As a future math teacher I am always looking for real-world example I can give my students when they ask me the question "how will this apply to me in the future?" Personally, I think that is a dumb question. You are in the class so you obviously need to know it. However, this weekend I found a wonderful example.

On Saturday I spent 11 hours (it was my day off Lin's and heaven forbid I actually get a day off) creating patterns to use for our samba dresses. Keep in mind these dresses have to be done by Wednesday and we have to make 12. We didn't have a pattern so I had to create a pattern. I followed the instructions of the costume design major in charge of the project, but once I was done she realized that people have a larger hip measurement in the back than in the front (go figure). After running into many problems with the asymmetrical hem and other things, I spent another few hours designing another pattern. This one was perfect. Perfect in a geometric, math-nerd sort of way. Even though this pattern was very difficult to come up with out of thin air, it would have worked. Then we asked our lovely costume design major/ballroom dancer (Chelsea) how much fabric we had. 13 yards. 13 yards of fabric to make 12 dresses. Is she insane? I'm pretty sure the answer is yes.

Then Alli and I went home and spent a few hours looking at the old dresses that we were trying to recreate. After measuring and studying them, we came up with a new pattern (Alli did the top and I did the bottom). This pattern is simple, easy to use, doesn't use a lot of fabric, and is also geometrically perfect. Chelsea hates it. Why? Because there is a seam down the back to allow for darts so the dresses will actually fit girls. Heaven forbid we put a seam down the back of the dress right?

I don't care though. I'm proud of myself for being able to create 4 patterns in one day. I think it was the combination of math skills and having my mother's genes. She is great at sewing. She was proud of my pattern-making skills as well. :)