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FearlessLeader19 · 01-22-2018, 07:21 PM

It was a perfect morning to host an interesting lesson. Kay was in a good mood as she walked the rows, pausing every now and again to check to ensure the tables was equipped with the necessary materials. Just what were these materials you may ask?

Threads, scissors, pins, fleece fabric, measuring tape among others. If these materials do not give you a hint as to what Professor Stewart had planned, then the mini sewing machines were bound to! That's right. On each table stood one of those machines along with the other materials.

So bring yourself in, grab a seat. Your Professor returns each of your greetings and seems excited for the lesson.

Helpful Links:
* Mini Activity- Day 1
* A repeat of Day 1's instructions
* Mini Activity- Day 2
* Mini Activity- Day 3
* Question 1
* Responses and Main Activity- Days 1-2
* Main Activity-3
* Main Activity- Day 4
* Question 2
* Responses and Class Dismissal

OOC: Heyo! Welcome to our first IC lesson! We shall get started in 24 hours. In the meanwhile, get your kiddies here and have then chat among themselves if you like (just not too much since it can clutter the thread ) <3 THE LESSON HAS STARTED!

Dokimoto · 01-29-2018, 07:15 PM

SPOILER!!: Professor

Time to wipe the figurative sweat of the brow. Was that the hard part? Please say yes. Kye was grateful for the professor's kind words though, that much she'd admit.

Well, she couldn't say she had noticed changing Muggle trends in fashion too much, growing up with only a couple of Muggle cousins for reference. BUT she did have a few favorite eras. Kye raised her hand.

"It was quite some time ago, but I've seen styles from the 1950s and 1990s that I quite fancied... One was called pen... no, pin up. And I don't know what the other was called..." Kye looked up, trying to catch a word in her head for the more comfortable style with the plaid. "I'd saaay my least favorite was the 'groovy' era and the 'neon everything' era... I don't know how, but somehow they ended up with the weirdest trends right between the best ones! Like... who decided that stuff?" Kye never really understood how trends started, she just went to the store and there were the clothes. Ta da!

She calmed her mind to continue listening to directions. Fleece hats, huh? Eh not really her style, but at least they weren't tye dyeing. *fashion shudder*

Hmm which pattern? Kye looked at all the options, and decided on the skulls/diamond print. She placed it as shown, and found the measuring tape. 24 wide and 15 wide... Kye carefully measured exactly 24 inches, and caaarefully pushed the pin in its spot. She eyed it again, tilting her head, to double check the placing. Once satisfied, she did the same thing for the other direction, measuring out 15 inches. Okay... time to cut. Six inches... marked. Okay, and cutter things... ah yes there they are. Kye cut to the mark she had made, looking back over at the demonstration to verify herself. Wrong sides up? It looked weird, but she trusted the professor to show them how to fix this momentarily...

She stopped here, as that was where Professor Stewart had, but she made a face. Was this right? She looked again at the example with a furrowed brow. Hm. I guess it's alright then, she shrugged.

Bazinga · 01-29-2018, 08:20 PM

She listened to the professor and nodded at her comments. There was no way this could be better than magic but she'd let the professor think what she wanted. "No I have not made my own clothes before, there is really no reason to when daddy just gives me money to shop whenever I want." She hadn't even thought about making a career out of design or anything, so she just wanted to shop not sit and make clothes.

She glanced around the room and her eyes landed on Juni, they hadn't been friends for a few weeks now and her grin grew with her hand going up. "Professor I'm sure Juni would know all about the fashion world since her mother is a fashion designer and owner of a shop, her uncle is a famous designer as well." She looked at Juni with a smirk knowing the relationship she had with her mother, but she knew the fashion world from her love of clothes and knew who her uncle and mother were.

Looking at the fleece pieces once they were told to she picked one that wasn't hideous, since flannel wasn't all that great, and used it. Measuring exactly how she was told and marked with a pin, grabbing the scissors she cut off the pieces that were on the board and looked up for the next step. What a easy class, she could get use to this.

Now that she was done with that very quickly and easily what could she do while she waited.

FearlessLeader19 · 01-29-2018, 09:00 PM

SPOILER!!: Natalie! <3

“Don’t forget to measure the fabric. We don’t want the beanie to be too small now, would we?’’ Twinkling eyes flashed in Natalie’s direction. Yes, Kay had noticed that you failed to do that, Ms Mcinley, even if she hadn’t noticed that you had totally zoned out earlier.

SPOILER!!: Lyn! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Birchwoodmom

Hats. Yes, that was a fantastic idea for a first sewing project. No arm holes to worry about, no exact sizing to deal with. First thing she would need to do is choose her fabric. There were so many to pick from, each special in its own way. Emmalyn thought hard about about the fabric options. The flowers, although very cute, could prove difficult to line up correctly on her final product. She felt the same about the skull pattern. Neat little rows of design were great, but hard to match up perfectly on a curved pattern. After judging the pros and cons of each pattern, she finally settled on the soccer balls. Soccer was one of the sports she used to play back home. It would make a nice reminder of her old teammates.

She grabbed her fleece off of the pile and laid it out flat, right side up. Using her measuring tape, she very carefully measured out 24 inches wide by 15 inches tall. She placed pins to mark her measurements, then searched the table. “Fantastic” she mumbled as her eyes spied the edge of the rotary cutter under another stack of fabric.
Placing the blade of the rotary cutter on the edge of the fleece, she skillfully cut her twenty-four by fifteen rectangle out of the fabric.

Next, she needed to cut six inches off of the bottom of the fabric for the cuff. She once again pulled out her measuring tape and pinned off six inches. She grabbed the rotary cutter and made a smooth cut down the twenty-four inch length, exactly six inches from the bottom. She smiled at how quickly the project was coming along and wondered if she would have time to make a second hat. The owl fabric had been a close second choice and a person could never have enough hats.

Moving along, she folded both pieces in half, short end to short end, with right sides of fabric now facing each other. Emmalyn looked up to Professor Stewart. “Professor? Would it be okay if I made two hats today? If there is enough fabric left over.” She hoped the answer would be yes.

Lyn seemed to be enjoying this lesson and Kay was really impressed with the way she was familiar with the machine as well as sewing in general. The Hufflepuff was caught up with the steps, she noted, when the question was asked. “Certainly. If there is enough time. I have extra fabric if you need it.’’

SPOILER!!: Night, Hattie, Max, Rylee, Daehyun, Skylar! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionegold

Text Cut: Hattie

Ooh, yay. Praise from an older student, and a fellow Hufflepuff at that. She beamed at Hattie.

“Quite welcome. You can always practice later on during the term.’’ Because this wasn’t going to be the last that they deal with a showing machine.

Text Cut: Professor Stewart

Night liked the professor's response to her answer. Social influencers...that was a good point.

The next step was easy. Well, it would have been, if Night were good at making decisions. Did she want pink, or horses for her fabric? Or maybe dogs? Ah, this was hard. Finally, she settled on a fabric with live action dogs in snow. Maybe there was a spell to animate them later? She'd have to ask Professor Marchand when she got the chance.

The cutting and folding was easy too, and Night finished quickly. She waited patiently for instructions, because she was too lazy ~~(and it had nothing to do with the fact that she didn't really know how to do it, nope, not at all)~~ to get started on the next steps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RachieRu

Harriet was pretty glad that they were going to be doing something with the machines they had set up. It would have been disappointing to do all that work and then not to do anything with it. Not that Hattie planned on needing to manually set up a sewing machine again. She was going to be 17 in a few months, and then she'd be able to do it using magic again. That would be so much better. But she was kind of excited to see how she would make her little hat. It would be useful when it began to get colder. Firstly she had to pick her pattern. Hmm. She went with a nice yellow colour. It would match her scarf, and that would be great.

She sat back at her place, and then put her piece of fabric, the right way up, o paying careful attention to make sure it was the right way up. Wouldn't want to go wrong at this point! She then got her measuring tape out, and began to measure the correct size. She didn't want to get it wrong. She marked out each side of the correctly sized fabric with a few pins, making sure they were carefully pinned into the fabric.

Hattie then began to carefully cut her fabric, making sure she didn't cut too much. She didn't want to make a mistake, that would be terrible. Finally, the folded the sides up, so that the wrong sides were facing up. And then she awaited the next set of instructions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waterloo

And now it was the part Max had been dreading. The actually practical. He'd found it a struggle simply trying to setup the sewing machine, he had a feeling this part was going to be an even bigger nightmare even if the Professor did say fleece hats were simple.

The fourth year chose the pattern with the skull and crossbones on it, deciding that one looked the coolest out of the bunch. He placed it right side up and used his measuring tape to mark out the size Professor Stewart had instructed.

He measured six inches from the bottom of the fleece and cut the section in order to make a cuff.

He had another glance around the classroom, sizing up what the other kids were doing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kolyander

Did Professor Stewart have any idea just how difficult all that was? In all honest the first time the instructions were given on how to put the machine together she hadn't even attempted to try. What she had done was watch as the professor performed each and every single step and wrote down detailed notes whenever she had paused along with a poorly drawn out sketch next to each step. This might not have been the best way to go about it... but it was her way and at least she would have her notes to always look back on should she need them. And she did need them...badly.

It had taken her nearly forever to get the thing assembled correctly. Or well what felt like forever... which when you're a very energetic eleven year old isn't very long at all. It had taken her so long in fact that she had completely missed the first question that was asked because she had somehow missed a step and had take apart what she had completed in order to fix it. Not to mention that she had a huge issue with the bobbin thingy and getting the thread through it correctly. It would have been much easier to just raise her hand and ask for help like she normally did but so many others were doing that and she had the directions right there in front of her written out on parchment.

So it was with the stubbornness of a little lioness cub that Rylee kept at it until she finally had the machine set up and in working order. Good thing too since Professor Stewart was talking again and they were about to move on!

Fleece hats! That sounded like fun! Selecting the fleece pattern with all the brightly colored animals on it she laid it down right side up like they were being shown. She paused to quickly take down the rest of the notes before continuing on. Using the measuring tape she marked out the length of twenty-four by fifteen using the provided pins. Next she measured six inches from the bottom where she had to cut the fleece to make the cuff, folding the pieces in half so the wrong sides where showing.

So far so good. This part was definitely much easier than putting the machine together had been. Hopefully the rest of the process would go as easily as this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by debpetrisor

Fleece hats!

Well, he liked beanies... but he doubted he'd be able to make something he would actually wear in public, so instead he was going to have fun with it.

Scanning the fleece patterns that were available to be used, he chose the pattern with puppies (because who in their right mind didn't like puppies?), and spread it flat over the desk, with the right side facing up. Using the measuring tape - a very muggle one, mind you, not the kind they used to measure in magical shops - Daehyun measured with great care the twenty four and fifteen inches, and used pins to mark the measurements. Measuring another six inches from the bottom of the fleece, he followed the professor's instructions and cut into the fleece, neatly folding the pieces in half, their back side now facing up.

Deep breath.

Following precise instructions, he could do. But he feared the moment he'd have to use the scary sewing machine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

Skylar was trying REALLY hard to focus and pay attention. It wasn't as if they were playing a game, so perhaps Stewart had learned her lesson and realized that inviting a magical entity to be a part of a Muggle Studies Lesson was completely contradictory and irresponsible of her. It seemed weird for a sixteen year old to be judging the responsibility of an adult, but what could she say? Not all adults were responsible.

Thomas Saint of England. 1970. Wait. Singer and Elias Howe? Was that why there were sewing machines with the the name SINGER on them?! Also, were these electric sewing machines? Because it would be super counter-productive to go back to using machines from near two hundred years ago, when an electric one would be faster. Not as fast as like magic, but close. Though she wouldn't be surprised if Stewart went about doing things the long and exhausting way, but she was REALLY trying to reserve judgment and start on a fresh slate.

Oops, were they already up to making the fleece hats? But she hadn't even finished setting up her machine yet!! Or offered her opinion on the fashion industry. First things first though, she could totally set up the machine.... Batteries inserted, check. Now, connect the jacks and it seemed like it was straight forward enough, except that she tried to jam the wrong jack into the wrong hole.... and of course it wouldn't fit, to which the sixth year quickly rectified by placing it into the correct hole and perfect. Spool of thread, which of course, Skylar chose green, although she was tempted by the gold thread because thinking of you, Hattie, but Slytherin Green first and foremost. Maybe if she had time she'd come back and do another with gold thread.

Bobbin spool. That was a fun word. Bobbin. Right, licking her fingers, she found it easier to grab the end of the thread to feed it through. And now holding the end of the thread, she flicked the power switch. That was obvious at least, still thinking about bobbin her way through this class. Oh, wait, that's kind of what she was doing? Press the foot pedal and well, OF COURSE she pressed the foot pedal a little too hard and the needle went up and down at like lightning speed... UH ..... *insert WHAA face* Immediately releasing her foot, she frowned at how tangled it was so quickly. She hadn't even been pressing the pedal that long, but because she'd had it super fast... also, her finger may have been a little too close to the needle and pricked it just slightly, to which she pulled it back and stuck it in her mouth. It wasn't bleeding that much though and she could handle it ... she'd broken bones before, so a little blood was okay, just gotta take it slow. Pity it was Muggle Studies class and she couldn't use magic to conjure a bandage, but maybe.... Using her non-injured hand, she rummaged through her sack one handed. Ah, a little cloth pad would work, to which she wrapped around carefully, tucking it underneath itself to secure.

Okay, lightly press the foot pedal. Got it. And she did so, winding it much easier than before and the threading was complete... Changing trends in the muggle fashion industry. Something that Skylar scribbled down on her spare bit of parchment.

SPOILER!!: Notes about the changing trends

What pattern for her fleece hat to choose now? Skylar was of course tempted by the soccer balls, because sporty and closest to quidditch which would be representative for a quidditch captain, but then the pink one with the hearts. Or maybe the stars? She was a star... or at least she liked to think so. Ultimately, since she had picked green for her thread, she decided the sporty one would fit better with that pattern and so fleece #6 it was, as she placed it right side up on her desk. Twenty four inches wide, by fifteen inches and stuck them carefully with pins. Now to cut off six inches from the bottom of the fleece... something she didn't measure, but just estimated. It didn't have to be perfect six inches, right? Hopefully not. And time to fold the pieces in half. And wait.

“Excellent work! Keep it up. We’ll continue in a few minutes after I’ve made sure everyone is on track.’’ Because it would be pointless and chaotic to simple proceed with half the class not on par.

SPOILER!!: Juni <3

Having just finished assisting a student, Kay straightened up at the moment she heard an incantation being cast. She turned in the voice’s direction, already the name of whom it belonged to in her head. “Ms Primeaux, I’d like to remind you that no magic is allowed during my lessons unless otherwise stated. Five points from Ravenclaw.’’

SPOILER!!: Kye! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dokimoto

SPOILER!!: Professor

Time to wipe the figurative sweat of the brow. Was that the hard part? Please say yes. Kye was grateful for the professor's kind words though, that much she'd admit.

Well, she couldn't say she had noticed changing Muggle trends in fashion too much, growing up with only a couple of Muggle cousins for reference. BUT she did have a few favorite eras. Kye raised her hand.

"It was quite some time ago, but I've seen styles from the 1950s and 1990s that I quite fancied... One was called pen... no, pin up. And I don't know what the other was called..." Kye looked up, trying to catch a word in her head for the more comfortable style with the plaid. "I'd saaay my least favorite was the 'groovy' era and the 'neon everything' era... I don't know how, but somehow they ended up with the weirdest trends right between the best ones! Like... who decided that stuff?" Kye never really understood how trends started, she just went to the store and there were the clothes. Ta da!

She calmed her mind to continue listening to directions. Fleece hats, huh? Eh not really her style, but at least they weren't tye dyeing. *fashion shudder*

Hmm which pattern? Kye looked at all the options, and decided on the skulls/diamond print. She placed it as shown, and found the measuring tape. 24 wide and 15 wide... Kye carefully measured exactly 24 inches, and caaarefully pushed the pin in its spot. She eyed it again, tilting her head, to double check the placing. Once satisfied, she did the same thing for the other direction, measuring out 15 inches. Okay... time to cut. Six inches... marked. Okay, and cutter things... ah yes there they are. Kye cut to the mark she had made, looking back over at the demonstration to verify herself. Wrong sides up? It looked weird, but she trusted the professor to show them how to fix this momentarily...

She stopped here, as that was where Professor Stewart had, but she made a face. Was this right? She looked again at the example with a furrowed brow. Hm. I guess it's alright then, she shrugged.

“Quite right! That period saw some unexpectedly trendy and beautiful trend. Honestly, that was one of my favourite point in time for fashion. It was just a shame that I wasn’t around to experience it.’’

SPOILER!!: Zita! <3

“I see. I must say you have excellent choice when it comes to your outfits and accessories, Ms Valla. Even your makeup is well done.’’ Maybe she wanted to do something in the fashion industry in the future?

Hmm. Now that Kay thought back, she had heard of Juni’s mother being a designer. “This might be a good thing, Ms Primeaux. Do you want to follow in her footsteps someday?’’

* * * * * * *
“The next step requires you to use your machines. We are going to sew the edges together. Take the bottom, the smaller of the two pieces you’ve just cut out. Place it on the machine and under the needle like this.’’ The professor demonstrated. “You want to start about a inch from the top to make a backstitch. This keeps the fabric from unravelling. All you need to do is average that inch, position the fabric under the needle at that measurement and sew. Use the foot pedal to get the machine started. Sew from the point where the needle is positioned then upwards.’’

Lengthy pause here while she waited and observed.

“Once that’s completed, proceed to sew from the top all the way down to the end of the fabric in a straight line. Then you complete another backstitch by sewing upwards for about another inch.’’ All of this was done so the class could see. “I can repeat the steps if you like. Just raise your hand if you need me to.’’

When they were ready to continue, she gave the instructions and demonstration for the bigger piece. “Repeat the same for the second fabric. Except when you come to the bottom, leave about inch of space. Instead, turn it so that you can stitch the side in a straight line all the way down.

“Next, we need to flip the smaller piece so that the stitched seam is on the inside.’’

Another pause as she waited, demonstrated again and assisted as needed.

OOC: Hihi! Remember you can use this video to help with your posts. The final bit of instructions will come in 24 hours!

Waterloo · 01-29-2018, 10:08 PM

The next step requires you to use your machines.

The words Max had been dreading. He took the fabric he had cut into size and placed it carefully under the needle. He didn't want to get too close to the needle in case it spiked him. Suuuper careful, he was.

Professor Stewart had lost him at backstitch but he was going to give it a shot.

He guessed roughly how far away an inch was, and positioned his fabric in the spot under the needle. And then, everrrr so gently, he pressed down on the foot pedal. The machine whirred and Max pushed the fabric upwards until he reached the end of the fabric.

HE WAS SEWING.

Excitement got the better of him, and without realising he pressed harder on the pedal. He had to sew from the top all the way back down! He maneuvered the fabric as best he could but it was tricky focusing on the foot pedal AND moving the fabric.

His stitching had started about an inch in, but by the time he'd reached the other end it was at least three inches in.

"Uhm, professor?" He raised his arm, brow furrowed. "Does it matter if the sewing goes wonky?"

hermionegold · 01-30-2018, 01:56 AM

Text Cut: Professor

Wow, this was actually easy. This was actually easy!

Night found herself wishing she had learned these things years ago. She could have done everything by now. But alas, she was only just getting started.

Okay, to be fair, hats seemed pretty easy compared to shirts and pants and things where you had to be precise with angles.

Then, Night thought about what she was doing. Her mother had always taught her that if something was too easy, she was probably doing it wrong. But at this point, she didn't feel that way at all. This felt like something Night knew. She felt powerful. New.

DaniDiNardo · 01-30-2018, 03:06 AM

You know what was funny? How much Jessa didn't realize she'd grown so dependent on magic until she sat in Muggle Studies for the hour. All this talk about cutting and measuring, her first instinct was to draw her wand and get it done in a second. It was only after her fingers wrapped around her wand still in its holster that she remembered that sort of thing wasn't actually allowed.

Right. Muggle Studies. No magic. Slowly, she released it, instead reaching over to choose one of the fleece patterns. The one with the red, blue and silver stars. The others were....alright, but if she had to choose something she would likely be stuck with all term then this was definitely the one for her.

Kinda reminded her of Ravenclaw tower, all the stars. Like the star filled ceiling their Common Room sported.

Jessa reached for a few pins, holding them in her mouth for now while she measured out the 24 inches wide and 15 inches wide along the fabric. With each measurement, she took a pin from her tightly pressed lips and stuck it there.

The next part was what had her itching to pull her wand out--but she resisted. Once again she got to measuring, using the remaining pins to mark the 6 inches. At that mark, she cut to create the cuff thingy the Professor was talking about. She folded the pieces in half to get the wrong sides facing up then paused to wait for others to have problems that would need addressing before they could move on. It was coming, she knew it was. Not everyone was knowledgeable about this sort of thing and some had already proven that following instructions could be hard.

Oh, they were moving on to the actual machine now. Jessa took the bottom, which happened to be the smaller of the two pieces she'd just cut out. Under the machine's needle it went. About an inch from the top, she set to work with the back-stitching--nevermind that it was the machine doing all the work. Carefully, she pressed down on the pedal, not wanting to have it go by too quickly and out of control. Down she moved the fabric, creating an upward sort of direction for the stitching.

Once at the top, she sewed all the way down to the end of the fabric in a straight line....er....mostly straight....it looked straight but in all honesty, it may have leaned a little to the right. Anyway, another back stitch, this time up for about an inch.

When the Professor paused, she paused again, for the most part following along with each new set of instructions that were given. The Ravenclaw found it made things easier when she didn't lag behind by too many steps. Jessa repeated the same for the second fabric but this time when she got to the bottom, she left inch of space. She turned it to stitch the side in a straight line all the way down.

Next, she flipped it so the stitch appeared on the inside. Funny how that worked.

SarcasticStrawberry · 01-30-2018, 03:19 AM

Juniper was sitting there ready for the next set of directions. Minding her own business, when she heard someone say her name. She looked up for who it was but of course she knew exactly who it was. Once she found her, her brown eyes glaring at the Slytherin. This lesson had already been a huge crush for her mentally. Without that girl butting in. What was doing doing? Fishing for compliments from the professor now? That was lame and sad.

So yeah… maybe she had forgotten all about the no magic rule. Honestly at the moment in this lesson she didn’t care. Stupid ugly fabric, everyone of them. ”All I was doing modifying my look. White isn’t my color.” There if she acted like she gave a crap about stupid fashion would she get a free pass? Honestly she could care less about the point loss. She could earn them back a real lesson.

She started glaring at Zita again. Really do she have to bring up her mother into this conversation? She didn’t look at the professor as she answered, her eyes still glaring at Zita. She was going to get back at her for this. ”No way.” She said with a half chuckle. She didn’t want to be anything like her mother.

Could she finish now or did they also have to go into the discussion of how her sister was the the one following in her mother’s footsteps.

The Ravenclaw was so frustrated, she rubbed her eyes. She had held herself together just fine. Until Zita had to open her big nosy mouth. Following the directions of the professor she started by placing the fabric under the needle, starting at around a inch at the top. Pressing her foot on the foot pedal she made a backstitch. Then she started sewing all the down in a straight line. Or as straight as her annoyed mind would let her. Another backstitch and she done with the first piece.

She done the same backstitch and straight line and left a space. Little did she know she had sewed the fabric to the sleeve of her cardigan.

With the smaller piece and flipped it so the the seem was on the inside.

WHAT The Heck was this? She flapped her arm and realized what she had done. Clearly she had let her nerves get the best of her.

Bazinga · 01-30-2018, 04:38 AM

Her smirk was certainly on her face, it wasn't just that she brought Juni up or her mother, but the professor took the bait and even asked her if she was going to follow in her footsteps. Zita could have fallen out of her chair laughing, but she didn't, she just sat there giving Juni a very bright smile. This girl was going to learn not to backstab friends.

Could this day get any better? It wasn't just great to put Juni Primeaux in her place,
but she got to watch her lose points as well. "Guess she doesn't have the fashion sense her mom and uncle do." Pity really, but if you looked at Juni's clothe's and lack of makeup anyone would realize she didn't have that gene at all.

"Oh Juni you should owl her and see if she could come in and speak with the class,
have a little fashion show for her with all our designs we are sewing." Flipping her hair over her shoulder she turned back to the sewing machine she had in front of her and did the next directions. Backstitching where it was needed and going in a straight line, flipping it just as she was told she looked at each edge and all around to make sure it was just perfect.

Birchwoodmom · 01-30-2018, 05:57 AM

After listening to Professor Stewart’s next set of instructions, Emmalyn picked up her cuff material to start sewing. She double checked to make sure right sides were together and it was folded properly. She sat her fabric on the machine, leaving about a half inch seam allowance, and readied her foot. Her grandmother had always taught her to keep her finger as far away from the needle as possible, while still maintaining control of the fabric. Not only would it hurt a lot to sew your finger, but the resulting blood could ruin the fabric.

She started sewing about an inch down from the top of the fabric to make a nice backstick. She did not want her stiching to come unraveled. She then proceeded to stitch down the length of the fabric until almost the very end, then back stitched to secure her thread. Lifting the fabric and thread off of the machine, she used the thread cutting tool on the back to remove the cuff circle from the machine.

Next, it was time to stitch the top. She placed her top fabric on the machine, starting at the folded end, preformed a quick back stitch and sewed down the first open side. Once she was about a half inch away from the next side, the proper seam allowance for such a project, she turned her fabric 90 degrees and finished off sewing down the next side. After making sure she completed a proper back stitch, she removed the top of the hat from the machine and trimmed any excess thread.

The last step for the current set of instructions was simply to fold the cuff of the hat in half. Emmalyn carefully folded the cuff so that right sides were facing out and the wrong sides were touching, keeping the seam allowances flat against each other in the middle. This was actually a very important step. She knew that if she let her seam allowances bunch up, it could make for an uncomfortable and bumpy looking finished product.

After she finished folding and smoothing her hat cuff, she started to get more excited about finishing. She could see how cute the hat was going to be with the right sides of the fabric now showing on the cuff.

Govoni · 01-30-2018, 10:56 AM

Too caught up in helping Bel to fully hear what Professor Stewart was saying, the blonde kept her eyes trained on the machine. "It's going to help with how the stitches translate to the fabric. It should hold all your layers together, while you're doing the actual sewing." ...but she'd need to test out the machine for herself once they got to that step. Since it did seem like they would be sewing something in class today.

Gosh, yes, this Gryffindor was excited. Well, as excited as one could be over a potential class assignment.

....And because she had real life experience with sewing machines, Liv was comfortable leaving hers until a bit later; for after she could get Bel situated. The Hufflepuff girl had introduced herself, but Liv rarely forgot faces and names. She'd made Seeker for her house team! This called for an offered handshake! "Olivia Phillips, resident drama geek and verified bad mama." No bad language in class, she'd reminded herself; even if the wording sounded less impactful than she'd originally intended. "It's nice to meet you."

Hmph. Actually, without getting permission, Olivia stood and quickly made her way back to her own desk, putting some back into it to get it slid over to where the younger girl was working. It'd probably be better for Bel to go by example, since Professor Steward did have so many kids in this lesson who were struggling with with the steps. Not everyone had the background in theater costuming that she had. So, assuming this was okay since it was all in the name of helping another student, the blonde quickly caught herself up. She'd already wound ample thread around her bobbin. So, cutting the thread connecting the bobbin and spool would be next.

Also...... shifting her gaze between the Slytherin girl known as Zita.....and the Ravenclaw girl she'd just been sitting next to (Juniper), Olivia was forced to roll her eyes. These young girls.

TeafortheSoul · 01-30-2018, 11:04 AM

SPOILER!!: Liv

"....bad mama?" Wat. "You're a mum?" Bel asked curiously. The drama geek thing though, that was cool. "Oh drama, are you in the play? I'm not but I did volunteer to help Professor Myers out because I like being involved. I'll hold his clipboard and fetch him tea and things like that, whatever he needs!" And probably whatever the stars of the show needed too. And if Olivia was one of those stars, then that meant her too. She shook Olivia's hand. "Nice to meet ya too." The Australian girl said cheerfully.

More assistance was definitely needed. Bel was thankful for the help she had got so far but she didn't want to hold anyone else up so at first when Olivia went back to her original work station Bel just sort of mentally went 'oh' as well as 'oh well' but then she was right back, pushing tables together and depositing herself where Bel could watch.

SPOILER!!: professor

Unstuck and ready to move on, Bel had.... no useful answer to the fashion questions. Because... well... she dressed for practicality really. Practicality and comfort. But she still wanted to attempt a response. In earnest she put her hand up. "Professor, I don't know much about fashion fashion, but there are practical trends which change too, like for motocross?" Which she did, "New technology in fabrics for better durability and safety, and also more breathable, and easier to wash and that sort of thing, There's science behind muggle fashion, which I think is just as important as what things look like." That's what Bel thought anyway. She put her hand down and eyed her mini sewing machine with doubt. That first set up thing was bad enough, was she actually going to have to sew something?

SPOILER!!: professor

..... oh. Hats? That wasn't too bad, Bel supposed, though she was kind of not a big fan of any of the fabrics. Why weren't any of them more... plain? She picked the grey with the coloured stars. She put it down with the right side up (maybe? probably) and measured the bit of fabric. At least this part wasn't too hard. She could do measuring on her own, sticking pins in here and there to show out the measurements, then cutting appropriately. She looked around, quite proud that she didn't need to put her hand up for help for this bit. She had ended up with two pieces, one smaller than the other and folded in half.... with the back? She was thought it was the back, facing up.

SPOILER!!: professor

.......ohhh no. Bel wasn't so sure about this bit. She hurried and tried to put the fabric under the foot thing but even figuring THAT out was a nightmare. Oh help. Oh no. Oh... THERE. She found the lever that lifted the foot up and put the fabric under it. Wait.... what was a backstitch? Bel understood what it was for with the explanation but she gaped a bit trying to see what exactly was going on with that. An inch? Um. Oh okay. Sew... the other direction? Okay. Okay she could do this.

Bel put her foot down on the pedal and..... the machine went crazy. Only... she hadn't put the little metal foot back down to guide things and so the sewing? Wasn't exactly what she had in mind, going wild, bunching up the fabric, general chaos.

But it was fiiiiine.

It was juuuust fiiiiiiiiine.

(Help).

"Olivia. Oh help. I made a blue of it."

RachieRu · 01-30-2018, 04:48 PM

This wasn't that bad, and she was enjoying herself. Hattie was having to concentrate, but it was worth it. If she got a cute hat that she could use after the lesson, then it would be super worth all of the hard work that she was doing. So she really hoped that she didn't get anything wrong. She was being super careful to make sure she didn't, and she really hoped that it paid off. She had a little look around as she waited for the next set of instructions, just wanting to make sure that nobody needed any help. She wanted to be helpful if she could, that was good right?

And now she had some more instructions. She made sure to concentrate as they were told what to do, not wanting to mess anything up. She took the bottom of her material, the smaller one, and placed it correctly onto the machine. She double checked this, just to make sure she really did have it correctly done. No mistakes here please! She then, beginning about an inch in, began to backstitch the material, and carefully went upwards, making sure she was stitching the correct areas. She couldn't afford to make a mistake, not when she was this invested in making a cool hat.

When this was done, she then began to stitch from the top of her fabric all the way to the end , making sure it was done in a straight line. And then to end this, she completed another backstitch for about an inch. This was actually pretty easy. She was finding it pretty good, so far anyway. She then repeated the process for the bigger piece of material, making sure to concentrate hard, so she wouldn't get anything wrong. When she got into the bottom she left an inch of space, and turned it, so she could instead stitch the side in a straight line instead.

It was going good so far, and she was happy.

siriusblackliveson · 01-30-2018, 05:33 PM

Patrick grabbed some plaid fleece and looked at the pattern, he liked plaid it was a statement pattern. Something that caught peoples eye. He wasn’t sure it would turn out okay. Usually his Mamaw had him help with straight stitching her quilts since her fingers had too much arthritis in them to make sewing easy.

He first laid the pieces pattern facing right sides. Then doing as she had told them, measured out 24 inches by fifteen inches. He was ready to cut. He began cutting and then went on to do the six inches for the cuff. He wasn’t sure how he’d like the cuff. Usually when he wore winter hats back in the states it was rare and he didn’t have a cuff. But alas, he wouldn’t complain since he was getting to do something fun in class this term.He unfolded the fabric and had them wrong sides together. Now he was going to be putting the hat together. Ah Placing the small piece together, he placed them under the machines needle. Foot on the pedal he began to sew forward then making it go to a back stitch before sewing all the way down the seem just like she had said. Time to do the other one. He did the same step but didn’t back stitch at the very bottom of the straight line. He wasn’t sure he was actually doing it right but he was having fun and that was the best part about this course.

Laying his hands in his lap he waited for the next set of instructions hoping that it would turn out to be a pretty neat hat.

Govoni · 01-30-2018, 07:49 PM

SPOILER!!: Bel!

After she'd settled her desk into the new spot, the blonde grinned at the Puffer girl kindly. "I mean, I do mother the younger Gryffindor girls." Come to think of it, but an actual "mother," no. "But not in the offical capacity. I didn't birth them, or anything." Leaning down to switch-up the plugs for her machine, Liv made sure the short move hadn't messed up her progress. Huh.... everything looked to be in order, still.

....AND completely amused at the lengths Professor Paul had went to to include everyone in the play (in some way), Olivia beamed/grinned. "Professor Paul is one of my favorite teachers at this school. You're so lucky to have him as a Head of House." The Gryffindor could gush, but... Well, they were too busy for all that. "I'm playing the Scarecrow!..... and I was thinking about popping down to the greenhouses and offering my assistance with costumes." Since she had the experience and figured every small bit would help. Plays had so many moving parts!

SPOILER!!: Stewart I

Talk of fashion always engaged the Blonde One™. And it was no secret that she'd been a junior ambassador for O-Star for a few years now...but Olivia made no moves to mention this, as it was a magical brand. Though, she had walked in muggle fashion shows before. Actually, Olivia been working since a very young age, building up that résumé. "Fashion should be whatever makes you feel comfortable in your own skin." She was back to fiddling with her machine, commenting in a distracted sort of way. "I believe in clothes that encourage people to be their individual selves." For her, she'd been lucky enough to walk in both muggle and magical fashion shows. The best part has always been the free samples. Just putting that out there.

"I feel like we recycle trends a lot. Since words like Vintage and Retro are commonly used." It was hilarious how everyone always wanted to revisit the past through fashion, but at the same time.... it made all the sense in the world. What was creativity? What was originality? Ideas were reused and reinvented all the time! Nothing was truly original anymore.

SPOILER!!: Stewart II

Taking a small break from talking, the Gryffindor focused on the patterns and fleece material. Hats... Now, Liv loved a good hat as much as the next girl, but she preferred her's to be custom fitted to her head... and there wasn't a hat conformator in plain sight.

Well, that was rather unfortunate.

For now, she'd measure and cut the fleece, making use of the pins. Perhaps Liv could suggest purchasing one for the Muggle Studies classroom. It was a wonderful investment if you wanted the make the most fabulous hats. Obviously, even magic had it limits. So, there was nothing quite like manually-fitted head wear....

Snip, snip.

Snip, snip.

That was all that could be heard, as she went about sorting her fleece material. One thing Olivia could say.... it was of good quality. Very soft to the touch. "Where did you get this fleece, Professor?"

SPOILER!!: Bel!

....... What?

Turning her attention back to Bel, who'd been working silently, Olivia's eyes widened. "Okay, take your foot off the pedal." There was no laughter or anything, since it wasn't the smol girl's fault (Liv would argue). This was a very advanced lesson, and probably shouldn't have been the first one dealing with sewing, since many of these kids had no knowledge of this type of equipment..... But she mentally digressed. "Let's get the fabric untangled." Even as she suggested it, her fingers were working the fleece loose.... Oh, she'd forgotten to drop the foot, which would guide the material for someone less skilled... Hm, and because she'd been in the process of backstitching, the pieces that Bel had been working with, couldn't exactly be salvaged. Well, they could.... if they wanted to sit here and cut out the thread, but that was kinda time-consuming.

If only they could use magic to remove it....

"Let's get you some more fleece and take it from the top, yeah?"

*PhoenixRising* · 01-30-2018, 08:43 PM

Use the machines? Okay, she could do this, just remember, not such a heavy foot. She did curiously glance at Zita and Juniper in their conversation about Juniper's mother. Uh, well, that seemed to get under someone's skin. But it wasn't really any of her business; yes she'd been co-stars with Juniper in last year's play. And yes, some of the things Zita did irritated her, but she honestly didn't know about either of the girl's home lives. And nor did Skylar really care, but she did wish they could keep their petty selves outside of class.

Lightly pressing the foot pedal this time, she slowly guided the fabric under the needle, about an inch ... only, she wasn't terribly skilled and like someone else's fabric, her stitch too had started to go astray. It was a straight line, except the straight line was ... diagonal, slightly. But hey, at least it was straight? So surely she wouldn't need to redo that ...

Second fabric, slow guiding, this time the diagonal was much less prominent, but a keen eye would notice which meant her stitching was getting better. Not too bad and kind of even was starting to look like the hat it was supposed to be. Hopefully her askew stitch wouldn't affect its wearability, not that she would want to wear such a hat. Maybe she could get Apollo to wear it ... though she'd probably have to make it up to him after making him wear it, just to see how it looked on someone.

FearlessLeader19 · 01-30-2018, 09:02 PM

SPOILER!!: Maxton! <3

Oh, lovely! Maxton was doing the sewing! Then he was asking her a question so she went to peer at his work. Ah, his stitching was off. “Actually, it does. ‘Wonky’ sewing can result in a wonky beanie.’’ Cue a wink from her. “You should try again since there’s still some time before we move on to the final step.’’

SPOILER!!: Night! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by hermionegold

Text Cut: Professor

Wow, this was actually easy. This was actually easy!

Night found herself wishing she had learned these things years ago. She could have done everything by now. But alas, she was only just getting started.

Okay, to be fair, hats seemed pretty easy compared to shirts and pants and things where you had to be precise with angles.

Then, Night thought about what she was doing. Her mother had always taught her that if something was too easy, she was probably doing it wrong. But at this point, she didn't feel that way at all. This felt like something Night knew. She felt powerful. New.

Night was among the students who were easily able to follow the steps given, which was very good. “Ms Dixon, I take it you have sewn before? Or you’ve watched someone sew regularly?”

SPOILER!!: Jessa! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaniDiNardo

You know what was funny? How much Jessa didn't realize she'd grown so dependent on magic until she sat in Muggle Studies for the hour. All this talk about cutting and measuring, her first instinct was to draw her wand and get it done in a second. It was only after her fingers wrapped around her wand still in its holster that she remembered that sort of thing wasn't actually allowed.

Right. Muggle Studies. No magic. Slowly, she released it, instead reaching over to choose one of the fleece patterns. The one with the red, blue and silver stars. The others were....alright, but if she had to choose something she would likely be stuck with all term then this was definitely the one for her.

Kinda reminded her of Ravenclaw tower, all the stars. Like the star filled ceiling their Common Room sported.

Jessa reached for a few pins, holding them in her mouth for now while she measured out the 24 inches wide and 15 inches wide along the fabric. With each measurement, she took a pin from her tightly pressed lips and stuck it there.

The next part was what had her itching to pull her wand out--but she resisted. Once again she got to measuring, using the remaining pins to mark the 6 inches. At that mark, she cut to create the cuff thingy the Professor was talking about. She folded the pieces in half to get the wrong sides facing up then paused to wait for others to have problems that would need addressing before they could move on. It was coming, she knew it was. Not everyone was knowledgeable about this sort of thing and some had already proven that following instructions could be hard.

Oh, they were moving on to the actual machine now. Jessa took the bottom, which happened to be the smaller of the two pieces she'd just cut out. Under the machine's needle it went. About an inch from the top, she set to work with the back-stitching--nevermind that it was the machine doing all the work. Carefully, she pressed down on the pedal, not wanting to have it go by too quickly and out of control. Down she moved the fabric, creating an upward sort of direction for the stitching.

Once at the top, she sewed all the way down to the end of the fabric in a straight line....er....mostly straight....it looked straight but in all honesty, it may have leaned a little to the right. Anyway, another back stitch, this time up for about an inch.

When the Professor paused, she paused again, for the most part following along with each new set of instructions that were given. The Ravenclaw found it made things easier when she didn't lag behind by too many steps. Jessa repeated the same for the second fabric but this time when she got to the bottom, she left inch of space. She turned it to stitch the side in a straight line all the way down.

Next, she flipped it so the stitch appeared on the inside. Funny how that worked.

Kay couldn’t help but beam at Jessa. “You’ve been doing great work so far, Ms Cambridge!’’ Proud professor here.

SPOILER!!: Juni! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarcasticStrawberry

Juniper was sitting there ready for the next set of directions. Minding her own business, when she heard someone say her name. She looked up for who it was but of course she knew exactly who it was. Once she found her, her brown eyes glaring at the Slytherin. This lesson had already been a huge crush for her mentally. Without that girl butting in. What was doing doing? Fishing for compliments from the professor now? That was lame and sad.

So yeah… maybe she had forgotten all about the no magic rule. Honestly at the moment in this lesson she didn’t care. Stupid ugly fabric, everyone of them. ”All I was doing modifying my look. White isn’t my color.” There if she acted like she gave a crap about stupid fashion would she get a free pass? Honestly she could care less about the point loss. She could earn them back a real lesson.

She started glaring at Zita again. Really do she have to bring up her mother into this conversation? She didn’t look at the professor as she answered, her eyes still glaring at Zita. She was going to get back at her for this. ”No way.” She said with a half chuckle. She didn’t want to be anything like her mother.

Could she finish now or did they also have to go into the discussion of how her sister was the the one following in her mother’s footsteps.

The Ravenclaw was so frustrated, she rubbed her eyes. She had held herself together just fine. Until Zita had to open her big nosy mouth. Following the directions of the professor she started by placing the fabric under the needle, starting at around a inch at the top. Pressing her foot on the foot pedal she made a backstitch. Then she started sewing all the down in a straight line. Or as straight as her annoyed mind would let her. Another backstitch and she done with the first piece.

She done the same backstitch and straight line and left a space. Little did she know she had sewed the fabric to the sleeve of her cardigan.

With the smaller piece and flipped it so the the seem was on the inside.

WHAT The Heck was this? She flapped her arm and realized what she had done. Clearly she had let her nerves get the best of her.

“Yes, I understand that but magic is prohibited during a Muggle Studies lesson.’’ Unless Kay had otherwise said something. On the topic of her mother, she gathered that Juni didn’t want to talk about it so she said nothing further. Instead, noticing the girl’s distress, put a hand on her shoulder and encouragingly said, “All you need to do is to remain focused. Do you want me to help you undo that?’’ Juni’s cardigan didn’t need an extra piece, thank you very much.

SPOILER!!: Zita! <3

“That’s enough, Ms valla,’’ Kay said firmly. Clearly there was something going on between these two and it was quite obvious Zita was antagonising Juni. “You are not to say another word to Ms Primeaux for the duration of this lesson.’’ Or bear the consequences...

SPOILER!!: Lyn! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Birchwoodmom

After listening to Professor Stewart’s next set of instructions, Emmalyn picked up her cuff material to start sewing. She double checked to make sure right sides were together and it was folded properly. She sat her fabric on the machine, leaving about a half inch seam allowance, and readied her foot. Her grandmother had always taught her to keep her finger as far away from the needle as possible, while still maintaining control of the fabric. Not only would it hurt a lot to sew your finger, but the resulting blood could ruin the fabric.

She started sewing about an inch down from the top of the fabric to make a nice backstick. She did not want her stiching to come unraveled. She then proceeded to stitch down the length of the fabric until almost the very end, then back stitched to secure her thread. Lifting the fabric and thread off of the machine, she used the thread cutting tool on the back to remove the cuff circle from the machine.

Next, it was time to stitch the top. She placed her top fabric on the machine, starting at the folded end, preformed a quick back stitch and sewed down the first open side. Once she was about a half inch away from the next side, the proper seam allowance for such a project, she turned her fabric 90 degrees and finished off sewing down the next side. After making sure she completed a proper back stitch, she removed the top of the hat from the machine and trimmed any excess thread.

The last step for the current set of instructions was simply to fold the cuff of the hat in half. Emmalyn carefully folded the cuff so that right sides were facing out and the wrong sides were touching, keeping the seam allowances flat against each other in the middle. This was actually a very important step. She knew that if she let her seam allowances bunch up, it could make for an uncomfortable and bumpy looking finished product.

After she finished folding and smoothing her hat cuff, she started to get more excited about finishing. She could see how cute the hat was going to be with the right sides of the fabric now showing on the cuff.

The little hard working Hufflepuff that Kay was protective towards since the talk in her office was doing rather well. She nodded in approval after surveying Lyn’s work.

SPOILER!!: Olivia! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

Too caught up in helping Bel to fully hear what Professor Stewart was saying, the blonde kept her eyes trained on the machine. "It's going to help with how the stitches translate to the fabric. It should hold all your layers together, while you're doing the actual sewing." ...but she'd need to test out the machine for herself once they got to that step. Since it did seem like they would be sewing something in class today.

Gosh, yes, this Gryffindor was excited. Well, as excited as one could be over a potential class assignment.

....And because she had real life experience with sewing machines, Liv was comfortable leaving hers until a bit later; for after she could get Bel situated. The Hufflepuff girl had introduced herself, but Liv rarely forgot faces and names. She'd made Seeker for her house team! This called for an offered handshake! "Olivia Phillips, resident drama geek and verified bad mama." No bad language in class, she'd reminded herself; even if the wording sounded less impactful than she'd originally intended. "It's nice to meet you."

Hmph. Actually, without getting permission, Olivia stood and quickly made her way back to her own desk, putting some back into it to get it slid over to where the younger girl was working. It'd probably be better for Bel to go by example, since Professor Steward did have so many kids in this lesson who were struggling with with the steps. Not everyone had the background in theater costuming that she had. So, assuming this was okay since it was all in the name of helping another student, the blonde quickly caught herself up. She'd already wound ample thread around her bobbin. So, cutting the thread connecting the bobbin and spool would be next.

Also...... shifting her gaze between the Slytherin girl known as Zita.....and the Ravenclaw girl she'd just been sitting next to (Juniper), Olivia was forced to roll her eyes. These young girls.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Govoni

After she'd settled her desk into the new spot, the blonde grinned at the Puffer girl kindly. "I mean, I do mother the younger Gryffindor girls." Come to think of it, but an actual "mother," no. "But not in the offical capacity. I didn't birth them, or anything." Leaning down to switch-up the plugs for her machine, Liv made sure the short move hadn't messed up her progress. Huh.... everything looked to be in order, still.

....AND completely amused at the lengths Professor Paul had went to to include everyone in the play (in some way), Olivia beamed/grinned. "Professor Paul is one of my favorite teachers at this school. You're so lucky to have him as a Head of House." The Gryffindor could gush, but... Well, they were too busy for all that. "I'm playing the Scarecrow!..... and I was thinking about popping down to the greenhouses and offering my assistance with costumes." Since she had the experience and figured every small bit would help. Plays had so many moving parts!

Talk of fashion always engaged the Blonde One™. And it was no secret that she'd been a junior ambassador for O-Star for a few years now...but Olivia made no moves to mention this, as it was a magical brand. Though, she had walked in muggle fashion shows before. Actually, Olivia been working since a very young age, building up that résumé. "Fashion should be whatever makes you feel comfortable in your own skin." She was back to fiddling with her machine, commenting in a distracted sort of way. "I believe in clothes that encourage people to be their individual selves." For her, she'd been lucky enough to walk in both muggle and magical fashion shows. The best part has always been the free samples. Just putting that out there.

"I feel like we recycle trends a lot. Since words like Vintage and Retro are commonly used." It was hilarious how everyone always wanted to revisit the past through fashion, but at the same time.... it made all the sense in the world. What was creativity? What was originality? Ideas were reused and reinvented all the time! Nothing was truly original anymore.

Taking a small break from talking, the Gryffindor focused on the patterns and fleece material. Hats... Now, Liv loved a good hat as much as the next girl, but she preferred her's to be custom fitted to her head... and there wasn't a hat conformator in plain sight.

Well, that was rather unfortunate.

For now, she'd measure and cut the fleece, making use of the pins. Perhaps Liv could suggest purchasing one for the Muggle Studies classroom. It was a wonderful investment if you wanted the make the most fabulous hats. Obviously, even magic had it limits. So, there was nothing quite like manually-fitted head wear....

Snip, snip.

Snip, snip.

That was all that could be heard, as she went about sorting her fleece material. One thing Olivia could say.... it was of good quality. Very soft to the touch. "Where did you get this fleece, Professor?"

....... What?

Turning her attention back to Bel, who'd been working silently, Olivia's eyes widened. "Okay, take your foot off the pedal." There was no laughter or anything, since it wasn't the smol girl's fault (Liv would argue). This was a very advanced lesson, and probably shouldn't have been the first one dealing with sewing, since many of these kids had no knowledge of this type of equipment..... But she mentally digressed. "Let's get the fabric untangled." Even as she suggested it, her fingers were working the fleece loose.... Oh, she'd forgotten to drop the foot, which would guide the material for someone less skilled... Hm, and because she'd been in the process of backstitching, the pieces that Bel had been working with, couldn't exactly be salvaged. Well, they could.... if they wanted to sit here and cut out the thread, but that was kinda time-consuming.

If only they could use magic to remove it....

"Let's get you some more fleece and take it from the top, yeah?"

Quite helpful and patient this Gryffindor was. “Another three points, I think. Thank you for helping the younger ones out. Just be sure that you do not lag behind.

"This is yet something I agree on as well. We shouldn't be constantly influenced by what everyone is following. It's a good thing to be ourselves, wear what we're happy with. Fashion trends are always going and coming so yes, we'll find that they're 'recycled' as you put it.''

Mmm? The fleece? "Oh, I picked it up at a Muggle store before the term started. Do you like them? If so, if I have extra left after the lesson, you can have some.''

SPOILER!!: Bel! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

"....bad mama?" Wat. "You're a mum?" Bel asked curiously. The drama geek thing though, that was cool. "Oh drama, are you in the play? I'm not but I did volunteer to help Professor Myers out because I like being involved. I'll hold his clipboard and fetch him tea and things like that, whatever he needs!" And probably whatever the stars of the show needed too. And if Olivia was one of those stars, then that meant her too. She shook Olivia's hand. "Nice to meet ya too." The Australian girl said cheerfully.

More assistance was definitely needed. Bel was thankful for the help she had got so far but she didn't want to hold anyone else up so at first when Olivia went back to her original work station Bel just sort of mentally went 'oh' as well as 'oh well' but then she was right back, pushing tables together and depositing herself where Bel could watch.

Unstuck and ready to move on, Bel had.... no useful answer to the fashion questions. Because... well... she dressed for practicality really. Practicality and comfort. But she still wanted to attempt a response. In earnest she put her hand up. "Professor, I don't know much about fashion fashion, but there are practical trends which change too, like for motocross?" Which she did, "New technology in fabrics for better durability and safety, and also more breathable, and easier to wash and that sort of thing, There's science behind muggle fashion, which I think is just as important as what things look like." That's what Bel thought anyway. She put her hand down and eyed her mini sewing machine with doubt. That first set up thing was bad enough, was she actually going to have to sew something?

..... oh. Hats? That wasn't too bad, Bel supposed, though she was kind of not a big fan of any of the fabrics. Why weren't any of them more... plain? She picked the grey with the coloured stars. She put it down with the right side up (maybe? probably) and measured the bit of fabric. At least this part wasn't too hard. She could do measuring on her own, sticking pins in here and there to show out the measurements, then cutting appropriately. She looked around, quite proud that she didn't need to put her hand up for help for this bit. She had ended up with two pieces, one smaller than the other and folded in half.... with the back? She was thought it was the back, facing up.

.......ohhh no. Bel wasn't so sure about this bit. She hurried and tried to put the fabric under the foot thing but even figuring THAT out was a nightmare. Oh help. Oh no. Oh... THERE. She found the lever that lifted the foot up and put the fabric under it. Wait.... what was a backstitch? Bel understood what it was for with the explanation but she gaped a bit trying to see what exactly was going on with that. An inch? Um. Oh okay. Sew... the other direction? Okay. Okay she could do this.

Bel put her foot down on the pedal and..... the machine went crazy. Only... she hadn't put the little metal foot back down to guide things and so the sewing? Wasn't exactly what she had in mind, going wild, bunching up the fabric, general chaos.

But it was fiiiiine.

It was juuuust fiiiiiiiiine.

(Help).

"Olivia. Oh help. I made a blue of it."

“Yes, this is true. You mentioned motocross. Science is used to design the best and most reliable clothing that will help those athletes with conditions such as the wind among other factors. You are right. The science behind fashion is equally important.’’

Kay need not worry about Bel when it came to following the instructions. She was in good hands and by the looks of it, making a new friend. “Great job, Ms Macindoe.’’ Because the third year year was definitely trying her best.

SPOILER!!: Hattie! <3

Another nod of approval this time for Hattie. “Looks great so far, Ms Paton!’’

SPOILER!!: Patrick! <3

Yet another kiddo received a nod of approval. Though Kay completely missed Patrick not completing a back stitch. However, it was nothing major.

SPOILER!!: Skylar! <3

Hmm... a slightly bent stitch. Diagonal, in fact, but it didn't seem as though it would affect anything very much. Still, she gave Skylar the option have it redone. "You can start over. There's still lots of time before the class ends. Otherwise, I don't think the beanie will be affected.''

* * * * * * *

“We’re almost finished but what we need to do now is to insert the cuff into top part, aligning the seams and cut edges. As you do this, use the pins to join them together.’’ Kaysha stood beside her desk, taking her time to show the class how to get it done. “Go ahead, everyone!’’

They all were on track? Good!

“Take your hat and turn it so that it fits onto the machine, covering the front part.’’ She showed them exactly how. “We’re going to sew between two pins, removing them as we go along. The point of the pins is to provide so stability to the fabric so that you have the stitches uniformed.’’ Her gaze fixed on Maxton for a brief moment as she gave him a knowing look. “Stitch all the way around.’’ Kay began to do so, pausing whenever she came to a pin to remove it. She gave a nod when she was finished to signal that they may try it.

“Finally, we take the two corners of the top and put them together so that they overlap. Sew them together by performing a few back and forward stitches. Once that’s done, flip your beanie to the right side out and there you have it!’’

OOC: That’s the last of the instructions, folks! The final question will be posted tomorrow after which the class will end. Feel free to finish your catching up in the meanwhile

Waterloo · 01-30-2018, 11:43 PM

He tried not to sigh too loudly when Professor Stewart confirmed that wonky sewing could result in a wonky hat and advised him to start again. He'd walked into Muggle Studies thinking he had an advantage but that clearly wasn't the case.

Max started the measuring and cutting process again, while trying to pay attention to the Professor's next set of instructions.

He took the new piece of fabric and positioned it under the needle once again. Round two.

He tapped the foot pedal as gently as possible and this time tried to keep the stitching as straight as he possibly could. About one inch in, aaaaall the way down. When he reached the bottom, he clipped off the loose thread and held the fabric up to admire his handiwork. It still wasn't perfect, but it was a load better than his first attempt.

hermionegold · 01-31-2018, 12:23 AM

Text Cut: Professor Stewart

Perfect. Night was doing perfect. She still didn't understand the machine well enough to help the non-muggleborns, but her hat looked warm and cozy. No more cold ears this winter!

Oh, had Professor Stewart directed a question at her? "Well, kind of. My cousin used to do it, but I've never really been into it." The truth would have to come out eventually, Night decided.

lazykitty · 01-31-2018, 12:56 AM

Hats weren't really Ronan's thing, but maybe he could owl it to his cousin later? With that in mind, he chose one of the starry fabrics, the one that looked more star-spangled banner-y. And flip and flop and more zig-a-zig-ahing and he was ready to make the last stitch. Honestly, the hat didn't look too awful, just a few bad stitches from when he'd been unable to tune out the drama going on in the room He could sympathize with Juniper though. If someone had done that to him in class, he didn't know what he'd do. Though, not many beyond those who were in drama with him knew about his relationship with his dad (or lack thereof), so he was lucky in that sense.

Anywho, back to the hat. He pinned it as Professor Stewart had shown, then placed it on the machine. Carefully, he mashed the pedal with his foot and watched as the stitch was made. Pretty straight on, too. But, he forgot to remove the pins as he went along. Oops? Luckily, they hadn't been sewn into the fabric, so it was an easy thing to just pluck them out before folding the top together. Back and forth across the machine a couple of times, turn right side out and.....done!

Overall, it didn't look too bad. Still not something he'd wear, though.

DaniDiNardo · 01-31-2018, 02:41 AM

Huh? Jessa glanced up from her machine at the Professor's words, offering something of smile and a "Thanks Professor." in response. In all the work she'd done, following along with the woman's instructions, she hadn't actually considered it to be "doing good", simply doing whatever was being demonstrated before her. Being a kinesthetic learner, this was easiest for her. DOING the work as the process went along was how she learned.

Were the circumstances different, and this a more visual or theoretical lesson, chances were she may have been as lost as some of the others in the room.

In keeping with the way she'd already been following closely along, Jessa went on moving as the Professor did. She inserted the cuff into top part and aligned the seams. Before cutting, she grabbed a few more pins to keep the pieces together. Once she was sure there would be no awkward shifting, she cut the edges.

Yep, keeping on track.

The Ravenclaw took her hat--was it sad she didn't KNOW it was meant to be a hat?--and turned it so that it fit onto the machine in such a way that it covered the front part. Again she moved the fabric along the machine, in between the pins. The line still looked a little slanted if you asked her but for the most part, the Professor was right, the line managed to stay relatively straight. She stitched all the way around, removing the pins as she went along and they were no longer needed. Occasionally, she glanced back up at the woman's to ensure she was getting it right.

Satisfied with what she was seeing, Jessa took the two corners of the top and put them together to make them overlap. She sewed them together by doing both a set of back and forward stitches then with another flip could finally see what she'd been doing this entire time. Yeah, it kinda did look like a beanie, didn't it?

debpetrisor · 01-31-2018, 05:17 AM

SPOILER!!: ketchup

Oh, boy. The moment has come. The moment to use the scary machines.

Okay, he could do it. And hopefully not sew a finger in the process.

Carefully following the professor's instructions, he took the bottom of the pieces he'd cut out, and positioned it under the terrifying needle on the sewing machine. Was it going to just- go crazy when activated? Or whatever he had to do? Just press the pedal? Only out of curiosity, he pressed the foot pedal the slightest bit, and gasped when the needle became more dangerous than before and ticked once over the material before he released the pedal.

Deep breath.

Alright. One inch from the top to make a backstitch. He could totally do that. Holding onto the fleece at approximately one inch under the needle, Daehyun pressed the pedal for a second before releasing it, and moved the material just a little bit to continue sewing. Then pressed it a little longer, and moved the material a bit more. As he got more confident with it, he kept the pedal pressed as he moved along, only to realize in the end that the line he'd sewed was rather... wobbly.

But he supposed it wouldn't unravel.

To finish off, he did another backstitch by sewing upwards for one more inch, and did the same for the second fabric. The lines were anything but straight and even, but he supposed it would have to do. For the second fabric, he stopped at about an inch, and turned it to stitch the side in his anything-but-straight line. Aesthetics weren't his priority, anyway. First he wanted to make sure he would make a hat that kept itself together. Then he could practice more and work on aesthetics.

Flipping the small piece for the stitched seam to be on the inside, Daehyun admired his work. His disaster of a work.

... he needed to practice more with the sewing machine.

SPOILER!!: and some more ketchup

Daehyun let out a light sigh in relief when he'd heard they were almost finished. It wasn't that he didn't like the activity, but he didn't like not being good at it, so he was waiting to get more practice after class.

He inserted the cuff into the top part, hurrying to move along with the professor as to not be left behind and need to catch up when she finished giving out all instructions, and pinning the bits into place. He had a bit of difficulty stitching in between the pins, and mostly he was hesitant because he didn't want to stitch his fingers in the process, but eventually he'd done it. Stitching all the way around, he finished by sewing the two overlapping corners on top, and he was done.

... and his stitching was awfully wobbly when he'd flipped his new beanie over. But it'll do.

Dokimoto · 01-31-2018, 01:03 PM

It was crazy that fabric was so easy to cut up and manipulate. Like… this was the stuff that she wore on the daily, how did it not fall apart? And now was the part that Kye was low key afraid of… this machine that she was sure would end up putting her in the Hospital Wing. Goodbye fingers! Goodbye hand! Goodbye Quidditch career!

Very very very very very hesitantly, Kye stepped on the pedal to see what she was working with and ughhhhhhh could she just skip this part? With what may have been an audible groan, Kye placed the smaller strip of material under the needle, making sure her foot was far from the pedal. Okay, wait… so up? Up then down. The reason made sense, but visually, Kye was about ready to pull out her wand. She resisted the urge, but barely. Slowly, Kye tried to do what Professor Stewart had instructed. She pulled the fabric back toward her a little, before moving it in the opposite direction. She pushed the fabric through the machine, trying to get a straight line. It definitely wasn't a straight line, but she was paying closer attention to her fingers and keeping them from getting attacked by the little needle. She figured the sewing part was good enough though, because she was going so slow that there was no a fairly even wavy stitching. Could she pretend she had meant to make a wavy pattern? It was a style!... It was fashion! Who could say otherwise??

"Uhm... Professor? Is there a trend that involves making designs within the seam?" Because if not, there was now.

More to her surprise than anything else, Kye had finished her stitching, and she was able to flip it right side out. Yea… you could tell it wasn’t straight… but it could totally be worse!

Aaand now they had to use the pins. Great. More pointy things. This was a bit of a battle as well because she was trying to get the pin to go through all of the layers at once. After a bit of struggling, and (ow!) a pin prick later, Kye realized that she could put them through one at a time and it was probably more accurate that way. Once this part was complete, she was able to put the ‘hat’ onto the machine. She tried to make it a tad straighter than earlier, but still cared more for her fingers than anything. Slowly, she stitched the hat, removing the pins as needed.

Sigh of relief as she finished this part… Oh look, she made a fleece clutch. She made a few zig zag lines through the two corner pieces together, wondering how much was enough, before taking it off the machine and her foot away from the pedal again. Making a face that was full of hesitation and pre-emptive disgust, Kye flipped her beanie and was relieved to be done. She couldn’t imagine anyone buying her beanie, but at least you could tell that was what it was right?!

Birchwoodmom · 01-31-2018, 07:11 PM

It was time to finish her hat. She watched Professor Stewart demonstrate and deftly followed along. She tucked, folded, and pinned like it was second nature. Reading her machine for free arm sewing, she placed her hat in proper position. Emmalyn then decided on a zigzag stitch over a straight stitch to give the hat a little more give. She lightly pressed her foot on the pedal to start the machine off, removing pins as she went around.

After removing the hat from the machine, it was time to stitch the top corners together. She thought for a moment about doing on the sewing machine, but her grandmother had always told her that hand stitching would hold up better in the long run and was worth the extra time. She selected some thread and grabbed a needle from the table. Her stitches were tight and precise and only moments later she was able to flip her hat right side out and pop it on her head.

She loved her new hat. It was so soft and warm. Perfect for the cold winter weather that was just around the corner. She especially loved how she could pull it down, just over her ears, to keep the cool breezes out.

"Professor Stewart? I'm finished and I'd be happy to help anyone if they need it." Her smile was genuine and her servants heart hope someone would need some help finishing up.

Bazinga · 01-31-2018, 07:19 PM

She couldn't help the smirk on her face as it was very obvious Juni was having issues and flustered from what she had said. No one back stabbed or called her nasty names. Next time maybe Juni would think twice before trying to cause her problems again. She watched her fellow fourth year for a moment to see if she would try anything, but as soon as she saw Stewart's hand on her shouldn't she knew Juni wouldn't have the backbone to do anything.

So turning back to her project she followed the instructions and put the markings where told and marked them with pins. Placing the hate at the machine again she began to sew between the pins and gently took the pin out as she got to it and kept going. Removing another pin she was almost finished. Turning it and finishing up she pulled it to her and flipped it to the correct way and took a look. It was the very first thing she made and Zita thought she could rock this hat even if it wasn't truly perfect.

Govoni · 01-31-2018, 08:35 PM

SPOILER!!: Professor Stewart!

Perhaps not too helpful and patient... Her Martha Stewart wore pretty thin at times, but Bel was a sweet girl who reminded Olivia of herself, to be honest. Rough around the edges. "I might take you up on the offer. Fleece is always in." She'd create a pair of gloves to go with her hat, because matching was fun.

Hm.... Anyway, while she waited on Bel to decide what she wanted to do, the blonde gravitated back to her own machine. She'd left her material ready to go, in the event she'd need to quickly sew. So, it was nothing to move her bobbin to the space beneath the bottom needle. Lifting up that hatch, she slipped the bobbin into place, quickly sliding the plate back into place. There. Taking the end of the thread she'd cut earlier,gently between her thumb and forefinger, she moved to thread the needle. The eye of the needle was small so before doing this, she put the thread in her mouth, wetting it. This was something her mother always did and it always worked, so.... If it wasn't broke, don't find a way to fix it...

With the thread stiff from being wet, it slide into the eye easily. Liv pressed her pedal, smirking when it intertwined. Smirking... you could thank Corbin Stemp for that one.

Let's get done to business.... Mhm, Olivia was humming Mulan to herself as she quickly caught herself up with the sewing bit. This machine was smaller than what she was used to working with, but the stitching was clean and easily manipulated. She worked on the base seam after preparing the cuff, staring on the bottom as Professor Stewart had suggested. These types of hats were similar to beanies, so not a lot of effort went into them. Putting the fabric beneath the needle, she pressed the pedal, carefully guiding it upward. They were just working in straight lines, right? Nothing too fancy.... With that completed, she immediately switched the fleece around and hit the other side, with another clean, straight line.

Hm.... Maneuvering the cuff inside the remaining opened flap, Liv started pinning it. All the way around the brim of it, so she'd know exactly where to sew this thing. Oh, and stability, too....she supposed. With a few more pins inserted than probably needed, she got the fabric into position, wasting no time in putting her foot on the "gas". Carefully, though. so's not to stitch her finger to the hat. It happens, she'd seen herself do it before. So.

This took more time than necessary, but Olivia had wanted to make her's pretty. She'd actually wear it, given how cold it got in these drafty corridors. Especially with them moving between lessons so often. The castle was so old and there was really no insulation. The Lion was sure of that. As she neared each pin, it was carefully removed....so she could move the stitching forward again. Hm.

There.

All that was left to do was to sew these corners together, which was a cute look. It gave the finished product a precious silhouette. If Olivia could liken it to anything, it would be the dwarfs hats from Snow White. Just, you know, less floppy. Actually, this part really required no type of skill and was easily checked off. So... bringing the two corners together, Liv placed them beneath the needle, pressing the pedal again. Back and forth. That's all it was. Basically, backstitching, but... eh. Tomato, tomato.

....and Olivia continued humming the melody of I'll Make a Man Out of You.

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