Ted Talk Evaluation

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO relieved to be done with my presentation. Even though I had been preparing it for a long time and knew deep down that I was ready for it, I was still extremely nervous. I was terrified of getting up on that stage from the moment I laid eyes on it on the first day, until I finished answering my last question and walked off, and I think a lot of my friends can vouch for that.

I am extremely proud of what I accomplished throughout these past 7 weeks but I don't think I can bring myself to giving myself a 30/30, not because I don't want to sound cocky or anything but even if I did my best today there's always room for improvement.

I always try to keep from reading off my note cards when presenting and that's definitely something I have been trying to improve since the first presentation last year. I would love to say that I fixed that today but I still think I need some improvement.

As much as I don't want to actually grade myself on this presentation, I would give myself a 26 or 27 out of 30. I felt like I actually gave the audience something to think about and I felt that I made the message behind my presentation very prominent. One thing I thought I could have done better after seeing everyone else's presentation was I probably could have talked about my process a little more. I know that the main idea of the TED Talk wasn't about the process itself, but if I could do it over I would probably have talked about the steps I personally took in order to overcome the obstacles I faced.

I throughly enjoyed this project and even though most of the projects we get in gifted are pretty open-ended I feel like this was the one that we had the most freedom with and it is probably my second favorite project that we've done in gifted so far (first being the invention project last year(: )

Even though I didn't LOVE presenting in the audio, I happy I did, because last year I never would have thought that I could get up in front of everyone and do that which makes me really happy.

Overall, I'm very happy with how this project went and even though I'm excited that the presentation is done with, I will definitely miss the rest of this project.

Thank you(:

March 29, 2013

So if you've been reading my blog you're probably aware that I've been making a skirt for the past few weeks and I am excited to say... IT'S DONE! Yaaaaaaaay. So i figured out that I somehow sewed pockets in it without realizing.... All I did was cut out the pieces that the directions told me to and then sewed the seams that it said, not actually knowing what I was sewing at the time.

Now with just a few days left I am ready to start sewing my shirt for the presentation. I have been researching a ton about how to make patterns from scratch so they fit and look good and such so I'm pretty confident that I can finish it quickly.

I loved using the patterns to make the other products but a big reason I did this project was to save money making my own clothes. Well when using the $10 (sometimes $15) patterns, I'm not actually saving money. I also believe that by not using the patterns I am able to make it more "my style" and do really whatever I want and make it however I want it to be.

Once I finish the tank top using my homemade pattern I will be finished my product and will be set to present!

Can't wait!!

March 26, 2013

Well this week hasn't really been the best progress-wise. I have been in Jamaica since Saturday and trust me I'm not complaining about that at all, but I've had no way to finish my final product since I had to leave all my sewing stuff at home. It's also been extremely hard to research anything because the internet connection is SOOO TERRIBLE. It took about 10 minutes just for this to load and I'm sure it will take another hour just for this blog to post. Anyway, there isn't really much to report for this week but in a few days when I come back it will really be time for me to get everything together and finish my final product! Excited to see how it turns out! Wish me luck(:

Blogs of the Week

http://benowitzianblog.blogspot.com/
http://brofesttrickshots.blogspot.com/
http://the-bluegrass.blogspot.com/

March 19, 2013

This week wasn't terrible! I didn't make as much progress as I wanted to but there weren't really any prominent failures, which surprised me a lot. I'm still in the midst of making a skirt. Hopefully if it goes well, I will end up wearing it for the presentation!

I bought a pattern to make the skirt (shown in the video at the bottom) and it is very helpful but also very confusing. I've had to use this sewing glossary >>> http://www.bhg.com/crafts/sewing/basics/sewing-glossary/ in order to understand most of what it is saying.

I probably should have expected this, but sewing actual wearable clothes is really hard. After sewing pillows and other easy things I thought "psh, I got this." and then I tried to make pajama pants. Thankfully I was able to find a 3-part youtube video with step-by-step instructions on how to use the pattern I got for it. {http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=984XMmBAhoE}

When I began making the skirt, I attempted to do it without using any outside help, since I wanted to get good at using and understanding the patterns. I eventually gave up. I searched and searched for a youtube video to help me with the specific pattern and I couldn't find one for the life of me. So now I am forced to do it without any help.

Instead of using sources that directly relate to the pattern I am using, I have found other, more general sources that so far have been relatively helpful. I think it's better that I don't have any videos to help me because this is the only way that I will truly get better, even if it takes 14 billion tries.

VIDEO TEST

Favorite Blogs of the Week

http://jennamakesfood.blogspot.com/
http://streetdancein7weeks.blogspot.com/
http://samkesgeniusproject.blogspot.com

March 11, 2013

This week probably didn't go as well as it could have. Actually that's an understatement, the week sucked. As much as i would love to say that I got a ton of work done and I'm improving a lot, I can't. I did finish my pajama pants which I was extremely excited about (they are purple and fuzzy), but they were definitely harder than I thought they would be. I ended up finishing them but after they went through the ash the hem and elastic ripped in like four places.

I also broke my sewing machine. Again. Yes, this was the second time in two weeks. For clothes you are supposed to do a zig-zag stitch for the bottom of the pant leg. Here is a visual of what the different stitches look like.

Usually I use a straight stitch, which is the second one in. That one just goes in One Direction (..... sorry I had to), but tried to be all fancy and do a zig-zag stitch, which is the third one in, because thats what professionals use and it looks polished and such. It didn't work. Apparently you need some special presser foot (pictured below) and clearly i didn't know that at the time.

This is a presser foot

In the end, the needle ended up hitting the presser foot, and literally snapped in half. After that I was left with two halves of a needle, a presser foot with a large dent in it, and an unfinished pair of pants. Eventually I went back to Joann Fabric (which I'm now regular at) and bought 5 new needles... just in case.

Once I put the new needle in, which was surprisingly easy, it was all smooth sailing from there... of course then I managed to break it again. At this point I figured out it wasn't the machine that was the problem...

If you've been following my blog you'll know that last week a ran out of thread on the bottom. This is when all hell broke loose. Of course Caroline's mom was there to save the day. Well the same thing happened again. I attempted to rewind it and was actually successful. Then came the difficult part. I tried to put the thread back in the sewing machine and it wouldn't work. again. I'm sure all of you assumed I am a pretty patient person (picture that sentence in sarcastic font) but after about 5 minutes I gave up and angrily stomped away for about the forty-eighth time since I've started sewing. But luckily I came home from school to a fixed sewing machine! It was a miracle yaaaaaaaaay (I'm pretty sure caroline's mom came over and fixed it when I was gone so.... shoutout to Sandy yet again! I have a feeling there will be a shoutout to Sandy every week until I actually figure out how to use this without breaking every other day.)

This week I'm attempting to make a skirt and if it turns out nice then maybe I will be able to use that as part of my final product! Cross your fingers I actually have a completely working sewing machine by the end of the week, though..


Resources for the Week:
- http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/reading-a-sewing-pattern.html
- http://www.ehow.com/how_2042207_make-own-sewing-patterns.html
-

Jenny's Favorite Blogs

Follow 'em yo.
http://pressforpaint.blogspot.com/
http://carolinelearns2sign.blogspot.com/
http://heylookiwroteabook.blogspot.com/

March 1, 2013

This week has been both awesome for my project, and completely and utterly terrible.

• What I liked:
• I made a lot of cool stuff
• 3 pillows with zippers
• A tote bag
• A sweater for my dog
• A sweater for Andrew's cat
• I've made friends with the worker-ladies at Joann Fabric
• I have something to do when I get bored
• I am getting better!
• In the next few weeks I will probably start making CLOTHES! Wooooo

• What I did not like
• My sewing machine broke on Tuesday
• I couldn't work on anything from Tuesday to Thursday
• I have many battle wounds from my attempts at fixing the machine
• fixing it was possibly the most frustrating thing I've ever had to deal with

I feel like I've made a lot of progress this week and even though I don't really have any talent when it comes to anything artistic, I have actually made it at least look like I know what I'm doing.

Although a majority of this week was a success, I also had a big obstacle. On Tuesday I ran out of thread on my bobbin (the thread thing on the bottom). I attempted to take it out to add more thread and about 16 different pieces fell out of the sewing machine. Of course. After about an hour or so of trying to fit the pieces back together, I was at the point where I was ripping things in half out of anger, slamming things down on the table out of frustration, and accidentally stabbing myself in the finger with screwdrivers. But thank goodness Caroline's mom was there to save the day. She came over and fixed it like 2 minutes flat, and although I felt like a complete moron, it saved a lot of time and REALLY helped. So shoutout to Sandy!

I've learned a lot of basic sewing things this week like sewing hems, putting in zippers, sewing on straps, sizing, and much more. To do this I've been watching a ton of Youtube videos and found a great website to learn the basics and progress with more difficult projects. If you are ever looking to start sewing definitely check this out >>> http://www.marthastewart.com/275336/sewing-basics/@center/326405/sewing-projects

This week I am going to attempt to make pajama pants, which is probably going to very difficult, but I'm excited to see how they turn out! Wish me luck!

February 21, 2013

For my genius project, I've decided to do a mix of fashion design and sewing. I really like this project because no matter how many times I've tried to pursue clothes designing, I have failed. This is probably because I have a broken sewing machine and a lack of talent.

I'm excited to get started on this because if I actually do end up improving, then hopefully by the end I will have some new clothes without having to spend as much money. My grandma was the inspiration for this interest in fashion. I used to sit down with her and watch her sew and I was always very interested but I was always too young or talentless to do it myself.

I will probably start off by doing simple things like sewing straight lines or making a pillow and as each week goes by I'll attempt to create more difficult things. Hopefully by the 4th week or so I will start to make my final product, making a shirt the first week, then a skirt, and so on. I'm a little nervous that this isn't going to work out since I have almost no experience with sewing and my goal is to make a wearable outfit.......... I have pretty high expectations for myself and I know from past experience that I don't have a lot of talent when it comes to artistic things, but I'm hoping everything works out!

As of right now I've just been doing research, hoping to find some good websites or books for tutorials. I've found a few cool websites for outfit patterns, but I think I'm getting a little ahead of myself. I should probably learn how to actually use my sewing machine before planning to make these elaborate outfits.

I'm hoping to learn different aspects of sewing each week. For example, the first week I could focus on the basics of the sewing machine, such as different stitches that can be used. The next week I might focus more on learning how to sew the hem on things, and so on.

Hopefully within the next few days I will get all my materials together and finally start learning! yay