Week 7

This past week was very difficult for me to find time. I couldn't find a good amount of free time to start on my blanket, and I wanted an hour or so to start on it but my schedule did not allocate it. When planning this project, I gave myself two weeks to sew my blanket because I figured it might take awhile, especially if I mess up. Not being able to start sorta bummed me out, and I completely spaced out my blog for the week. I have designated Monday and Thursday as my big work days. If I have to, I even might blue pass out of sixth period on Thursday to make sure it is a quality product and not rushed.

Along with working on my blanket, I plan to also work on my Ted Talk this week so it is not rushed. There will be plenty of time as I only work Tuesday and Wednesday this week, so the responsibility is all on me. In my Genius Hour planner I stated that procrastination will get in the way of the completion of the blanket. I no longer believe this as I am eager to get this done with.

Week 6: Buying Fabric

This past week I ventured out to the Walmart Super-center. My mother came along with me to buy other groceries such as clothes hangers and cat food to keep the Muri homestead thriving. The top of my grocery list was getting materials for my project.

Picking the right fabric that fit me was easy. There was not much variety in the fabrics I planned to make my blanket from, but that did not matter to me because the fabric I chose looked sleek and was very soft for an unbeatable price. My original plan was to travel to Billings or to the amazing fabric store in Glendive to get my materials, but I wanted to make a ginormous blanket and did not want to plunge myself into debt for top line fabric. In this case I picked quantity over quality. Although, I am pleased with my choice. Prices can run up when you are purchasing five yards of fabric.

I will not be posting pictures of my fabric so I can keep it somewhat of a surprise to my peers. I have enjoyed my time so far, and even the blogs are growing on me. Kaden said earlier that he needed a button fixed on a pair of a pants, and possibly he would let me sew it back on so I could keep practicing. These weeks leading up to Christmas could very well be a struggle, but I am very eager to begin.

Week Five

My dearest friends, the time has finally arrived upon us. Phase One of my project is complete. It is now time to initiate Phase Two, that being the blanket. Phase One of my project was just covering the basics of sewing. That ranges from sewing a button on to learning the pattern of sewing. I believe I can do the simple tasks of sewing efficiently, which gives me confidence going into the making of my blanket.

The calm before the storm is referred to a period of unusual tranquility or stability that seems likely to presage difficult times according to an online idiom dictionary. "The calm before the storm" sums up the past couple weeks to a T. The longer period for this stage of my genius hour would have been perfect to start the blanket, but it did not fit my plan I created at the beginning of this venture. Instead, I used this time to watch videos and research how to make a blanket from two pieces of fabric. 

My mom hails from a family somewhat notorious for sewing. Sounds goofy, but it is true. Most of the family lives in Three Forks, Montana. This is where my mother lived the first twenty years of her life. The population of Three Forks is about 2,000 people, so everyone is familiar with each other. My Aunt Tanya is amazing when it comes to a needle and a thread, so much in fact that when people in Three Forks need something fixed or made, they turn to her. She's even in a quilting club that meets once a week, so you could say she is pretty invested.  All of this background knowledge may seem pointless, but it shows my resources available for the material I am covering. Having my family as a resource for this project is extremely helpful as I do not have to get every piece of information from videos and articles. This makes learning the subject so much easier and I am very thankful. If I ever get stuck in a rut while making this blanket, I know exactly who to turn to :). 

Week 4 Sewing A Button Myself

Greetings, fellow bloggers. I have finally tackled the task of sewing a button on by myself. It was fairly easy to do once I got the hang of things, although I did have my struggles. It sounds silly, but I had trouble threading the needle. It was a small problem, but I could not seem to be able to get it the first couple attempts.


My second struggle of three was messing up on threading through the wrong button hole. It only happened a few times, but it still was a mini battle that I eventually conquered. Failing during this project has just made it more enjoyable for me oddly enough. The feeling of completing these sewing projects will be so much sweeter knowing how much I have improved in an area I knew nothing about.

My final hiccup was tying the knot. No, not marrying but actually tying the knot on the button after the cross pattern was formed. Sewing a button may not excite the normal crowd, but it does excite me. I am inching closer and closer to starting on the final phase of my project, and I'm very excited to begin.

Week Three Learning to Sew

This project has been moving along smoothly so far. There have not been many challenges to myself yet, but I can almost guarantee I will run into struggles once I start on the blanket. This past week I watched my mom sew a button back onto my father's pants. She walked me through it, but I did not attempt to do it myself because that is what I will be doing next week.

Instead of using a sewing machine to repair the button, my mother used a needle and thread and did it by hand. It was a simple pattern to do and seemed easy enough that even someone like me with little to no artistic skill could do it. I guess we will see how I do next week.

To sew a button onto thread, a simple cross pattern is used through the four holes on the button. I remember for the most part how-to do it but I will most likely need a small refresher when I go to do it myself. I will practice on a piece of fabric, and if someone needs their button sewed back on a shirt or pants I can do that once I gain experience.

So far this project has been pretty laid back, but I am extremely excited to continue on with it
and I hope that I am able to do it myself. I am still not sure how exactly the pictures work on Blogger, so sorry in advance if they format poorly.

Week Two

The past week of my project has been relatively quiet for the most part. On Thursday, I watched a woman sew a blanket from two separate pieces of fabric, which is what I am aiming to do. The video was probably a bit extra for what I needed it for, but it sure kept me entertained for the fourteen minutes I watched it. She made it seem like it was almost a vlog (video blog), but like I said, I am not complaining as the video did help. 

Like I imagined, the fun of my project will not start until the first segment of genius hour is about halfway through. The first month or so is mainly learning from videos and watching my mother do it, so it really feels like I haven't done anything yet for my project while others seem miles ahead in their projects. I need to have faith in my project so I will not lose interest, especially knowing that my project will start to get real interesting within a few more weeks...

Sewing

Hello everyone! First off, I would like to state that I have never done anything even close to this, but to my avail, here I am, so stay with me. I will be sharing with you my journey of mastering sewing. Well, not really but I am going to give it a shot. From this point on until just before Christmas, I will be tackling the skill of sewing, ranging from minuscule projects such as sewing a button back on a shirt, to a more advanced project of sewing my own blanket. I have never been a crafty person when it comes to these things, so this will provide a big challenge for myself. I chose this topic because mom won't be there in college to fix the holes/buttons on my clothing, and I feel it will be a valuable skill to have in my back pocket. Besides, who doesn't want their own blanket?

For the starting of this project, I had to make a shark tank pitch describing my project to the class. A planning sheet was also made to keep myself on track during these few months so I do not fall behind. I am comfortable with my classmates, so the public speaking was not an issue. I believe my pitch went well.

My plan for this project is simple. Start with instruction, followed by some basic projects, and eventually working my way up to finish with a more arduous project of creating a blanket. I will rely on my mother, internet articles, YouTube, and possibly a book or two to teach me the ways of sewing.

This project will be a success if I am able to learn a thing or two about sewing, if I can complete simple tasks using a needle and thread, and if I can finish this monster of a project with the blanket. There is no doubt in my mind that there will be failure, but as my baseball coach once said, "Failure is just a tool in the shed of success." Most importantly, I hope to have fun with myself learning on this new area I am not familiar with. I look forward to catching up with all of you as I share my process on this tough road ahead of me!