Academic Writings: Narrative Essay (2021)

Last week, I had a bunch of cheap fabric and materials for a project that was due for a volunteer event. It was important that I had two skirts and a structured bodice with boning and cinching. In addition to meeting all the requirements for this event. I had all of the resources I needed to start on it. However, once I had gathered everything, it dawned on me! I only had a week and a half to turn all of this into a wearable, durable costume. Making costumes from scratch usually takes me all day, let alone repairing them. It would take me long enough to make one long straight stitch, but I’d have to double or triple over each one to make it strong. It wasn’t until I brought up the problem to both my best friend and Jarrett, another good friend of mine, that the problem would be resolved. I was introduced to my volunteer group by Jarrett, and he gradually helped me come out of my shell by taking me out to social gatherings. Prior to asking him for help, I was just a friend he played Dungeons and Dragons with. I now ask for his assistance more often when it comes to sewing and patterning.

Up until now, I had only ever stitched by hand. Growing up our sewing machine was always broken. Any time that my grandmother did have a working sewing machine, I would be spooked by the noise it made and the needle being too fast. So, the thought of using a big, loud sewing machine with a needle that can go up to 1600P absolutely terrified me even as an adult. Here was the problem: We have a sewing machine but every sewing machine we’d owned was ‘play-tested’ by my best friend who would tell me how broken it was! I was very distraught that I’d have to sew so much with so little time. This was an issue because I had a volunteer event in a week that required durable costumes for a three-day period, and I was stressed from the due date being so near. So, even with my patterns and resources, I was obstructed by this intimidating but unresponsive contraption with which I was unfamiliar. I wanted to give up, and I was inconsolable for weeks about how far behind I was. I even considered dropping out of the group, citing my inexperience and life troubles.

I turned to Jarrett for guidance. I was at a meeting for his guild, a ‘rival’ to my volunteer group; he was sewing for one of the members on this gorgeous 1980s Kenmore Ultra-Stitch 6. It was only afterwards that I found out it was a tunic. For the few hours I was spending time there I couldn't take my eyes off of it. He had noticed, and coerced me into sitting at his sewing table, giving me a few pieces of scrap fabric, and walking me through the relatively easy process of pushing the foot peddle and holding the fabric in place. He showed me how to thread the machine and took some of it apart to ease me in. Eventually, showing me how to adjust the tension, and run-over stitches to make them sturdy. I was absolutely mesmerized. Apparently, it had sparked him enough to ramble passionately about the make and model. He told me just how reliable older sewing machines are, and how much he adored them. I then described my problem to him with my sewing machine. It’s a brand-new Brother 888-X64, which would tangle thread at the back of any fabric it sewed. I was torn that even though we had just bought it, it had refused to sew properly. After theorizing that it may just be a tension problem, he offered to take a look at it after work one day. With just an offer, my problem would be resolved.

The night he came over, I had messed with the machine a bit as he had taught me. Threading the bobbin through appropriate hooks to fill it, then popping it into the bobbin case below the needle. Afterwards, seamlessly threading the needle itself, which was the easy part. I was enjoying myself, just with the little sewing lesson from him a few days prior. However, the tangling thread issue still persisted, I wasn’t too bothered as the fabric was still coming out durable. However, this would be a detriment to an actual costume’s pattern, you never want messy threads on a shirt or a jacket that could be pulled. Jarret had spent almost an hour adjusting the tension dials and trial-sewing scraps of fabric that I’d had leftover from cutting out patterns. After fiddling with the parts and skimming through the manual, he had found the issue. Jarrett had concluded that we had all missed the tiny tension hook meant for the bobbin at the back of its bay. He then showed me how to thread the bobbin properly around the hook and adjusted the dials once or twice more, that had had cleaned up the messy threads! I was able to finish my costume with no issue, I was even able to add some flair to it by the end. Even now, I’m itching to start a new project to improve my skills.

I’ve always had this problem, I’m much too afraid to ask for help. Even with a problem that was so stressful and important to me. But having a second pair of eyes really made a difference, and sometimes another person’s skill can really influence our own. If I hadn’t gone through this with the help I had, I may have given up on sewing entirely. For all I know, my skill could grow professionally, and I could start making costumes as a career someday. Knowing that, I must really work on communicating when I have a problem that could be easily solved just by asking a friend. Here’s the happy ending: I finished it on time and had a blast volunteering and roaming the faire that weekend!