Before I get back to Life As We Know It . . .

. . . I'll show you the rest of my school projects. Yes, I am done for a whole month! I really liked my classes, I think I did well in them, and I am ready for a well-deserved (I think) break. Now I can get back to the relaxing business of doing dishes all day long, and washing 32 loads of laundry a week. ;-)

But first . . .

In Intro. to Fashion I had to design a fashion accessory, using old stuff that I had around—or stuff from a thrift store—and without using my sewing machine. Oh! And it had to be something I would actually use myself. I decided to make shoes that would match the outfit I made for my Patterns class. So I hot-glued the matching fabric onto a pair of size-8 shoes (too big for me) that I found at the D.I.

The red fabric on the toes is pleated, and it has the little pleated circley thing to match the belt on the dress. Too bad the shoes aren't half-size to really match the dress. Would I wear them? Yes, if I had the matching dress. I don't know what else I'd use them with. The instructor, Jill, said that was the best shoe-covering job she'd seen. Actually they do look pretty good from across the room. On close inspection you'll see a lot of hot-glue mess, and the frayed edges of the fabric—which I fudged over with paint.

I think I'll give these as a white-elephant gift tonight

In Int. Sew I had to make a pair of perfectly-fitting jeans. I had no confidence in this project, and was already feeling a little burned-out by the time we started. So I didn't even try to make them look nice—no fancy stitched pockets, no nuthin'. I don't even particularly like the fabric color (although that's not my fault—they were not that color before I pre-washed them. I was amazed at how much color washed out). Too bad, because they really are a perfect fit! Next time I'll actually make them look nice.

And in Textiles I made my gorgeous swatch book. I won't include a picture, because I don't think a photo online would show how really cool this book is. But if you don't believe me, you can ask Melanie. And for my final, final project in that class I had to design and make a fabric and design three outfits that would use the fabric as their central theme. At first I wanted to make a Batik because it sounds like a really cool process. But that wasn't going so well, so I decided that embroidery would be easier. (When I told this to the class during my presentation, Janet was very surprised that I thought embroidery was easier than Batik. I thought about it after I sat down, because that does seem like a crazy thing to say. I guess what I meant was that I knew I'd get the results I wanted with embroidery, while I wasn't so certain about the Batik.)

Anyway, I made my fabric—about 10 to 12 hours of work for an 8 by 8-inch piece, which makes this "hand-made-in-the-USA" fabric about $2,000 a yard (minimum wage; wholesale). But once the embroidery was done, I realized I really didn't know exactly what clothes I'd make with it; bridal, obviously, but what?


In reverse order, here's what I came up with:

For the third outfit I was completely stuck. First I thought a vest of the embroidery with a skirt or slacks in a dark olive-green, and a cream-colored blouse with bishop sleeves would be nice. When I drew it, it looked fantastic—for the 70's.

too 70's

Then I thought a "mother-of-the-bride" suit, in the olive, with a collar of the embroidery would look great. And my colored picture was great, but I re-read the assignment and realized that a collar could hardly be called "central" to the outfit.

mother of the bride

By now it was 3:00 a.m. on the day the project was due. I finally just drew a little-girl's dress: embroidered bodice, silver skirt with "toast" organza overlay, and organza sash and organza puffed sleeves. Kind of a cop-out, and not original at all. But I was too tired to care about creativity at that point.


Second, a little prom-type dress. The skirt is the embroidered fabric, the top is the same fabric without the embroidery, and the little flower-things on the neckline are made of organza that matches the embroidery thread colors, with little diamond-thingies in their centers. Very cute, I think.


And the first design: A gown . . . ball-gown? red-carpet dress? This dress is also made of the silver fabric without the embroidery; the shawl-collar and the poufy, bustled train are made of the embroidery. I really like this one.


My presentation went very well. I was the only person with embroidered fabric—there were lots of Batiks; so I was glad I'd made that change. And Janet told the class they should all have a look at my embroidery before we left that day. I think I love Janet!

After the presentations . . . the final exam. And now I am freeeee! For a month. And then I'll be doing Advanced Sewing, Patterns 2, Tailoring, Fashion Illustration, and Pattern by Measurement—the class I'm dying to take. Oh, and a Cardio-Fitness class.

But, for at least one month you won't have to hear from me about school—at least, not my school. Hooray for the holidays!