The Final Product

Modeling the completed dress

I have been helping/teaching a girl from church to make a dress to fulfill a Personal Progess goal.  She asked me to help her a couple of months ago but because of my busy schedule and the holiday's it has taken a while but today we finished. I am very proud of her and her final product.  And she seems genuinely happy with it.

When she first asked me to help her I was both excited and apprehensive.  Excited because I love to sew. I make pretty elaborate costumes every Halloween and get great joy and fulfillment out of creating clothes and crafts.  I think that I have a talent when it comes to sewing and was eager to share that talent and possibly instill an interest in sewing in someone else. 

My apprehension stemed from the fact that I when I make clothing it is always for me. I know how to sew for myself and measure and fit to myself.  I know the standard that I like to meet and things that I will let slide.  So I was afraid that I would not be able to translate my knowledge to someone else.  Also, I am not confident in my teaching abilities.  I learned to sew by having my mom teach me and observing her but mostly by doing. I don't have any formal training. So I was very nervous about whether I would be able to articulate to another person how to do each step.

There were moments when my fears seemed to be confirmed. I would try to explain how to do a particular step and the words just wouldn't come.  Then I would take the fabric from her and proceed to show her what needed to be done while trying to explain, which made me feel bad like I was doing it for her, which I wasn't trying to do and I hope that she didn't feel that way. I realized that I am a visual and tactile learner and thus teacher. I have to see and do it to be able to explain how to do it. There were times when I would tell her to do something and realize after the fact that my explaination was incorrect or unclear and we would have to go back and fix it, which made me feel bad.   I know I confused her quite a bit.  I think that if I were doing it again I would have two machines and make a dress along with her.  So that I could show her how to do it while explaining and at the same time not feel as if I was taking the experience away from her.

Overall I think that it was a good experience for both her and I.  It was very gratifying to see her excited as the dress began to actually look like a dress. And feel the relief of having the dress fit when she first put it on.  And finally her excitement today as we did the final pressing and she talked about how she could wear it to a dance that she was hoping to go to tonight.  There are a few spots that lay a little funny and a few stitches that show that might not necessarily should but overall it is a very well made dress. Even if she never wears it besides for the picture I think that she should be very proud of her accomplishment.  I am very proud of her. And of myself, that I didn't let my apprehension stop me from helping her with this experience.