Looking back at my essential question I think I definitely answered it. My question was a great way for me to set up my project. I asked myself how I can professionalize sustainable sewing and further my interests in sewing as a whole. I learned how to properly source sustainable materials and how I can make good pieces of clothing sustainably. I furthered my interest in sewing by taking on new challenges and learning new skills. For example how to read and sew from a pattern, alterations, hand sewing, and more.
I believe that I meet my expectations pretty well for my senior project. I definitely learned a lot from my project and that held up to my expectations. I expected to learn a lot about sustainability regarding fashion and learn new skills for sewing and I did both through experience. I did have to adjust my expectations on how many pieces of clothing I was going to complete. Senior project gave me the opportunity to challenge myself more so I took on more challenging projects that took more amount of time than I was used to. In addition, having covid set me back a week since I was not able to source materials when I needed them. Overall though I did meet my goals for my project. My idea for my senior project was more focussed on getting better at sewing so I could go off and do great work as opposed to creating as many pieces of clothing as I could. I learned a lot from this project and definitely came out of it a better sewer.
Throughout my project, I faced various challenges that I was able to work through. My biggest challenge was sourcing materials. When sourcing materials sustainability it’s harder to find what you are looking for because the options are slimmer. So when I had an idea in my mind for my project I had to work around not being able to obtain the right fabric or materials. I also had the challenge of teaching myself new skills. While I had access to my senior seminar in school I was determined to teach myself new skills at home. I would do a lot of research and watch tutorials online on how to sew various items. I had a lot of challenges with this because sometimes the tutorials were not super clear. I took my time though and through trial and error, I was able to get it done. Mistakes while sewing is very valuable though because you always learn something from them that you can avoid doing the next time.
Senior project has raised a few questions for me on multiple different scales. Through learning about sustainability I am wondering how we can make sustainable options in all aspects not just fashion more affordable so everyone can have access to it. My senior project has influenced me to keep on sewing sustainability. Being able to wear a new item that is sustainable is a great feeling and something I will keep up. Sustainable sewing allows for a revamping of new items and helps refresh a closet and combats buying fast fashion.
My senior project experience was filled with unexpected moments. The most prominent one would be sewing jeans from a pattern. I imagined the process to be very hard and for it to not come out well but so far it looks very professionally made and I’m very proud of it. I also didn’t find it to be too challenging just very time-consuming. I’m also proud of all the progress I’ve made as a sewer and the pieces I created. I especially like a pair of shorts I made from scratch from just a youtube video. I wish that we had senior seminar every day because I really enjoyed that experience and I would have been able to create more challenging pieces with the help of Grace. But If I were to do senior project differently I would probably do it all the same.
The hardest part of senior project for me was probably sewing for very long periods of time. Sewing can get very tiring at times especially when you have to redo a lot of things with the mistakes you have made. The most rewarding part is definitely finishing an item that I was happy with especially if it was a battle to finish.
On Senior project evening, I want to show my work on a rack with all the items I have made with artist statements for the pieces. I feel there is a story behind every piece I’ve made whether the influence behind it or the journey it took to create that and I want people to see that. I also want people to be able to interact with the clothes to notice the details and understand my process and what I was able to create during senior project.