Is it time to give this up?

I took a break from the sewing for the summer, thinking I could take some time to prepare for the next course and hopefully find my enthusiasm again.  Well, I didn't prepare at all, and I think my little spark of a dream has been snuffed out.  Every single conversation I have with anyone in the industry is all doom and gloom, no hope at all. 

The next class starts in a week and I haven't registered yet.  I'm struggling with myself.  I swear, this has got to be the most frustrating thing I've ever done.  I want to go for it, but how can I?  It's obviously a high-risk career option, and rather expensive to boot. 

But that's just it, isn't it?  We don't dream about things that are realistic, prudent, and within reach.  For a dream to hold your attention, it has to be just that - a dream.  Fantastic, cloaked in an aura of near-impossibility, defying common sense and realism.  Dreams serve as a north star, a means of giving us enough magic to keep going.

So will I take the next course?  Who knows...let you know in a week. 

Haiti

I don't even know who reads this blog, but I just want to say that it is absolutely imperative that we make a bigger effort to help Haiti. It is our responsibility as human beings.

The company I work for, Me to We, the social enterprise that supports Free The Children, has just released a fundraiser T-shirt for Haiti. 100% of the profits will go towards our relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti. I know it seems like it's just a T-shirt, but it's not just a T-shirt. I really think endeavours like this symbolize fashion at its finest, and I hope to do something along the same lines someday. Please take a look, at least. And please do everything you can to raise awareness and funds for Haiti.



http://www.metowestyle.com/La_Solidarite_p/20100LSOL.htm

ah you've missed me haven't you!

I didn't post about this when it happened, but I did manage to successfully complete Garment Construction Level 1 (the first one was Intro to). Can't believe I made it this far, actually, and am starting to believe in my dream again. the next course starts on Jan 13 - I have to make a collared and cuffed shirt as well as an evening dress. ergh. (panic).

My dear friend Jo-Jo Mar recommended me to make cushions (!) I've been sewing for like, eight months? hahahaha - and i already have a potential client. AWESOME!!!!!! So I was down on Gerrard St. today meeting another dear friend (Jackie-ji!!!!) for lunch and we scouted for fabric together. Just so everyone knows, if you want cheap silk or imitation silk, that's the place to go - Little India, Gerrard & Coxwell. Anyway, i got into a discussion with the lady at one of the fabric stores about traditional embroidery and so on. I think if i shop there regularly, she just may teach me what she knows. So my goal is now to make friends with all the shopkeepers on gerrard st. They buy their stuff in India and would be a great source of information. As it is, i don't have an "in" to the Indian fashion industry. If anyone knows anyone, please tip me off and I will sew you something lovely.

Fashion tip of the day: wearing primary coloured tops (red, blue, yellow) with black bottoms is a sharp contrast that slices your body in half. if you're tall, this may not concern you. but it is a rather pedestrian look. all three of those colours work extremely well with dark-washed jeans, as well as navy, brown, or grey pants.

Second fashion tip of the day: please do not wear tapered pants.

Third fashion tip of the day: chunky white gym sneakers only look good with sweats, at the gym. for comfortable walking around (in warm weather), an old-school canvas or suede sneaker is much more stylish and cute. And they're much less expensive.

Thank you for reading. If you got this far, tell me and I will put you on my "favourite friends" list. You will be renumerated when I become famous.

why am i always in a bind???

SO FRUSTRATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i'm just cutting my skirt now and my classmates are half done. i'm 9 samples behind and wondering if this whole thing was a bad idea. F!

i missed a class because of a work event, then i went to NY for a weekend so couldn't do homework, and then of course i just work slowly and want to do everything perfectly...but still. i shouldn't be THIS behind. wtf?

so i have a month and a week to catch up on all my samples, and sew a skirt and a sweat suit. i foresee long hours ahead.

and my backup instructor? the samples i just did with her the other weekend weren't up to scratch, according to my regular instructor. and she's right - i looked at them later and was like, how did she miss such obvious mistakes? i'm paying her more than i paid for my entire course - she could at least pay attention, yes?

someone just tell me it's going to be ok?????

ebb and flow

I'm feeling kind of discouraged because I'm behind already. I had to miss last Monday's class because of a huge event at work and it really kind of sucks because I don't have my teacher's contact info or anything - she doesn't give it out. Luckily my backup instructor is available tomorrow so she'll help me catch up a bit.

Life is a juggling act. I mean, my heart is here, with the fashion, but obviously my full-time job comes first and I couldn't exactly bail on my team last Monday for sewing class, much as I would have liked to. I just keep hoping that life will give me a break one of these days and it will feel like less of a struggle to do this.

On the other hand, however, I am going to spend a weekend in NY with my amazing mentor who got me to pursue this in the first place, and she knows a girl who's studying at FIT, and has invited her to stay over for a night as well. I'm a little intimidated, but here's hoping she'll be encouraging and positive.

phew!

http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20090826-tows-aish-rai-ab-bachchan

oh my LORD!!!! remind me never to get behind on my sewing samples again! i think i may just be able to squeak into the safe zone again. i was thinking about dropping the course because i swear, i can never put myself through the stress of being two samples behind again (i.e., last semester). my teacher is hyperprecise and anal. which is good in the long run but a little STRESSFUL sometimes!!! oh well at least i'm learning properly.

so we're into the third week now and doing some pretty tricky stuff - lapped zipper, curved zipper (yeah if you want to put your zipper on your hip - like on a skirt), high waist, invisible zipper. so much precision, so little time. and today she told us she doesn't want us to rush stuff, because "if you rush, even if you're a professional, you won't be able to do a good job." so true, so true. and yet life looms with its deadlines. i guess i just have to be really careful to block enough time every week to do my homework.

this past weekend i couldn't do the samples on my own so i blew off trying and went for brunch with Joanna Maracle (now you're really famous, Jo). then we went to Steve's and caressed the guitars (well, I did) and i bought a capo. totally worth it but i'd better start asking questions in class or i will never be able to sleep again if i get behind in this course. and my teacher thinks it's a good pace. HA! HA!

Aishwarya Rai wore this incredible saree on Oprah when she appeared with her hubby. wonder who the designer is. if anyone knows, tell me.

back to school :)

So I went for my first Level 1 Garment Construction class last night (the one I documented in the summer was Introductory). It turned out to be the same teacher from my first class, which was great. There were also a bunch of students from that class as well, but not everyone, and she congratulated us on making it to the next level as not everyone did. I felt quite proud of myself. And now I'm not intimidated by the machines anymore! Which is major, because that's half the battle. Industrial machines are beasts. Let's not even talk about industrial sergers.



So glad I stuck it out - feels good to be moving up and on with this. And the new season of Project Runway just started too - what a coincidence! Well, not really. It's almost fall. But I like how everything's lining up. September issue of Vogue, the movie "The September Issue" coming out now, Project Runway, my class.everything starting.yeah I see the connections I want to see. It's meant to be, in my mind. And that's where it counts!



I had a Sunny sighting in the summer - he was in the neighbourhood for Pride. What? You don't know Sunny Fong, winner of Project Runway Canada??? He's a god. I was rooting for him to win, because he's brilliant, and then he did, and it felt like there was a little justice and harmony in the world.



Michael Kors (judge on Project Runway and if you don't know what else he does I don't want to talk to you) said that the show would let people see how insane fashion people are. I was like, huh? Am I insane, because I don't find anything about the show to be insane. At all.



There's a lady in my class who has designated herself as The Character. She jabbers a lot, at random moments. I saw her get into a verbal catfight with another student last semester, over 'her seat' in the sewing lab. But she pales in comparison to the guy who used to wear shiny spandex leggings.



Ah, fashion people.