Cristina’s Blog

The year is coming to an end and as my last post on my 20% time I feel the need to do a reflection on my progress in sewing. So far what I made this year was two purses and two pillows. It seems like a little bit but the truth is that it took forever to make these things. With the pillows I first had to find the fabric I would use. Then I figured out the measurments and the hardest part was when I embroidered the names on the front on the pillows. The last step was to stuff the pillow and sew it together. As simple as it sounds it took a while but the results were pleasing. The other thing I made was my tote bag which was harder to complete. It was reversible so that made it a little more complicated as well. The other thing I made was a bag out of an old pair of jeans. This one was a little easier just because their were no measurments needed just cutting and then sewing. I am satisified with what I accomlished this year in a short amount of time. To see pictures of my projects you can go to my flickr page. As I go off to college at UCI I am planning to see if they have sewing courses and sign up for one so I can continue my learning. To view my finished projects you can go to my flickr page.

This week I started thinking about the history of sewing. I mean everything has a story. I started asking myself, How did sewing come about? Who made the first sewing machine? Who invented this? Who started that? I had many unanswered questions so I decided to take this week to research the History of Sewing. It makes sense that I should of done this before I even started sewing but I just didn’t think of it till now. The first thing I learned what that sewing is 20,000 years old. The first sewing needles were made out of bones and animal horns. The first person to make a usable sewing machine was Barthelemy Thimonnier that consisted of only one thread and a hooked needle. From then on many others created their own sewing machines but never patented them. The first person to patent their machine was Elias Howe. Even so the popularity and use of sewing machines did not kick up until the 1850’s. The sewing machine contributed greatly to mass production especially in the era of Industrialization and during Wars. I learned all this in about.com: inventors. I know there is a lot more to learn but I focuses on the sewing machine for this week.

cc: “Isaac Singer’s 1854 Patent Model…” by takomabibelot

This week I decided to make a different kind of bag. I was cleaning my closet this weekend and was throwing out a bunch of old jeans when my cousin suggested I make something out of them. I decided to make a purse out of an old pair of jeans. Even though I’ve never done it before and didn’t have any instructions it was still rather easy. I just cut the jeans from the back pockets and up. Then I cut the middle of the jeans to open them up so I could then sew it back together. I cut out some straps from the legs of the jeans and added them to the purse. It was an easy and cute idea that I enjoyed doing. Here are the pictures.

This week was all about Prom so I decided to focus my 20% time on the Prom subject. My friend’s mom, who is an expert seamstress ( she’s been sewing for over 30 years) was making my friends prom dress. So I thought it would be a good idea to observe her while she was making it. If I had any questions about what she was doing I could just ask right then and there and she would explain it to me as she was sewing. Although obviously I’m not ready to make my own dress It was very insightful because I saw first hand how she arrived at the finished product. I learned that sewing is a process that you have to follow or else whatever you are making might not come out as expected. To make the prom dress she first started with the upper body are, the bust, waist and back and at the end she added the bottom skirt. To connect the bust to the skirt she had to base them. Basing is a type of stitching that is usually used for delicate fabrics. Since her dress was being made out of Organza, basing helped hold the bust to the skirt without ruining the material. I still have to post the final pictures of the dress so they’ll be up by tomorrow.

This week for my 20% time I started looking up instructions to make a skirt. I really wanted to make a dress but I’m not ready for that yet so I’m settling for a skirt. I found this website that I think will be very helpful in my quest to sew a skirt. The website starts off with an introduction about skirts and gives very helpful tips relating to skirts. First of all it mentions the best type of fabric to use, the easy and difficult patterns. It also provides several pictures of all different types of skirts. So my next step is going to be to choose a specific design for the skirt, then the pattern and then sew it. This is another link to the same website but a different page that goes into further detail about skirts. So i’ll just have to see how it goes.

The real work for my 2o% Time Post this week was done at home. I finally finished my bag. I had a vision in my head of how to do it but I had to get a lot of help from my mom. She kept telling me what I was doing wrong and making me fix it. It was annoying but I know that thanks to her advice it came out better. Since the fabric that I chose turned out to be very thin I decided to make the bag reversible to make it sturdier. It measures 18 by 20 centimeters with a base that measures 8 by 19 centimeters. What I had to do first was measure and cut out the front and back of the purse. Since it’s reversible, I cut out two sides out of one fabric and two more sides of the other fabric. Then I cut two bases, and the handle. To sew it together, first I had to put the two fabric together. Then I worked my way up from the base to the handles. I really didn’t write step by step instructions because it was a free lance project that I did myself so you can say that I just went with the flow. As I was connecting the parts I wasn’t even sure myself what the outcome would be and I’m not embarrassed to say that I did mess up and had to go back and do it all over again. If I hadn’t gone back to correct my mistakes my bag would of probably ended up looking like a mess. But It didn’t and here are the pictures to prove it. It looks better in real life!!

Okay, Spring Break is over and to tell you the truth I did not advance on my sewing project. I’m dissapointed because in my mind I had everything planned out and was so sure I was going to finish or atleast get close to completing my bag. But things don’t always work out I’ve learned that much. Anyways, I do have my fabric options including pictures. Talking to my mom I’ve also decided to take a different route with making my bag. My mom suggested that for my first project to make it easier on myself, I shouldn’t focus so much on following instructions step by step. Instead I should just go for it and figure it out on myself. I like that idea better because this way I can just do it my way and learn from my mistakes.

So I guess you can say that this week I accomplished the second step in the preparation of making my tote bag. The first step was to find the model and the instructions to making my bag. I found the bag I wanted to make on the craft&fabriclinks website. After browsing through their selection of projects I finally settled on one titled “Easy Tote Bag.” It was the word easy that did it for me. I’m trying to take slow steps and not rush into a big project that I can’t handle and  that I will give up on. So after reviewing all that, my next step was to choose the fabric I wanted. On Wednesday I started off by visiting a store that my friend recommended. I sure most of you have heard of JoAnnes.After looking at their selection, (which they had a lot to offer) for some reason I couldn’t't make up my mind. So then my mom knew about this local fabric store that isn’t as well known as JoAnnes but that she’d been to various times and always found what she had been looking for. So over the weekend she took me to La Amiga fabric store and I found the fabric I liked and for a cheaper price may I point out. I was going to upload some pictures but I can’t find my camera which is annoying because things are always getting lost in my house. But I guess that’s what happens when there’s 9 family members sharing the same camera. So for next week I’ll put up pictures of the fabric and the pieces already measured and cut ready to sew.

This week I was looking through my Google reader and reading the information that was sent to me that had to do with sewing and most importantly with making any sort of bag. I found many different styles but it was great to see that although they come out looking completely different and unique, the steps to how to make them are pretty similar and basic. This is reassuring to me because after I finish my first bag, it will be easier to take on different styles because I’ll have previous practice. On about.com I found Debbie Colgrove’s sewing blog which had about 10 different typesof bags. There was a durable grocery bag, travel bag, beach bag and she even includes how to make wallets. Seeing her blog, made me think about all the possibilities that sewing provides. Just by learning to make a simple tote bag, I set the first stepping stone to learning to make about 10 other things that are unique yet similar. I can’t wait to become a more accomplished seamstress. I know that it won’t happen by the end of this year, but eventually I know it will.

In my Web Class on Monday, we watched a video of Jeff Han’s presentation at the Ted Talks. He was speaking about his creation of multitouch computing and all the possibilities that it creates in the advancement of technology. It is unique in that it has a multitouch sensor screen which allows multiple points of contact allowing you to use both hands. You can stretch out photos just by using your fingers. It also has a keyboard that can be arranged to fit to scale with your hand and finger size. this is an example that relates to what Jeff Han was saying that technology should conform to the user. Jeff Han points out how we have a great data base of information but we are not using it to our full advantage. With the growth of techonology and new projects such as multitouch computing the possibilities will continue to unfold.

Jeff Han is not the only one taking advantage of multitouch computing, Microsoft introduced a new idea to computing. It is a coffee table that also serves as a computer for working with photos, videos and the internet. For example, you can place your camera on the surface and the screen will scan it and import your pictures from the camera to the screen in a second. You can also use it to with the flick of your hand to transport a picture to your cell phone. And as other company’s start adopting and making use of new ideas, technology will thrive.