![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thebratqueenSo I had my second sewing class.
I was geniunely debating going. The class is two and a half hours which, combined with late work nights on Monday and belly dance on Thursday, takes a huge chunk out of my downtime. Which might not seem like a big deal for 9 weeks, but see also: health issues.
Plus it's two and a half hours that isn't actually two and a half hours. The teacher's very nice but she's easily distracted and loses her concentration. She's got a mother who's over 100 which I figure puts her anywhere from 60-80 in her own age. (I'm bad at judging ages, though she doesn't look like she's in her 80s) So she'll start to say something that's on point for the lesson, then get into a stream of consciousness digression. Which is actually an interesting digression, I'll grant you. I'm learning a ton about the history of the town. But that's not doing much to teach me how to sew. And her lack of concentration means she doesn't really hear you when you try to gently interrupt and get her back on point (or at least to answer your original question, which she sometimes fails to do as she forgets in all the digressions)
I also knew the local sewing store does classes, so I was highly tempted to dump this class in favor of taking private ones. But this class is paid for (not cheaply, I might add) and work technically let out early today so I figured give it another go.
I've come to the conclusion that the class is okay if I give up on it as the idea of a class and instead view it as a two and a half hour Stitch n Bitch where for the most part you sit and talk while doing sewing related things, and every so often the more sewing experienced woman of the group gives you some tips and tricks of the trade. Also I discovered that the local sewing store is going out of business, which probably explains a lot about why they didn't have a fabric selection that made me drool as soon as I saw it. (And also sucks b/c that leaves Rag "Crappy service, and our store's poorly organized" shop as the only local fabric & notions store, so if I actually want to touch things before I buy them I'll have no choice but to go there. Wah.)
Granted possibly the teacher has a stricter outline than that. At the end of the class she mentions things she meant to get to and didn't. But it's been two classes now where that's happened, so I suspect her lack of awareness about how much time passes while she talks is not a habit that's going away anytime soon.
Still, I did get to work my sewing machine, and have her sit with me for a while while we figured out things like tension and the right way to hold fabric. I still don't have that totally down, but at least I know know what I'm supposed to be doing so I'll just have to keep trying it.
We also got to talking about our cloth, and cutting out our pattern pieces. I've got to wash my cloth and iron my pattern pieces before next week. I'm vaguely intimidated by this as it will require me having to find my iron. (And, uh, should I be using my presscloth when I do that btw? And how do I iron my pattern pieces and then not put wrinkles in them again when I fold them up to take to class? Should I roll them instead?)
We're also supposed to practice with our machines in the meanwhile. Hopefully I'll be able to find time for that.
So I'll give it another go. I'm wondering if lesson-wise this is going to be where I get some concepts from the class and then gain a better understanding of it by referring to my sewing books. We'll see. Shame about the local store though.
***
Now, for those of you who wanted the answer to the previous quiz, I did not find a tin of cat food on my shelves. My only theory as to why is that I don't actually buy canned cat food.
I did, however, find a flyer with a want ad for people to deliver the Denver Post, and a pair of thigh highs.
For the former I assume that I used the flyer as a bookmark at some point when I lived in Denver, and that it fell out when I was pulling books off of the shelves on Sunday.
For the latter I have no idea. Especially as they were still in their original package. Loose thigh highs you could kind of understand, because maybe they got thrown in a fit of passion and then forgotten in the light of day. But in the package? I can't even think of a time when it would get vaguely close.
The only logical conclusion I can draw is that these were not, in fact, a pair of thigh highs in the original, unopened package but rather that it was a bookshelf creature, highly skilled at camoflague, except I startled it by yanking it out of its natural habitat and it paniked and looked like thigh highs. As you do. If I were to put it back onto the shelf it would transform into a book again, not to be noticed until the next time I rearranged my shelves.
Which would probably be the year 2025, so the little critter would be safe.
It's living in my bureau now though.
I was geniunely debating going. The class is two and a half hours which, combined with late work nights on Monday and belly dance on Thursday, takes a huge chunk out of my downtime. Which might not seem like a big deal for 9 weeks, but see also: health issues.
Plus it's two and a half hours that isn't actually two and a half hours. The teacher's very nice but she's easily distracted and loses her concentration. She's got a mother who's over 100 which I figure puts her anywhere from 60-80 in her own age. (I'm bad at judging ages, though she doesn't look like she's in her 80s) So she'll start to say something that's on point for the lesson, then get into a stream of consciousness digression. Which is actually an interesting digression, I'll grant you. I'm learning a ton about the history of the town. But that's not doing much to teach me how to sew. And her lack of concentration means she doesn't really hear you when you try to gently interrupt and get her back on point (or at least to answer your original question, which she sometimes fails to do as she forgets in all the digressions)
I also knew the local sewing store does classes, so I was highly tempted to dump this class in favor of taking private ones. But this class is paid for (not cheaply, I might add) and work technically let out early today so I figured give it another go.
I've come to the conclusion that the class is okay if I give up on it as the idea of a class and instead view it as a two and a half hour Stitch n Bitch where for the most part you sit and talk while doing sewing related things, and every so often the more sewing experienced woman of the group gives you some tips and tricks of the trade. Also I discovered that the local sewing store is going out of business, which probably explains a lot about why they didn't have a fabric selection that made me drool as soon as I saw it. (And also sucks b/c that leaves Rag "Crappy service, and our store's poorly organized" shop as the only local fabric & notions store, so if I actually want to touch things before I buy them I'll have no choice but to go there. Wah.)
Granted possibly the teacher has a stricter outline than that. At the end of the class she mentions things she meant to get to and didn't. But it's been two classes now where that's happened, so I suspect her lack of awareness about how much time passes while she talks is not a habit that's going away anytime soon.
Still, I did get to work my sewing machine, and have her sit with me for a while while we figured out things like tension and the right way to hold fabric. I still don't have that totally down, but at least I know know what I'm supposed to be doing so I'll just have to keep trying it.
We also got to talking about our cloth, and cutting out our pattern pieces. I've got to wash my cloth and iron my pattern pieces before next week. I'm vaguely intimidated by this as it will require me having to find my iron. (And, uh, should I be using my presscloth when I do that btw? And how do I iron my pattern pieces and then not put wrinkles in them again when I fold them up to take to class? Should I roll them instead?)
We're also supposed to practice with our machines in the meanwhile. Hopefully I'll be able to find time for that.
So I'll give it another go. I'm wondering if lesson-wise this is going to be where I get some concepts from the class and then gain a better understanding of it by referring to my sewing books. We'll see. Shame about the local store though.
***
Now, for those of you who wanted the answer to the previous quiz, I did not find a tin of cat food on my shelves. My only theory as to why is that I don't actually buy canned cat food.
I did, however, find a flyer with a want ad for people to deliver the Denver Post, and a pair of thigh highs.
For the former I assume that I used the flyer as a bookmark at some point when I lived in Denver, and that it fell out when I was pulling books off of the shelves on Sunday.
For the latter I have no idea. Especially as they were still in their original package. Loose thigh highs you could kind of understand, because maybe they got thrown in a fit of passion and then forgotten in the light of day. But in the package? I can't even think of a time when it would get vaguely close.
The only logical conclusion I can draw is that these were not, in fact, a pair of thigh highs in the original, unopened package but rather that it was a bookshelf creature, highly skilled at camoflague, except I startled it by yanking it out of its natural habitat and it paniked and looked like thigh highs. As you do. If I were to put it back onto the shelf it would transform into a book again, not to be noticed until the next time I rearranged my shelves.
Which would probably be the year 2025, so the little critter would be safe.
It's living in my bureau now though.
