Day 6

I was tired when I woke up today, come to find out it's probably because I haven't been taking my vitamins. But nevertheless, I went to work, ready for another day. I got there around 10:30 and watched while Julia showed me all the patterns that needed cutting out for the day. There was a dress and lining, this crazy black mesh for another dress, and a blue ruffle shirt. So I turned on the radio and went to work while she went to a meeting. It took me all morning, and I didn't finish, but all of the patterns went well.

The best part of the day was talking to Xana, the other woman that shares the studio. She gave me some pointers on how to cut the mesh better (slippery fabrics are a nightmare to work with,) and it helped a bunch. We talked about loving design and how to take instruction and learn from those who know more than we do. Her favorite advice she's ever gotten was "Fashion design is only half about talent. The other half is all hard work." And it's so true. Anyone who thinks the life of a designer is glamourous is highly mistaken. Yes it's fun if it's your passion, but it doesn't come easily. I found out that Stephanos, the patternmaker that was in on Tuesday, has worked with many amazing designers including Vivian Westwood, and is a genius in his profession. Xana told me to ask him lots of questions, but to be prepared to learn a lot because he's very picky. I'm going to bring in my portfolio and sketchbook so she and Julia can critique it, because I'm desperate for feedback on what I'm doing right or wrong.

When I told Xana I will be working for Zandra Rhodes in the fall, she was very excited for me. Apparently Zandra has a studio by the Fashion and Textiles museum, so I'm going to go by and see if I can find her. She helps out a lot of young designers, and I'm really happy to hear that.

At the end of the day, I went to the factory in Hackney yet again. This time it was a piece of cake, and I was in and out in no time. The way home was a different stories because of tube delays, I guess the police had to search a train in Leichster Square. Who knows why. But anyways, I'm glad it's the weekend now, time to have some fun at Itunes fest tonight :)

Internship Days 3,4 & 5

I've been too forgetful and tired to keep up with my journaling the past three days, because I've been working a lot. It's terrible getting behind, because I know that I forget so so much. But here goes.

Day 3:

Today I got to work and was sent straight back to the Polish workshop in Hackney. I knew enough to take the bus this time around, and it was a little less scary because I knew where I was going. This trip was to pick up patterns and extra fabric for 4 garments. It went quickly, and I was back not too long after. Back at the store, I traced patterns for the next few hours, and met the wonderful patternmaker Stephanos. He is from Greece and spent the hours talking about what it is like there. But the best part of the day was when he found out I'm from Vegas. He and Julia both freaked out and said that they had no idea people really lived there. Then I got a lot of weird questions such as "Do you have tacky taste?" and "How do you pay for your water at your house there?"

It was fun, and I got to see him make patterns and drape a skirt, so I learned some things, or at least reinforced some things I already know.

Day 4:

Julia had me open the store for the first time this morning, and I met her at the Euston tube stop to grab the keys for it. She had me cut out a black jersey skirt, then just hang out and mind the shop. I played about 100 games of Spider Solitaire and listened to the entire Arctic Monkeys discography, which was wonderful. When Julia got back, I was sent on an adventure to Liverpool Street to find a haberdashery called William Gee for zips. The buses are getting much easier to use now, which is good, because I've been taking them to a lot of places. After getting the zips there, I went to John Lewis to grab the colors I was missing, then to Rymans for tape. By the time I got back, I was so exhausted. Maybe it's being vegan, or just running around all day in hot weather, I'm not sure. But I will start eating vitamins again.

Day 5:

I opened the shop again today, and set to cutting out a ton of pieces for a dress. It took me almost an hour to get the grain and layout right, but I think it turned out very nicely. I also cut ruffles out of calico, and then ironed and put tags on some Julia Smith shirts. She gave me one, and I love it. I almost bought it online before I started working there actually, because it's organic cotton and made in a fair trade shop in Turkey. I asked Julia about where she gets her recycled fabrics, and she gave me a list of places she uses. Most of them are in the US, which is great for me.

Xana was in again today, she's the other designer that shares the studio space. What a sweet woman, I am so blessed to work with her and Julia. They are kind, thoughtful, and gracious, which is not what I was expecting in my line of work. I hear a lot of horror stories from other people in my class, so I am so happy to be where I am. Julia even made me coffee today and apologized for not having soy milk because she knows I'm vegan. I was so touched, it really made my day. I hope that if I am ever a boss, that I will be just like her.

Why'd you sing with me at all?

Today was pretty much the best day I've had in a while. It was one of those never ending crazy days when life just flows by in a series of wonderfully random events. Starting at 9, I went running with April to Regents park. We ran for an hour and a half exploring the areas around the zoo, running through large flocks of Canadian geese, and finding an outdoor theater where a Macbeth performance was taking place. We sun bathed by a fountain, and looked at the menu in the Queen Mary's Garden Cafe.

After a shower, I went with my roommate Allie and April to the grocery store to start my vegan diet off right. Raw granola bars and soy yogurt will be my best friends in the coming weeks. Then April and I set off on a bus adventure to find the Borough Market and Monmouth coffee company. This led to us walking around Big Ben and Parliment, then following the river Thames on the banks, picking up rocks, silverwear, and pieces of porcelain.

At the market, we tried the hottest chili in the world (unofficially) and got unique coffee at Monmouth. They have a unique brewing process that is a mix between french press and filter coffee. It's a great free trade and organic company, and I mixed in brown raw sugar because I can't drink milk in my coffee unless it's soy. It was strong and delicious, and got me through the rest of the crazy food market. It was unfortunate I had finished my grocery shopping earlier in the day, because the market was full of amazing produce.

On the way back, we walked over the millenium bridge, past St. Paul's cathedral, and got on a bus that got us extremely lost. We got to see half the city on the bus, and ended up right next to where I work. Thus I took April to see where Tony Blaire and Jimmy Choo live, and we walked to another bus stop near school. Finally getting home, I took a nap, then made some vegan goodies for dinner. I'm being careful to get all of my vitamins and minerals, and enough calories.

Around 10 April and I went to a club called the Westbury in Kilborn and met up with our friend Sebastian. It was a neat place, with upscale architecture and good music. We danced for a few hours, then got chips at the kebab place next door. And now I'm unwinding to some Damien Rice before going to bed.

Church at Westminister with my friend Ki tomorrow :) I'm so excited. And praise God for such a wonderful day. For legs that let me run and walk, run, and dance all night. For friends that watch out for me and will go on adventures with me. I'm very blessed.

Day 2

Today started out with a lot of rain. Waking up to the gloomy pouring sky is great, if you don't have a long commute of walking and public transportation to look forward to. The bus worked out better than I planned however, and I was forty minutes early. So I stopped for coffee and breakfast at a fun 2 story Pret on Oxford street. I usually don't eat in, but I had to escape the rain somehow. Unfortunately I had forgotten my book, so I just journaled for a while. When eleven finally rolled around, I picked up my pound sandwich and went to the store.

Julia sent me straight back out to find her a zipper, deposit a check, and mail another envelope. Thankfully I've had a few adventures finding the kind of zipper she wanted, so I knew where to go after the first store was sold out. I knew it would be, but hey, why not check. So a few stores and inside out umbrellas later, I got back to the shop with my wellies intact.

My tasks for the day included folding and organizing fabric, watching the shop with the other intern Dana, and once again modeling. Now I'm pretty small on the top half, so that works fine for their tiny garments. But my hips don't care much for size 0. Combine that with an already awkward dress, and three people you barely know tugging at the dress and completely hating it, and you get a slightly uncomfortable situation. But at least I can fully appreciate what I put my models through now during their fittings.

Julia is helping two people start their line, which turns out to be what the samples I picked up yesterday were for. They're quite crazy and intense personalities. I also met the sweet woman who shares the studio, she was very interested in the States. The only customer of the day was a woman in burka came in to look at a dress. The dress was skin tight nude material covered in magenta tulle strips, so basically glorified lingerie. Now I want to know what all the women walking around in burka are wearing underneath the complete cover of black.

Later in the day, I was asked to hand stitch the lining into a top, then to sew crazy black jewels onto the waistband. I tried so hard to make the stitches invisible, but it's hard with cotton thread on satin. We'll see if she redoes it... but hopefully it was good enough. Then I was free to go home, for a nice long 4 day weekend.

So far so good, though I'd love to work more than I do. Having days off are fun, especially now that I'm making a lot of plans with my friend April. We went to a vegan lounge to watch live music and eat vegan ice cream tonight. She's a really sweet girl, and it's nice to have a friend to hang out with after work and on the weekends. The next month should be fun, I'm going to try to see and do everything I can before I go back to the States... It seems so far away, yet so close. I'm not ready, but yet I am. I think I'm just used to being here now, so it feels like I am home in a way. There isn't much of me that can imagine what it will be like to not have this life anymore, and maybe never again. London is... amazing.

Internship Diary #1

I'm supposed to be keeping a journal of my internship every day that I have it, so I decided to put it here. This is half because it may be somewhat interesting to you, and half as a precaution in the event the inevitable hard drive crash occurs.

Today was my first day working as an intern for designer Julia Smith. She's a younger, really sweet woman with a fun asymmetrical haircut who makes way cool stuff. Her establishment is a small store with a workshop and office in the basement off of Connaught Street, just up from Hyde Park in London. It's a beautiful part of town. As soon as I got there, we established my schedule for the rest of my time, and she then put me to work. Job number one: take the tube to Manor House, find a Polish woman named Kasha in a gated industrial park, and pick up samples from her. Sounded easy enough, though I was warned that it was a rather.. shady part of town. But I figured it couldn't be that bad, so I took her lovely hand drawn map and set off on my way. I got to read my new book, The Last Empress by Anchee Min on the way, so the tube ride was fun.

Then I got off the tube, and realized I was in Hackney. Since I've been here, Hackney is pretty much the only part of London people have said is dangerous. And it was super dodgy, but so be it. When I hit the industrial center, then I started to pray a lot. It was full of rather creepy looking men, most of them foreign, who let me in, then pointed me into a maze of hallways in one of the buildings. I found the suite, and a woman who didn't speak english let me in to their workshop. It was a bright room, with three middle aged women on industrial sewing machines. Pictures of runway shows, bolts of fabrics, and block patterns were everywhere, and she motioned for me to wait for Kasha. Then I realized they had calendars of naked men all over, and were blasting Katy Perry's California Gurls. Bizarre situation, but interesting to see nonetheless. Eventually Kasha showed up, gave me the sample and the invoice, and I headed home. This time I took the bus back to the tube station so I wouldn't get all the weird kissing noises guys kept making on my walk there. Everything else went smoothly, and I made it back to Connaught Place in one piece.

Job number two: try on the samples that I just picked up and model them for Julia, because apparently I'm the size they were supposed to fit. It was a plain black tank top, black and silver cardigan wrap sweater, and a pink see through tank with crazy ruffles down the front. Now I know how all my models feel when I fit them.

Job number 3: follow the map to the post office and mail three packages, bring back extra stamps, and buy trash bags. Hey, nobody said this job was glamourous. And honestly there are far worse things than running errands, especially because Julia draws really good maps with really good directions. I was afraid she'd ask me to do a lot of obscure tasks with no direction of how to do it. Thankfully she's the opposite of that. After I mailed everything and brought back the other stuff, I was free to go home.

And that was day one. We'll see what tomorrow holds.

"You step into the Road, and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.

This has been a good weekend, though a sad one saying goodbye to all my roommates. I'm excited that I got to know them and learn from them in so many ways. One of them, Kristen, has a grant from the University of Hawaii for research on natural plant dyes. Through than, she taught me how to make the dyes and how to test them on different fabrics. I'm aquiring so much amazing knowledge that I can't wait to put into practice when I get home.

I was excited before I came here about the people I knew would impact my life that I had yet to meet. And now that I've met a lot of them here, it's clear that each path that crosses changes you at least a little bit. What a blessing to make new friends, to share the gospel with people here in Camden, and to just learn about other people.

My internship starts tomorrow, and I'm a little bit nervous, but mostly excited. I'm going to really start working on design stuff in the next week, and I'm hoping to gain both inspiration and skills to kick that off. I'm really glad I'm here right now, I love it like another home. Praise God for His plan for my life. Even when it gets hard, I know He's here with me, seeing me through it all and growing me in ways I don't recognize yet.

Cheers!

Cheers apparently means thank you in Ireland. I learned that today from my Irish friend Porridck (pronounced Porrick.) Today was the official end of my classes here in London! I have been at school almost 12 hours every day apart from weekends the past three or four weeks, and I must say it was more work than I've had in a long long time. The lessons I learned were so good though! I am so blessed to have learned everything, and to have been taught by such wonderful teachers. So watch out world, when I get my sewing machine back, there's going to be some major craziness happening.

This past week or so has been hard spiritually, especially after all that God has been teaching me and showing me. I should have been more prepared for spiritual attacks now that I'm in the ministry I'm in here. Praise God that He has no limit on how many times He can and will pick me up after I fail, which is constantly. I'm trying to not live in my past failures, and to look forward to Him using me despite my shortcomings.

Tonight at Bible study, Pastor Tonye talked about how we are all vehicles (or double decker buses) leading people on a route to God. No bus is perfect, so are creaky or smelly, or just strange, but they can all lead to the right destination. The only ones that aren't good is one going to the wrong destination, or that aren't moving at all. Now that I'm moving again, things are starting to get hard. But that's okay, the joy of God overshadows it all. The sun still burns the shadows out :)

I'm so excited for free time! I'm going to the Tate Modern museum tomorrow, and to check out the Dover market. I can't wait to have time for general things like laundry and grocery shopping, and time for designing and sightseeing. All the stress was worth it because of how much I value my free time now.