Lauren Hadley, Lab

            This week, I was finally able to use the sewing machine! I was so excited. I was asked to being creating a patchwork vest for Bert to wear during Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious scene of Mary Poppins. My first step was to choose fabric for the different patches. Sis. Dooley suggested to choose some colors which matched the other actors in the scene. I choose brown to match the customers, blue and pink to match Miss. Corry and her daughters, and random patterns to add dimension the vest. I then worked with Sis. Dooley to determine how many single patches would be sufficient to create the entire vest. We decided on 10x10 with each patch, or square, being 5 inches all around. Next, I cut each individual square or fabric using a pizza cutter like device (I am not sure the proper name). It did take me a couple of hours to cut out all the patches because I wanted to make sure all the edges were as straight as possible and that each side of the square was 5 inches long. Also, because some of the fabric I chose had been sitting for so long, they had many folds and creases which needed to be ironed out before cutting. After all 100 squares were cut out, the real magic begun. I now needed to assemble all the patches together to create one big quilt. Initially, sewing the patches together was difficult and tricky because you couldn’t stop. After you sew a straight line along the side of one patch, you quickly but carefully, add another patch without ending the stitch. Confusing? Yes it was. I was only able to finish one row of 10 patches before I had to leave. Hopefully I can finish the entire project by next class period.