YouTube Video Sewing Course and Sewing with Tigers

Source

I've been thoroughly enjoying my classes this semester. One of the classes I'm taking is "Apparel Construction". I love it because it's helping me get familiar with commercial production methods and industrial machines.  Most of what we have been doing so far is learning about and practicing with lockstitch machines and sergers.  While explaining about lockstitch machines my teacher said home machines and industrial machines are very similar in their functionality, although a home machine is like a house cat and an industrial machine is like a tiger.  I love that analogy and can definitely attest to its validity -- they are so powerful and SO fast.  It's somewhat difficult to get used to and my first sewing samples were laughable at best.  But I'm determined to wrangle that machine!  I love the idea of sewing with tigers.

I also learned that my school produced a series of videos on DVD to go along with the course.  Apparently these videos have been used by educators around the world and my school is frequently asked to produce more.  These videos also happen to be available on YouTube!  So if you're interested in getting more detail feel free to check out the series.  Here's the first video, all about tools used in sewing:


I hope you enjoy!

Back to School with Fashion Design

Monday marks the start of a new semester of my schooling.  This time I decided to put aside accounting (at least for the semester) and take a couple of courses in the fashion design program at my college.  I will be taking "History of Fashion" and "Apparel Construction" (it will be focused on industrial construction methods, which I'm excited to learn, and I'm hoping it will help me in my home sewing as well).

Since those topics are along the same lines as my blog, some of my posts between now and the end of May will be devoted to them.  I will try to do an update every week on what we covered in class, if it seems interesting enough to share.  Anyone care to follow along?  If you're interested, here are the books I'm using:



I can't wait to get started!

Calendar for the Kids - Free Printables

For some reason many of my most vivid memories from my early years in elementary school center around the "circle time" calendar.  You know, the one with the interchangeable dates, months, seasons, and weather cards.  Remember those?

When my son started home-based public education (via K12.com) I knew I wanted one as part of our daily routine.  I looked around at some of those offered through educational/office supply stores, but they always seemed really gaudy and kind of obnoxious looking (if that makes any sense, ha!).  I wanted something slightly more aesthetically pleasing and customized with only the elements I wanted. 

So I decided to make my own.  The items I purchased were one 20"x30" foam core board, 1/8" and 1/4" chart tape (optional), and self-adhesive velcro.  Materials I had on hand were printer paper and ink, colored cardstock, colored pencils, laminating sheets, a black marker, ribbon, and page protectors.

I began by using my big metal square to draw the large rectangle for the calendar, one inch in from the left side and one inch up from the bottom. The rectangle measures 15" high x 19.25" wide. Then I marked off measurements for the small interior squares, vertically every 2.5" and horizontally every 2.75", then drew lines across.

Fashion Museum Tour - Information and Inspiration

Have you checked out the website for the Metropolitan Museum of Art?  It's awesome!  There are so many subjects with photographs and historical information, it's almost like a mini trip to the museum.  One of the departments is called The Costume Institute.  They have a lot of photographs of (and background about) clothing from different designers and periods of time.  I love looking at clothing from the past.  It's interesting to see the influence it often has on the clothing of today and how certain shapes and styles repeat themselves throughout history.  If you're interested in clothing and fashion I would definitely suggest going to check it out (the name above is a link).  Here are a few of my favorites:

Emilio Schuberth, 1952

The ombre effect is so trendy right now, but here's a beautiful example from the early 50's!

Charles Frederick Worth, 1880s-90s

"Coco" Chanel, 1938

Madeleine Vionne, 1938

Christian Dior, 1949

Tangent: Here's a wedding cake inspired by this dress --

source

Madame Grès

I hope you enjoyed the little fashion museum tour.  Where do you go to find inspiration (whether for clothing, art, food, or anything else)?

---------------------------------------
I'm linking up to:
While He Was Napping
Thirty Handmade Days 
The 36th Avenue 
Under the Table and Dreaming
My Girlish Whims 

I'm Still Here!

I figured I needed to post something so you all didn't think I dropped off the face of the Earth.

I am still here, attempting to get by day to day. School is becoming a little overwhelming, but I just need to stay organized and make sure I divide tasks into smaller pieces to tackle each day, instead of attempting to do one big thing in one day alone. Here's hoping I can keep up!

I'm going to start out by posting some projects that I completed last year, but just never got around to posting. Some recipes, some crafts, and some decor projects. I'll attempt to post at least once a week. [I have been missing being a part of blog world. Although with my classes all being online this semester, working on the computer, and keeping up with personal e-mails and things, I just get sick of being on the computer so much! Anyone else ever feel that way? Maybe someday I'll invest in one of those solar laptop chargers so I can work outside in the sunshine.]

I'm also going to work on getting together tutorials for some of the things I made for Project Recycled (which, unfortunately I had to drop out of because of my currently crazy life), such as the wristlet purse below.

Stay tuned for some fun stuff!

Quick House Cleaning Tip and School Update

This post is kind of random, but I just wanted to get something up since it's been a while. (I'm almost done with the t-shirt costumes!)

One of the best house cleaning tips I have ever received was to focus on one area in the house at a time.  Countless times I have found myself picking up a couple of things, immediately taking them to the other room where they belong, putting them away and repeating that over and over again without making much progress in the area I was trying to clean.   But using a bunch of bins / baskets / bags to place items that don't belong makes cleaning up one area a whole lot faster!

I [had -- before we moved] a bunch of plastic bins, one for each room in our house.  I would go to an area (usually the living room) and place items that belonged in different rooms in their own bin. 

It really helped me clear the area quickly so I could do the vacuuming, dusting, straightening, etc that I needed to do. After that I would have the kids take their things to their room, and I would take the other items to their respective rooms and put them away.

It's such a simple thing but it has really made a big difference to me, especially with small children who often leave their things strewn all over the place!


And now for a quick school update -- We were on the waiting list for our neighborhood school, and because they had fewer students in a higher grade, they had an extra teacher and ended up adding a whole new kindergarten class. So, my son is now going to that school!

I was really enjoying doing the K12 method (it's so fun when they send all the books and materials and supplies for all the standard subjects including art, science and music). But it was difficult to keep my son interested for long. After the first week he was getting comfortable and not giving it the same attention he did at the beginning. It was also a challenge with my daughter, being smaller, needing so much attention and care (i.e. diapers/toilet training, frequent snacks, water, cuddling, anything).

So we were excited when we were notified that he got in this year. Although it is bittersweet since I'm still a little apprehensive about how he will behave in school (so far so good, mostly), what his teachers will be like, and how the school functions. I'm not totally convinced standard public school is the best thing for children, but I think it's what my son and I both need right now. He needs the social interaction and the reminder that he does actually have to follow some rules (he doesn't like mine), and I need the time apart so I can have some one-on-one time with my daughter, miss my son and learn to appreciate him more.

Here's to a great year!

Public School, Home School and Other Options

 
It's been a while since I've posted. Why? I've been dealing with school enrollment issues for my son.

He is supposed to start kindergarten this year. However, we didn't have everything together (as far as moving in to our apartment and getting bills sent to us, a working mail box, finding out about schools around us, etc) until the summer time. So when we finally decided we would enroll him in our neighborhood public school, which we've heard good things about, and went through the required TB testing, ordering of birth certificate, and so on, it was too late. The school was full, and actually had been full for a couple months. So they automatically enrolled him in the "overload" school, told me that's where he was going, gave me a form that talked about the uniform requirements and a form to sign to have him bussed there.

Whoa, hold on a minute! 

I knew nothing about this other school.  Except for the fact that it's downtown (which, for my city, is not necessarily a good place to be).  So I drove by to check it out.  Okay, so maybe I'm a little overprotective and slightly judgmental when it comes to the safety of my children, but still...  Yikes!  There were 12 foot high walls around the school (walls like that usually don't exist unless they are necessary for some reason), run-down unkempt houses on one side, and unoccupied graffiti-covered commercial buildings on two other sides.

I decided to not completely judge the school based on the surroundings and look up reviews online.  There were some rave reviews saying the school was wonderful and the teachers were great.  There were other saying their kids got picked on because they were smart, that there was an abundance of violence in the school yard, gangs in and around the school [Can you imagine... gangs... in an elementary school?!], and that the school promoted mediocrity.  Some websites that score schools mostly based on test scores (which I'm not sure if they're very relevant or not) gave the school a very low score (like 3 out of 10).    After learning everything I could about the school I had nearly completely decided I would not let my son attend kindergarten there.

So what other options do I have?

Before we had kids my husband and I had become acquainted with Waldorf Education, so when we moved we looked into what existed in our area.  We discovered there was a school about 30 minutes away and looked into the possibility of our son going there.  Well, unfortunately the full tuition cost is extremely high.  They do work with people somewhat, but since we could not afford any tuition at all (and we have a pretty simple lifestyle), it wasn't really an option for us.  (Nor was Montessori or any other kind of private school)

Another option is traditional home schooling.  I'm completely responsible for all curriculum, scheduling, activities, and tracking down other kids and people to interact with socially.  How overwhelming!  I have a great respect for mothers who do all that.  But for me, at this point in my life, I just have far too much on my plate to take that all on. 

Then, after a post about my frustration on Facebook, my sister mentioned an online public school option that is working well for her son.  What an interesting concept!  I had heard about the idea before (they call it home-based education), but only in passing and never really researched what it was or how it worked.  So I looked into the company she mentioned -- K12.  (This is not an ad for them, I just wanted to share what I found.)

K12 is nationwide and even have some international affiliates as well.  They help connect people with virtual schools in each state, and it's considered public (i.e. free), and they meet all state requirements and are accredited so if you decide to have your child go back to standard public school, everything transfers just fine.  All the lessons are planned out already (by a local teacher).  They have work sheets, books to read, music to listen to, art supplies, science experiments.  Everything is mailed to you, for free.  You can even register to borrow a computer and printer if you don't have one.  A teacher is assigned to your child and you can e-mail them at any time with questions or concerns.  Plus there are monthly field trips with other kids/families in your area (as well as social events, and parents can decide to get together as often as they want), a quarterly in-person meeting with the teacher, and the option to attend a weekly class (so your child can have a regular classroom experience.  Although locations are limited and the closest location to us is an hour away). 

I think this is just what we (my son and I both) need right now.  It's a good balance and compromise for us.  So I'm completing the enrollment process today and hope to be able to start school with Seymour on Monday!

I'll keep you all posted with our experience!