Week one of senior project:

Emma Hirsch

Starting off this project has been motivating, exciting, but stressful too. The first week consisted of gathering information, inspiration, fabrics, materials, watching many tutorials and practicing hand stitching. There have been many moments where our ideas have taken over our general skills, but we want to push our selves to learn and challenge our skills. We spent hours gathering all of our materials together and creating a work space for both of us to practice and work. We are okay with trial and error, it will help us learn more. So far we have set up our sewing machine and practiced many different hem stitches on random fabrics. Once we started getting the hang of it we decided to take on our first project. We had a plain dress, decided to cut slits, and turn it into a two piece set. 

Mae sketched this out before we started and here was our idea for this two piece set. We made it come to life and it was so exciting!!

Here are some photos of the most recent project we did. We noticed some flaws in the hemming and cutting, but want to continue working hard on getting better and challenging our selves more. Something I have really enjoyed doing it sketching ideas out. We both have a notebook in which we have been working on ideas and making drawings. Not only is it satisfying to map out an idea and then see it in real life, but it also adds room for improvement and challenge, where sometimes things don’t go as planned and we need to adjust our ideas from our sketches. 

While hemming came easily to us, making everything even and perfect was hard, and something we both definitely want to improve on. 

Coming into this project I expected there would be many learning steps, errors and flaws. I also assumed we would be able to create much more than we actually will be able to. My ideas have been so big and specific, but when actually making it come to life it is a challenge to get everything I envisioned actually done. 

Here are some more photos of our sketches and ideas. We have spent a lot of time creating as many ideas as possible, but I am worried we won’t have enough time to finish it all. I began to realize that is okay though, and not to stress over it. We want to push our selves but also take our times to learn the skills we can eventually use forever once perfected. Each time we have gotten better and better, and so I can expect by the end of this project we will continue to work in fashion and make our ideas come to life. 

While it has been stressful and challenging, there have also been so many exciting mile stones, making it even more exciting to continue. I am looking forward to this week to continue practicing my skills with the sewing machines, as I need to learn more. I have high expectations for this project going forward. I am excited to learn more and also continue challenging myself, as fashion has always been of interest to me, but I have never taken the time to really learn how to make my own clothing. I know I will continue learning and using these skills long after the project ends!