Monday, February 10, 2014

She may sew, but don't ask her to hem your pants.

            Students say she’s honest, critical, and by the book but communication professor Bia Bernum is also creative, technologically savvy and passionate about sewing. Technology comes easy to her which is seen by looking at one of the many websites she’s help to design, by keeping up with her on Pinterest or by following the COM Dept on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Ms. Bernum on her trip to Germany
with the MU History Club.
            As for her creativity and passion for sewing, her students see this everyday without even realizing it. The bags she carries from class to class are handmade creations in both design and construction. Why design your own patterns when you can buy a pattern to use over and over again?
            “If it doesn’t work, design it yourself.” Ms. Bernum said simply. “When I started teaching sewing lessons, I realized that patterns were poorly written and more importantly it was hard to find easy to follow patterns that were able to teach specific skills.”
            And she’s right! Patterns are really hard to follow, especially when you’re a beginner and what becomes the simplest instruction once you know what you’re doing sounds as though you’re trying to read Finnish. But if reading patterns is hard, designing them must be harder.
Ms. Bernum designed and created
the top bag after she saw the
bottom bag online.
            “It’s my favorite part of sewing. I like to think about what the end bag or piece will look like based on what my needs or my friend’s needs are and sketch it out.” Said Ms. Bernum, “I love the challenge of designing patterns.”
            She started teaching sewing in 2009 when she opened her store in Corning, NY. The classes she taught were focused around skills, which differs from other sewing studios.
            “Most times, you go to a class and when you leave you’ve learned to sew one thing. When I taught classes, I taught a skill each time through a piece. That way, attendees walked away knowing how to put a zipper into whatever they were doing at home.”
            In 2012, due to her success, Ms. Bernum closed her store. Because of success? Who has ever heard that! Ms. Bernum said that because her store became so successful, she had hired staff to teach classes during times she was unable because of her teaching job.  When her staff started moving away or getting full time employment elsewhere, she closed down.  No worries, she’s been able to keep her store alive though through the creation of her blog, Ms.Elaineous.
            I started sewing in high school, and unfortunately haven’t done much of any since I started college, but after visiting Ms. Bernum’s blog a few times in the past couple of weeks, I’m ready to go buy a sewing machine with my next paycheck, or ask for one for graduation. The blog offers a tutorial section helping readers with simple sewing tasks like backstitching (a very important technique which keeps your creation from falling part) to the more complex sewing lessons like how to make a ruffle.
The Ms.Elaineous blog homepage
which Ms. Bernum designed herself.
            Ms. Bernum is always encouraging her readers and shares her struggles of putting something together with them. She insists to her readers that with a little patience and hard work, they’ll be able to achieve their sewing goals. After having her as a professor earlier this year, I can say that this is also true of Ms. Bernum when she’s talking to students.
            “I model my sewing and academic teaching after each other.” Ms. Bernum said. “I relate skills to the prerequisite classes students take. You can’t do calculus without knowing algebra, just like you can’t tailor clothes without knowing how to construct them.”
            Most importantly though, I found Ms. Bernum’s story of why she returned to sewing to be the best piece of advice a faculty member could give student.
            “I realized that the core of who I was had become my job and I needed a different outlet.” Ms. Bernum told me. “I started sewing scarves and bags and selling them at the arts festivals in New York and Michigan. When I stopped selling there, I opened my store.”
            Remember that as a student, our jobs are to go to class and to put effort into our education but that we need an additional outlet for when we’re stressed or just need a break from our main focus. For Ms. Bernum she sews and designs patterns, but as a past student who learned the hard way, don’t ask her to hem your pants.

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