I didn’t realise how much I had missed sewing until this week.
Everyone has that one part of a job that they look forward to doing the most and over the past couple of months, it’s the sewing that I have been looking forward to. This week's top priority was toiling and while Cristina worked on the pattern for one toile, I got to sew the other!
It was nerve-racking at first, knowing that we have limited time and any mistake I might make would set us back. The other factor playing on my nervous was the sewing machine. It had been a fair while since I had used an industrial sewing machine but also this machine was of a different, older make. This meant there was no digital speed adjuster or limit, instead it was just the my foot on the peddle. I had a practice first and not realising just how fast the machine would go, the stitching shot off in a wonky line along the fabric. With a few more practices, I began to get used to the feel of the machine and I was ready to begin the toile. I had never thought much about having to adapt to different machines in the industry. I have always felt confident on both my domestic machine and the uni industrial machines as these are the only machines I have ever known. It hadn’t crossed my mind that by switching to a new machine, I would lose both confidence and some of my skill. I’m pleased to have crossed this experience in my internship, as it was understood why it took me a while to get back into the sewing, rather than if I was to come across this problem when working in the industry.
As the week went on, I got to grips with how the basics of the shirt were sewn. Although the styles differ in many ways. The collar, cuffs and button are the same across a range of the designs. This was beneficial with my speed of sewing and after doing a couple I began to find it easy to put these parts together. It was rewarding to see the styles come together and get signed off from head office along the way, especially knowing the part that I had playing in the development process.
Another rewarding moment during the week was the arrival of the denim buttons. The buttons, as mentioned before had been a project that I was working on, I had sourced, designed and created the PO for the trim and finally this week I was able to see the finished product. For the production to be confirmed, we had been sent a sample pack containing some of the final pieces. It was great to see the work that I had been doing over the past few weeks, had all come together and have been created into something that looked great and was soon to be put into production. I hope that over the course of my internship, I will get to experience more of this.
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