Fashion and Environment Concentration

 Today was my exit review. I got to school at 12 and headed straight to the library. I met with Heidi, Tom, Joan, Lindsay, Jill, Jen, and Derek. We all talked about how I felt my concentration went, and what I was proud and what might I possibly change. We all talked about it for an hour. This concluded my concentration and was a good way to end the year. I really appreciated everyone being there and supporting me!  Hours today: 1 hour Hours total: 55 hours

 To be honest, today I did not do much except clean and make sure everything was all set in my google drive folder. After sewing for the past two weeks, the fabric was all over my desk and room. I took about an hour to fold up the patterns and fabric and then vacuum all the extra strings that fell everywhere. Then I added more thread to my sewing machine and put it off to the side til I figure out what I am going to sew next. After I was done I double-checked to make sure everything was all set in my google drive for my exit review on Tuesday. I had to make sure my sketches from the start were in there and added those. I should be all set to wrap everything up tomorrow! Hours Today : 2 hours Hours total: 54 hours

 Today, even though it was Sunday, I had to finish writing my Narrative Reflection to wrap up my concentration. I spent most of the morning working on it and finishing writing it. It was weird writing my reflection and going through the timeline of when I first started my concentration to where I am now. I started talking about the first item I made, which was a pair of shorts that did end so well. Even though they weren't perfect, one thing Joan and I had talked about is that being a pretty new sewer I can't be so hard on myself and that I should be proud if they are wearable. While the shorts I made back then were nearly wearable the top and skirt I just made definitely are even if they are not perfectly sewn.  Even though I did not accomplish all of my goals for this Capstone project I am proud of what I have done, and definitely hope to continue to get better at sewing. I finished writing my paper around noon. I have no more real work to do for my concentration except prepa

 This week went quite a bit better than last week. Going into this week I was a bit concerned that I would not finish sewing my project in time. I spent the first few days this week sewing the skirt of the dress together. By the time I was finished sewing the skirt, it was already Thursday and originally I was supposed to present my Public Demonstration on Friday. Friday morning I spent adding finishing touches and making a top to go with the skirt. By the time I was finished, it would have been time to head to school but we changed my demo to the next day. This gave me a bit more time Saturday morning to make up a presentation slide to go with my skirt and top I made. I got to school pretty early to get everything set up. My public demo even though it was a very small crowd was really fun. I got to engage in a tone of interesting conversation surrounding what I had worked on this year. It was a nice way to show my work and end on a good note feeling proud of myself even if it did not

 Today I started by cutting some string and adding the finishing touches to the top I made! Then I made a slide for my public demo that showed new sustainable brands and quotes about fast fashion from world leaders. Around 2pm I left my house and went to the store to grab some snacks and then headed to school. I had to first pick up the mannequin, then I moved everything over to the library and got set up. Joan came early and helped set up and gave me some wonderful lilacs. Then Tom brought some faculty and I talked about my project and had good discussions for about an hour. It was super fun tonight talking about things I am interested in and feeling like my work has paid off. Next I have to write my reflection and then do my exit review and my concentration will be complete! Hours today:7 hours  Hours total: 49 hours

 Today I spent almost all day sewing. I started with the skirt and had to redo the waistband a few times so it fit right. Then I had to cut out the top and figure out those measurements so they would match the skirt and fit correctly. I started sewing around 8am and stopped around 6pm with breaks in between. I was doing good job sewing so I just kept working. Tomorrow is my public demo so my work will be on display for everyone to see in the library. I have to make the slide presentation and get the food and drinks for tomorrow. I might double check for loose strings or any extra fabric in the morning but most of the dress looks good, I can’t wait to see what it looks like on the mannequin! The hardest part today was definitely having to weave the elastic band through the waistband!  Hours today: 8 hours  Hours total: 44 hours 

 Today, I started by continuing to sew. It's a little challenging because the instructions aren't always clear. However, I got almost all of the skirt done today. By the end of the morning, it should be done tomorrow. I will have to work more on the top of the dress over the weekend! It's not as good as I originally thought it would be but considering it is the second product I've actually made it is not bad! After sewing for a while I head to school for our tennis end-of-year party!  Hours today:4  Hours total: 36

 Today I started my day around 8am with some coffee and breakfast. By 9am I was sewing, starting by attaching pockets to the skirt, which will all come together at the end. So far it looks pretty good but I won’t be able to tell til I sew the two ends together! After I sewed for a couple hours I headed to school for my last tennis match against Exeter. Sadly, we lost but it was a fun match and we got food at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants, los olas! I plan to do more sewing tonight once I get back to my house possibly from 7-9pm to get most of the skirt finished and possibly start working on the top tomorrow!  Hours today: 4 hours Hours total: 32 hours

 Today was going well until I had to continue cutting the fabric only to realize I left the fabric scissors at school. I tried from 9am-11am to still cut the fabric out without good scissors and wasn’t able to get much done. However, I got to school at 2pm and found my scissors, and was able to cut everything more precisely! I stayed in the theater helping from 3-4:30pm just cleaning and sorting costumes and props. Then after tennis, I got home and started piecing more of the skirt together from around 6-7:30pm! Although it didn’t start great overall today was pretty productive and I got a good amount done on the dress! Hopefully, I can get all the sewing done tomorrow!   Hours Today: 5-6 hours Total Hours: 28 hours

 Today I finished cutting out all the fabric for the skirt of the dress. This took roughly an hour. Then I headed to school for tennis. After tennis, I came back home and started sewing. I sewed from 6pm-8pm and worked with the skirt. I plan to go out and get more fabric tomorrow, along with finishing sewing the skirt of the dress. If all goes well I should be able to work on the top of the dress Wednesday and Thursday! Hours Today: 3 Total Hours: 23

 This week has come with its -ups and downs. The start of the week went very well, as I was almost ahead of being on track. I had everything practically cut out by mid-week. However, this changed when I realized that I had messed up the sizing of my patterns. Then I had to go out and hunt down the same prints in my own sizes. This took some time but soon I was back on track with the correct sized patterns cut out.  While I had all of the skirt of the dress cutout I did not have enough fabric for the rest of the top. I have decided to focus on the skirt for the time being and if I have the time to finish the top I will do that when the time comes. While I am already a bit setback, I believe if I use my time wisely during my second week I may be able to catch right back up to where I wanted to be! It will take more time however, if I plan it right I definitely can do it.  My goal is to have all the fabric cut out and ready to sew by the end of Monday. Then by the end of Tuesday, I plan t

 Today, I spent most of my day at the Lakes Region Tennis tournament. My teammates all played really well but unfortunately we lost and St.Paul’s took the win. After we got food and headed back to campus. I then went home and continued to cut out the fabric and patterns. I did this from around 6:50pm to7:50pm. I might continue to work on this to finish it tonight so that way I can start sewing and getting back on track with my dress. If I can start piecing everything together by Monday then I should have the dress finished around the end of the week!  Hours today: 2 (possibly more) Hours total: 20

 Today I spent most of the time cutting out the new patterns. After, I pinned most of them to the fabric and started to cut them out. Then around 2 I head to campus. I was in the theater helping from around 3:20 to 4:20pm. I ironed and steamed a few dresses for the show. My goal for this weekend is to get almost caught up. I want to try to start sewing by Saturday night because I will be at tennis during the day. I will have to probably do some work Sunday too. Hours today: 3.5 hours Hours total: 18 hours

 Today started off a bit different than the last few! As I was about to cut the fabric I realized my patterns did not have the right sizes. So, I had to go out to the store to try and find the same patterns, it took a while but I finally found them. By the time I got back home, I had to eat and head to school. I got to the theater around 3:30pm and stayed til around tennis practice at 4:45pm. Then after I ate dinner and headed back to help set up for the dress rehearsal from around 6-7pm. Today was a slight setback but I will just have to do a little more work tomorrow to catch back up!  Hours Today: 4.5 hours Total hours: 14.5 hours

 From around 9am to 11am, I spent seam ripping the dress for my fabric. Since I need to use all the fabric I had to make sure to not rip it to get the most out of it. Most of the dress was double-seamed and in some areas even triple-seamed. It took the full two hours. From there I ate lunch and headed to school. When I got to school I had to hurry to make the bus for our tennis trip to KUA! By the time I got home, it was already time to work on my blog, but I might do a little bit more work on my dress tonight. My goal for tomorrow is to pin all the patterns to the fabric from the dress and cut them out, so hopefully I will be able to start sewing this weekend.  Hours today:2 Hours Total: 10

 Today I slept in a little knowing I would be spending most of my hours at school. Around 11am I started by trying to figure out how I would cut up the second-hand dress to fit my patterns. I got to school around 1:15pm and talked with Heidi about the layout of my concentration and finalizing everything. I was in the Theater by 1:45pm folding costumes. I was in the theater til 4:45pm, I ended up cleaning some gears, helping with math, cutting a lot of the seams on my dress, and helping with putting some other things away. Then I headed to play some tennis! Today I spend a total of 4 hours working on many different things! My goal for tomorrow is the have all the seams cut and start cutting the fabric for the skirt of the dress! Hours today: 4 hours Hours total: 8 hours

After having some breakfast and an iced coffee today, I got to work cutting out the patterns for the dress I'm making. I worked on cutting out the components and planning how they'd be put together from around 9 until 11:30 am. Most of the assembling will be done at home unless I need help, then I will work with Joan most likely in the theater. I ate lunch, then left my house around 2 pm to travel to school. Following that I went to help Joan at the theater after playing a little tennis. Sorting and assisting Joan where she needs it with costumes is a part of my concentration's community service. From around 4:10-5:40, I was helping Joan in the theater. Tomorrow I plan to continue to finish piercing together the patterns and start cutting the fabric! I assisted Joan in the theater from about 4:10 until 5:40pm. My goal for tomorrow is to finish piecing the designs together and begin cutting the fabric! Hours today: 4 hours Total Hours: 4 hours