To my fellow classmates who went above and beyond making all sorts of original, unique projects, I applaud your skill and dedication!
Like many engineers that enjoy hands-on projects, I came into this project initially thinking that my knowledge and existing skills in using tools would be of great help to me in this project! However, I quickly realized that this was not the case. Unlike most of the projects and problems that engineers face, sewing by hand is an activity that requires both skill and patience, not one or the other! In many instances, problems can be solved quickly if an engineer has a lot of skill, while other problems simply require more patience! On the other hand, sewing by hand requires precision with materials that simply do not want to stay precise.
Based on the amount of effort I put into trying to keep the two halves of the project aligned at all times while also trying to figure out how to finish the project properly, I would value the final product at around $25! In assessing the amount of materials I used (fabric, thread, cotton), I found this project’s cost of materials to be similar to another project I had made in the past (using a sewing machine, of course), which was around $10.
As seen above, the fabric I decided to use was extremely thin, which made it relatively easy to sew but hard to control its shape! Ultimately, I still decided that it was a good choice given its texture and color!
Now, you might be wondering, what about the other $15 in overall costs? Instead of the couple of minutes it would usually take for a more experienced individual, it took several hours! In assessing the costs of the tools I used, I can safely say that they amount to around $3 at most, with the residual $12 being a conservative estimate of the labor costs ($6 per hour). Even despite my best efforts the end result was not exactly ideal, with some of the edges not being as uniform as I would’ve liked!
