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 Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:06 pm
"Unless they added something while I wasn't looking," Iloraz joked, twirling the thimble around. "I think so."
He glanced down at the pair of pants he had snagged to repair, looking for where it needed to be fixed. It didn't look like this pair was too bad yet, only beginning to rip at the knees, but he knew that it was best to fix it now, before it got much worse. Or at least that was what Aunt Lorana was always complaining about, with the little ones in the creche having a tendency to have torn pants.
He licked the end of the thread, and began to thread it through the needle, finding it to go through easily. Of course, this was the easy part; the actual sewing part was where he had problems.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 9:27 pm
Zhierd watched some of the other students for a few minutes trying to find out what he needed to do. He supposed if he waited long enough Folen would tell him but he didn't much like being singled out. Looking to one of the boys near him, Zhierd saw him pushing some of the thread through the needle. It looked simple enough. The boy carefully picked up the needle so as not to poke himself and grabbed some of the thread.
Okay now how did this work exactly? Examining the needle, he found there was a small hole on the end. That must be where they put the thread through, he thought. Finding the end of the thread he brought it up to the needle and tried to thread it through. It was rather difficult because it took so much concentration that his hands shook. The needle was also so small it was hard to get the thread through the hole.
After a few minutes Zhierd finally managed to work the thread through the hole, but not without a few war wounds. He knew it was rather stupid but he had somehow managed to poke himself a few times. Slowly the boy looked around for something he could use to bandage himself. He had one small wound that wasn't really very bad at all, he had simply just nicked the skin a bit but it was bleeding quite steadily. He was still amazed at how he had managed to do it. In any case it was best to bandage it before he started to get an infection.
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Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2009 10:59 pm
Jadamirei shoved the needle through the pants almost viciously, the sound of the needle hitting her metal thimble an audible clink. One blue eye was on the other two taking lessons; she didn't want to get shown up by two strangers, even if this was a lesson for the sewing inept.
Iloraz threaded the needle like a professional, and it was Zhierd who cut himself open first. Jadamirei caught his eye as he looked around- for a bandage, maybe?- and stuck a finger in her mouth, pointing at it as though it were bleeding and then repeating the gesture.
Spit worked for her on most of her sewing battle wounds.
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Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 1:22 am
Oh where were they? He knew someone ought to have expected battle wounds and left them bandages. With a little sigh he started to give up and then saw Iloraz's gesture. What was it she was trying to tell him? He watched as she repeatedly put her finger back into her mouth and finally realized what she was trying to tell him. Quickly, Zhierd repeated the gesture on his own and the pain started to subside a bit and he hoped that the bleeding would soon stop.
Throwing a grin Iloraz's way he moved to sit next to her. Perhaps the two of them could get to know each other a little better. It would at least be nice to know someone else here. Especially if he was going to be maiming himself like this. Taking his finger out of his mouth and looking at it, he still wasn't entirely sure just how he had managed to get such a deep cut. At least he got the needle threaded, but what about the actual sewing? Zhierd paled a little at the though and gulped. Well, if he was ever going to ride against the thread and imprint he had to learn to take the pain.
Turning his attention back to the girl he tried to strike up a bit of conversation. "Hey, thanks for the suggestion." He said.
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Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 7:13 am
Folen shook himself, he had been waiting for everyone to finish getting settled and apparently wandered off in thought.
"Bandages?" Folen asked Zhierd. "I brought some. They must have been covered by a blanket. Ah yes, here they are, if you need anymore." He said uncovering them.
"I'm afraid there really isn't much advice I can give you about threading a needle. It's just a matter of practice. Holding the needle between your thumb and the finger wearing the thimble will help keep it in place while you attempt to thread the needle. You should have less slippage that way. Also try to have as much light as possible. It will help." He demonstrated pressing the two fingered he had indicated together so the others could see how to hold the needle.
"Now if everyone has their needle threaded make sure you pull enough thread though the eye that you have a nice little tail. You'll need that so the thread doesn't slip out. Once that is done place the needle down gently in front of you being careful not to pull the thread. Find the long end of the thread and tie a knot in it. That will help keep the thread from slipping when you are sewing." Using the needle he had threaded for himself Folen once again did as he had instructed.
"When you have your knot done you are ready to start on your mending. Since fabrics are all different some are easier to sew than others. The things I've picked out for us are all the most simple types of fabric and should be fairly easy to sew so you can get the hang of it. Hold your mending up so you can properly see the tear press the edges of the tear together like this. Then holding the mending in one hand or resting it along your leg or chair if it's a larger piece of clothing use the other hand to guide the needle through the fabric. Hold tightly to the fabric and the pull the needed out the other side using the same techinque you used to hold the needle before by pressing your thumb and the thimbled finger together." Folen looked up as he spoke to make sure everyone was following him.
"With that hand draw the excess thread through the mending. And once you've managed to get that far you will have successfully made your first stitch. Go ahead and try I will walk around and help you if you need it. Or let me know if you need me to repeat any step we've covered so far." Setting down his mending he motioned for the other candidates to begin.
((OOC: Sorry I hadn't realized the thread had taken off. XD))
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Posted: Thu Oct 15, 2009 3:16 pm
Carefully the scrawny boy finished threading the needle just like Folen had shown them. It was much easier this way and he wasn't exactly sure why he hadn't done it like this before. Then again he couldn't really be blamed seeing as he had no prior experience and was a bit clumsy. Zhierd finished up the threading by tying the knot in the end of the string and watched as Folen continued the lesson.
It seemed that now it was time to actually begin sewing. The boy carefully checked his thimble again, tipping his hand this way and that, and then picked up a nearby article of clothing that needed to be mended. It looked to be an old tunic with a rather large tear on the arm. After he had watched and studied every move that Folen had made, he set to work on his actual sewing. Quite quickly he learned the it was actually a lot easier than he had originally thought. Once he had the hang of it, Zhierd was sewing in no time. Occasionally his thread would tangle and he would have to stop for a minute and get everything sorted again, and he had felt like he needed to re start at one point because his stitches were too far apart and looked like a mess. Finally though, he managed to get into a decent rhythm and was doing pretty well.
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Posted: Fri Oct 16, 2009 7:56 am
Folen came around to look at Zhierd's work. He was actually doing very well. "Just remember to take your time with each stitch. Once you become more comfortable with the spacing you will naturally get faster. But you'll have to back track less and redo things if you start slowly. Even so you've got an excellent start there. Well done." He smiled winningly at the other candidate and walked around to see what the others were doing.
"Also make sure you are pulling the threads in tight each time you pull the needle through the mending that will help to keep your thread from becoming tangled."
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Posted: Sat Oct 17, 2009 10:07 pm
The young boy sat quietly and listened as Folen commented on his work. Hearing that he was doing well gave the boy encouragement and prompted him to continue. Had he found out that he'd been doing a terrible job, it would have been likely that he'd have quit. It was a bit of a bad habit of his to get so frustrated with things that he couldn't do, that he would simply get up and walk away from them instead of working through his problems. This, however, would not be the case. Since he knew he was doing well to begin with he figured he could keep working through any frustrations that he had.
As the boy worked the needle and thread through the fabric, he took Folen's instructions to heart. Instead of letting the thread bunch up, he would quickly pull it completely through the other side. Zhierd also slowed down the process a little and allowed himself to relax and take the time he needed to concentrate and focus on his work.
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Posted: Tue Oct 20, 2009 11:21 am
"Brilliant Zhierd! That last row of stitches is nice and straight. You're getting the hang of it. Taking your time is really paying off. Well done." Folen smiled giving the other candidate a well deserved pat on the back.
Folen meandered around the room looking over shoulders whispering encouragements and occasionally reviewing a step or two on how to stitch.
He had to smile at Jadamirei who was staring at her mending as if it were some foe to be vanquished rather than a sad piece of clothing with a hole in it. Perhaps she needed another way to look at the process. "Break it down into steps Jadamirei, like you would in music. There is a cadence to sewing, it flows like a song. One task follows another in the proper order. Go slowly, find the beat and then you will find the rhythm."
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Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 5:50 pm
"..." she was quiet for a few moments, still eying the piece of cloth rather viciously, some would think; then she stabbed the needle through the material, trying to think of it in the way that Folen had just expressed to her.
... Hey, it might just work. Quietly, she began humming the Question Song, one of her favorite tunes, pressing the needle through the cloth in tandem with the beat of the song. Maybe it wasn't exactly what the other apprentice had in mind when he'd suggested it, sewing in time to a song, but if it helped...
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Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:36 am
Folen nodded as his friend began to hum quietly. Keeping time to the song would help her work at a steady pace and that in turn would help the stitching to stay even. It was a very good start.
Smiling at his fellow candidates Folen walked around the room to check on each one to make sure no one needed any more help as they continued to work. Happily everyone seemed to be doing fairly well for their first time practicing with needle and thread. Oh it would probably take many such lessons before they were comfortable with the process, but they had taken their first tentative steps. Folen was delighted that things were going so well.
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