sewing” class, and people often asked me why I was in the class with my 35+ years of sewing experience, I learned an enormous amount of stuff. Yes, I went into the class with a level of sewing confidence that many (most?) of my classmates didn’t have but I was amazed at how many of my knowledge gaps were filled with the back-stories of why we do some of the things we do in sewing, not just the how-to-do-its that people have generously shown me over the years.
Classmates Thy Ahn Tri and Lele Luong working on their skirt slopers
My professor commented once, appreciatively, that my reactions to her demonstrations are over-the-top with enthusiasm. Compared to classmates who stood there stoically, I stuck out like a sore thumb. I think what she didn’t realize is that I could practically hear the connections in my head locking into place with every “a-HA!” moment I had. I could feel some of my creative frustrations melting away and the excitement within me grow as I began to realize that my visions were within my grasp.
This class also helped me tap into a long-dormant part of myself. I am chomping at the bit to figure out more and more ways to share what I’ve learned with home-sewers so that they can discover all of the amazing things I’ve learned so far and will learn in future classes. I’d love to teach sewing at the college level but my heart is really yearning to help women learn “the feminine art of sewing” once again.
During the winter term, I will be taking a draping class where I will really learn how to design clothing using Joan (as compared to the introduction and making the skirt that I did in this class). I can hardly wait to share with you what I learn in that class!
****
I’m thinking about facilitating workshops, sewing camps, and online stuff. What topics would you be interested in me teaching/you want to learn?
Follow Me