First Day

Day: 1
Hours: 9
Total Hours: 9
Department: Production
Supervisor: Sandi

So I had my first day!  I was asked by Annie to show up 15 minutes -after- everyone else would be showing, so the 'being there early' thing was discouraged.  Regardless I showed up at the Second Cup next to the studio 15 minutes earlier than everyone was suppoesd to be there - and bumped into my supervisor for the day, Sandi!  So she knew I was there early, bonus.

I was introduced to a bunch of the production crew (photos will be added to this post soon).

Sandy is in charge of everything, she sets out everyone's tasks, calls all the suppliers, and contractors, and does the problem solving aspect of garment design.  Sandi makes Annie's most complex and unworking garments work.

Dinesh, also refferred to as Dennis, is the cutter.  He cuts all the sample muslins, final samples, and even does full production cutting of all the garments in house.  After he has done cutting production numbers, the cut pieces are packed and sent to contractors to be sewn.  After he's done cutting sample pieces, Sabina takes them to her segment.

Sabeena is the sample maker and garment detailer.  She puts together muslin samples, detail samples and final samples to make sure hte pattern and directions to the contractors are perfect.  She assists Sandi with problem-solving and also does finishing touches on garments sewn by outside contractors.

Louisse is a multi-task assistant.  He does... whatever needs doing.  I didn't see him much because he was working in Annie's private studio on Friday, grometting t-shirts.

I also met some of the sales staff:  Haley, Annie's daughter, and Zakira (Zakira was manning the shop when I was interviewed, so she was a familiar face).

There are apparently two other interns, but I have yet to meet them.

I was immediately given the task of hand stitching ribbon rosettes to altered t-shirts.  There were 9 rosettes per shirt, and I'm not a terribly quite hand sewer.  I was also being maybe a little too meticulous with my sewing... but those rosettes are ON those shirts and not going anywhere.  It honestly took me most of the day to do, like 6 shirts.

Throughout the day I picked up other minor tasks too.

When Dinesh had to roll up some fabric, I offered to do it so he wouldn't have to waste his more valuable time on such a menial task - I also happen to be quite good at rolling fabric quickly thanks to years at Fabricland and G&S.  I helped him out with laying out paper and fabric for cutting to help him save time, too.

Dinesh also taught me some finer cutting points and had me try to cut out some complicated shapes with their ridiculously large production scissors.  He also showed me how to use the motorized rotary cutter!  I want one!  I'm still too scared of the saw-cutter, though.  It can cut through 50 layers of fabric at once...

Later, Sandi started showing me the sample books and how she organizes having items produced with their 20 or so outside contractors.  She said I could tag along for a trip to a couple of them in the upcoming week!

At the end of the day, I got to the task of sewing buttons onto samples.  I usually sew buttons quite quickly but I really want all my work for Annie to be of particularly high quality, so I only finished one coat by 7.

And that was day one!  More details and photos to come.

The Hunt

So, it took me a while to get to applying for internship.

I spent over a month and a half on the internship package to hand around (photos coming soon).
I was so busy with my other summer classes that I unfortunately lagged with getting my application out. Last week, I FINALLY handed in my package at Annie Thompson's Studio.

I'll add a lot more to this post later, describing the process leading up to handing it in, but for now I'll give a quick run-down of how I ended up being taken on as an intern.

I first called the Studio to follow-up on my application on Friday, at the time, no one was available to talk with me about an internship interview. I called back on the next business day, Tuesday the 3rd, and was answered by Hailie(sp?), who said that if anyone would be contacting me about an internship, it would be someone named Christine. She said she'd leave a message for her. I called back the next day, and rather than going through the spiel of the last two days, I just asked to talk to Christine directly.

I asked Christine whether she'd seen my internship app/package, and she hadn't! I was dissappointed, but she immediately launched into questions on the phone, and I was very encouraged by her interest. We chatted for a while, and she arranged a meeting with me for Monday. I was ecstatic.

I had to be in Toronto again today, so I decided to put together a new internship package to drop off for Christine so she could see it before meeting with me - I knew it was a strongpackage and that it would get my foot in the door, if it wasn't already.

I called Christine this morning to ask if it was ok with her for me to drop it off with her. She replied that she had been so intriguied after our conversation that she had hunted it down. She said she was "blown away"! She loved the package and was impressed with my skills, and she asked if I would be available to come by sometime after 1pm today, rather than waiting til Monday.

Perfect!! I have to get 60 hours in by the 17th, and time is RUNNING OUT! So, even though I was already supposed to be at the school for a first year meet-and-greet for the Student Union, I bailed and took off for the interview.

I showed up at the Boutique/Studio at 1:30, and was immediately greeted by an incredibly warm and encouraging Christine. It felt more like a "so when can you start?" spiel than an interview, and I felt totally at home. She is in charge of the business and organizational end of Annie's business. Christine is fantastic. We chatted for just over half an hour, before she introduced me to Sandi, the production manager. Sandi was equally cool, and showed me all around the boutique and production studio... which was really cool.

While I was talking with Sandi, Christine called Annie to see if she could meet with me today. In minutes I had an appointment for 40 minutes later at Annie's creative studio, around the corner.

I gathered myself together, tried to not psyche-out and headed over.

Annieand her studio were exactly as I'd imagined/hoped. She had a more intimidating demeanor than the other two, but that only makes sense as it's her business. She seemed impressed with my enthusiasm, and after another half hour chat, I had been told that showing up tomorrow at 10:20 would be great.

Omigoodness. I have an internship with my hero.

Sometimes life can rock.

It just takes work.