Blog Posts

#1

For my Genius Hour project, I have decided to focus on how to design and create an outfit. This topic is important to me because it is something that I have wanted to learn how to do for a long time, and this project is the perfect opportunity to do so. Many of the people I look up to are clothes designers or are related to fashion somehow, and that is where I got the inspiration to do this from. As well as those people, my mom and one of my teachers are very knowledgeable about this topic, and I will be able to gain information from them during my project. I feel like learning to create an outfit will help me gain many new skills, including sewing and cohesiveness, as well as following directions. Some of my goals for this project are to learn how to sew without having to redo everything five times, buy and be able to measure out the correct amount of fabric for my outfit, and eventually create a top and pair of pants. As of now, I am not sure what exact kind of clothes I will create, but plan on sketching out some ideas soon. I will measure my goals by how much I have accomplished each week, how I manage my time, and how my skills have improved over time. I'm looking forward to seeing how this project goes!

#2

This week, I have learned how to create an outline for a t-shirt from an already existing shirt. You fold it in half, pin the perimeter, and trace the outline for both sides. Then, you wash and dry the fabric you want to use and start cutting it to fit the outline as well as a ribbing to hold it together. After that is done, you can start sewing. I have learned also learned the style of shirt that I am going for, and decided that I am going to add a pocket to it after it is complete. Also, I've learned that Mrs. Stribling is a great source of information for my topic, and will be very helpful once I get into full swing with the project. The source I used this week was a website tutorial over how to sew a shirt. It was very descriptive while still being simple for a beginning clothes maker. From here, I plan on researching the cost of the fabrics I need and the amount. I also need to find the style of pants that I want to create and look for an outline for those. This week I feel that I have really just clarified the idea that I am going to accomplish and began getting started on the how-to.

#3

This week, I have had the opportunity to go to a fabric store with my mom to look at different patterns and fabrics for my outfit. The store we went to was Joann's, and we intentionally went to look at fabric, but we ended up looking at the sewing patters for about an hour. I have decided to ultimately make a pair of shorts since summer is coming up and I could use a cute pair of shorts. While at Joann's, I looked through many of the sewing pattern books that they had there to get some extra inspiration for my outfit, and had no luck with finding anything that I really loved the look of. Although I was not able to find anything at that particular store itself, I found a pattern book that I liked very much on the Joann's website. It costs $15 for the book, and it is in the Austin location. Below this post I will have a picture of the shorts I plan on making. From here, I plan on looking at some more sewing patterns and inspirations for the top, because now after seeing the many options that I have, I have decided that I no longer want to make a plain t-shirt when I can make something way more stylish with the same tools. This week I feel that I have made some changes in the style of my outfit for the better that will make it way more original and interesting.

#4

This week, I have decided that a tank top would be a much better option for the type of material and style of clothing that I am going for. Also, I was finally able to make up my mind and buy some fabric to make my outfit. My mom and I went back to Joann's, spent about 2 hours getting all the perfect materials, but came out with some really cute fabric. Actually, we went shopping at academy before going to buy fabric and I found some sandals that I used as my inspiration for the fabric that I bought. Below I have a picture of the stuff that I came home with, and I plan on working on this project over the weekend with my mom and granny as my guides. The floral print is cotton fabric that I am using to create the tank top, and the turquoise is a light denim fabric that I am using to make the shorts. I have also decided that the easiest and most stylish thing to do with the shorts is to make them button up on the sides rather than having to create a zipper, button, pockets, etc. Wish me luck on starting the actual sewing process this weekend!

#5

This week I have completed the tank top portion of my outfit, as well as getting at least half of my shorts done. I did not end up using the exact pattern mentioned from blog post 3, but it is something extremely similar to that. The tank top that I created is made from the floral fabric shown in the picture from my last blog post, and is trimmed with a red ribbing with lace on the bottom. Instead of using a template to make this tank top, I used a dress that I already had to get the general outline of the top, and then leaving some extra room for seams and length. In total, it probably took me about a whole day to finish, from the moment after I finished breakfast to the time I went to bed, including breaks for snacks and finishing my driver's ed. Honestly, it probably would have taken a lot longer without the much needed help from my mom. In total, I feel like I have gotten a lot more completed than I thought was possible in a pretty short amount of time for the shirt, but the shorts are a totally different story. I actually have had to redo the pair of shorts I'm working on multiple times, and it is so much more difficult than I thought it would be. I'm very glad I decided to do this project though, because as well as learning the new skill of making an article of clothing, it has also taught be how to be patient. And don't worry, once the shorts are finished, I'll be sure to add a picture of both items to this page. Wish me luck!