Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Sewing Lessons

Playing catch up here...Thank you to those who've inquired as to my whereabouts. My computer is running so slowly despite herculean efforts at rescitation that it's just very difficult to post. I'd have to have the patience of a saint and well....I don't. :) We will be purchasing a new computer, but we are a no credit, cash-only family and there are some other items ahead of a new computer on our Cash Flow List. So I guess I'll be learning some patience. Or posting less frequently until a new computer appears on the horizon.

Monday was Sewing Lessons Day with the girls. Sarah wanted to perfect the hem points on her vest and worked on that, developing some new marking techniques involving reversed tailor tacks in order to mark a sewing line on a garment already constructed. Her patience continues to amaze me. Maybe she and I need to swap computers! LOL! Emily completed marking on her furry coat and began construction. She completed the stay-stitching and setting in the in-seam pockets on her center front pieces. The pockets of this coat are set into shoulder princess seams.

During our instructional time, the girls learned how to do Madeira applique and padded applique. We only have shadow applique left for next week and then they will have completed their unit on applique. Our next unit will be on Fabric Modification Techniques. This should be a really exciting unit and I hope to produce some tutorials from our experiences. We will be covering various types of dye techniques, such as ombre, tie-dye, crayon resist, etc. We will also look at acid etching, embossing, painting on silk, stenciling, etc. And we will look at some techniques that involve manipulating fabric through tucking and pleating. I'm looking forward to it.

Charity

4 comments:

Meg said...

I probably missed something, but are "the girls" your daughters? Please tell me they are neighbor kids. Because getting my own daughter to just serge two seams on our 100-skirt contribution was like pulling teeth! She kept pleading she had to read her book for English class, and she's not a big reader. Sigh...

Unknown said...

Lindsay - "the girls" are the 16 and 19 yo daughters of my long-term, dear friend, Pamela. We had been discussing sewing lessons for quite some time, but could never quite get it together. It finally worked out and we have been sewing on Mondays from about 9:30 to 2:30 since January. I have two sons, never had a daughter, so it's a real treat for me. I don't feel too badly about your daughter's lack of interest in sewing. I'm told the sewing bug skips generations. My Mom sews when necessary, but isn't passionate about it. I learned from my grandmother, who loved to sew. I'm hoping that some day there will be granddaughters to teach (both for me and for you!). In the meantime...I'm borrowing Pamela's!

Unknown said...

I meant "I wouldn't" feel too badly about your daughter...not "don't" - that makes me sound totally unsympathetic, huh? :) Sorry about the typo.

Meg said...

I'm so relieved!

Me too, I'll have to wait for grandchildren to teach to sew.