Oh, was her feeling now that obvious? The fourth year nodded. ”I’m fine, Professor. But thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” That was nice of Professor Stewart. Maybe if she wasn’t a professor when her dad was there. She really didn’t need her issues or whatever they were to get back to her dad. Really she was fine though. As soon as she out of this lesson.

She was all slumped in her chair when out of the corner of her eye she seen someone sit down beside her…. She sat up and straightened out her clothes. The pretty Miss Olivia was sitting next to…. her. There was probably lots of excited blinking happening. The Ravenclaw smiled at the older girl. Role? Did Juni make the play without even auditioning? Wow. Maybe she meant role on the Quidditch team? Either way. ”Thanks. Congrats on the role in the play and making your quidditch team.” She had checked all the rosters and the play cast just because she was nosey like that. She nodded, nicely to her.

This made her feel a little bit better having Olivia sitting with her. Sometimes she could just enjoy being in the company of older students. She appreciated them, more then some her own age.

So they would have to set up their own machines. She might me able to do this after all. So first of all they needed a flat surface, that was done and then the batteries. She knew how to put those in without watching. She grabbed them and put them in. Now she had to connect the pedal to the machine itself. Looking for the right jack for that cord, she pushed it in.

Next she picked up a spool of thread, and sat it on the spindale, pulled the thread into one of the loopholes. Then though the bobbin. There just like that.

As instructed she held the end of the thread coming from the bobbin in one hand. Just like professor stewart had showed them. The fourth year flipped on the power switch. Still she had the thread in her hand. With her foot she tapped the pedal. Yep she totally had this. Or she thought she did anyway.

Between them, that was six points. One more than Night had lost in the Divination lesson a few days ago. That felt good.



Blankets sounded good. "Or pillowcases," Night added to Emmalyn's musings. She was finished as well with the set-up, and she was ready to begin the activity. "Something comfortable."

New instructions. Okay, he's got this, he can do it.

Since he hadn't known what to do with the thread that he'd pulled through the top hoop, Daehyun had been holding onto it ever since, so finally he could move on with the setup of this weird muggle thing. He'd never appreciated magic more than in that moment right there.

Still holding the thread, he searched for the purple button, which he'd eventually located, and he supposed the machine was now turned on. Oddly fascinating, how those batteries gave it life. As he pressed the pedal, he watched the bobbin thread itself a bit, before releasing the pedal, and it stopped. One more short press, it threaded a bit more. How awesome was that? Finally pressing the pedal longer, he allowed more thread to bundle up until he was satisfied with the amount, and then raised his hand. "Can we add more thread later if now's not enough?" Because it would be a pity to waste more thread than needed just to stay on the safe side if the answer was no.

Shera was grateful to both Professor Stewart and to Night for helping her out with the thread. Having seen it done thrice now she felt sure that maybe, just maybe she'd be able to do it herself. It didn't stop her from feeling nervous as she tugged the thread out to redo it.

She beamed as she successfully got the thread through her bobbin though. Her eyes caught sight of Daehyun as he asked a question, which was a good question, but she was too distracted by beaming at him in her excitement at success!

HOW EXCITING WAS THIS?

IT WAS A WHOLE NEW WORLD TO EXPLORE!

Purple button?

It took her a moment to realise that there were new instructions. So she pressed that one, wondering if she had successfully turned it on. Shera supposed that it was the next step would give her the answer to that question.

She slowly brought her food to the pedal, watching the bobbin thread itself in awe. She'd gotten caught up in watching it move and eventually realised that maybe in her distraction and excitement she'd overdone it... Daehyun had asked whether they could add more thread... she was going the opposite way. "Is it possible to thread too much?"

The Professors instructions and kindhearted attitude towards Garreth's inability to figure out how run the thread through all the steps were very reassuring, and with her help and her second step by step runthrough, he'd managed to get something resembling a correctly set up machine. "Thank you, Professor." he bowed his head as she explained, very appreciative of her help.

But now it was time to move on! Oh boy, more thread pulling, and again, it sounded very complicated for what it was, but this time Garreth managed to actually follow along. He half expected the machine to make some kind of scary loud noise when he switched it on, but was relieved to find that it didn't. He pressed his foot down on the pedal and jumped as the machine harshly yanked the thread from his hand. Whoops! He found the end of the thread again and this time, very gently pushed his foot down on the pedal. Woohoo! It was working!

Bel was gaping around at the people who were managing things in a snap. She was glad that she wasn't the only one completely lost. The problem was she didn't know what the words were -bobbins and spools and spindles and all of that.

The demonstration came again and Bel desperately tried to follow along, hoping the professor didn't think her too pathetic. So..... was that thingo the spool? Pointing them out would have helped immensely in even knowing where to begin!

Spindle? Uhhh.... Bel looked the machine over, shooting little glances up at the professor's repeated demonstration. That? That there? She stuck the thread on the stick thingo, expression hopeful.

Top... holes in the.... bobbin. Bobbin.

Bobbin. Bobbin. Bobbin.

Bobbin?

Was that little round thing the bobbin? Hoping for the best, Bel closed one eye, her tongue poking out at the same time as she tried to thread the end of the....well, the thread, through the tiny hole thing on the bobbin thing. End of the thread... top of the bobbin (if it was the bobbin).

(hopefully it was the bobbin).

(it at least looked like it was the thing that the professor was doing, which Bel assumed was the bobbin).

Bobbin goes..... on the winder. Okay. What was the.... next to the thing that might (or might not) have been the spindle. Bel stuck it on there and then anxiously looked around to compare her sewing machine with those nearby.




Okay thread in the top of the (possible) bobbin. She grabbed hold of it with one hand and then watched the professor closely.

....

...... okay power switch with the obvious on and off gets explained but bobbin, spindle, and spool don't? Bel flicked the switch without any problem because it was obviousssssss but then.... nothing happened.

Oh wait, what was this about a foot pedal? Oh right the thing that she had plugged into the thing that was apparently called a jack. And... okay so if she pressed the foot pedal (plugged into the jack) it would spin the thread (on its spool, on the spindle) onto the bobbin?

She stomped on the foot pedal like it was one on one of her motorbikes and the machine sprung into battery powered life. HOW MUCH THREAD WAS SATISFACTORY?

Bel's bobbin kept spinning and spinning.....

.... and she stared at it in something akin to horror.

Holding the thread that was coming out of the top of the bobbin, Maxton powered up the sewing machine at the switch. So according to Professor Stewart's instructions, all he had to do now was press the foot pedal while still holding on to the thread?

It sounded pretty straightforward. In theory.

Clearly, he wasn't the only one confused by the whole sewing machine malarky and Maxton stared wide-eyed as a Hufflepuff girl close by apparently lost control of her machine. Why was it spinning like that?? Was it supposed to spin that much!?

He'd been looking forward to having a go on the foot pedal but now he definitely didn't want to touch it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

So then....not just imagining things....they were actually probably stuck with this topic for the year? "That's unfortunate." She muttered back, finding her will to continue attending wane by the second. It wasn't likely that most things in Muggle Studies would gain her attention but there were a few things that definitely didn't, creating clothes or whatever else happened to be one of them.

Jessa sat, thumbing idly at the thread while she waited for the next set of instructions, her mind coming back to the present only at the sound of Nat's voice breaking the silence. "Hmm?" How did she do what....? "Oh! This?" The Ravenclaw gave a small shrug before leaning over to point at Nat's machine and explaining. While she spoke, she kept pointing back to her own machine as a point of cross referencing to make certain aspects come across a little more easily. "Muggle grandmother." She explained as an afterthought, as if she needed justification for this type of knowledge.

The Ravenclaw straightened in her seat again.....mostly.....listening to the next set of instructions. This weren't exactly rocket science....or maybe it should have been and she'd simply been over exposed.

Reaching out, Jessa used one hand to hold the end of the thread--the one that was coming from the bobbin. That done, the other reached across to flip the power switch from its off position to the on one. Nothing difficult there either. Her right leg she pressed against the foot pedal, being sure not to release the thread. Seconds letter the threading had begun. The girl may have stopped once she was sure it was working and had been done right but the Professor's advice to get a good bit on there kept her foot in place.

How much was enough?

It would help if they knew what they were making. This could already have been too much. On the other hand, it may still not have been enough.

Since Jessa was helping her, Natalie followed her example and her pointing and put things together as she did so. "Oooohh," she replied to the muggle grandmother thing. "That makes sense." Her own grandmother was a witch and was very good at making clothes and things magically.

Natalie completed the steps thanks to Jessa and looked up just in time for the professor to continue with the instructions. She grabbed the thread, as she demonstrated, and then turned the power switch on... That was easy enough. Looking under her desk, Natalie put her foot on the pedal, err.. a little too hard and let out a squeak of surprise as the machine started rapidly spitting out thread. Quickly, she moved her foot off the pedal and looked at Jessa to see how she was doing.

Then she gently put her foot on the pedal and watched it release some more thread more slowly. However, she had no idea how much to produce because she had no idea what they were going to make so... she just kept going.

While she was waiting for the go ahead to move along, Emmalyn heard a stomp and a lot of whirring of a bobbin going out of control. She got up and headed towards her housemate. "Oh, take your foot off the pedal. That will stop the spinning." She smiled and offered her the suggestion. "Would you like some help getting it going, a bit slower this time?" She didn't want to overstep, but Bel looked like she could use a bit of help. Plus, it was nice to finally feel useful after all autumn of feeling out of place.

"You don't want to over fill the bobbin or it will get stuck. Then, you would have a mess of knotted thread while trying to sew." Emmalyn suddenly had the realization that the entire class would soon be ready to actually run the machines. With real needles. She wondered how many would accidentally get their fingers caught under the needle. She had done that once when she was just learning. It didn't feel good at all.

SPOILER!!: Professor Stewart, part I

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

SPOILER!!: Individual Greetings! ^_^

Was it just her or was Olivia seemingly getting a tad emotional about the sewing machines. Kay reckoned they were the cause for a flashback. “Hello, Ms Phillips. Are you alright?’’

* * * * * * *


And with the last of the stragglers in the classroom, Kay promptly shut the door. It was time to begin and being on time was something she always took pride in. “Welcome to another lesson, everyone! I trust that you all have had a great morning thus far and are ready to learn all about sewing machines and fashion in the muggle world.’’ Here, she paused briefly to survey the room. “This lesson will lead up to a very interesting project but you’ll have to wait until the end of the lesson to hear more about that.’’ There was an impish grin on her face. There was nothing like suspense to keep the kiddos interested.

“The first thing I will like to cover before we get started is to give you a few fun facts about the sewing machines. For those of you not familiar with what that is, it is that white and purple apparatus you on your tables.’’ Never fear though! She wasn’t about to spew out a whole lot of facts, just the important ones. Kay moved to the trusty whiteboard.

“It was a cabinetmaker by the name of Thomas Saint of England that secured the first patent for a sewing machine in 1790,’’ she told the class while making a note of it. “But it was Singer and Elias Howe that gave us our first modern machine. The latter’s machine allowed persons to cover about 14 hours of work in approximately one hour. It wasn’t until 1899 that the electric sewing machines were invented.

“Today, I will be guiding you through the process of setting up your machines. Everything that you will need are there. Now, the first step is already covered which is situating your machine on a flat surface. The next step is inserting the batteries.’’ During this time, Kay had moved to her desk. There was a machine there as well where she would be demonstrating. “The batteries look like this.’’ Hers was held up. “Please note that electricity can also be used.

“Next, connect the foot pedal to your machine by inserting the end of the pedal into the designated jack on the sewing machine. If you look closely, there are two jacks. The uppermost one is where the foot pedal connects. The lower one for when electricity is used.’’ The professor demonstrated then waited for everyone else to catch up. “Is everyone following so far? If you have questions or are unclear about the instructions, you may raise your hand when needed.

“Moving on. Place a spool of thread onto the thread spindle which is located on the side of the machine. Then grab the end of the thread and insert it through one of the top holes in the bobbin spool. The end of the thread should now be coming out of the top of the bobbin. Place the bobbin onto the bobbin winder. It should be located near the thread holder that is holding your spool of thread.’’

Kay paused, waiting for any questions and for the kiddos to finish.

"Oh, Professor Stewart.... I'm wonderful, thank you for asking." This wasn't a lie or an answer to placate her professor. Liv truly felt the best she has in a while. Just.....nostalgic, perhaps? Ah, that would probably be better received than a straightforward deflection, actually. "Sewing makes me nostalgic for my younger years, is all." With a warm smile, she followed her peers in beginning to put together their sewing machines, which Olivia was already professional status at because.... Well, again, this was what she used to do as a naive First and Second Year. Before the snogging had started and taken over her life, to be quite honest. What was worse was that she had an addictive personality. So, when she really liked something, she'd find herself almost obsessed. A very all-or-nothing attitude from the blonde Gryffindor, but it was just how she was.

WHICH...was how she remembered how to do this sewing business so well. she'd been utterly obsessed with making those Disney princess costumes. As well as all the different makeup tricks... Hm, actually, she had to wonder if that's why they were doing this now. To help with the play since so many of her classmates were joining the acting trope of Hogwarts. Had someone asked Professor Stewart, because she'd missed it.... Hm. Well, anyway.

She had to stop going off on her mental tangents. Juniper had spoken to her, for Merlin's sake. "Oh, thank you so much." Liv shared a bit of a conspiratorial smile with her seat mate. "How are you feeling about your quidditch position?" It was okay to talk and work, yes?....because they were invalids and multitasking wasn't that difficult. "You got Beater, right?" It wasn't a guess...since she'd been more than nosy when she'd first checked out the noticeboard. In fact, she'd checked all the other house before even reading her own. Too nosy to exist, this one was.

Hm, flat surface... Their desk would have to suffice since there were no other options, really. It was flat enough to work on, and Olivia had before, with little issue. So, centering it before her on the desk, she popped the batteries in before finding the pedal. YES, these were her favorite kinds of sewing machines. She'd always felt especially spinster when working one. To be honest, it was great acting prep, too. Taking on a persona with every activity one throws themselves headfirst into. Olivia Lynn Phillips was the absolute master when it came to all that...... and she wasn't too proud to admit she'd learned it from Rooney.

.... Moving on.

Instead the foot pedal end into the top-most slot, she fumbled around with the cord to get it on the floor. This would be kinda tricky considering she was so leggy. Hm. Thread next....and the bobbin, which had always been the most challenging part of her, with her fingers being longish. Alas, to thread...thread, she needed a spool of the stuff. Popping over to get one, she jogged back, slipping it easily onto her machine's spindle. Also, it was worth noting she'd almost accio'd one, but this was MUGGLE studies, and Professor Stewart would've had her behind. The Quick Quotes incident hadn't been forgotten...

SPOILER!!: Professor Stewart, part II

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

The fact that quite a bit of the students were unable to follow all of the instructions did not discourage Kay quite the least. It just made her more determined that they learn it all. “I’ll go over the instructions once more for all of you,’’ she told them.

Back at her desk, she cleared her throat. “I’m pleased to see that some of you have managed to complete the instructions and for those of you who could not, don’t worry about it. I’ll go over the steps for you. If you’re still unclear, I’ll help you personally or you can ask your peers. Now, make sure to pay keen attention.’’

Quickly she undid all that she had done on her own machine. “Like before, I’ll do this in steps. Meaning, I’ll complete a step then give you a minute or two to complete the said step before I move on to the next one.’’ She would have given them some more time but they were working with a time constraint here. She had to get the lesson completed by the end of the allotted period.

Making sure to point out what each part of the machine was as they went along, Kay began. “Insert your batteries. This is what they look like.’’ The batteries were held up before she appropriately installed it after which she waited two minutes before proceeding. “Connect the foot pedal to your machine by inserting the end of the pedal into the designated jack on the sewing machine which is the uppermost one.’’ Pause.

“Finally, place a spool of thread onto the thread spindle which is located on the side of the machine. Then take the end of the thread and insert it through one of the top holes in the bobbin spool. The end of the thread should now be coming out of the top of the bobbin. Place the bobbin onto the bobbin winder. It should be located near the thread holder that is holding your spool of thread.’’ Kay made sure she delved into this part at a slower pace, taking great care to give the visual.

“Go on. You may give it another try.’’

Olivia thought it was wonderful that Professor Stewart was being so patient with them. Sewing was actually kinda hard, if you didn't know what you were doing. So, Liv kept her eyes alert for anyone that might need her help.... if they wanted it?

At any case, it was simple once you got used to the pressure needed for the pedal and the more subtle guidance of whatever fabric you'd be sewing. In fact, she'd waited to pull a bit more thread off the spool, meaning to use the excess to help her artfully guild it into the bobbin. Tried and true, since as she'd mentioned, her fingers were longer. Kinda like claws, if she were to liken them to something...

SPOILER!!: This Puffer cutie!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

She stomped on the foot pedal like it was one on one of her motorbikes and the machine sprung into battery powered life. HOW MUCH THREAD WAS SATISFACTORY?

Bel's bobbin kept spinning and spinning.....

.... and she stared at it in something akin to horror.

The only reason this had caught her eye, was because the small Hufflepuff was sorta viciously pounding her foot down on the pedal... As if this was motocross. Olivia and Juniper had been sitting close by, you see. Stuck between wanting to stick by Juniper and make sure she had everything she needed and helping...Bel (she'd heard the name before), Liv eventually decided to move her butt and help the girl. It would only take a minute, anyway.

Another Hufflepuff was already coming to the rescue, but.... Liv still wanted to check in with her. "Hey, ladies." She greeted them both, but Bel was the focus, obviously. "It'll be frustrating not to go full force." This was coming from a Gryffindor, who knew a thing of two about that.... "Try thinking about riding an actual muggle bike, with pedals. You have to start off slowly to build up momentum. Eventually, you'll be putting the thread into fabric, so it'll have a place to go while you work the pedal. Depending on how good you are at maneuvering the fabric, you'll be able to go a bit faster, but it requires some leading up to, you know?" She smiled at them both.

They were making clothes? Well if it wasn't for the fact that it was the muggle way Zita would have been excited, though she couldn't help but be a little excited. It was fashion and it seemed these women professors were all about fashion this year. Giving her a smile she turned and did the first steps. Putting the battery in and hooking the foot pedal on. Then grabbed the spool and started threading the spindle. As she finished up the rest of the steps she looked back at the professor when she was talking and moving on.

Turning back to her machine she reached up and turned it on, watching it start to move she held onto the bobbin and watch it start moving and threading once her foot pushed down on the pedal. As the machine moved she smiled hoping she was threading it correctly.

Harriet was pretty happy with her progress. She didn't use a sewing machine, but she knew her way around one. Her one was similar to this, and she did it by hand at the moment. Though, she would totally be able to do it using magic soon since she was nearly 17. She knew that would be easier. The blonde glanced around, wondering if she should help any other students. She knew it would be good, but she also didn't want to confuse them. She kind of had her own way of working, about how she got around doing things. And she didn't really want to end up confusing someone. So the hufflepuff just patiently awaited the next set of instructions. She spent this time, making some notes on her parchment. She wanted to make sure she had a good set of notes.

Ooh. And now they had more instructions. Yay. She carefully held onto the end of the thread that was coming out of the end of the bobbin, and pressed the power button, so that her sewing machine came on. Great! With the machine now on, she carefully put her foot onto the pedal, and began to press it down. And, as if by magic (aha) the bobbin began to thread itself from the spindle. She was careful as she did this, wanting to make sure that it was all correct. Watching, to make sure it was working, she kept going, getting a good amount of thread onto the bobbin. She wanted to make sure there was enough, so that she wouldn't run out later on in the class. That would be terrible!

SPOILER!!: Max! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waterloo

Max was incredibly grateful that Professor Stewart was patient and understanding and NOT like scary Professor Noble. He mumbled a quick, quiet thanks when she helped put his bobbin in the right position.

His cheeks continued to flush pink as he watched intently at her next demonstration. He was going to get this part right without needing to ask for help.

The next part looked even MORE confusing though and the fourth year felt anxiety bubble inside him. Merlin.

Concentrate, Carden!

“Quite welcome,’’ the professor said warmly. “Just get your focus on fully and you’ll get through this.’’

SPOILER!!: Kye! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dokimoto

“Sorry, Professor,” Kye mumbled sheepishly, finishing up with her quill and putting it away. She sanitized her hands and got her parchment ready (and a PEN because this was Muggle Studies). Kye wrote quick notes as the professor explained about the people associated with this contraption. When the demonstration began, Kye tried to get a better look. She definitely didn’t quite understand the whole bat thing. They definitely weren’t bats. She raised an eyebrow when looking into her own battery compartment, not realizing that they needed to go in a certain way. Lost to this fact, she continued.

Okay… insert the cord toooooooooooo here? No. Wait, which one again? Oh, wait. Haaa just kidding, it was the top one, she was paying attention. Okay, the end… right? Kye could appreciate how much Muggles had to deal with, what with not having an easy way to do anything, but she would rather hear about or watch or take notes… *le sigh*

Oh wow, there was still a lot more to this. Spool… spool… ah, yes, this guy. So many small and sharp things! Kye looked up to watch each part of the demonstration, as it was getting quite precise. Urgh. One eye closed, Kye did her best to concentrate on getting the thread through… wait, one of the top spools? Well, which one?! This was quite a frustrating amount to put on them this early in the morning. Professor Stewart might as well have been speaking in tongues.

AGES LATER… Kye felt like she had everything in place, she raised her hand. “Professor? Can you please make sure this is correct before I go any further?” She didn’t need to blow something up.

Once she was finished assisting another student, Kay made her way over to Kye. “Let’s see…’’ she murmured as bright blue eyes keenly looked over the Slytherin’s machine. Everything seemed to be connected correctly “Excellent job, Ms Atwater. It’s all done properly.’’

SPOILER!!: Juni! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarcasticStrawberry

Oh, was her feeling now that obvious? The fourth year nodded. ”I’m fine, Professor. But thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.” That was nice of Professor Stewart. Maybe if she wasn’t a professor when her dad was there. She really didn’t need her issues or whatever they were to get back to her dad. Really she was fine though. As soon as she out of this lesson.

She was all slumped in her chair when out of the corner of her eye she seen someone sit down beside her…. She sat up and straightened out her clothes. The pretty Miss Olivia was sitting next to…. her. There was probably lots of excited blinking happening. The Ravenclaw smiled at the older girl. Role? Did Juni make the play without even auditioning? Wow. Maybe she meant role on the Quidditch team? Either way. ”Thanks. Congrats on the role in the play and making your quidditch team.” She had checked all the rosters and the play cast just because she was nosey like that. She nodded, nicely to her.

This made her feel a little bit better having Olivia sitting with her. Sometimes she could just enjoy being in the company of older students. She appreciated them, more then some her own age.

So they would have to set up their own machines. She might me able to do this after all. So first of all they needed a flat surface, that was done and then the batteries. She knew how to put those in without watching. She grabbed them and put them in. Now she had to connect the pedal to the machine itself. Looking for the right jack for that cord, she pushed it in.

Next she picked up a spool of thread, and sat it on the spindale, pulled the thread into one of the loopholes. Then though the bobbin. There just like that.

As instructed she held the end of the thread coming from the bobbin in one hand. Just like professor stewart had showed them. The fourth year flipped on the power switch. Still she had the thread in her hand. With her foot she tapped the pedal. Yep she totally had this. Or she thought she did anyway.

Kay nodded. She wouldn’t hound Juni or anything of the sort. But she would, however, keep an eye on her.

SPOILER!!: Daehyun! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by debpetrisor

New instructions. Okay, he's got this, he can do it.

Since he hadn't known what to do with the thread that he'd pulled through the top hoop, Daehyun had been holding onto it ever since, so finally he could move on with the setup of this weird muggle thing. He'd never appreciated magic more than in that moment right there.

Still holding the thread, he searched for the purple button, which he'd eventually located, and he supposed the machine was now turned on. Oddly fascinating, how those batteries gave it life. As he pressed the pedal, he watched the bobbin thread itself a bit, before releasing the pedal, and it stopped. One more short press, it threaded a bit more. How awesome was that? Finally pressing the pedal longer, he allowed more thread to bundle up until he was satisfied with the amount, and then raised his hand. "Can we add more thread later if now's not enough?" Because it would be a pity to waste more thread than needed just to stay on the safe side if the answer was no.

“Definitely. Especially if you feel you have not sewn something good enough and want to start over, you’ll need to reload the bobbin.’’

SPOILER!!: Shera! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pucki

Shera was grateful to both Professor Stewart and to Night for helping her out with the thread. Having seen it done thrice now she felt sure that maybe, just maybe she'd be able to do it herself. It didn't stop her from feeling nervous as she tugged the thread out to redo it.

She beamed as she successfully got the thread through her bobbin though. Her eyes caught sight of Daehyun as he asked a question, which was a good question, but she was too distracted by beaming at him in her excitement at success!

HOW EXCITING WAS THIS?

IT WAS A WHOLE NEW WORLD TO EXPLORE!

Purple button?

It took her a moment to realise that there were new instructions. So she pressed that one, wondering if she had successfully turned it on. Shera supposed that it was the next step would give her the answer to that question.

She slowly brought her food to the pedal, watching the bobbin thread itself in awe. She'd gotten caught up in watching it move and eventually realised that maybe in her distraction and excitement she'd overdone it... Daehyun had asked whether they could add more thread... she was going the opposite way. "Is it possible to thread too much?"

Kay smiled, pleased that so many questions were being asked. “Not at all. But as the bobbin becomes full, you’ll know that you have enough thread.’’

SPOILER!!: Garreth! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Compootor

The Professors instructions and kindhearted attitude towards Garreth's inability to figure out how run the thread through all the steps were very reassuring, and with her help and her second step by step runthrough, he'd managed to get something resembling a correctly set up machine. "Thank you, Professor." he bowed his head as she explained, very appreciative of her help.

But now it was time to move on! Oh boy, more thread pulling, and again, it sounded very complicated for what it was, but this time Garreth managed to actually follow along. He half expected the machine to make some kind of scary loud noise when he switched it on, but was relieved to find that it didn't. He pressed his foot down on the pedal and jumped as the machine harshly yanked the thread from his hand. Whoops! He found the end of the thread again and this time, very gently pushed his foot down on the pedal. Woohoo! It was working!

“You’re more than welcome,’’ Kay said with another encouraging smile at the seventh year.

SPOILER!!: Bel! LOL she’s so precious <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

Bel was gaping around at the people who were managing things in a snap. She was glad that she wasn't the only one completely lost. The problem was she didn't know what the words were -bobbins and spools and spindles and all of that.

The demonstration came again and Bel desperately tried to follow along, hoping the professor didn't think her too pathetic. So..... was that thingo the spool? Pointing them out would have helped immensely in even knowing where to begin!

Spindle? Uhhh.... Bel looked the machine over, shooting little glances up at the professor's repeated demonstration. That? That there? She stuck the thread on the stick thingo, expression hopeful.

Top... holes in the.... bobbin. Bobbin.

Bobbin. Bobbin. Bobbin.

Bobbin?

Was that little round thing the bobbin? Hoping for the best, Bel closed one eye, her tongue poking out at the same time as she tried to thread the end of the....well, the thread, through the tiny hole thing on the bobbin thing. End of the thread... top of the bobbin (if it was the bobbin).

(hopefully it was the bobbin).

(it at least looked like it was the thing that the professor was doing, which Bel assumed was the bobbin).

Bobbin goes..... on the winder. Okay. What was the.... next to the thing that might (or might not) have been the spindle. Bel stuck it on there and then anxiously looked around to compare her sewing machine with those nearby.




Okay thread in the top of the (possible) bobbin. She grabbed hold of it with one hand and then watched the professor closely.

....

...... okay power switch with the obvious on and off gets explained but bobbin, spindle, and spool don't? Bel flicked the switch without any problem because it was obviousssssss but then.... nothing happened.

Oh wait, what was this about a foot pedal? Oh right the thing that she had plugged into the thing that was apparently called a jack. And... okay so if she pressed the foot pedal (plugged into the jack) it would spin the thread (on its spool, on the spindle) onto the bobbin?

She stomped on the foot pedal like it was one on one of her motorbikes and the machine sprung into battery powered life. HOW MUCH THREAD WAS SATISFACTORY?

Bel's bobbin kept spinning and spinning.....

.... and she stared at it in something akin to horror.

The professor was pleased to see that Bel was successful in following the instructions as she knew she would be. But then… Kay’s eyes widened suddenly. All the energetic pressing on the foot pedal that the Hufflepuff was doing would be enough to do that to any professor. Hurriedly but calmly she went closer to Bel’s desk and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Ms Macindoe, that’s enough.’’ Her voice was firm. Now she was peering at the bobbin. “There’s still room for more thread but I would advise you to gently press on the pedal. You may stop when you see that the bobbin has reached its capacity. Try again. Remember, gently.’’

SPOILER!!: Olivia! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

"Oh, Professor Stewart.... I'm wonderful, thank you for asking." This wasn't a lie or an answer to placate her professor. Liv truly felt the best she has in a while. Just.....nostalgic, perhaps? Ah, that would probably be better received than a straightforward deflection, actually. "Sewing makes me nostalgic for my younger years, is all." With a warm smile, she followed her peers in beginning to put together their sewing machines, which Olivia was already professional status at because.... Well, again, this was what she used to do as a naive First and Second Year. Before the snogging had started and taken over her life, to be quite honest. What was worse was that she had an addictive personality. So, when she really liked something, she'd find herself almost obsessed. A very all-or-nothing attitude from the blonde Gryffindor, but it was just how she was.

“You’re welcome. Ah, I see.’’ Kay patted Olivia on the shoulder. “Those are always the bittersweet moments. But here’s to making more memories during your last year.’’

* * * * * * *

Once she was sure everyone had caught up, Kay strode back to the front of her class. “Once you have the string on the bobbin, use the scissors to cut the thread which is connecting the bobbin to the spool of thread and then remove the bobbin from the bobbin winder. The thread that is being referred to is this one.’’ It was pointed out and she show them where to cut. “Removing the bobbin is quite simple, simply slip it out of the holder like so.’’

There was a pause in which she waited for the kiddos to get that covered.

“Insert the threaded bobbin into the bobbin holder of your mini sewing machine. This located near the metal plate that is underneath the needle of your machine. So, I want you all to look for the needle at the front of the machine. Just beneath it you’ll see the plate. To open it, simple slide it outwards.’’ This too was demonstrated. “Place the bobbin into the opening then slip the cover back on.’’ Simple enough, yes? No?

“One of the last aspects is that of completing the threading. Pull the end of the thread that is on the spindle through the slot directly above the metal plate that was just taken out. Then insert the thread through the eye of your needle.’’ Another pause while things got done.

“Finally, press the foot pedal so that the thread on the spindle is intertwined with the thread from the bobbin.’’ Kay did exactly that and viola! All done.

“Before we continue, let’s ensure we’ve followed the instructions to the T. Who’d like my help?’’

With Bel in the more than capable hands of Olivia, Kay was quite sure that the first year would be able to be successful this time around. "Three points to you, Ms Philips.'' Was she proud? Oh yes. She always was when her students were so responsible.

OOC: Hello, again Last bit of instructions here. You’re still allowed to catch up with the previous set. As usual, we’ll be around to help We’ll continue in 24 hours! <3
PS: I see all of your charries

Ohh, they get to move on. Emmalyn wiggled in her chair with delight as she followed along with the professor. They were getting so close to actual sewing and her fingers were itching to get to work. She slipped her threaded bobbin into the lower bobbin holder and slid the plate back on. Then she pulled the thread, put it through the eye of the needle, and gently pressed the foot pedal to complete the process of intertwining the spindle and bobbin thread. She hummed all the while, a cheerful smile on her sweet little face.

Wanting to make double sure that her machine was threaded properly, Emmalyn traced her finger along the thread, eyeing the the little hooks and levers. She could feel the slight hum of the power in the pedal under her foot, just waiting to be released in a creative explosion. She then turned her attention back to the fabric on the table. So much potential. So many projects waiting to be made. She was ready for whatever instructions Professor Stewart threw at her.

Professor Stewart was moving onto the next set of instructions but Max hadn't even used his foot pedal yet. After seeing what happened to the Hufflepuff, he'd been too anxious to. He had however, overheard the Professor's words of advice that gently does it.

He took a breath and lowered his right foot down onto the pedal just a smidge.

The battery powered machine whirred to life and thread spun slowly onto the bobbin. He tried to keep the pressure as steady as he possibly could and felt cramp forming in the sole of his foot. Arghhhh!!

He wasn't sure how much thread was enough for the purpose of the lesson, but Max decided what he had would have to be enough and used the scissors to cut the thread. He then took the bobbin off of the winder just like the Professor had done.

The threaded bobbin had to go in the little compartment near the needle. Right. He slid the metal lid open, inserted the bobbin and then closed the lid back up.

"This is a lot of effort," Max thought out loud, rubbing the back of his neck and taking another deep breath. "Poor muggles."

What was next...?

Ok.

With fingers awkwardly fumbling around the machine in front of her, Shera took her time as they moved on to the next steps. Scissors cut thread, bobbin removed from the bobbin winder, bobbin thread put into the bobbin holder.

How many steps were there in this process? If Shera was being honest she couldn't remember the first steps that she had gone through...

Slip the cover back on, pull the thread out of it and put the thread through the eye of the needle. Shera assumed that was the little hole in the needle. Seemed easy enough. It really wasn't.

What felt like a million attempts later she glared at the thread in front of her as it once again veered off to the side. But she could do this. So she tried again. And again. And again. Thankfully, she'd managed to succeed before needing to ask one of her friends or the professor to help out. It was relief that she could do this seemingly easy step.

Last step, press the foot peddle.

So she was done.... but.... was she sure that she had done everything correctly? She slowly raised her hand waiting for the Professor to pay attention to her and check the machine.

In truth, Night wasn't actually so good at sewing or setting up a sewing machine. She'd seen her cousin do it a few times, but this next step was where it got tricky. She was good enough at following directions, but sometimes she really had to think about her steps, especially when there was a lot of visual/spatial activity involved. She felt sure she could get it, but it would just take a while. Maybe another demonstration.

Being Muggleborn, she felt really awkward asking for help. Would people judge her? Was it just like being a first year wizard from a magical family and struggling with spells, or would there be more of a stereotype and stigma if she, as a muggleborn girl, didn't really know how to set up a sewing machine?



Well, asking Emmalyn was definitely out of the question. Her friend was chugging along without a care in the world, and there would definitely be questioning if Night admitted she didn't know how to do it. Resigned, she raised her hand, hoping that the professor would see her before any of her classmates did.

Welp. They were a hopeless lot, considering the professor had to explain everything a second time, and then her following instructions were stated so carefully and with great emphasis. So at least they were all stupid together. That was something.

Katy nodded politely at the professor and turned her attention back to her sewing machine. She could figure this out. It was in her blood or something, right? She picked up the bobbin, or what she supposed was the bobbin, and plunked it on the bobbin winder. Easy enough. Now the thread required winding, and then the end was strung through the needle...

Or no, she had to advance it with the pedal? Katy pressed it, and nothing happened. Blergh. Checking the cord, she realized she'd plugged it into the jack wrong. Katy replugged it and tried the pedal again. There we go.

Sewing machines and sewing.

Now that was an interesting subject. And a creative one at that. Cassie was curious as to what they would be doing at the end of the lesson though a part of her had a possible idea or two given the subject matter. Surely they would be making something or somethings. The Ravenclaw listened to the brief history of the sewing machine though she wasn’t all that interested in taking too much notes on that information. The process maybe, but it didn’t seem like the past of the sewing machine would play that important of a role in what they would be learning.

Machine on flat surface…check.

As said, Professor Stewart had already had that done. As for the batteries, Cass had experience with that sort of things so it wasn’t a new thing, but being shown the exact type certainly helped. She put them into her machine as directed. That was easy enough, as was the attaching of the foot pedal into the machine. The seventh year careful to put it into the right jack as she listened to the explanation as to why there were two of them there. She simply nodded as Professor Stewart checked up on them.

Yep…she was good.

No…she didn’t have any questions.

Moving onto the thread, Cassie looked beside her sewing machine to see what her options were. She settled onto bright purple, putting it on the thread spindle and proceeding to follow the rest of the directions. End of thread into hole in the bobbin spool…catching it as it came out of the other end…putting the bobbin spool into the bobbin winder. Everything looked all alright there too as it settled down into place.

As they moved onto the next set of instructions it started to get real. The seventh year grabbed the end of the purple thread carefully to keep a hold of it as she moved her left hand to the power button, switching it on. Even warned what was going to happen, Cass was mildly surprised as the machine set into motion and the thread starting to be added to the bobbin. She let it do its thing for a bit, winding bit by bit until she had a decent amount of thread on the bobbin to be ready for whatever was to come next.

Oopsie. He had gotten a bit ahead of Professor Stewart. But he figured that was just because he knew what he was doing. Sliding open the plate she was talking about he slipped the bobbin down into the bobbin holder. Now he just needed to pull the string around and place the plate back. He was really hoping they would get to sew something together. It was one of the harder parts for him.

Well, thats second to trying to thread the stupid needle. Bending his head down to become eye level with the needle he began to poke the thread toward the eye of the needle. First attempt, fail. He raised his head and sighed. Always the hardest part. Bending his head back down he tried again. Fail. Sighing he stood up, hoping that it would give him a second to clear his head.

Sitting back down he tried to thread the needle one last time. "huzzah" he whispered as it went through. Looking around the room he wondered if anyone had gotten the bobbin thread to come up. He raised his hand waiting for Professor, "uh, Professor, how do you just get the needle to go up then right back down? Just tap the pedal?"

So far so good.

Cassie looked around her work area for said scissors, eventually finding them and picking them up from the supplies. Snip…snip. She cut the purple, roughly where Professor Stewart had demonstrated on her own work. The thread from the bobbin was now very much separated from the thread still on the spool. So now she had to remove the bobbin from the bobbin threader. Her hand wrapping around the bobbin and carefully slipping it up from where it had previously rested.

Like…so.

Thankfully the thread was still very much threaded around the bobbin and not coming loose now that it was cut and moved. Following along to the next step, Cass slid the metal plate away as directed and added the threaded bobbin to the bobbin holder of the sewing. Then the cover was slid back on beneath the needle. And finally grasping the loose end between her fingers…between her nails actually given the slippery and thin nature of the thread, she pulled it through the required slot and finally fiddled with it and the eye of the needle.

One…two…three times until it was finally through and secure.

And a slow, cautious step on the peddle got it all situated as Professor Stewart directed.

All set.

Enough? Enough? It was enough? Was it enough for the bobbin, was she done, had she done it right? Was it--oh. Okay. Bel gave the professor a sheepish look. A little more and gently. Okay. Hopefully she wouldn't be losing marks for that.



And she was in luck because more people were taking pity on her. This just was noooot her area skillwise.

She looked at Emmalyn gratefully - lookatthat, already she was having a teammate helping her out! Hopefully Bel would be able to return the favour at some point.

"That makes sense... I think." The mess of knotted thread from things being... overfilled. "I'll give it another go and if I get stuck I'll call cooee and get your help with it. Thanks bunches, Emmalyn."

And the really beautiful older girl who she thought was a 7th year like her sister Serenity was giving some good advice too. Okay. Like a bicycle. She could do that.

Wait.

"This thread from the bobbin is going in fabric?" Bel looked between the bobbin and the spool of thread and had an aha moment. She'd just thought that the regular thread bit was what they would use, and maybe the bobbin thing was just.... storing extra for just in case.

"Working up to it. I'll give it a burl." Bel took a deep breath and then... very gently... veeeery gently... pressed her foot on the pedal. Not so forceful, not a kickstart, more like a little..... nudge.

The machine whirred quietly and the bobbin spun gently. Bel lifted her foot again and it stopped. Okay. Again. Gently again. The machine started and the thread wound on and...... Bel lifted her foot once the bobbin looked full and then looked at the older girl. Like that? Was that good?

"Thanks. What's ya name so I can thank you properly? I'm Bel." By the way. Bel wasn't one to just assume people knew who she was, since it was almost never the case and even when they did it was more like a pleasant and flattering surprise than an expectation. No notoriety here.



Oh no they were moving on again already. Good thing she had the bobbin bit done now. Maybe. Probably. Hopefully. Bel's eyes widened at the discovery that they weren't even dONE with said bobbin. It was going in a holder? Metal plate..... she looked for it, found it, and slid it back with so much force that it made a pinging noise which caused her to cringe. But it wasn't broken or anything. Phew. She snapped it back in place and then.....

... was lost again. Her eyes darted first to Emmalyn who was already busy carrying on happily, and then to the older girl (Liv). HEhhhhhhh so. So about that help. That help there. Some of that. Some of that would be loooovely.

Okay. This would be so much easier with magic, and she was so glad that most of the time when she did it, that she used magic. She did of course do it by hand when she was at home. But it was so much easier doing it with magic. One had to really concentrate whilst doing it by hand, and it was kind of giving Hattie a headache. She'd need to be careful. Headaches could be bad news for her. It would hopefully be okay. Surely they had to be nearly done now. She wanted to get to the fun bit of sewing, and that was not setting up the machine.

Picking up her scissors, Hattie cut the thread when she was happy with how much of it was on the bobbin. And then she removed the bobbin. She was pretty good at this, but was still being careful. She didn't want to make a silly mistake. That would be terrible. She tilted her head as she located the the mental plate that was underneath the needle of her sewing machine. She slid it outwards, and then carefully put the bobbin into the machine. She then slid the metal plate back over the slot. Perfect. That was good.

Leaning in close, she pulled the end of the thread that was in the spindle through the slot in the metal plate. That seemed kinda complicated, but it was going okay. Carefully, she inserted that thread through the eye on the needle. It was kind of hard, and took a few attempts but she eventually got it through. That made her happy. She was happy with how she was progressing so far with setting up her sewing machine.

Finally, she pressed the foot pedal again, so that the two lots of thread were all together. Perfect. Had she done it right? She thought so anyway. But she made sure to double check everything to make sure she'd not missed anything.

She still felt frustrated at how much work this all was, but getting the go ahead from the professor was a relief.
Okay. Let's get through this.

Kye followed along, locating the needle at the front, and sliding the little plate out. Okay, bobbin placed, thread through here, and throooouuuuuughhhhhhh the eye. Miss. Nope. Missed again. Aaand fourth time's the charm. Embarrassing. Finally, she was all set, and pushed the pedal.

Oh thank the stars, it worked. Sigh.of. relief. Kye felt very much so ready to move on past the building of the machine stage, and hoped that she would enjoy the clothes making aspect. Obviously, she would rather be using magic, but you never know... Maybe this would come in handy someday... somehow.

Scissors. Now that he'd finally mastered Diffindo, they were going to use scissors, because of course, Muggle Studies. How did muggles manage to survive without magic?

They don't know it exists. Right.

Feeling very much like a true muggle, Daehyun cut the thread with the scissors, and proceeded by removing the bobbin from the winder by slipping it out the holder. The threaded bobbin went into the weird, scary machine, with a bit of difficulty till he'd found the right place. He let out a sign in relief when he did, because Merlin, it was a lot of work to do to get the machine ready. The thread on the spindle went through the spot above the metal plate that he'd pulled out, and through the eye of the needle.

Phew. Pressing the foot pedal, he was happy with his work.

If all these steps only prepared the sewing machine, he hoped the actually sewing wouldn't be as difficult.