From the class Space and Materiality · Learning Portfolio post, December 9, 2019
Introduction to the Sewing on the Tabletop Machine in the Making Center
Genevieve Jezick
Wednesday 8/21
1:30 – 3:30
Making Center
In this workshop, I was introduced to and taught the basics of using a domestic sewing machine, in particular, the Singer machines that are available to check out at the making center. The first thing I was taught at this workshop was how to set up the sewing machine by installing the needle, spool, bobbin, and presser foot. After setting the machines up we were introduced to the dials on the machines which include dials for stitch type, length, and width respectively. Once the sewing machine was set up and the needle was threaded we began making practice stitches on some scrap muslin. We had to present a straight stitch, a right angle stitch, a curved stitch, and a zig-zag stitch. Once our practice stitches were approved we started to make a pattern for a little pouch with a cover. This taught me the purpose and importance of a seam allowance, a vital piece of any sewing project. For a splash of color before sewing the pattern together we used crayons to embellish the muslin with a design. I personally drew a fish. The most important lesson I learned during this workshop was to always keep a small piece of scrap fabric under the needle if you want to pick up or move your main piece.
Intro to Model Making
Christian Nguyen
Wednesday 10/2
7:00-9:40 pm
L503
The Intro to Model Making workshop completely blew me away. I learned so many tips and tricks that now seem obvious but I never would have thought of otherwise. We started off the workshop by making a 2D sketch of a cloud. This cloud was then transferred onto a piece of cardboard and a side profile of the cloud was drawn on a secondary piece of cardboard. The clouds were then cut out as we were told to never use a knife to cut a curve. Instead, we were told to cut many straight lines that approximate this curve. To make these 2D drawings into a 3D model a slit was cut down the center of one and up the center of the other from the midpoint of the cardboard. These slits were the width of the cardboard, allowing for each piece to slide into the other, creating a 3d cloud with 2 perpendicular planes. A crucial step to the design process is drawing and sketching which was also heavily covered, in particular, orthographic drawing. The trick that is so simple yet completely blew my mind was a trick on how to divide something that doesn’t break down into whole inches into any amount of segments without doing any math. Pretty much all there is to it is to slant your ruler. Say you have a 4-inch square piece of paper that you want to split into 7 segments. All you have to do is slant the ruler until the 0 is on one edge and the 7 is on the other edge, then simply draw a mark at each inch and finally draw the straight lines you want from those segments. I think about this trick every day it honestly shook me to my core. Another quick trick we learned was to quickly align a ruler you should put your pencil down on the point you want then move the ruler to the pencil instead of the other way around.
Intro to Joinery and Basic Carpentry Skills
Christian Nguyen
Wednesday 10/30
7:00-9:40 pm
L503
In this workshop, I learned the basics of how to cut manipulate and join wood. This workshop very much revolved around tools. One of my favorite tools that I learned about was the Japanese wood saw. This saw is very thin and flexible which makes it very precise. It acts almost like a piece of paper when it is pulled it is always straight. We were also introduced to the chisel during this workshop and along with it the most important rule for using a chisel, T-rex hands! What T- rex hands are is the proper way to hold and use a chisel, it’s crucial for safety. You have to hold your hands as close as you can to your body and apply force using the weight of your body. We were shown how to make simple joints such as butt joints, lap joints, and mortise joints.
Compression and Interlocking Joinery
Christian Nguyen
Wednesday 10/30
7:00-9:40 pm
L503
In this workshop, I learned more advanced forms of wood manipulation and joinery. More specifically we were shown how to make joints such as rabbet joints, mortise and tenon joints, dado joints and dovetail joints. We also were shown the proper way to use wood glue to reinforce a joint. The wood glue should never be used on the end grain of a piece of wood as the grain will absorb the glue and it will not hold. Wood glue should only be used on the smooth faces of the wood. My favorite lesson that I learned during this workshop was that certain Japanese Carpenters will make the male parts of their joints slightly smaller than the female parts and then add a slight bit of water to the male part to make it bulge up to size and fit the joint perfectly.
Originally posted on my Parsons Learning Portfolio.