hi you guys I am back for another big four pattern review this time it is new looks new collection. This is their spring I think it's I think the ones I've been reviewing lately have all been spring collections and then we'll see from some of them in early summer and then summer from everyone hopefully but let's take a look so new look is the one that's at Joanne for $3.99 every single day no coupons none of that they also sell them for $3.99 online here I don't know if these go online on sale oh wait I don't know if these go on sale online I don't think so but during the times when they say all brands does that include no look I'm not sure so either way the only difference most of the time is is your shipping costs so I love shopping the wall of new look when I'm at Joanne just because I know I'm going to not pay a fortune and it doesn't matter what day of the week it is but let's take a look at the new spring collection see what we think and I also am interested to see about sizing for new look because from what I could tell even as recently as their last collection it was still only misses so this one is sizes 10 through 22 and I also want to say that they always put all of their sizes in one envelope so we'll have to see how that shakes out in terms of sizing but all that to say let's take a look at this new knit dress easy to sew pullover dress has front inset elasticized waist and narrow hem bodice options include loose fitting bias cut surplus or sleeveless with scoop neck designed for moderate stretch knits so we have I don't know what this inset is that they're speaking of but it's a you know mock wrap with a shoulder gathered shoulder detail and just a long grown on sleeve there's an actual separate pattern piece here just a long run on sleeve into a pretty substantially wide elastic waistband it's interesting to me that the waistband is not gathered but it's gathered above it and below it how are they doing that the casing maybe you gather up this dress first then apply the casing oh I don't know about that I don't know that's that's stumping me at the moment but you have this long maxi link and then you have a midi link and then the sleeveless with a crew neck so you're going to get two bodices with this pattern that's a pretty good deal for four bucks um and then like just a basic skirt that you can make whatever link you want here's a look through the illustrations alright here's the back okay so the back does have gathered on the waistband so maybe there's only elastic through the back and the fronts are just gathered above and below the casing here's the back of the envelope they give you little to no information but the size is 10 through 22 which translate into a gosh none of it really matters it's all very loose and the waist is the fitted part but that's just from the elastic so I think you should just face it off of the finished bust measurement and then get your elastic to fit but at least your bust you will be swimming in the in the bodice they're not going to give us finished garment measurements for anything other than the length so this looks to be the last of the big four that is adopting some of the rules that they have put in place for simplicity mccalls and vogue all right that's disappointing that also doesn't give me very much hope that there's going to be women sizing in this collection either all right so we have a bodysuit a long-sleeved bodysuit has either a deep v-neck wrap front or a mock neck bodysuits are a staple okay I don't need you to tell me that all right so that's how you're getting into this one this one oh I can't see there must be a zipper in the back so here and brave choice to not put her in any pants with this I mean I guess how well it's supposed to show that it's a bodysuit I don't know but kind of reading like swimwear to be honest and also you're telling me this is not sewn down there's no way this has to be sewn down you can see this is taking such a strong curve here there's no way this fabric will be holding that by itself so I want to see what other kind of shenanigans are going on I will say that in terms of fit they did a really good job making sure we've got some negative ease throughout so that it's nice and fitted oh good she put on pants how cute there's wait yeah no that's not a zipper so that just must be some really stretchy fabric what about the mock neck there's no way you're getting in that mock neck without a zipper oh the snaps duh I'm not losing my brain very much right now you guys are all probably screaming at your computers my bad so yeah you put it on over your head duh I don't know what I was thinking but I'm pretty sure the wrap is also sewn down even more so now that I'm thinking of the snaps on the bottom okay duh so we have extra small to extra large in this pattern it translates to size six to 24 that gives us a bust of 30 and a half up to 46 and you can see here finish garment wise there's five inches of negative ease so and I know that sounds like a lot but I'm telling you guys if you want something super fitted this zero ease one inch of ease that's why I keep talking about on some of these other patterns where they look like fitted to the body like the fabric is stretching to get around the body a little bit and there's one inch of positive ease I'm like there's no way it's going to fit like that there's just no way you have to have negative ease and they're not talking anything about percentage of stretch they have this pick a knit rule but I imagine this fabric they're requiring is going to be 100 stretch and also possibly four-way stretch and if that's the case if you find a fabric you love but it's not as stretchy like a jersey you absolutely will have to size up to create less negative ease which seems like contradictory but anyway stretch knits such as jersey spandex blends stretch lame okay stretch velvet and then two-way stretch for your crotch lining you need a little like the littlest amount of treco and then there's elastic for the leg lines and also probably that front neck line one and almost two yards of this one and seven eighths I think that says of three three-quarters oh I can't read the numbers that are this small also for b1 invisible zipper well maybe I'm not losing my mind there is an invisible zipper back here oh okay okay so you do need that to get in I would have thought you'd been able to just pull this over your head if it's stretchy enough your fabric I would try I would make up the little mock neck and try and pull it on over my noggin and if it goes over I'd forget about the zipper if it doesn't go over though if your fabric isn't stretchy enough then yeah you will need that because that's not even gonna go over your head next we have a pleated skirt now these little like you know little schoolgirl skirts with the pleats all around are definitely a trend um the little tennis skirts you know all of that really really making a strong statement in fashion right now I think the way that they're doing it is so modern and updated you can see she even has this little like penny loafer but it's like chunky on the bottom you know what I mean and like a monochromatic like they really are making them seem a lot less like a schoolgirl and more just like a really feminine like cute look um I kind of really love them I've been trying them on at Goodwill but haven't found one that fits yet um so maybe I will be making my own it can't be that hard it just can't be well it says easy to sew short or midi length pleated skirt has a side zipper opening an optional ribbon detail so I love a side zipper I don't know about a midi length on this that could get a little bit frumpy but the shorter you go the cuter it is I'm just gonna say um they have done theirs here in like either that's an actual twill or it's printed to look like twill the ribbon trim is a nice detail I've been seeing them just in like white twill um so you can go super simple with this too it doesn't have to be like a printed fabric at all there's a little floral one there's a longer one and there's your little side zipper I love that they did it in orange let's see the back are we gonna get this tank top or this t-shirt that's cute um oops I did that a bunch last time I think the way the website works now is a little bit different than it used to be and it's very sensitive to the scrolling but yeah it's cute right you guys have to admit that I wonder how the hem is done is the hem in here somewhere let's see if it's noted on the line drawings it is not so six to 16 on the size range yikes that is a waist measurement of 23 to 30 wow um that's pretty limiting they're not giving us spinach garment measurements but I imagine it's only like one or two inches larger than these so like 25 to 32 is what I would guess it is that's really too bad I mean that's way too small for me um I don't know how difficult it would be to uh like uh grade it out or like you know create a bigger size it's probably starting off as something like a square and then you put all your pleats in I don't know I don't even know if that's really worth it man okay um suggested fabrics or cotton blends gabardine crepes and satin and you need a little bit of interfacing there's a zipper and the optional ribbon trim six to 16 come on I guess maybe because it is such a trend among like Gen Z they're thinking that it's like a younger trend and I hate that okay easy to sew pull on tops feature pleated bodice and square neckline with elastic gathers at shoulder short sleeves are either flutter or gathered with ruffles so we're still we're still doing this this big sleeve thing the square neckline thing all of that is still happening now is this the same as these because this oh you know what they might have done they might have like pinned this back to give her a little bit more shape and then you can see it in the pictures no oh how embarrassing if that's the case either way there's no waist seam these are all just like pleats that release into the peplum I got to see the back of this because that does that looks like there's a waist seam it looks like there's an obvious v there and in the line drawings they are straight a line here is this yeah it's hard to tell what they've got going on but they have given her a waist somehow and I'm just not getting that from the line drawings at all like the line drawings are definitely a line which is adorable I don't need every single thing I have to be like a fit and flare I don't need everything to have a defined waist sometimes it's just enough to have like a loose flowy top and have a pretty you know neckline showing and that's enough for what it's worth lengthening this into a dress would also be super adorable and really easy to do super easy to do the sizing on this is 8 to 18 that's going to take you to a bust of 31 and a half to 40 finished that's 36 to 44 so I will say there is four and a half ease inches of ease in this bust which is kind of a lot I bet you anything that's why they're tucking her in this is not four and a half inches of ease it's just not I mean that's like maybe one um so I think they put it on her and it was just too big and they needed to you know not have it look like a potato sack so they did they pulled her in you can even see under here how some of that's happening um hey okay so yeah I think I think that that's what's happening I stand corrected they can prove me wrong but you can even see through here how big this neckline is um yeah I think it's just it's too it's grayed it out too much there's too much um design ease so with that said though that probably means you if you are a size 20 or maybe even a 22 you could probably make this the bust is the most important part if you have a smaller bust you can you know make up your own sizes out here because there is so much ease in that bust if you're confused about how I'm getting there you can download my fast fit worksheet on my website inside the hem.com um and that's sort of how I think about sizing for all my projects um all right but fabric wise they're they're suggesting batik, shali, cotton blends, crape machine, dotted swiss, lightweight linens and silky types yeah so all of your woven lightweight to the lighter end of midweight you need elastic for your sleeves if you're doing that option um also for a oh elastic for the shoulder seam too for the strap I don't know what you call that the top of the sleeve um and then bias tape I do think it could be really really cute I do love the design but I think the sizing is going to be way off on this one okay now we've got this mrs top similar to the one we just saw um but instead of having those pin tux or those pleated darts that are released it's just little pleats in the waist seam anyways this is how they describe it easy to sew peplum top with front and back inverted pleats have three quarter or short all in one sleeves and invisible back zipper closure okay so as I was saying you have instead of uh closed pleat closed pleat closed pleat that releases in the bottom here you just have it literally like tacked down just this one little area um and it is a peplum a true peplum in that it has a waist seam so you do have to pay attention to where this hits on your body this looks a little long wasted I think her natural waist is probably up here somewhere and here's where the seam is so keep that in mind also it is a grown on sleeve so keep that in mind too there's no sleeve seam here so you are going to get some bunching you got to pay attention to your fabric when you're doing that if your fabric doesn't drape well and create like a pretty fold it's going to look funky on your body also that said it can't be too drapey because then it won't hold these it's a delicate balance a fine line that we um that we walk when it comes to picking fabric for our projects it is sweet it's giving me um like banana republic like I'd see you making it out of like a silk or like a crate back satin or something and having a really pretty like layering piece for like workwear I don't know about it so much for like casual that feels a little I don't know I don't know that I would like just wear it you know as just like I don't know is that it feels uncomfortable to me and I can't explain why it should it's not going to be uncomfortable but it just feels like it would be something that I would be like tugging on a lot I don't know just that's that's my initial reaction but it doesn't even matter what I think because the sizing is size six to 16 and I cannot wear that I mean a 30 inch waist that's just like oh my gosh even in the stores like you look at jeans a size 30 is equivalent to a six right it's eight maybe so you're meaning to tell me you're only making clothes up to a size eight and women's ready to wear that's just wild all right so shali charmeuse crape de sheen double georgette mat jersey knit and silky types and then yeah finished waist is 32 and a half inches I will say two inches of ease is a lot in the waist not a lot but a lot for this no it's not I'm moving my talk what am I talking about it's not that's just the sizing is just not acceptable there's just no way around it like you can't tell me that more of your target demographic has a waist of 25 inches versus 32 and up there are people that have 25 inch waist and by all means they should have patterns that fit them too but if you can only pick six sizes which is a problem in and of itself if you can only pick six you're meaning to tell me you're going to include the one that has a waist of 25 inches I'm just saying pick the median pick the middle where the most people are most people are not but 25 inch waist I don't know that's just how I feel about that I I knew the sizing on new look was bad I didn't know it was this bad yeah all right this is mrs shorts and pants easy to sew loose fitting shorts and wide leg pants have front waistband and pleats elasticized back casing side front pockets and stitch seams I already have patterns like this this is nothing new in terms of design not I'm thinking about the last two really are nothing new in terms of design either those other tops it's maybe a bit of a minute since I've seen them but I definitely have pants that I've made that look just like this I will say the leg on this is super super wide that might be a big difference in the ones that I have it's not a hard change for me to make but if you're not into making alterations I can see how that would be overwhelming but you do have a little curved pocket some pleats as they said a nice big waistband the waistband looks curved on her and flat on the line drawings that's concerning to me I'm interested to see what these look like in the back for her but nice big wide leg oh they're not even going to give us a picture of the back of her well there you have it that explains it all I don't need to know anything more than that if you're not showing me a picture there's a reason right especially when all the other patterns we've looked at have had a photo gosh I know that I'm sounding so like critical and nitpicky right now but I think I'm just like it's 2023 like I'm over these problems like I don't know maybe tonight we have to film this but you're getting a true reaction that's for sure all right size 10 through 22 so it's two side they remove two sizes from the smaller end and added three to the upper end that just makes so much more sense to me it just does okay so the waist is a size 25 up to 37 finished they're not going to give us the finished waist but you got to imagine well it has the elastic in it maybe that's not maybe that's why because it's so loose fitting everywhere and then you have the elastic in the in the back I would still check the front part of the waistband maybe and make sure that that wraps around you comfortably and then leave the back but the fact that that because it has to be straight in the back the waistband has to be straight in the back because of the elastic the fact that that front is curving so much that makes me feel like something's wrong with the rise maybe I don't know something's not right there that should have been straight across her body you're not going to have a curved front waistband and then a straight back one so that I'm leery that would that would that's a strong orange flag like not quite red I think we could fix it but it's you don't know what you're doing like if you yeah that that's going to be a problem fabric requirements are light weight to medium weight woven fabrics such as gauze shali crepes and crepe to sheen now I will on a positive note say I love it when they do this lightweight to medium weight woven fabrics and then they give a few suggestions I don't know why we're not doing this and this goes for McCall simplicity everybody I wish they all did this little bit here such as these three or four that way you could look up those three or four see if you like them maybe you don't and if you don't then you know that this category is much more broad and you can find something else that's not one of these in this and it's just this is so limiting to someone who doesn't know a lot about fabric so I like when they do that I wish they did I was across the board they did that more often and I'm happy to see it here just wish I saw it more okay next we have this top and skirt this easy to sew sleeveless knit top with bias tape finished pairs perfectly with the midi length skirt that has side front pockets side invisible zipper and front slit are they both knit knit so the most basic knit tank top you can think of this is borderline this looks really good here in terms of shoulder length this one that does too but maybe it because it's not cut in at all that's what it is and that's okay that's a design choice you just have to you know really look and make sure that it's not too big at the shoulder this is a design choice that's fine if you want it to be a little bit more feminine you can always cut this in a little bit more and then it hits at the high hip and then you have this midi skirt with a little front slit I think the skirt's got to be woven otherwise there wouldn't be a zipper oh that's not true there would be oh there it is tucked in oh good so we can see the waistband thank you for doing that so you have a pretty decent like one maybe one and a quarter inch waistband you have the pockets that look to be squared off but on the inside and I think they're topstitched either and then your side zipper and the back with it so they are doing a lot of things right here just not necessarily the things that matter most like the priority list is a little bit out of order um but I talked to you guys about this a lot when it comes to waistbanded things and that is this little guy right here you guys all see that bubble right there right that just means that there and you can see there's a drag line here and here and here and all of that is pointing to where her bum so what's happening is there's not enough width there's not enough it's it's technically too small through here but this way she needs more fabric to go up and over her butt if it were a width wise problem these would be a lot more horizontal because they're all pointing downward she needs a full seat adjustment which is just where you slice through right here and add a little wedge and that wedge is going to cause all of this to even out and then you won't have this and you won't have any of these none of those just a little bit more room for like it's the difference between a bubble butt and like just wide hips so if you carry most of your if your hip measurement this circumference of your hip is mostly in your bubble butt like it sticks out front to back more than side to side that adjustment is going to help you get a really good fit okay 10 to 22 again that looks to be pretty standard for anything that has a bottom I'm guessing so we have the hip for the skirt hip for the skirt has yeah two and a half three inches that makes sense for a fitted skirt they're not giving us waistband measurements which is a little frustrating but um the bust for the top has one inch of positive ease that makes sense for a top like that and you can tell the difference right between how this top fits versus how that body suit fit right and why the body suit would have so much negative ease whereas this one is not super like like tight to her body okay fabric wise they're recommending interlock jersey ity bamboo modal and then for the skirt you get chambray cotton blends linen blends pk satin seersucker stretch wovens double knit and paunty yeah couldn't agree with more with all of those options lightly fusible a package of bias tape for the arm size and your invisible zipper for the skirt okay next we have this dress v-neck dress has flared skirt sleeveless or three-quarter length sleeves and optional self belt dresses have back invisible zipper and back waist darts v-neck dress flared skirt this is just like a fit and flare okay again it's very long wasted this last time it was like an inch or two this time we're talking like three or four inches too long um and it could be an issue with how she's got her hip pops but we do have a bit of a neckline issue here that i do think the arm side looks really beautiful how it's cut in it might be too big it might be too big it's like i would be when we get to the ease i'm gonna be guessing that there are four inches or more in this bodice um and then it's like a maybe half circle skirt they have attached and then you can make this little belt to match this is very much what was for sale in patterns when i started sewing like back in 2010 um interesting that it's coming back like this i mean i had a gajillion patterns just like this one i loved this little princess seam detail so flattering in a circle skirt you cannot go wrong with the circle skirt okay here's the back again too big you can see it pulling away from her body here and also even creating this bubble which is just like and look how wide it is here like this is like two sizes too big for her and you can also really see through here how long the waist is like her waist and maybe it's here three inches but this could all be raised like a lot and then of course it'll make it shorter too but pretty simple classic design these types of dresses are just they go back decades and decades and decades women have been wearing them for the longest time and everybody looks fabulous in them all right size 8 to 18 that gives us a bust of 31 and a half to 40 finished is 34 and a half so there's three inches of ease i bet there's three inches of ease and that dresses a size too big for that model so just just double check get the fast fit worksheet maybe size you know reduce the ease in the bust to two inches um and then double check the waist you know should only have about two inches of ease too and then the skirt is negligible because it's just so full they do have like suggested ease charts if you guys have my ultimate sewing garment guide of guides it's like a free guide on my also on my website um in there is a like suggested ease chart based on the fit like fitted loose fitting semi-fitted and also like the part of the body that you're trying to fit so that can help you kind of figure out how much ease should be in a particular garment at a particular place on your body okay this one's sweet again we've kind of been here done this right we've seen a lot of these like um almost like corseted belted types of designs for a few seasons now um this is an easy to sew button front dress with short or long sleeves fitted bodice with front midriff back yoke and gathered skirt with side seam pockets so i do love a beautiful under bust seam i mean when it's gathered it's just so sweet so feminine deep v here deep v i mean it is going a little bit past her bust apex even um some gathers up here the sleeves a little wide like the length here is a little bit long you know i take it back to about here um i'm getting the the the i'm getting the impression though that for the most part these aren't pattern design issues these are size issues i think all of these dresses are too big for this model this one's way more forgiving than some of the other ones but i think you can see it in places like this um and then if they are like nipping and tucking her in the back with pins or whatever like we could see in that last the other photo then they're just lying to us that's how i feel i feel like i'm being lied to when they don't show me the exact fit that they got using the exact fit model sizing or however they do it anyways here's your little yoke and then some more gathers into the skirt a ton of buttons going down the front um and then you do have a sweet little um kind of lantern sleeve with a band here the size i don't know if i like a seven eighths inch length on a sleeve it just feels like somebody made a mistake that's just me personally i'd rather see it all the way down to the wrist or half i don't even know if i like three quarter sleeves with a band to be honest but that's just me yeah it's a great dress you could do absolutely anything in this dress you could go to church go to work you know go out with your girlfriends go on a date depending on your fabric and all of that you could i mean this dress will take you everywhere so there's the back really nice back i don't see any too many problems length wise i mean again maybe maybe with the waist but even that's not too too bad i love the little gathers here the sleeve again you can see how her her shoulder is or even better here actually you can see this is where her shoulder her arm is actually attached to her shoulder right here um so this is where the sleeve seam should be and then it kind of that little bubble that's right there is supposed to go bubbling over her sleeve cap over her shoulder cap not it should start way up here and go up and over she shouldn't have this bubble at all in other words so okay so six to sixteen again um finished bust is 34 so again another well this one wow that this one has three and a half inches of ease again probably what is explaining the shoulder fit um and it's hard to tell how i mean it's hard to tell if this fit on the i mean i don't see how else you get those gathers there unless someone's pulled it up in the back and has it pinned this also does not look like three and a half inches of ease to me so just i guess just know that like three and a half inches is not technically a fitted garment it's closer to loose fitting um and that when you have a dress that's supposed to be fit and flare even if it has a little bit of blousing to it you still shouldn't be going much more than two and a half or three inches of ease i know a half inches that sound like much but i mean it can make the difference between looking super frumpy and like you're drowning in your clothes versus not i mean i would err on the side of a for the dress that this design for a two inch bust ease for sure and then they give us the hip measurement which is like why like we don't need the hip measurement on this we know it's a full skirt give us the waist man you guys comment a lot about how they should hire you you should so if ever there's been a time or need for that i feel like it's now so new look call me up my phone lines are open let's figure this out together my goodness i don't know is Mimi just like like new looks on their own for now she's done so much so much good positive progress for the other collections and it's almost like now that those have caught up this is even more strikingly not good you know what i'm saying that they you can tell just how behind the times they are before it was kind of like well you know how big four is they're kind of all like this but now that the other ones aren't and this is the only one that is it's like man man you guys are missing out all right this is a wrap dress with length and sleeve variations features romantic ruffles and long sleeves or sleeveless options um so wrap dress and i'm assuming this is a true wrap dress um it has it does not have gathers here but there is something happening there is a little bit of a pucker here it's pointing to the bust it looks like maybe it's pointing actually to the shoulder and there's too much fabric here i don't know hard to tell because just how she's standing let me take a look at some more pictures you also tell that it's too long through here because when you do a wrap right and you're tying it around your waist like there is a string around your waist on the inside like and you're pulling it kind of tight like there's if there's if it's too long and there's too much fabric there it is going to bunch up um it's kind of the least forgiving in terms of length um fit issues but it's pretty this reminds me a lot of the orange dress that i just did for the sew along um that one is a true wrap but we do a button there's a button on the inside and here and it still had this is a little bit shorter right it feels like almost the exact same design just a tie instant and lighter weight fabric instead of a button okay here's another pose again she's popping her hip a little bit so it's a little bit hard to tell but yeah you can definitely see that her waist is closer to around here and we still have this happening hmm yeah i don't know it's got to be in the if like the shoulder because this does look okay right where the sleeve is hitting but if that's close fitting and it's fitting like really tightly to her bicep and her shoulder cap and then this is too long and like writing up on her neck that would create that little bunch there rather than but it yeah i don't know that one is not as common to me this one here it's not pointing to the arm side it's pointing to the shoulder so it's got to be something in the shoulder length the same thing's happening here oh here's the another dress and another oh same dress and a different girl okay i wish i could see her from the front because then i would be able to compare the two girls but i can't but there is still i guess this happening yeah interesting okay so size is 10 to 22 and we have three inches of ease in the bust because it's a wrap it's a little bit more forgiving because you can just pull it tighter um so three inches is probably fine for a wrap it's it's borderline though it's definitely like maybe two and a half would be better but i'm not going to go through that much work just to take out two and a half we're just take out half an inch although that really only translates to a quarter of an inch more seam allowance on the side seams which is easy enough to do but you have to remember so i don't know okay shally charmous cotton lawn crape crape machine double door jet gingham silky types and wall so yeah all of your lightweight woven for sure uh cotton blends lining fabrics and interfacing and then elastic for the sleeve and they don't say anything about twill tape for that um bias neckline they do say lightweight fusible interfacing but only seven eighths of the yard well that is actually quite a lot so maybe that's what they're having you do um oh and a lining so the bodice is also lined and seven eighths of the yard of interfacing so maybe they're yeah contending with the stretch factor of the neckline with interfacing instead of a tape of some kind maybe that was causing that bubble the lining maybe somehow when the lining was attached to this it didn't go together right that could be it okay look at this top and pants this is going to be the best seller of their entire collection unfortunately it's in sizes zero to four i'm just kidding it is in sizes extra small to extra large oh gosh all right so easy to sew off the shoulder cropped top has elasticized neckline and waist with long gathered sleeves loose fitting pull-on pants have elasticized waist and side seam pockets i could probably do without the pockets on this pattern but nonetheless i think i'm super picky about which of my garment i used to put pockets in everything like the pockets make everything better nowadays they get on my nerves sometimes and i just rather not have them i mean i have a purse almost all the time all right so you have this off the shoulder top with elasticized opening elastic at the under bust and elastic at the wrist as well what makes this so cute and flattering is this big wide sleeve i just love that so much what i want to know though is does this stay down off of your shoulders there's nothing i hate more than tugging on that all day long to keep those down um not to say that you couldn't just wear it on top of your shoulder too that's also fine but i think that there is a sneaky way for you to put something in this underarm seam to prevent that from happening uh or i don't know maybe it's there's some way some people's designs are able to keep them down like in some ways they just pop up every single time maybe it's like the strength of the elastic i don't know the quality of the elastic i'm not sure but something and then you have these basically pajama pants um pull on elastic waist pajama pants sort of a wider leg at the bottom it's a good balance you know with the whole look together um super cute you could lengthen this right to make it come down to your true waist if you're not a mid-drift girly but i think this is really cute for like beach or pool or the Caribbean vacation or cruise or like wherever you're going i think this would be really adorable the sleeve is really really amazing if the fact that she has her hands in her pockets right here and is not having any issues is a good sign there's there's a plenty of ease in the pants and even this crotch curve looks amazing yeah these are some well fitting pants on her can't say they'd be the same for everybody out of the envelope but on her they look really really good that's what we should all strive for all right so extra small to extra large that's equivalent to their whole range so six to 24 um that gives us so your bust obviously is super loose fitting you're really fitting the top based on all these elastics that are happening so there's a lot of wiggle room there the hip of the pant is the most important thing which is that is the finished government measurement that they gave us thank you very much and it looks like there are roughly five or six inches of ease that's perfect this is the best pattern hands down through and through fit fabrication all of it that i've seen so far they should have led with this one um and i hope people give this collection enough time or they give it enough like they look through enough of the patterns to get to this one to see the diamond in the rough the diamond amongst the rough um now i will say finished hip wise only goes up to 52 um and considering it's supposed to be a loose fitting pant that is still you know only 48 inches or so of hip circumference um not nearly enough um but it's the best that they've got and i guess under those circumstances that we just have to be okay with that um if you're getting me your entire size range fine if you're getting me like three sizes out of your size range i'm gonna have a problem with that especially when it's already so limiting all right so gauze crate shally and stable knits yeah i think you can get away with some heavier weights too like um like chambray some cotton cotton blends you know i think even like a like a rayon twill rayon blend where's linen like this would be great for linen um so i think there's a lot more options here than just this okay a bunch of elastic and that's it a ton of elastic okay now let's see was that what's next all right now we have this unisex outfit and then that's going to be it or unisex top i guess mrs and men's sweatshirts yeah it's just a sweatshirt and a hoodie okay easy to sew sweatshirt with or without hood top width hood has contrast lining drawstrings and side seam pockets fit based on men's sizing so it's a men's sweatshirt that women can wear oh gosh so she has on the sweatshirt wow that is that is like up on her neck i would be tugging on that whole bunch uh i gotta imagine they have the same neckline that's really weird maybe it's just being pulled down in the back also why is it so long huh oh because it's a men's stuff okay and then his i don't i don't love hoodies with a hood lining how do you guys feel about that um and then your little drawstring the fit looks okay on him on her let me see there's more pictures of her yes yeah i don't know that it's like a tunic a sweatshirt tunic so page into the link for sure this is still bothering me why it's so up high i doesn't need to be much lower but like half an inch or something maybe yeah yeah no no no that part of the 1980s is not coming back mom jeans plus this long sweatshirt covering your butt no they could have done like a cut here for women's cut here for men's line on the pattern pieces small to two x so they gave us one bigger size for the guys no didn't mean to rhyme they took away the extra small and included a two x so that's going to give you a chest of up to 52 um finished it's 40 at 58 inches so that's six inches of ease for a sweatshirt okay i mean you can have closer fitting sweatshirts for sure if that's your preference um but i think well this is probably borderline oversized sweatshirt so i would find the middle ground maybe four inches for a standard fitting sweatshirt so so yeah wow okay i know i had a lot of like gripes with the whole thing for the most part but um on the whole i think that the designs are cute enough right um it's just too bad most people aren't going to be able to sew them because they aren't going to fit anyone um yeah there are some cute stuff in here on the surface it all looks really good when you get down to the nitty-gritty of it though there's fit issues there's certainly sizing issues so but if i'm getting any of them if i'm at joanne and i remember i'm going to be grabbing this one for sure i have nothing like that in my stash and i think it'd be a really fun scrap buster with this little top although the sleeves probably make it not a scrap buster anymore but you know what i mean the rest of them i would be buying this skirt if it fit this one um but it doesn't so anyways i this one too this one too i would probably grab that one um and make it to a dress but anyways i'd like to hear what you guys think um you don't have to you know double down and join me on all the griping that that i made i think we can all universally agree that there's a problem there um but let me know what you guys think about the designs and if you'll be grabbing any of the patterns but that's going to do it for me today y'all thanks so much for watching i will see you all very soon bye


The next item of business is consideration of business motion number 15930, in the name of Jo Fitzpatrick, on behalf of the parliamentary bureau, setting it a revision to the business programme for the week. Any member who wishes to speak against the motion should press a request speak button now, and I call on Jo Fitzpatrick to move motion number 15930. No member has asked to speak against the motion therefore I now put the question of the chamber. The question is that motion number 15930, in the name of Jo Fitzpatrick, be agreed to? Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed to. We now move to topical questions. Question number one, Alice McInnes. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. To ask the Scottish Government what independent assessment has been carried out of the impact of reducing air passenger duty. Cabinet Secretary, Keith Brown. We will reduce the burden of air passenger duty in Scotland by 50 per cent, with the reduction beginning when a Scottish replacement tax is introduced on April 2018, and delivered in full by the end of the next Scottish Parliament, expected to be in 2021. We will also abolish the tax entirely when resources allow. We launched a public consultation on a Scottish replacement tax on Monday 14 March. The consultation seeks to use on how the replacement tax should be structured and operated to help to boost Scotland's international connectivity and to generate sustainable growth. In recognition of the important environmental issues that need to be considered, a consultation has also been launched on the initial findings and proposed scope and methodology of the strategic environmental assessment that we are undertaking. Thank you very much. My question was what independent assessment has been carried out. In 2013, my colleague Willie Rennie asked the same question, and we asked for the evidence. In the official written reply at that time, which I have here, the Scottish Government referred us to the EasyJet corporate website, to a report commissioned by four airlines. Did I miss the news, minister? Is this Scottish Government now just a wholly owned subsidiary of the aviation industry? I listened to my initial answer. I mentioned the fact that we have gone out to consultation now. In addition to that, we also have a stakeholder group, which includes environmental groups and others. Of course, the industry is going to have an interest in that. In addition to the reports that she mentioned, there is also the York aviation report. Those reports have been put out in the public domain, but it is important that we take on the views of everyone. I think that we have sought to do that by establishing the stakeholder group, which will also consider the responses to the initial findings that we proposed in the strategic environmental assessment and the further responses from consultees. That could be anybody in the country that wants to respond to it. I think that that is a responsible way to do it and will give us an idea exactly of what the feelings of people most affected by this change would be. The York aviation report was also commissioned by the aviation industry committee. You could not make it up. Look at the stakeholder forum that you have referred to. I counted 15 airlines and airport representatives and just one environmental voice. Is that really the best balance that the minister can get? No, there is more than one environmental voice, as well as stop-climate chaos. We also have links with the Scottish environmental link who are responding to this as well. We are taking this point very seriously. Of course, it is the case that this will have a profound effect on airlines and airports. It is only natural that we want to take their views on how best to proceed with it. We have also undertaken a separate environmental assessment as well on the likely emissions. We are moving forward in a responsible way, but what I do not hear from Alison MacKinnon is a single word of support for a measure that will greatly increase economic activity in Scotland, provide benefits for passengers and for small businesses, tourist attractions and the general economy across the country. That is a positive move. It would be nice if Alison MacKinnon could occasionally be positive about some of the things that the Scottish Government is doing. Stop-climate chaos has said that a cut in APD would lead to 60,000 tonnes more CO2, and that is on top of emissions targets being missed for four years running in a 10 per cent cut from the climate change budget. Passenger numbers are already at record levels. Is not a £250 million aviation tax break the final nail in the coffin of the SNP's green credentials? The reference of £250 million used by Alison MacKinnon is as accurate as some of the other statements that she just made. It is completely wrong. What was the purpose of us consulting with people and involving in the stakeholder group people that we only agree with? That is why stop-climate chaos is there. It is also true to say that, in relation to the emissions impacts, we have to meet those targets across a whole range of government activity. It is also possible that, in the way that you introduce the replacement tax, it is possible to have an effect on reducing those emissions, not least by encouraging, if that is what was chosen to be done, long-haul routes, at the expense of short-haul routes. That way, you can start to cut out some of the most environmentally damaging short-haul routes. However, that is a positive move, and it is being received very positively. We will, of course, take on board the views of all interest groups, including those with an environmental interest. That is why they are involved in the stakeholder group, and that is the right way to proceed. Mark McDonald? Given that Aberdeen Airport is in my constituency and that the managing director of Aberdeen Airport has been very open about the economic benefits that would be brought not just to the airport, but to the wider north-east economy as a consequence of a reduction in air passenger duty, does the minister share my horror at the fact that a north-east representative in the shape of Alison McInnes is talking down the impact that that could have on the economy for the region that she is supposed to represent? It is a very good point that was made by Mark McDonald. I would be interesting to see a conversation between Alison McInnes and Carol Benzie, the chief executive of the airport, when she tries to talk again about what has been proposed in one study as a result of around 0.7 million additional passengers passing through Scotland's airports in 2015, rising to 0.9 million by 2020, as well as a direct, indirect and induced impact of a 50 per cent reduction on operational impact. Nearly 4,000 additional jobs, £200 million per annum in gross value added by 2020. Those are the beneficial effects of the measure. As well as the Government having to address the issues of people who have concerns about it, it is also to the case that Alison McInnes, who I do not know whether she is arguing for stay as it is or increasing even further, is bearing in mind that it is already the most expensive tax of its type in the world. I know the word that she wants to increase that further. It would be interesting to see her address some of the concerns of people who are supportive of this move. I welcome the Government's consultation, including the consultation on the impact on the environment. Will the Scottish Government talk to the Dutch Government who, in 2009, applied an APD to accrue 280 million euros, but scrapped it after 18 months because they were losing 1.3 billion euros and losing many jobs in the hospitality and tourism industry? We are very conscious of that example and, of course, we will be more than happy to receive a submission from Chick Brody on that particular point. We have noted that point. It is also interesting to say that it is the case that, in the last UK Parliament, the UK Government afforded Northern Ireland the opportunity to reduce APD to zero for transatlantic flights. I think that that was supported by the Liberal Democrats, if I remember. The question is why the Liberal Democrats would support it for other parts of the United Kingdom, but not for Scotland? However, I entirely agree with Chick Brody's point that other places have found this, as, indeed, has the Republic of Ireland very beneficial to avoid doing what the UK seems to have wanted to do in relation to Scotland, which is to give us the highest tax of its type in the world and, therefore, an inhibition on economic activity. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that every household in Scotland will have access to high-speed broadband. Our goal is to ensure that everyone has access to high-speed broadband, and our investment through the Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband programme will deliver at least 95 per cent fibre broadband coverage by 2017. Through community broadband Scotland and a second phase of investment, we will ensure that the remaining 5 per cent have access to superfast broadband as early as possible. If re-elected in May, an SNP Government will ensure that superfast broadband is delivered to 100 per cent of premises across Scotland over the next Parliament. I have recollections of the Scottish Government making a similar promise prior to the 2011 general election. The Deputy First Minister has now taken to writing to BT to complain about the lack of progress in the Highlands and Islands, something that I have been telling him about for a very long time. I also invited him to visit innovative projects in my region, none of which he has found time to do. Can I ask what proportion of the people in the Highlands and Islands will have access to high-speed broadband by 2017? I am happy to provide those figures to Rhoda Grant, but she will be aware that nearly 7,000 homes per week are being put on to broadband. She will also be aware of the innovative schemes that the Deputy First Minister has overseen, for example, in some of the small isles to ensure that other methods of ensuring that people have access to broadband are taken forward as well. However, I think that it is a very ambitious target to make sure that every single person, not least from what we consider, will be some of the households that Rhoda Grant will be talking about, which can be very remote and otherwise very expensive to allow to achieve superfast broadband. The commitment by the Scottish Government to make sure that everybody benefits from it is a universal obligation whereby everybody gets access to it is the right thing to do. Perhaps it would be better if she was able to support that. I am not only supported, but it is something that I have been fighting for for years if it is disappointing that we have made such little progress. When I met the Deputy First Minister, he also promised to let me know which houses would be covered by the first phase of the roll-out in the Highlands and Islands. I am still waiting for that information, as are my constituents. Why is he reacting now? Is he just afraid that he will be judged on his record in this election for his lack of progress on broadband? I do not accept that there has been a lack of progress. We have already met our interim target of 85 per cent coverage six months ahead of schedule. We are working very closely with BT, who was mentioned earlier on, to ensure that 95 per cent coverage is also achieved on schedule. As I said, excellent progress has been made. On average, the programme is connecting 7,000 new homes and businesses every week. In fact, we are making such good progress that it has now allowed us to commit if we are elected in May, as I have said, to extending superfast digital broadband in terms of a commitment not to 95 per cent but to 100 per cent premises across Scotland over the course of the next session. That shows the ambition of this Government, and it should be drawing of support from the rest of the chamber. I am much more optimistic than Rhoda Grant is. I suppose that I have a better insight into the immense technical difficulty that we have seen in laying cables and not least cables, submarine cables, across many of our islands. I wonder whether the cabinet secretary could perhaps explain some of the benefits of delivering high-speed broadband across the Highlands and Islands, and whether he feels that this will give a boost to the economy. I think that Mike McKenzie and Rhoda Grant are right to point out why this is extremely important for rural areas. Connectivity is very important, not least for employment opportunities but also for educational and even health opportunities that people have the ability to be connected. For that reason, for example, we are developing an action plan on mobile connections as well in collaboration with the industry for rural areas. That plan will contain a package of measures that is designed to set the right conditions to encourage investment in underserved areas. I think that the potential benefits are transformative in terms of some of the premises and individuals that will be connected as a result of that. That is why the Scottish Government is putting the resources in to make sure that that happens for everybody in Scotland. While remote and hard-to-reach areas remain of great concern, would the minister take the opportunity at this point to comment on the many town centres in some Scotland's most populated areas that have been bypassed by high-speed broadband because they have direct exchange lines? That seems to be something that BT expects to have Government support to overcome, but is it something that the minister thinks should be done on a commercial basis by the company? There are particular issues in town centres and city centres, including in Edinburgh, for example, in Rose Street, where state aid rules do not allow BT to do the things that we are working with them to do in other areas. Sometimes there are issues that I accept, but we are working with BT in relation to the gain-share funding, if Alex Johnson is familiar with what the gain-share funding is—basically the benefits that we have accrued from the programme so far—to make sure that we roll it out to those areas where it has been difficult. Sometimes that will remain difficult because of state aid rules. It is also worth saying as well that there has been some misunderstanding that simply enabling this was at a cabinet that was being developed this morning in the northern part of Edinburgh to provide people with the ability to access broadband. That, of course, is all that it does. It still requires people to subscribe to a broadband provider in order to achieve that. However, the point that I made previously in response to Mike McKenzie and Rora Grant is that it is our intention to have 100 per cent of premises across Scotland served over the course of the next parliamentary session. That must include dealing with some of the difficulties that Alex Johnson has mentioned. References were made to the subsea cabling work that was undertaken by BT. Of course, they are not the only company that is undertaking cabling. I wonder whether the cabinet secretary might agree to speak to the Deputy First Minister and his colleague, the energy minister, about pressing the case with SSE and other utilities companies that, when they are undertaking cabling work, they need to look at the issue of laying fibre at the same time so that we do not miss the opportunity there. I think that Liam McArthur raises an interesting point and an undertake to take up those issues with the Deputy First Minister and the energy minister. It is certainly the case that, when we are involved in large and sometimes very expensive infrastructure works, it is very often the case that we are able to achieve more than one thing at a time. For example, the ability to lay fibre along the border railway was something that we looked at very closely and managed to move along. As I say, I am happy to raise those issues with the Deputy First Minister or Liam McArthur's behalf. I wonder whether the cabinet secretary could expand on which other companies will provide superfast broadband, such as mobile phone companies? Are you in discussions with them to share the masks? Are you also in discussions with the local authority who will buy into that as well? Those discussions are under way, and perhaps even more importantly with Ofcom as well, to make sure that the Scottish Government's new access to Ofcom is used for the benefit of mobile users across the country. Dennis Robertson raises the issue of some of the problems that he mentions mass sharing. We are very much trying to encourage that, and also to look at some of the other demands of the industry in relation to how the planning system deals with applications for mobile masks, which is a controversial area. The issues that Dennis Robertson raises are under very active consideration. I think that we are starting to see a way forward to make further progress in relation to that. If he is interested, I am more than happy to keep him more up to date with the other companies that he mentioned and the way that they are helping us to achieve that.


You are about to witness an epic Tarot Magnus reaction.  When my butler, my servant, stopped me and said, Ah, ah, ah, ah, sir, before you leave, there has been another tribute made in honor of you. I said, really, by one of my magnetites? Yes, sir, by one of your loyal magnetites. And then I said, really, he dares interrupt me before I train. He'd this warning, Magnusite, if you do not put a smile on my face, you will have the honor of dying at my hands. Now, for the reaction. This one is entitled, Tyrone Magnus in Avengers 2012 trailer. This will be interesting. Put the sound on. Take that away, what are you? A genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. You get, Magnusite. If we can, we'll check the area. That was cool. I like it. Your work is unparalleled, and I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green-brained monster. You know, Tony Stark kind of has humor like I am from Real Rejects.  I liked it. That was good. I liked it. I definitely liked that one. I appreciate it, Magnusite. Go make sure you go check out and subscribe to, man, how do you say this? Almond, Almond-agic fan-made trailers. Of course, I will post the link in the description. Go show your fellow Magnusite some love. If you enjoyed my reaction, hit the like button. If you didn't, hit the like button. One million subscribers were 100,000 subscribers plaque. That's on its way. Woo! May now subscribe.


With forward pay from Appalachian Wireless, you'll avoid contracts and credit checks while taking advantage of some awesome perks like unlimited talk, text and 3 gigs of data for just $44.99 or with 5 gigs for a mere $59.99. Forward pay, that's today's Appalachian Wireless. Muscle on May 2016 was officially put to bed at last night's Pikeville City Commission meeting as volunteers and organizers as well as logistical support staff were recognized and thanked for their hard work. Man, what a time we've had. And you guys, we've got words that you want to drag race down there and that was, they want to walk, and it's turned out to be just a fantastic event. Everybody talks about it and everybody says, man, I can't believe they're doing it. Because keeping money at home, bringing people to Eastern Kentucky is what it's all about these days. And for that, there's a lot of businesses out here that appreciate you more than we do. So thank you all. All the volunteers, and this wouldn't happen. And that's why I'm at Pikeville so many times. We have volunteers and people that will come out and help and make it work. And again, I would like all the volunteers as well. A group of winners from the different classes in the H2O Racing Series also received their trophies before the commission. And with that, this year's Muscle on Main Series was officially closed out. Pikeville Tourism and Events Executive Director Andy Linton said this year was wildly successful. Friday nights, we averaged about 25 cars, drivers that embraced. Spectator-wise, we averaged about 1,800 spectators on any given Friday night. On Saturday nights, our playwrights, we averaged about 40 to 45 drivers, mainly them 45, with about an average of 3,000 spectators throughout the year. And the planning for next year's Muscle on Main Series, which could include more races in advance, is well underway. You know, we got a lot of good things going on next year with the index racing. Of course, we have the H2O Point Series that we'll probably do again next year. The East Kentucky Hibbley Drag Racing Series, you know, we're still looking at that. We just got to get together and kind of see what we can do to improve next year. So that's our next plan. Reporting in Pikeville for EKB News, I'm Chris Anderson.


Well, thank you everyone for coming and thank you obviously to Sarah for asking us to come and do this. I'm Adam. Obviously, this is Trent. We have another farm that's up in Alpina that was part of this project as well at Presquio Farm, Dion and Molly, and we talked to them yesterday morning. There was a lot of ice and we made the call as a team to not have him risk his life trying to get down from Alpina and taking 12 hours or so to get down here. We're going to present his part. He did put slides together. Obviously, we've worked closely with them and so we talked through his things as well. So we're going to start with a little bit of an overview about the project and then talk individually about each of our farms, how we, with our markets and how we looked at things a little bit differently and what worked well on our farm. We're really excited that one of the options with Sarah is to have a one-year or a two-year. We did a two-year and I think that I'm really happy we did a two-year because there's a lot of things that we figured out in the second year, especially with equipment as we start to learn it, that was really helpful for us to do better in the second year compared to the first and just kind of work through that learning curve. So again, so we were looking at scaling up some root crop production. So project overview, Sarah generously provided $22,241 is part of a Farmer Rancher Group Grant. Project number is FNC 171090. The participating farms were Green Gardens Community Farm in Battle Creek, Presquiel Farm in Pozen, which is just outside of Alpina, and then Tonhens Farm, which is us in Bath, which is just outside of Lansing. The problem or the challenge that we all have is that there is this increased demand for root crops, especially at the wholesale markets, carrots, beets, potatoes. We'll talk at some other crops that we learned in the second year had some more demand for. So there's this demand in the winter as local foods and regional foods have scaled up and it's something that we've all of our farms have continued to grow more each year and just not been able to meet the demand. So if we had more, we knew or we all know if we had more of them, we could sell more. And the challenge is those of you who grow root crops, we were talking with a couple of farms before this, is that there is a lot of labor demand, especially when it comes to hand scale, hand weeding, and as we try to scale up thinking about how we can do a better job of using some mechanization so that we can decrease our labor demands, increase our production, and still meet that price point for wholesale markets. We know no one's going to pay exorbitant or higher number or higher amounts per pound for some of the root crops. And so we need to be able to, while we can charge a little more, be able to decrease our labor demands as well. So all of us grow in high tunnels or hoop houses year round as well. And so what we have are year round markets where we have greens or other similar crops. And the root crops really piggyback on those greens and vice versa. The more kind of products we have at market, you know, you can imagine if you come to a market and there's seven different kinds of greens, someone's only going to buy so many kinds of greens. But if there's seven different kinds of greens and there's five different kinds of root crops, that customer is going to buy more products. Or in the wholesale market, that customer also is looking to buy more products. Another thing is that all of us are, we're not old by any means, but we're also not young anymore. And crawling around on our hands and knees is something we are trying to limit, especially when it comes to hand weeding carrots. So we're trying to think about how, you know, when we're 20, when we're, I think you're, I'm 40, you're 40. There, how? You look 40, Trent, sorry. Tough year, tough, tough year. So, you know, as we get older, trying to be able to farm for the next 20 or 25 years and not kind of beat our bodies up more than we already do. And then again, trying to decrease the labor. So our challenges, our opportunities in what we're trying to change in our systems, we're trying to mechanize seeding, weeding, harvesting, post-harvest handling and storage. So again, it was two years, our farm scales, we'll talk about, but Trent's is a little bit bigger, ours is in the middle and Deon and Molly's is a little smaller, we'll talk about those. But we're mostly moving through farmer's markets or other types of sales. And then we also have wholesale, all of us also have wholesale accounts. So we're looking mostly at yield sales and labor. And then our outreach activities that are part of this were on farm field days, conference presentations of which this is the second and trade journal article as well that we have submitted in manuscript form. So a little bit about our farm and what we looked at. So we're Ten Hen's farm. We've got about 17,000 square feet of high tunnel space. And then we farm about three acres of outdoor space as well. So not large by any means, but definitely enough to keep us busy. The farm is my full-time job, so on your left is our home farm. Our house sits right here on it. And then this property is about a mile away, which it's about two acres there. So we do restaurants, farmer's markets, multi-farm CSAs. And all those markets have continued to grow. And we've also started to sell into a number of wholesale accounts, some grocery stores, some mid-level distributors. And so that's really where we're seeing a lot of the opportunity to move these crops in the winter. So equipment that we purchased, we had a number of different cultivating equipment, so that's where we were looking to move towards on our farm. So we have some estines with different shovels. Deon and Molly did some discs, and they looked really closely at potatoes. So some hillars and trenchers. We looked at some different beet knives, and crescent knives to be able to weed in between the rows, and also our aisles. And so we're sort of at this funny scale of trying to, we are using tractor cultivation, we are using that, but we are very young at using that. And so we're trying to use some not overly advanced tools, especially because with our tractor we're doing blind cultivation, so we only have one tractor. So mostly what we purchased were cultivation tools like this. An undercutter to be able to lift some of the carrots and other root crops. And a jang seeder, so precision seeding. So something that we saw that was really a challenge for us was the amount of seed we were using and the cost that was going into that. We pushed this one by hand. You can buy a tool that mounts this to a tractor as well, to a toolbar. A flame weeder, and there's some carrots that we were looking at. So mostly what we looked at was carrots. We did some beets as well, but 2017 to 18, here's some yield, grow sails, and how much space or how much row feet we used. So I think the biggest thing that we learned when we said about that one year to two years is that we produced a similar amount, but we were really a lot better at using our space efficiently. And the biggest thing was we went from using four row. We have about a 22 inch bed, is what our tractor tires will form. Went from having two rows there, which we thought was adequate spacing to four rows in that space, and for us that increased the yield in that area. But it also really decreased the weed pressure. As those carrots grew up, there was much less space between those crops to be able to kind of shade things out once we got to that point. And I think if we wouldn't have done two, well, we probably would have learned that in the second year, but it was really nice to see that. The other thing that we saw was that as we got better at flame weeding and cultivating, that our labor from 2017 to 2018 decreased by half. And the big part of that was timing of the flame weeding. That was probably the number one thing. And then having those four rows instead of two rows. So the other thing that we're seeing is that we sold out about three months earlier this year than we did in 2017, even though we had the same amount. So that's a good problem to have, again, is we're seeing there's this huge demand for it out there. So overall lessons learned. We did have some tenderhose and beet knives. We used them less because they were longer. So as they come down, can imagine they come down like that and come out. And that spot that's flat is what's running between the rows. With the tractor that we have, we couldn't get in between the rows. So we used those more in the aisle ways where our aisles are wider. So what we've seen is that you can get smaller beet knives or we can cut those off and make them smaller, which I think we're gonna do next year. Just cut right through there so that we've got a smaller curve. We did earlier seeding in the fall, that was an idea Trent had. Did a lot earlier seeding and we're able to get larger carrots. So seeding more like the middle of July and the late instead of the end of July. We had better quality. The big thing for us too is we don't have a heated wash space. So in the winter, we've had a covered wash space, which is just another high tunnel. But being able to get those out of the field and wash in October, instead of getting them out of the field and wash in November or hope you get that 35 to 40 day degree in December and try to get everything out and wash and back in was much better to seed earlier. With the Yang Cedar or the Yang Cedar, it's a precision cedar. We had definitely like any tool, there was a learning curve. So in year two, what we saw is that we got things even closer spacing in the row. And again, we had four instead of two rows in the bed. And so talking with Trent and how what they've been doing with their cedar, we went from about 10 seeds per foot in the first year to about 14 seeds per foot and now Trent's around 20 or 22 seeds per foot that they're putting down. So we're upping that as well to try to get a better stand. Yeah, definitely, everything is especially on the carrots. Our carrots is overhead. Yep, with the what do they call the micro? The wobblers, yeah, thank you. The biggest thing for us is that we used to use an Earthway for all of our seeding. By using the Yang, we decreased the amount of seed that we're using for carrots by a third. And some of our other crops like Hacari turnips were decreased it by like 70% because those seeds are so small and the Earthway even taped was dropping so many. So we're saving so much money in terms on our scale for the amount of seeds. And then the bigger thing is also not coming back and having to thin them out. Yeah, but yeah. Definitely, especially for carrots, I think we get so much better germination just because once they get wet, they stay, you know, we still irrigating, but they stay wet. So we'll talk about that in a minute. Yep. So so carrots again, we said we seeded them earlier in 2018. We're packing them into 10 pound bags and we shifted that. So we had an increased demand. And for those in we need to increase our cooler size beats. We had a good wholesale market in 2017, not a great one in 2018. But what we saw is that 2018 we have a really and going into the future. We've got a really high demand for Hacari turnips, which are the white Japanese turnips.  And we didn't do that in 2017. We sold through those this year faster than we sold through carrots. So there's a huge demand for us right now for black and watermelon radishes, which are super easy to grow, really quick to grow, store incredibly well. So so Presky eel, here's their farm. They're about one and a half acres in production. They've got about 9000 square feet of high tunnels. They've been there for five years and they've got two and a half employees. Two of them are the farm mourners. So they hire in about a half time person. They have a split between farmers, markets, restaurants, groceries, a small CSA in some schools, and they do mixed crops as well. So lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, microgreens, root crops, potatoes, some alliums. And then they've got kind of this kind of 15 percent sort of one off things that they are trying out that year. So they do a lot of tunnel production of lettuce and spinach. They also do a lot of carrots and turnips and a lot of tomatoes. So the main focus for them in this project was potatoes. And so what they're trying to do is add their availability on the shoulder seasons. So they get a lot of big potato production up in Alpina, but they don't have a lot of kind of smaller scale direct market potato production up there. So they saw that as a really big opportunity to be able to push along with their greens, like all of us have seen. They're also in a place that's very, very rural and they have limited labor that they can hire in. So they're in a rural area and a rural county, plus they're also in a very rural part of that rural area and rural county. So for them, being able to minimize their labor through equipment is was was a really, really huge part of this. So one of the things that they had is a walking cooler that they added, which for them having their potatoes go into the winter and other root crops was imperative, otherwise they would not have been able to do this. They have a tractor cultivation tool bar similar to what we had where we are already where we attached the equipment to them. So they had those discs like you saw in the earlier picture in the Hiller. And then the big one, the biggest thing for them that they got this year was last year, sorry, and used for two years was this potato digger. So for them, they said there's no way they could have done what they did. Without having that potato digger and that cooler as well, and then the the hilling on the back of the toolbar. So for them, you know, they're pretty standard for their potato production. And then when they pull it out, they're putting it in their cooler at 50 and lowering that temperature down. So in 2017, they had about 4,300 pounds of saleable potatoes. They charged about average a dollar twenty four. You can see they were packing them into these bags like this and selling them at the market. And they ended up with about 2,500 net on about a third of an acre. So in year two, they also had the same amount. They had their challenge in year two was that they that they moved across kind of expanded their fire, moved across the street and they didn't have irrigation and it was a really dry year in 2018. So they had lower, much lower yields. But what they were able to do is from looking at their data from 2017, they they upped their price instead of a dollar twenty four. They were more like a dollar eighty four. So while they still had a lower net because they had a lower sales or amounts, they were much happier with the target number that they were looking for for their per pounds. So they're seeing that they need to definitely irrigate. But the the potato digger for them was and the digger and the harvester were imperative to have. So their payback period they looked at. So for equipment, this is a pretty good payback period about three and a half years if they if it wasn't bought through a grant. So what they've said is it's maybe not great for a cashstrap farm, but for a farm that's looking to invest in equipment over the long term, they're really happy that they that they did that. So. OK, so I'm Trent Thompson from Battle Creek. We're actually selling right now just a few miles away over at the Kalamazoo Farmers Market. My wife is over there. We do about six acres of produce. Been doing this is my 12th 12th year growing veggies. It's kind of crazy. We do about twenty five different crops. We're all organic, but we're not certified. We also have about two thirds acre under a greenhouse. This is all year round production, mostly greens in the wintertime and tomatoes, peppers, basil, ginger, summertime production. We have about three field employees and two part time people that work with us at marketing. Our marketing channels are CSA read about two hundred and fifty members. That's our target this year. We have two different CSA models. We have a market style and we also make in customizable boxes now. We have a farm stand at the farm. A couple days a week in the summer and kind of part time in the wintertime. We sell the Kalamazoo Farmers Market forty nine out of fifty two weeks of the year. We also sell to food hubs and restaurants. We're kind of getting away from the small restaurant accounts. Just not had consistent accounts for those. And so but luckily the food hubs are starting to buy more and more. OK, so the three pieces of equipment that we got for this grant were the basket weeder from Tillmore, the flameweeder.com thirty inch flameweeder that Adam also got. And our favorite tool on the farm, probably the barrel washer from voters. So initially, this basket weeder we had intended to use on our roots. But the more we thought about it with our small size on our farm, we only have six acres that we have to play around with. We really wanted to keep our our crop spacing the same. We wanted to keep putting three rows on a 30 inch bed. And if we would have switched over to doing two rows, it would have basically added on a whole nother half acre production space, which we didn't have. And so we decided to kind of last minute, even though it wasn't the intention of the grant, we decided to switch over to brassicas, which we do plan at two rows. We just got this tool this year, this patch year. Sorry. So what we did is we basket weeded these brassicas that were planted towards the end of July with a basket weeder. You have a very small time window to weed. It's pretty much you're just going to get the first flush of weeds. I think with roots, maybe you could get two passes in there. But what happens is, oh, I get to it later. But basically, the pros of this basket weeder are that it quickly eliminated about 80 percent of the weeds that were in those beds. We had very few fatalities and it made the hand hoeing that we had to do much more manageable. The bad parts are, we still had to go through there with the hand house. Very small window to use this tool and the soil conditions had to be just right. The soil was too wet. We couldn't have got in there. So these brassicas, you can see, like at four weeks, we had to use a different tool. This is a two row cultivator with sweep. So we had to go through there because the crop was already so big, we couldn't get back in there with the basket weeder. So this is a nice tool compared to hand hoeing or I'm sorry, wheel hoeing, which is what we did before. It's about three times as fast. For our scale, we weren't saving a ton of time. Like for this planting to do that with a wheel hoe, that might have taken an hour or hour and a half. And with the basket weeder, it took half an hour. And so we're not saving a ton of time. If you were doing a lot of brassicas or a lot of roots with a basket weeder on a much bigger scale, then you would see a lot bigger labor savings and a lot faster payback than our particular operation. We only do an acre of brassicas a year roughly. So the payoff for us is not that fast. It's not that fast. The other tool that we used for the grant was the flame weeder on carrots. Before this nice 30 inch flame weeder, which you can drive over a bed. Our bed size happens to be 30 inches, so it's just perfect for ours. We would just use the single hand torch, the red dragon. And that works, too. It just takes three times as long because we were going through at every row with that single torch. And so it's just this is three times as fast, basically. And it also actually does a better job because it's covering the entire surface and it's locking in that heat with the. The steel, basically. So our application. Was carrots. So we sewed 12 beds, three rows per bed, 300 feet per row. So 10,800 row feet on July 10. We flame weeded these about a week after. I usually like to sew a little bit heavier and then wait until I see the very first carrots come up and that's when we try to flame weed. We also did overhead. It works equally well, whether you overhead or you strip tape. The seed is just underneath the soil.  This is probably one of the most rewarding jobs on the fire because if you can't see it, looks like we're not weeding anything. But if you were to get down right on the ground on your hands and knees and look, you would find thousands, millions, probably, of very tiny small weeds. The pros are it's simple to use, uses very little propane.  You wouldn't even grow this crop without a flame meter organically, right? So this will allow you to grow a bigger planting area. Cons you get burned. I always get burned every year. I always make this dumbest thing and I get burned. So we were able to grow a large area because we have this flame meter. Wouldn't have been possible without it. There are other applications for flame meter like this. You could, let's say, go over a bad area that you want to put salad in. So it has lots of applications here. We're out harvesting. We get about an average of one thousand pounds per bed. We record the weight as we as we wash. And so I'm not really sure what the total weight is yet, because we're still plowing through our roots, but we still have a ways to go. We'll probably end up with about 12,000 pounds. Barrow washer, this is an amazing tool. This tool has the best payback for us as a small farm. This is about four thousand dollars from from rotors. So we're washing tons and tons of roots of this. We wash about twenty five thousand pounds in a typical fall winter. But here you go. I mean, these rates are incredibly fast. The employees love this tool because they're not having to bend over and pick up roots. Before this, we would just wash roots with a sprayer on the end of a hose. It was so slow, painfully slow, hard on our body. The employees just love this tool. So just a quick little economic analysis. I estimate this is at least twice as fast minimum at a minimum compared to hand washing. And so if we were to run the numbers and say that we have fifteen dollars per hour labor cost for a whole winter at, let's say, we average three hundred pounds an hour washing speed, we'll literally save about eighty eighty hours of labor at fifteen dollars an hour. OK, so that's twelve hundred dollars of safe labor in one winter. So in less than about four years or three and a half years, we're looking at paying off that tool with safe labor in one winter. So this machine for us had the best payback compared to what we previously had. OK, super ergonomic like I talked about quality. The roots sparkle. We like to sell stuff that sparkles. It just looks so good. You want to eat it. There's no dirt on these roots whatsoever. Things will go in disgusting, just totally covered in dirt. And they come out sparkling. There is little maintenance, but not that that you do. It's like everything.


This is not a protest, this is an agitation. This is a campaign to raise awareness that our rivers are depleting, everyone. And I say everyone, everyone who consumes water must rally for rivers.


Hello, my name's Tom Hopkins. I'm a technical fellow with ST Microelectronics. I'm here at ST DevCon in Santa Clara, California today. And we're going to present motor control solutions for BLDC motors. Specifically, what I have over here is a motor control nucleopack, which is designed to control small BLDC motors in either a six-step or a field-oriented control algorithm. In this case, we have on the demo here, we have the demo board, which has the L6230 BLDC motor driver along with a nucleoboard that has the control algorithm. It's an integrated solution in that the driver in this case is a fully integrated monolithic device. And we have then support with the microcontroller. We have a complete motor control library that will support both six-step and field-oriented control applications. This particular device and this particular configuration is for small motors. They go up to about an amp and a half. But we have a scalable solutions that can go up to three horsepower motors for BLDC applications. The neat thing about the whole thing is that we have the entire algorithm chain. The motor control software library includes field-oriented control with all of the park and car transforms to do the speed control algorithms for a BLDC motor. So it's a really quick way to get your development because the nucleobords all go together or as you go into the higher power applications, you've got dedicated power boards that are expandable up to three horsepower. Thank you for your time.


I don't know if you know the reason that he did the workout at 4 a.m. But it parlays perfectly into your new book, you know, just do one more. The reason Kobe does that he understands that even the most aggressive Players in the NBA they're gonna get in two workouts a day during the offseason First one is usually around 9 or 10 a.m. And then they'll take a lunch break and then they'll come back at 3 or 4 So his mindset was if everyone else in the league is gonna be doing two workouts a day I'm going to do three because I'm going to do one more than they're doing and the only way I can squeeze that in is if I get up and do it at 4 so when he's coming home from his first workout His competition is just waking up to go in for their first workout So then he's doing his second workout while they're doing their first and then it's it's the compounding interest effect of if I do This every single day in the offseason for not just years But in his case decades he said no one will ever catch me because every time I wake up I'm gonna do one more than you're doing you'll never catch me And I think that's part of what gave him that you know that mamba mentality