Out of Date Updates

So my life is a huge bundle of crazy right now. I'm moving out of state in 2 days with almost nothing to my name, starting the new location of my job in 4, gonna crash on my sister's couch until I get on my feet. My old car died, and I have a new one randomly. I'm leaving behind my only source of comfort, because I realize that it's better to leave my cat behind and get her once I have a home for her, rather than force her to live in my car.

And rather than finish packing like I should be, I'm online working on a collaboration with one of my oldest and best friends. It's very hard for us to be online at the same time, as I am on the west coast, and she is in Israel. But I always drop everything when those little moments come as she brings me such joy, and I really dig what we're working on. She's a journalist, just fantastic. And as you know, I'm going back to school to learn to make the clothes I want, and get this website of passion off the ground. I'm really big on supporting your friends in their passions and finding ways to use everyone's different areas of expertise to promote each other. So we're working together to write an article partially about me, but mainly about feminism and fashion; reconciling the two, as many people have a hard time doing so. So we've been collecting articles online and sharing them.

And today, I mentioned Amanda Palmer. And how she would be a fantastic person to include in our list. I consider her my queen in most all things. My friend hadn't heard of her, so I jumped up yelling things across messenger of my love and appreciation. To quote myself: she is amazing, feminist, loving and lovely.

And then I brought up her TED talk and her new book, The Art of Asking. I just (finally) got this book a few days ago, and have yet to start reading it. But it's something that hits very close to home for me lately. I'm moving and have been refusing to ask or even accept help that's offered me when I don't ask. I refuse to ask or accept help in anything I do. And I'm wondering if maybe that's why everything I undertake, fails.

I love the arts, I love being an artist. My family is full of artists, but told me I could never make it as I wasn't as talented as them. That I had to have a real job. I'm finally learning to let myself be passionate. To LET myself do what I want. I'm learning to LET myself sing again. To LET myself learn to play my banjo. To LET myself love fashion, and to make clothes for myself and others. And that doing any of these things doesn't make me less of a person, it doesn't make me flaky or irresponsible, nor does it make me less of a feminist.

And so I can't wait to show you guise the article once we finish it. And I just wanna thank my inspirations for helping me feel okay with being myself for once, and for planting the seed that it's gonna be okay if I ask. Follow through will definitely be an issue...wish me luck

ps, Yes I got my 4.0 in my first semester back at school. Sorry it took me so long to tell you XD

Schoooollllllllllll'ssssssss Out! For! Summer!

Now that school is officially done, I'd like to thank everyone for their support and patience with my lack of sanity the past few weeks. I made so many friends (and clothes!) this semester. It really was fantastic having people with shared interests to help ease this jarring back to school life for and to bounce ideas off of. I'm gonna miss all of them so much.

I was able to finish all of my projects on time. My final project for Clothing I was a shirt. Unfortunately, the sizing my teacher had me do made the shirt look like a tent on me. So I know for sure, I will never ever wear it. My teacher gave me a B+ on it though as she said she knew I could do better work, even though she said it looked very ready to wear. I think she was mainly upset I did everything on the serger rather than the sewing machine hahahaha. Monday was the final for that class, and I think it went pretty well. It was only 25 questions and all common sense.

I got an A on my sleep shorts I made in Serging. I wanted to make tote bags for my final project in that class, but wasn't to get the fabric I needed. I attempted to make a pillow, but that couching I wanted to do for it wouldn't work either. I ended up making a pin cushion at the last second. She gave me an A, while teasing me about slacking off. ;) This wednesday we had the final, every student had to come up with 5 questions and we did a round a bout answering of them. Any repeats were thrown out, so we ended up with only 48 questions. We graded them right then and there, and she accepted most every answer while joking that we were using critical thinking. I got an A on that final as well.

I pulled my Workroom Sketching final project together last minute. Designed a 25 garment collection in 3 weeks and was pretty happy about how it came together. When I brought it in, my teacher told how good I am at following directions and that she'd like to use mine as an example for how to size your drawings down so the concept boards look neat and uncluttered. She took pictures and let us take our projects home.

That actually is one of my favorite parts of the program. We got to take all of our final projects home rather than losing them forever. My inner Hermione loves it.

I stayed up till 5 am the day of my last  day of school doing my glossaries and final stylebooks. We did the lecture in class for 60s-80s. I was the only one who recognized an 8 track, kids these days ;p After the lecture, she let us stay and watch Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf's if we wanted to get our stylebooks back. She graded them while we watched, and I'm immensely pleased to say I got 100% on all of my stylebooks! I took the online final tonight and only missed one question.

All in all, it looks like I'm going to have an A in all my classes this semester. Start strong, finish strong...albeit frazzled. I'm still so excited that I got everything done on time.

A personal style pic for the day.

Here is my shirt all finished. Now you can see the ridiculous of it hahah. 

Trying to get all the sketches done for my Sketching final project.

A look at the finished product!

3.5 hours of sleep, but still showing up to slay at school. 

Funny tidbit, the dean of the program showed up at my work today to buy some eyedrops. She smiled and asked how my classes were and wished me a nice summer...although she'd done nothing but sneer at me all semester. I found it hilarious. 

I did get some things to give myself some projects to do over the summer so I am not leaving you forever. I do, however, plan on moving towards the end of the summer out of state. I'm not dropping out of school, just transferring away to a much bigger and nicer program. I'll update you all when I get the finalized grades for my classes. Thanks for reading and I hope you stay with me! 

Kisses, Hearts, and Poptarts,

Your Fearless Leader

Semester's Almost Over

So the school fashion show was last week. I'm still not sure if I'd do it again. Mainly cuz it was insanely disorganized. However, at least I participated and I got some good feedback from my teachers. I didn't win anything, but everyone seemed to love my skirt. My Clothing I teacher told me my skirt looked more designer than ready to wear for the print and way it flowed. I don't have any pictures however as I couldn't have my phone on me pretty much all day. But still, the compliments were nice. And our wonderful web developer/awesome friend made it out to cheer me on! As did my mom and brother, though he did have to be dragged to it haha. That meant a lot to me. I'm not used to people supporting me in what I do.

There's only 2 weeks left of the semester. I still have a ton of stuff to do, but luckily I have a day off of work coming up so I'm hoping to just plow through everything. I did get another A on a History of Costume test. And hopefully I'll find out today how I did on my most recent one for class.

My serging class is going better and better. I'm starting to use it for everything. I hadn't even cut out my pattern for my shirt in Clothing I this past Monday, but by the end of class I had it almost completed. Now I just have to set in the sleeves and finish up the collar. My sleep shorts for my serging class are turning out fantastically. I accidentally bought the wrong size elastic, so I didn't get to finish them in class last week. I did find a really pretty thread, so I ended up hemming them with a satin stitch instead of couching some yarn as decoration like I had planned. They're so stinkin cute.

I have my story and idea for my collection for Workroom Sketching. I'm really excited to put it all together. It's seeming far less daunting now that I have an idea of what I'm doing and what exactly needs to be in it. It's going to be a fall collection, and I'm going with mustard yellow, a forest green, navy blue, camel, and taupe. The story line I'm thinking of is how more and more people are finding love online or abroad, i.e. my cousin, and so you spend more time traveling to meet or see these people, so you want a wardrobe that is gonna kick ass, but also travel well. I'm still fleshing out a name, but I think it'll be easy to come up with 25 garments for it, with that idea in mind.

Here are my short pre-waistband and pre-hem. An heck yeah, they have pockets.

My lovely carpool buddy looking like a hobbit while she works on her cape dealy.

I thought our poster for the fashion show was crazy cute. One of my friends in the production class is gonna give me one of those posters!

Here's a close up of the hem on my shorts. That thread looks so great on the fabric!!

And I really dug my outfit. I got this dress for myself for my birthday but hadn't worn it yet. 

Till next time! Cheers. 

Edit: I got my first 3 stylebooks back today and got 100% on all 3!!! I also finished my shorts and got a 95% on those! Annnddddddd I finished my sample book in the nick of time. I think I'm only gonna get a B on that one though.

Sorry for the Hiatus

We hit Spring Break and between work and school, things got crazy hectic and when you're too busy to sleep you kinda forget to blog it up. My sincerest apologies on leaving you dolls hanging. But let's get back to business! Over the past few weeks I have been busting ass on my skirt for the fashion show next week. It's finally done and I'm beyond happy with it. It was my first time making mitered pockets as well as altering a pattern. The original called for a stiffer fabric and wanted zippers all over the place. I chose to use a very light rayon and I took all of the zippers out. Considering how much I just guessed on everything, I'm so pleased with it. Here's some pics of construction to the final.

Here are the pockets when I finished them. 

The front of the skirt pinned together for the first time to see how it's looking. 

The seams are stitched up and hem done, just waiting for the serger to finish the seams and do the waistband.

100% done!! Now to just pick out a black top and some shoes for the show next week. I will be modeling it myself!! 

My Serging class hasn't done much as our last class was canceled. So tonight I get to hurriedly learn how to do couching and piece together my sleep shorts. They will be totally adorable though. I chose a grey polka dot flannel and will be doing some couching with a variegated yarn. 

My Careers in Fashion is unfortunately and luckily over. It was only an 8 week course, and I'm pleased to announce that I received an A for my final grade in the class!! 

My History of Costume class is steam rolling ahead, we've now made into the Industrial Revolution. I have since received another A on a test for this class, am waiting for the most recent's grade to come in and I have another next week so fingers crossed for me. 

My Workroom Sketching class is going really well. We finished active wear, knits, denim, and accessories. So we had our first bigger project, we had to create a mini denim line and create a board for it. 

Here's my final illustration for knits. 

And here are my illustrations for use of argyle and cable knits.

Here is the overall view for my denim project board.

And here is a close up of my illustration for it. 

Over spring break my cousin and her husband flew over from England and we got to have a Disneyland day together which was so fab, and I miss her like crazy already. I also took off for a Ren Faire day, and will be spending this whole weekend there as well for our annual full weekend we do every year all together for Bog Fest. 

Disneyland with my favorite cousin ever. I need more of her in my life, always.

A quick Ren Faire day with the bestie. This weekend will be all of the besties together and for more than a quick afternoon. I can't wait. It'll be nice to let loose and have fun for once instead of feeling like a cog in the machine. 

I'm now heading into the final few weeks of school and am slightly panicking over the amount of homework left to do for my classes. I really think I took on too much to do. However, I know I can do it, I'll just not be sleeping for a while. 

In the next few weeks I have to complete a shirt, my shorts, another garment of my choice, a movie review, 2 glossaries, 4 stylebooks, a couple more tests, the illustrations for the accessories, and I have to design and created the concept boards and final drawings for a 25 garment collection. While also working full time. So yeah....I'm gonna be super cranky and distracted for a while. I will def need a vacation once this semester ends! Don't worry, I already have some plans in the works for that! ;) 

Also, please don't worry on what will happen to this blog once the semester ends. A couple Joann's near me are combining and therefore have clearanced their entire stock out. So I have picked up several patterns for just $1.99 each and will have plenty to do over the summer to keep us both entertained. Wish me luck, and stay tuned!

Time Turners, Lavender Milk Tea, and Anastasia

This week blazed on through in school. I am definitely ready for spring break. Although it will be spent working mainly. But hopefully I can fit some sewing done.

It was the last meeting for my Careers in Fashion class on Monday. Slightly sad as it was fun, however I have the same teacher for my History of Costume class and so I still get to see her. I finished the final projects early and finished the final in 10 minutes...at a loss of what to do until my next class 4 hours later, I went home and took a nap.  I finally remembered to bring in my pattern for the skirt in Clothing I; last week I only remembered the fabric -__- So I was able to full cut out the fabric. I'm really excited to get started on sewing my skirt, specially since I'll be wearing it down the runway for the spring fashion show.

Here you see my constant inability to share a table with anyone. I always take up double the actual desk space, cuz...deal with it.

I was sorely tempted to ditch my workroom sketching class, but womaned up and went. I'm so glad I did cuz we learned how to draw knits; cable, argyle, etc. My friend and I got called out in class for being at a level to draw our illustrations with shading in them. It's always awkward when a sentence starts with, "Ok so none of you need to do this, but oh! Tara and Tanya, you both should look into doing this for your sketches. You're ready." And when she went over our homework, my watercolors I did in a couple hours the night before she claimed were perfect and I should consider putting them into my permanent portfolio. I often wonder if these people are egging me on, but when she mainly chit chats with me and compliments my work, but goes to the next person and sits for a half hour giving suggestions and some critiques...it does make me wonder if I really am good at this and not being shined on.

My half-assed watercolors that turned out far better than I allotted time for and really feel I could do better but were well-liked anyways.

On Tuesday, I picked two of my besties from LAX as they were just getting back from their belated honeymoon in Ireland. It was so fantastic to see them again and I loved hearing their stories. One of my souvenirs they got was was a freaking time turner!!! Of course, I was elated and elected to wear it to class today as my modern adaptation. ;)

My friend Alex and I are now carpool buddies on Wednesdays so today was just a ball of fun. We both chose edgy lipsticks and the same silhouette for our outfits today. How serendipitous. We learned the Rococo styling in History of Costume and made lame jokes the whole time. Puns are our true nature. Then we walked to a boba place for our break as I've never had boba. I tried the lavender milk tea and it was quite lovely. I may have finally found a slight change from my beloved chai. We took selfies and had tumblr talks and I crashed more than one snap chat. She tried to talk me into getting one and we discovered my phone doesn't have it in the app store. (not gonna lie, pretty happy it wasn't).

Serging class started well and then went downhill fast. I was able to put my reconstructed shirt together pretty fast, specially with some help from my new Vanna, Alex. However, hemming it took the rest of the class period. It was on a different grain line where the hems were needed so of course it just wanted to roll up on itself and refused to keep a press. We ended up somewhat cheating on it. We just hemmed it all with a blanket stitch and then rolled the neck and sleeves under with a basic stitch on a single needle. The bottom hem, we just left in a blanket stitch as it technically is a finished edge XD But 3 hours of arguing and it refusing to stay pressed so we could do a pretty looking hem...we kinda gave up and lapsed into jokes. All the poses for pics for this blog ended into silly poses and non stop laughter.

The pattern in school is easily definable. Optimism, underestimating, frustration, near tears, full steam ahead, non stop laughter.

On our way to boba, I felt the need to take a quick photo op underneath this glorious archway.

A picture of today's outfit as I love it, yet hadn't worn it since my trip to England two years ago.

The backside of my finished reconstructed shirt.

The neckline stretched out greatly while hemming so we made a lot of Flashdance jokes. And somehow the shirt managed to look like a conscious choice in my outfit, not randomly thrown on top of it. Go me.

And ended with, "Grandmother! It's me, Anastasia!!" 

(not pictured, the numerous takes in between the first attempt where I managed to not laugh, until this one. All in between I was laughing like a loon"

Hot Mess to Grade A's

Another hell week down. I managed to get everything done just in the nick of time. And I also got some grades back from my Clothing 101 class. You all remember those pants? The ones that nearly drove me to tears in 3 jammed machines, broken needles, and a hot mess of a waistband before I pulled it together last minute? I got an A. And lots of comments on how ready-to-wear they look. :D I also got back our first test in the same class. I got an A on that as well.

My teacher then proceed to talk to the class about the upcoming fashion show. I've been going back and forth on entering. Somehow by the end of class....I entered into the fashion show. All of my teachers have been bugging me to enter. And now I'm freaking out. I have about a month to to make my skirt, turn it in as my second project for class....then turn it in and model it for the show....thas right....I'm entering an item....AND modeling. Oi....what have I done to myself.

I also sent my teacher for Careers in Fashion and History of Costume (same teacher) the link to my new website for some feedback. I got her email back right as I was walking into class with her, and so right as I was reading it, I got some verbal as well. She was amazed with how talented my photographer is. And loves the name for it. Here's a pic of the email (personal info cropped out):

It's kind of amazing feeling so supported by all of the faculty in the program. All of my teachers approve and encourage my goals. I haven't received anything less than an A in any class or project so far. And they push me to tackle more complicated projects than I feel ready for, and yet I accomplish them and they even look good after. Not a hot mess. 

In other related news, my grandmother recently (as in Saturday) sold her house. And is gifting me with her sewing machine and sewing table. I've been looking for a sewing table that will fit in my room for months, and suddenly this lands in my lap. I can't really believe it and am so grateful to her. It's the perfect height and size for my tiny room and the top folds out into a cutting table. I can't wait to bring it home and get my area set up. It'll be so nice to get things done at home instead of only in class. 

Wish me luck in getting my reconstructed shirt done in time for next week. Spent the entire class period yesterday trying to get a serger to work. The beginning of class had my teacher fighting for the title of being Murphy's Law incarnate, the end of class she ceded the title to me. The first machine we couldn't get a balanced stitch no matter what we tried. So I moved to an older model, spent forever threading it, only to find out the light turns on, but not the actual machine. Luckily, we traded the pedal out and got it to work with a perfectly balanced stitch from the get go. Which left me only 10 minutes to try and bust some work out. I got the seam on my sleeves and center back done. Then I hid the machine in the far back of the cabinet with a note begging to not change the threads or tensions. XD

Another Week in the Life

Proud to announce that after a lot of hard work, the website is almost totally up and running! I can't wait to share it all with you. Since we were last all here, I had the chance to do the first of what will be many photo shoots for the site. And I had so much fun. My photographer is a friend from school and church and we hadn't had a chance to really talk or catch up in years. So we just wandered around Downtown Fullerton, joking around and getting to know each better. 

When two up and coming professionals work together for the first time, it often feels like a first date. We get to know each other personally and professionally. And at the end, someone asks the awkward question of getting together again. Everything went fantastically, we work together really well. And when you guise see how wonderful the photographs look, trust me. More shall be happening. Her link is already up on my website. Support local artists and businesses. I can never emphasize that more. We have the passion, the talent and skills, and we're far more ethical. 

Putting together the site with my web developer/lady love has been entertaining. She lives in Vegas now and works graveyards, so trying to find time to work on it or even just talk on the phone to go over the knitty gritty....hilarious. So lots of late nights and early mornings for us both. But she's doing a fantastic job and is learning that working with me means having lots of things be more difficult than they should be. But she's a trooper, and honestly gets all the credit for the site. Right off the bat it was better than I had hoped it would be. 

I'm still putting that nose to the grindstone and churning out the good grades. It's a lot of work, but I love it all and wouldn't give it up for anything. I finally got my reconstructed pattern finished and can cut it out and get the shirt started. 

I really hope it turns out well, cuz I loved the shirt it came from. And I've never made a pattern before, so it was nice to get a better idea on how they work to get what you want. Obviously in basic terms and not very complicated....but still. 

Last Wednesday I, as usual, dressed up for class. It obviously was an attention grabbing outfit as everywhere I walked on campus I had people staring at me. But I looked good and knew it. So I just stared everyone right in the eye until they looked away. They all knew they couldn't have me, and were jelly of my confidence. I'm over not wearing things I want to because I'm afraid of getting attention or that it's too dressy for something. I'm just so over jeans and t shirts. I like to walk the line between adorable and risque. Just enough cuteness that no one can call me a hoe. ;) 

I also went on a nice, long walk between classes and snapped this pic. It was gloriously overcast that day and everything looked so pretty. 

And on that note, I have to leave you dolls again. No rest for the weary, and there's a pile of homework to do. Luckily, I did get an email stating one project's due date was pushed back a week....after I had finished it. XD Until next time. :)

First Hell Week Is Over

So many things have been happening it's ridiculous and extremely exciting. I'm noticing that all of my classes tend to have the bigger projects due all at the same time. And after a couple of presentations, I'm noticing that no one seems to have practice with public speaking. And because I am so comfortable with it, I will be forever grateful to my mom for having me in Rainbows and all my years in theatre and choir. Everyone takes me and my plans/goals far more seriously just because I can speak in coherent sentences without filler words (like, so, ummmmm). It's pretty great to not have people talking down to me on anything.

I have no had two tests in my History of Costume class, and I got 100% on the first test! Shibby. I also brought in a lot of my garb and my uncle's for a little show and tell. It was a massive hit. And the girls in class told me that it sounds like I already have a huge market for people wanting garb and that I should work on the skills needed to make those kinds of clothing. Which basically confirmed my plan to have a link on the website/shop for medieval garb/cosplay kinds of things. I just worry about making the website too confusing in what I'm doing/selling...I may have to run two different websites.

I finally finished my linen pants. It was a nightmare and a half. While trying to finish them, 2 different machines jammed on me, the third snapped my needle, and the fourth finished my garment but constantly unthreaded itself. However! They are finished and my teacher said they looked wonderful. I did have to turn them in without ironing them, which slightly bothers me...but I can always iron them again when I get them back hopefully on Monday.

My birthday was last week, and one of my presents was the light table I wanted!! Huge thanks to my sister for that. It instantly was a massive help for my sketching class and now for my serging class while making patterns. We are currently deconstructing a garment in that class and making a pattern from it. Because my knit sweater was stretched out, it's becoming a pain just to make the pattern, but I just know it'll be great as I'm not rushing it and moving at a slow and steady pace. A lot of people rushed through and now the pieces aren't matching up at all. I got back the first project we turned in for the class (the maxi skirt if you remember from the last post) and I'm excited to say I got a 97/100 on it!!!

Because it's such a tangible thing to be graded on, I feel incredibly validated and so excited to keep moving forward.

We just got the dates on the fashion show for the year and I'm trying to decide if I want to enter something in or just model for it. No matter what, I want to be a part of it. I'm just nervous as so many problems crop up last minute lately...I wonder if I should develop my skills a bit more...

Big changes are coming to the blog/site soon so keep your eyes peeled! Until next time, here are some pics from the last week!

Feels amazing to finally finish these pants and see that they are definitely wearable. :)

French curves are quickly becoming my friend in my serging class. Just started learning how to recreate a pattern. 

First Round of Projects Due

So, it's been a couple weeks since the last post, but between work and having 4 projects due about the same time, it's been kinda hectic. But all in a good way. I've been making friends not only with the girls in class, but fellow fashion students round the internet. They are quickly becoming some of my favorite people to talk to.

Now onto my latest progress. I am about to finish up my pants for my Clothing I class. I have been held up by my machine acting up and having no class this week due to the holiday. I think I just got it to work again, hopefully the stitches are straight, they seemed slightly wonky at first. In the last class I did my first dart. I was extremely nervous, especially as everyone had our teacher physically helping them, but whenever my turn came, the same student would interrupt continuously and not let her even look at me to explain. I eventually got the theory of what she wanted and went over to a machine and just went for it.

My moods tend to dictate my successes and after having my machine break down and being forced to use a school machine, it could have gone wrong. However it looked the way she described, and she looked over everyone's heads and asked how it went. I got up to show her and she said, "Oh...Tara. It's perfect." And then called everyone up to see. Then she showed everyone the proper way to iron the dart, but didn't notice that the iron was dirty...and got my linen fabric with dirty with a dark brown (prolly melted interfacing) all over my no longer perfect dart. Luckily I was able to wash most of it out in the bathroom. Now i have to fully finish the pants by Monday, but kind of have a block going against them right now. I love them and hate them at the same time.

My art class I mainly did nothing in last week as my teacher forgot her light box and I do not have one as of yet. So since I'm doing watercolors and not markers, I was unable to trace out my final drawings. Watercolor paper is much thicker than marker paper. Hopefully I'll make some more progress come Monday.

The last two serging classes I managed to complete my maxi skirt. We had several problems with getting the serger to cooperate with my fabric, my teacher included. So one side is a bit more wavy than we wanted, but thanks to accidentally taking it in far more than we needed to, and my growing hips, it doesn't look too bad. I'll turn it in next week. Luckily my bum looks great in it ;)

As you will come to find out, technology is not my friend. So while doing the first glossary for my History of Costume class, the software was definitely not my friend. So what our teacher made look like a 30 minute assignment, became over 5 hours for me. However, I completed it on time and received full marks as well as a note, "Yeah! Perfect! Thanks for getting it!" And our test on Wednesday turned out to be insanely easy and my barely studying was practically over studying.

So far, much of this semester is me stressing over getting things done properly, them falling together in a less than my personal standards way, and my teachers giving me compliments and saying they're great. Part of me basks in it, and the other part wonders how much they're shining me on. My main hope is that these machines and I start becoming friends so I stop wanting to avoid them haha.

On a side note, my photo shoot had some difficulties, but has been rescheduled and hopefully this blog will soon get moved to a pretty site with some pretty pictures, and all in all, look far more professional and the way I want. Wish me luck, see you dolls next time.

Second Week Down, Still Going Strong

So I left you guys after my first day. I have now finished my second week of school and feel more inspired in my courses than before I started. And that makes me far less worried as it seems every blog I have encountered from other fashion students are just chock full of negativity. Maybe that'll come in time, but I really want to stay positive and not become disenchanted. I think it comes from so many students not having a clear idea of what they want to do or not being prepared mentally for the work and discipline it will require to reach their goals. I am fully prepared to admit that I'm wrong as I continue on this journey, but hey...this is what I'm seeing so far. Everyone I speak to seems utterly shocked that I have such a clear idea and vision and won't stop telling me that I'm sure to be successful. It makes me feel quite pressured, as having a plan doesn't mean success...but I'm in for the long haul here.

My History of Costume class is taught by my Careers in Fashion class. And my teacher and I get along so well. We even have exchanged book lists. Peas in a freaking pod, I'm telling you. We get extra credit points for wearing modern adaptations of historical clothing. And since I grew up as a part of SCA and going to Ren Faires, I have a large amount of clothes to bring in when we get to that period to show. So I get to bring in another one of my hobbies and actually show all these girls perfect examples of period clothing and why each garment was selected to make up my persona for war/faire. I honestly can't wait. 

I haven't had a day off from work other than my school days (where I'm in class all day long, 9am-10:30pm), so going shopping for the fabric for my Clothing I class and Serging class as well as my other school supplies was difficult. But luckily, I made it out of M&L in less than 20 minutes as I already had my patterns picked out and knew exactly what kind of material I was looking for, if not the color/pattern of fabric. I'm making these awesome linen pants, and a maxi skirt to start with for my respective classes. I'm so excited for the pants as it came with a pattern for a really funky skirt. My best friends love the skirt and pants as well so if things go well, I'll make the skirt next and then make them the skirt as well. If it goes really well, I may just enter the skirt in for the yearly fashion show the program puts on. As long as we are in a sewing/design class, we can enter garments into the show. If we do not enter, we can always volunteer to be a model for the show. So I really hope to somehow be a part of it. 

Here are some pictures I took from this past week's classes. 

 This is from my Clothing I class. I had finished cutting out the pattern pieces and laid it out on my fabric (a linen/rayon blend) and am waiting for the okay from my teacher to start cutting. Since we're all newbies we have to get it checked out to be sure we have it laid out properly on our fabric. Cuz once you cut, there's no going back.

 In my Workroom Sketching class we draw garments laid out flat so that anyone looking at the garment can see how the pattern needs to be cut in order to make said garment. We started with basic garments, tracing them over the mannequin, and then drawing the garments by hand over the mannequin. We haven't been taught how to draw our own mannequins yet. We do cover fashion illustration later, and then the proportions will change. Our mannequins for workroom sketches are at 8 1/2 heads, when we get into the fashion mannequins, they will go up to 10 heads to get that "Fashion Illustration" look.

These final sketches are my line drawings of the 5 garments we started with, and then my final line drawings of these garments but with my own take on them. My teacher asked if she could borrow my sketches to scan them into her computer and add them into the packet/textbook she is creating for our class. My name will be put on them as well. I was extremely flattered that she chose my sketches.

I have been so worried about this class. I grew up around artists, my sister and my cousin. And so to see that I'm already excelling in this class (c'mon, my first work is going to be put into a textbook for the class!), it was quite gratifying.

Next week the class starts with ink line drawings and markers. I decided to learn the traditional route and learn to use watercolors rather than the current use of markers for fashion sketches.

So wish me luck in getting these garments started, and I'll see you dolls soon. :)

First Day Back

So yesterday was my first day back at school in a few years. I couldn't sleep all night, I was so nervous and excited. So of course, it was a random slightly rainy day that none of us socal people dressed properly for. And my first day went better than I could have dreamed. I've been so nervous about starting school because while I have an exact idea of what I want to do, I worry that my skills aren't developed enough yet and my sewing class would be full of all these people who already know how to sew, etc while I am sitting there all....I made curtains once!

My first class of the day was Careers in Fashion. My teacher is an absolute doll. She held the door open for me and complimented my shirt. We started the day by being given slips of paper with a question on it and were to go around introducing ourselves to our fellow students and asking our questions. This started the theme of the day. That networking would be one of the keystones of our success and future career. Because you never know where someone will end up. All of the little snippets of videos we watched actually mentioned a lot about how blogging can help your career get started or thrive. And I started feeling even better about my idea, rather than unsure.

My second fashion course of the day was Clothing I. But wait, that teacher was adorable too. (I'm sensing a pattern) It turned out there were very people who had ever even touched a machine before, myself included. We were all true beginners. We went through the run down of the class and are going to be making simple drawstring pants, a top, and a skirt or another pair of pants. She helped us all size ourselves and showed us how to thread our machines. We did a practice going over lines on a piece of paper, and then we each threaded our machines and made a small sample seam to turn in. I found out that I can bring my own machine to class rather than using a school one. Which is a relief as my machine is far easier to use than theirs. All kinds of hijinks went on with those machines. Luckily, my sample went along smoothly and I ended up having a half hour to sit and watch the others.

My last class of the day was my workroom sketching class. As in all of my classes that day, I sat in the very front. Just like I have my entire life. It started from trying to help along my poor eyesight, to always wanting to succeed. However, now I have goals to accomplish for myself, and not for my family or society.

This teacher wasn't super sweet like the others, she seemed gruff at first. However I soon became the only one in class to realize her extremely dry sense of humor. I was swallowing laughter all class, while most of my fellow students looked unsure. We mainly went through the syllabus in this class. She told us something that turned on a lightbulb for me. If no one else heard that ding, they prolly had bad hearing. She told us that one of the reasons this class was important for our career was not just to be able to communicate to others how to create our patterns properly. But that we all have ideas in our heads, but words rarely do them justice or are clear enough. But that pictures do exactly that. And yet, we are never taught how to draw a square, or a sphere growing up. And so that was her main goal, to get our ideas onto paper so they can be seen. Just like how ikea instructions are pictures and not words. And it made so much sense to me, and was what I knew I wanted to take this class for. I finally had a teacher who understood what my problem was, and has years of practice in teaching us the solution. Rather than walking in and having them go, oh just draw it out. She understands that not everyone has been taught how to draw.

Halfway through class, she took roll and asked us what our goals in the fashion program were. Most had which certificate or degree they wanted, but no clear idea of what to do with it. When she got to me, I responded with, "Well I am here for fashion design, however I don't care so much about the degree or certificate. I care about developing strong enough skills to make the ideas I have come to life. I want to keep a blog about being here in school and as I go along and learn more and more, I can start making products and keeping a shop on this website and eventually have a the two sites coexisting together and make my living from that. I want my readers to grow and go through it with me."

She stared at me, and then raised her hands and said, "Look who's sitting at the front of the class." It was only myself and one other girl. My face went bright red. She went on saying how they needed to make friends with me and I had such a clear vision and she was going to be keeping her eye out for me. I was so embarrassed, especially when so many have ridiculed my idea/dream since I started being brave enough to speak it aloud the past couple of years. And my first day back, every teacher has praised my idea and wanted to be kept up to date and see it from time to time. Just....so much vindication from my first day. I feel so at home in this department so far. Like I'm finally with people who just get it.

I have my second day tomorrow. I start my History of Costume class, and my Serging class. Wish me luck!!

Ps. Please be patient with me while I get this blog set up all nice and pretty. I am pretty computer illiterate, so this is truly a big learning experience in several areas for me. Thanks for reading!!