A new year, a new hobby

I'd like to say I've been spending the last few weeks of summer vacation getting ready for the new year, that isn't quite true.  I have definitely been relaxing and enjoying every minute of what's left of my leisure time.  I went to the sewing class last week, which was so awesome!  I made this really cute tote bag, which as you can see from the pictures is reversible.  I've been gleefully toting my tote bag around like a proud mother hen. 

Besides having an awesome new tote bag to haul around my school stuff, I also have a new hobby.  A new hobby that I'm learning for the first time.  Get it?  It took me a few minutes to realize this during the intensive sewing class I was in, this Señorita in the City is once again a student.  Woo hoo!  


Most people who know me outside of this blog know that I love being a student, and I love being in school.  In fact I love all parts of learning a new subject, the studying, the homework, the lectures.  But, I've discovered that learning a new skill is completely different. Completely.


 I found myself so frustrated at the beginning of the class, I hadn't even started sewing yet, I was just setting up the machine!  I wasn't understanding what I was doing wrong, and after asking so many questions and feeling completely dumb, I thought that maybe sewing wasn't for me.  The instructor showed us on her machine how to set up the different threads, and then had us return to our machines to do it.  If I had any doubts about my being a kinesthetic learner, I have no more.  I definitely need to be doing something in order to learn it.  I thought about my frustration and my wanting to give up after such a short period of time, and thought to myself "Hmm, I wonder how many students feel this way when they are first starting off learning Spanish".  Hmm, what a great lesson for a teacher to have a mere two weeks before returning to the classroom.  Sure, we reflect on our teaching practices, what we think works, doesn't work, etc.  How often do we reflect on our experiences as learners?  Not enough, I say.


I was surprised by how impatient I was with myself.  After awhile though, (and after switching machines) I was happily buzzing along, my frustration and motivation eventually joining together and giving birth to the tote bag you see above.  


Since the class, along with relaxing, I've been researching sewing machines.  Well, first I went to Barnes and Noble, and sat down with a humongous stack of sewing books (by humongous I mean 5, in my defense the books are pretty hefty).  I settled on this book, Sew Everything Workshop by Diana Rupp.  I'm super excited about the projects in there (can you say wrap around skirt?!). 




 The book has great instructions, and lovely pictures as well.  What really sold me on the book was the section explaining what to look for when purchasing a sewing machine.  I took Diana's advice (yes, we're on a first name basis) and decided on this little baby.


I'm sure I'll be as pleased with my new sewing machine as I am with the book.  I just have to wait super long until Amazon ships it to me.  Oh well, I'm not going to pretend I don't have plenty of school stuff I need to work on that can keep me busy.