new camera

These are not fancy pictures. The first two are of the same plant with and without zoom sitting in the exact same spot.

 This one is obviously of my keyboard using my amazing macro!  The lens was practically TOUCHING the keyboard!  Look at that piece of fuzz you can see!

I'm off to take more pictures that I'm sure will be posted here soon.

accidentally western shirt

I went downtown last weekend to Border's just to buy a magazine.  Oh, but it's not just any magazine, no, this was/is Burda World of Fashion.  The subscription is $80/year so I wanted to make sure I liked it before I ordered.

The magazine is German, thankfully translated.  Inside each issue is 40-70 patterns!  I've made two from the issue I bought and I am in LOVE!  They are stylish and do not need any altering.  When I make clothes from the big 4 (McCall's, Simplicity, Vogue and Butterick) things never turn out right.  The two shirts I've made turned out great!

I do not have pictures of the first shirt I made, since i've worn it so many times this week it's now drying after a wash.  But here is the second shirt I made.  The fabric turned out to be a little more flashy than I was hoping for so I threw on some pearl snaps and made it a western shirt!  

 

Clothing and who makes it

So I was reading this article on Neatorama that is actually a guest blog from the author of the book Where am I Wearing: A Global Tour to the Countries, Factories, and People that Make Our Clothes 

It makes me wonder what I should do.  I feel awful that people in far off countries are making my clothes for $22/month.  They live in one room homes with 7 other people.  I feel so angry and want to never buy clothes again.

Then I realize this is their only source of income.  Some people have left their homes, families and previous jobs because they can make more money by being garment workers.  If I stop buying their clothes how will they make a living?

Right now it's a moot point for me as I have no money to buy clothes anyway.  Hopefully in a year my situation will change and I'll have to make a decision.

In other news, it's a sunny 40-something degree day and my bike tires are pumped up and ready to go to the gym. yay for bikes!

back to the grind

My three weeks off are over. I went back to my practicum today and start work and my classes again tomorrow. It felt surprisingly good being back in the classroom.