Internship — My Last Day (sniff)

Monday was my last day. I felt as if I would be working there happily for months to come, knowing full well that I am going home tomorrow. Funny how that can happen, isn’t it?

I arrived at work in time, and was the first one there. I hadn’t anything specific to do so I did some sketching, because that seems to be what you do when you’ve nothing else to do.

When Libby arrived after I had had lunch, she was in a very good mood. Evidently Vienna is a lovely place and she and her husband had a nice time. She was nevertheless put in an even better mood when she found my Christmas cards for her and everyone else. She thought it was “fab”! 🙂 She then revealed that she had something for me and I had to close my eyes while she put it away until later.

We went through the post and she gave me the new swatches to write the prices onto for easy reference. After that, I made the toile of the circle skirt I drafted for her. I think I made a small error when cutting the waistband, but it wasn’t bad, considering the mannequin’s waist is bigger than our size 10. I think I am safe in putting this online because one circle skirt toile is much the same as another.

It wouldn’t have won The Great British Sewing Bee, but I didn’t have any interfacing or an iron, so it won’t be perfect. I would like to make myself some circle skirts, but I really  ought to make some tops first as I have only two tops but about half a dozen skirts. There is a slight imbalance in my “wardrobe” (read “chest of drawers”). 🙂  But I digress.

I made a technical sheet for the skirt, copying the format of her pattern maker’s technical sheets. As I had got the wi-fi working on the printer (it was easy for me because it works like on my printer, but Libby didn’t know how it worked and had been trying for four years doing whatever she was doing) I printed it without having to use the USB cable.

Earlier, Libby had got the keys from Abbey and gone to get a set cut. She is sub-renting a space in his room across the corridor, which is used for storage. Libby wants to store two a garment rail or two in it, as well as a load of fabric.

When she got back I made some tea, and she went to get my present. It was a chocolate cake to say thank you for being such help. She must be one of the best bosses in the world! How many buy their interns cake? She helped me to eat half of it as I have a tiny appetite, especially for cake, and it’s much nicer to eat cake in company, isn’t it?

I helped her to put said things into her rented space, and we were both much pleased with the extra room in our studio! She was tempted to rearrange the whole studio but reconsidered that she liked having the desks near the windows, and I agreed with her.

Look at all that space!

By the time we were finished it was time for me to collect my things and go “home” for the last time. She said that I can come back, but I shall have to save up to be able to afford London again. I intend to get a part-time job next year and save up that way.

We briefly reminisced about my first day, and she agreed (rather more than I) that I had grown more confident in the time I had worked there. I do feel surer of myself in my ability to live on my own and do a full-time job without collapsing from exhaustion. 🙂 I enjoy living independently and would like to travel and work. I feel more grown-up now, but other than these things I don’t think I have changed much. It will be interesting to know what my friends think when we’re back at college. (I rather miss them, you know. 🙂 )

I also want to sell some of my things that I have lived without for three weeks and not missed at all. I want to make a life story, not a life’s storage. I would rather have a collection of memories that build my character, than a collection of souvenirs and dust.

As I was leaving work, I felt sad. It was over. Tomorrow I would be going back to my old life, leaving behind the independence, self-reliance and complete freedom that I had come to enjoy.

On the journey home I was ambivalent about Yorkshire. On the one hand, I want to be happy here, and on the other I had come to like London much more than I expected. I felt quite at home there. I think middle-class Southerners are my kind of people. I don’t wish to offend anyone up here; there is nothing wrong with Yorkshire, and I may grow to love it more now that I am back. But one difference I felt the further North I got, is how much slower life and everything else seems up here. I felt as if I had been to Narnia and come back, as Lucy did, to a world where everything happens much more slowly and changes so little, while where I was, things happened and moved constantly. People even talk more slowly up here. I want to go back to London and the South. I will, some day. It depends when I get the opportunity.

But for now, I have another work placement to prepare for and to go to. In January I am going to work at Wayside Flower in Bridlington, on the East Coast of Yorkshire. I am as yet unclear what my duties will be, but it is all experience and will no doubt broaden my horizons in one way or another. I now know the fulfilment that comes with a job, and I want it. Working at LIBBY LONDON, and living in London has influenced the course of my life forever. It has given me the confidence that gives me freedom. I can do it. I will be alright.

Sabrina

P.S. Merry Christmas! 🙂