Secret Math: Revisited

This past weekend I visited a fabric store.  Surrounded by the array of textures and patterns, I realized the amount of numbers that surrounded me. 12 dollars for a yard and 50% were among the more frequent things I noticed. I picked out a few different things, 1 ½ yards of a tartan fabric, 2 yards of a black jersey knit fabric, a 7 inch zipper, and two buttons. When I took the roll of fabric to the cutting counter, the woman unraveld the textile and measured it to my order against a metal yardstick that had been drilled to the counter. My mother questioned my skills and knowledge of what I was doing when we were walking out, but knowing that I was going to get a skirt and a dress for 22 dollars was suitable enough for me.

One I got home I was too excited not to start on my projects. I hauled the old sewing machine from the closet in the 4^th bedroom.  I decided to begin with my tartan circle skirt. I folded it in half and in half again, ending up with quarters. The formula I had gotten from the internet said to take your waist measurements and divide by 2 pi. This was to be the radius of your first circle, what would eventually be your waist. The second circle’s radius was your desired length. After I had my measurements I located a long shoe lace and marked each radius on it. I then put one end of the shoelace and the corner of the fabric with no unfinished edges and used the shoelace as a compass. With a marker at the end, I swung the shoelace in an arch in order to make ¼ of a circle. Next I cut along the two archs and opened my fabric to find two circles, one within the other, forming the skeleton of my circle skirt. After this initial cutting and formulating was done, the rest was up to me. I added a 1 ½ in waist band and snipped down the opening of the waistband to add my 7 inch zipper. For some embellishment I added two pleats in the front and two gold buttons on those pleats.

I was quite proud of my finished product and decided to put it on my online store for people to order their own. People complain about “when are we ever going to use math?”, and I believe that any occupation will use it. Designing and sewing is, for now, just a hobby, but it wouldn't be possible without knowing a little math.