Just when I thought I wouldn’t be teaching anymore, I was asked to teach a class at the ASDP Conference in October. So much for my understanding of The Way I Am Supposed to Go. “What?” you ask, “No teaching? How did you get there?” Let me explain…
Since Creating Couture Embellishment was published in August 2017
I have applied to various conferences and conventions to teach. For one reason or another, all of my proposals were rejected. To make this more insulting, many conference/convention organizers never wrote to say, “Thanks but no, thanks.” I thought about teaching in small fabric stores and studios around the country, but that has a whole bunch of other problems, the most serious of which is that I don’t have a big mailing list of students who want to take a class with me. So despite the fact that: I have taught at a post college level for more than 10 years before writing CCE, I love to pass on the sewing and pattern-making knowledge, and I am a very good teacher (I really am), I thought the universe was telling me, “No teaching, go another way.”
I found another way to go…
Cuff with Braided Bias strips pinned
I wrote an article for ASG Notions Magazine, vol. XXII, no. 4, Fall 2017 about Embellishing Ready to Wear shirts.
Boston University’s Seal
SFD hat prototype
I made an apron and a hat for auctions at the School of Fashion Design to benefit the Scholarship Fund.
Soutache trim around the collar
I wrote an article for Threads Magazine, issue # 202, April/May 2019 about Soutache trimming on a wool jacket
LinkedIn Learning Logo
I indulged in Procrasti-learning, as in: I can’t write blog posts until I learn PhotoShop.
Bixby International logo
I made a dress for Rubbish to Runway auction to benefit Long Way Home out of industrial discards of poly-urethane fabric. Reminder to self: get the photos of this dress from the photographer!
I’m even thinking about writing another book- something I swore I would never do. (Cue James Bond and Never Say Never Again).
ASDP logo
And then ASDP came calling- or rather emailing. To paraphrase their email: since the number of conference registrants is very large, they need more classes. Would I be willing to teach- but not what I had proposed earlier. OK… Truthfully, having seen the class list I understand that my proposed classes duplicated what other teachers also proposed. We quickly settled on a class topic, which I am calling “An Afternoon of Rose Petals, Sharks’ Teeth and Butterfly Bows.” The class will make some flowers out of ribbon and fabric, some folded ribbon trims and some plain & fancy bows. I am very excited about this class; it should be really fun.
Maybe the universe does want me to teach. Or maybe this is a one-off opportunity. Either way, I will keep writing, which doesn’t come easily to me, as it’s a solitary, isolating activity. According to Gretchen Rubin’s The Four Tendencies, I am an Obliger: good when I have outside imposed deadlines, not so good with my own personal deadlines. You can attest to this, as there has been an eight-month gap in Blog Posts. I would promise to do better, but I don’t make promises I may not keep.
How do you keep on yourself on track? And how do you manage commitments to yourself?
