I started my first sewing class!

So Project Runway. Tchad LLC workroom.

Back in high school I took a couple sewing classes (Fashion I and Fashion II) which consisted of learning to sew boxer shorts (easy), a skirt (moderately easy) and a collared button-down shirt (SO FRUSTRATINGLY DIFFICULT). Don’t get me started on the sleeves. We also got to make an item of our choice, so after the shirt debacle I chose the simplest item of clothing ever known to man: the tube top. In college, I conned my mom into buying me a craptastic plastic sewing contraption so that I could make myself more tube tops, but that thing broke pretty much instantaneously. Which is too bad because I really could have used a tube top for every day of the week.

I’ve always wished I had kept up sewing and had a machine to use at home for simple things and to have as a creative outlet. And more than that, I’m really interested in learning how things are constructed and the mechanics behind the design. And…maybe I want to make more tube tops.

So I signed up for a class that’s pretty intense: three hours long, once a week for 10 weeks. It’s a small group class but everyone works on different projects at different levels and receives individual instruction from the teacher, so it’s really more like a private lesson.

I had my first class and…IT WAS AWESOME. The things I learned in high school are coming back to me (those little triangle markings, basting the darts) and the first three hours flew by.

Here’s what I’m making:

I picked out two patterns. I wanted to start off with something simple so that I didn’t completely frustrate and overwhelm myself. My first choice was to make a pencil skirt and my teacher specifically recommended this pattern. I also found this simple colorblock dress that I thought could be really fun with the right fabric color choices. I got to my first class and my instructor said I should make both!

Progress has begun. Perhaps you’ll see me modeling them soon!