Ok, this is just NOT fair! This is positively addicting! If you are geometrically inclined, don't go here if you are in a hurry to get off the computer.
http://woodgears.ca/eyeball/index.html
I actually got a few zeros! Alright already, I also got a 53. Oh the shame of it! Be very careful with the finger dragging and releasing. It got me a few times. Also, your angle of view will change your perspective. Try it a few times to get the feel of the control functions before you start worrying about your score.
Enjoy, but don't blame me if you get no sleep tonight! Actually, you can blame Judy Martin, quilter extraordinaire! This link came from her newsletter, which is just fabulous!
Geometry and spacial concepts are such a large part of sewing. This will definitely help you teach your eye.
9 comments:
Hello,
Thank you for your lovely comments on Fashion Incubator, and on my Flickr page. Those thoughts on the striped dress are really useful - it wasn't made for that model, though, she was just trying it on for me. Even on the stand it was doing something weird over the shoulder blades - I think you're right, though, it needs a recut. Some day I will get round to that!
Thank you again for your really lovely comments, it's so nice to get some positive feedback.
Best wishes,
Kate
Me again - oh my goodness me, I could spend hours on that geometry site!
Hi, this game is fun! Do you know of any kind of fun curriculum that teaches geometry using sewing? We home educate our daughters, and one of them loves to sew and math is not her strong point. (Mine either.) I just thought that kind of geometry curriculum would be a fun, less painful way to learn.
Thanks,
Julia
I don't know of one. Maybe I should write one. Do you think there is a market for it? I have thought about setting up a curriculum for home schooling that I could teach over the internet, but didn't know if it would work.
What would you think about doing an online program?
Quilting is the most obvious pairing of sewing and geometry. The process of pattern making for clothing is a great way to learn the 3-dimentionality of sewing, and the relationship of the 2-D pattern pieces to a 3-D body.
I do think there would be at least a small market. Many of my home schooling friends have taught or are teaching their daughters to sew. I'm not sure about the online feasibility. Seems like this would need to be a hands-on study, with perhaps online support using interactive stuff (like the fun "Eyeballing Game") and some brief instruction videos. But my gals would need something to hold in their hands to make it really stick. (You'd want to cover the spectrum of the three kinds of learners - visual, audio, & kinesthetic.)
Our family's philosophy of education is that what we learn in "school" should help us with our daily lives - very practical, not some nebulous concept that isn't connected with real life.
Learning Geometry from a textbook is okay, but what better way to learn it than hands-on, in the very context in which we will be using it in daily life?
Go for it. It'll be a couple of years before this daughter is formally ready for Geometry. If you develop a fun, effective, elegant curriculum that combines the two, I'll be first in line to consider buying it. And I'll promote it to my friends.
In the name of Christ, to whom we must give account,
Julia
I just went to a site that has a geometry and quilting curriculum. (http://www.keypress.com/x5817.xml). Like you said, quilting is the obvious sewing place to learn about geometry. But I'm looking for something that will help my daughter and me understand how to adjust an armhole or crotchline using geometry. Things like that. Not being a "math head," maybe I'm asking the wrong questions, expecting something that can't exist. What do you think?
This blog has a nifty pincushion and the author makes the point of not remembering what she learned in her sterile geometry classroom. (Not hands-on, real-life, perhaps?) She also references another site, http://intertwined.dreamwidth.org/ - "The Intersection of Fiber Arts and Mathematics." And here's a fun link to a Discover Magazine article on "The Bizarre and Brilliant World of Knitting" - with pics of knitting / crocheting projects that look like science thingys. (As you can tell scientific jargon is also not my forte!) I could go on, but you can just goodsearch.com (like google) the two words geometry sewing and come up with the same listing I'm looking at. (Oops. Not good at grammar either. Preposition at the end of a sentence and all that. Should read - stuffily - "the same listing at which I'm looking." How British! Grins.)
Thanks for your nice blog!
Julia
Thanks for the "homework"! I will definitely take a look at those sites, and I will be glad to pass on anything that I find.
For fitting bodies, a great way to start is by draping fabric directly on a figure or form, pinning and cutting it till you get a fit you like, marking all seams with pen or markers, taking the pieces apart, truing them up, cutting in real fabric, then sewing up a piece that fits perfectly. It is a truly intuitive method. Working from purchased patterns is actually counter-intuitive. The majority of the work has already been done on a figure you cannot see for fit or comparison. Then you have to tweak the pattern to fit your body, which could take a few trys, and needs the help of another person for pinning and evaluation. A lot of people get frustrated with the process. There are quite a few pattern making book and courses out there, but none of them are for kids.
Drafting patterns from measurements is the best way to get the best fitting patterns, and it allows you to be able to see the correlation between the body, the measurements and the pattern.
Here is a great blog you might really like:
http://www.ikatbag.com/
She drafts patterns from scratch and has tutorials posted on the lower left side column of her blog. She also has GREAT science projects (I think she used to teach physics?). Definitely one you should check it out.
I would love to see a curriculum for teaching geometry using sewing. I'll be needing something like that in a couple of years for my daughter and I actually found this blog by googling "teaching geometry using sewing."
Mary,
I'm just now getting back to reading this thread. Thank you for all your suggestions. I will keep them in mind. I've been sewing clothing for 40 years and have never tried the draping method. Seemed like a lot of trouble when I could just go buy a pattern. But frequent disappointment with store-bought pattern fit drove me to purchase McCunn's pattern-drafting book. Love it. Haven't used it much, but it's so easy to follow, and I plan to use it to teach my daughters.
I think I understand what you mean about store-bought patterns being counter-intuitive. I'll have to try the draping.
Also, I lost the link to the geometry game. Can you show it again, please?
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