Lecture in Eco Fashion

No, my aforementioned toothache did not kill me, although it sincerely tried to. I've just been really busy. One of the things I was doing was giving a lecture in the University of Limerick. I agreed to give a lecture on Eco Fashion and my business in Mikael Fernstrom's class, but it was only as the lecture loomed nearer that I actually started to question my sanity. When I said how nervous I was to my mother her reply was 'You'll be fine, you did debating before, and you were on telly sure'...well that public speaking was nigh on 15 years ago, and with tv they can always retake a shot!

I was afraid of the usual things, that I would freeze up, get cotton mouth, run out of things to say in about 10 minutes, lose my ability to read my notes, in general make an arse of myself. But thankfully I didn't, or at least I don't think I did, if any of the attendant students are reading this you can let me know. I prepared a power point presentation of my lecture, going through the background of my business, how I got into eco fashion, and then moved onto the wider topic of recycling within fashion, the effect the garment industry has on the environment, and the use of sweat shops. An hour is a long time to talk but after a small bit of Q&A I actually ran out of time-which I was totally shocked at.

It was a really fun experience, but boy is it a lot of work, I had a huge amount of prep work to do before the class. I assume lecturing only really begins to pay when you are doing it a few years and you have all the lesson plans pinned down.

I was asked back to give a second class to the same group, but this time it was far more practical. I gave them a small customising project to do on scraps of denim. This was a much easier class to give as it was in my comfort zone. I had no real research to do, I just had to prep the materials. The class naturally divided into two, those who knew how to sew and worked away happily on their pieces. And then those who had never picked up a sewing needle. It was nice to walk away after an hour and to know that I taught about 8 grown men how to thread a needle, sew properly in a straight line, and the essential skill in life...how to sew in a button. I was really surprised to see how open they were to learning this, and it was a lot of fun showing them.

I would think of doing guest lecturing again if I was asked, now that I've gotten over the first hurdle. The only thing is that within all the prep and nerves I didn't get any of my own work done that week.

Ps: Thanks to Mikael for inviting me to do the lecture, and also for the use of his photo.