Confession from the closet: Sewing part 1

I've been around sewing off and on for a large part of my life. It always interested me. I loved the feel of the fabric, the wink of the needle as the light hit it as it was being pushed in and out of the material, the sense of accomplishment as the strip of blocks got longer and longer. I think it's what kept me in home ec for the 6 long years I took the classes.

My grandmother started me sewing at a young age. It didn't have to be perfect, it just had to hold up. She never seemed to get tired of demonstrating over and over and over what I needed to do. We'd work side by side on sewing pieces of material blocks together into long strips. Eventually these strips would be sewn together to form a top for a blanket. Most often the blocks were from bits of clothing that were too worn out but still good enough to be used or from things that were outgrown. It didn't really matter where the material came from as in the end it made a colorful addition to our beds.

Occasionally there would be a few blocks/strips that I could proudly say I put together included in the blanket on my bed. As a child I always looked forward to bedtime because I would get to snuggle under a blanket that my grandmother or aunt or both together had made for me. It was a small way that I could connect to them. It helped to ease the loneliness and heartache of being away from them.

I was around others who sewed. I had a lot of aunts, neighbors, and adopted grandma types.  They seemed more inclined to use a sewing machine and made more things than blankets. It always amazed me to see the bolts of fabric that they had piled up in a sewing area turn magically into clothes, household decorations and practical items, coats, and fancy patterned quilts. Very rarely did they hand sew like my grandmother did. 

My mother said she could sew but I have always wondered if she could. She had a great big fancy sewing machine but it sat in the sewing cabinet more than it was ever out in use. She would do an occasional hem but seemed to prefer to send out for Dolly to come do the bulk of the repairs or hems. She did love to do cross stitch and embroidery but that seemed as far as she would go into sewing. She definitely wasn't like the other mothers who sewed their children's outfits and Halloween costumes. She definitely didn't do the neighborhood norm of making pajama's and robes for Christmas. I don't know if I was blessed as my friends claimed or not. I guess I was lucky to get out of that except for when my aunt made them for me. I always loved the clothing my aunt made me. Maybe because my aunt would make the clothing my mother didn't have the desire to do it. I don't know.

My aunt sewed a lot of different things for me over the years. She made me dresses, pajamas, a robe or two, blankets, stuffed animals, and barbie doll clothes. It always amazed me that she could create these items as I knew full well that she didn't have the fancy sewing machine that the ladies I knew had. I could never fully grasp as a child how my aunt could do what she did with her Singer treadle sewing machine that the other adults all claimed required a special top of the line sewing machine to be done.

I do know that I loved that old treadle machine. It was so easy to operate when it wanted to work. I loved the rhythm of the pumping motion and the gentle whir of the cord as it went around and around. I loved the satisfactory tired feeling I'd get from working the treadle. It just wasn't ever the same in school.

I took 6 years of home ec and I don't have a thing to show for it. I worked really hard in my classes but never got very satisfactory results unless hand sewing was involved. I always thanked my lucky stars that my grandma took the time to work with me. Many times I didn't know the name of the stitches the teacher was trying to teach the class but I knew how to do them. I never questioned the names or why my grandma didn't tell me them properly because she always told me when to use them. In fact, I totally credit my grandma as to why I passed the part of the class as well as I did.

I was a rather hopeless case when it came to the machine. I did alright with the stitching on paper drills. I did a little better with straight and simple stuff but I was a lost cause with the rest of it. There was an episode from "the Bill Cosby show" that aired that pretty much summed up my home ec experience. In the episode Denise convinced Theo that she could make him a fancy designer type shirt. When she was done Theo didn't get a fancy shirt at all. He got a mess of a shirt. (If your not familiar with this episode it can be viewed here: The Cosby Show A Shirt Story part 2 5:46 is where you can see what was common of my finished projects that weren't stuffed animal kits.)That episode pretty much summed up my sewing projects. Oh I had a few that turned out pretty fair but not a single one ever came out exactly as the pattern indicated it should. I had a whole lot of items that resembled the shirt Denise made Theo. I made many of my sewing teachers cry and gave them nightmares. They got off easy compared to my cooking instructors. lol

I was glad to escape home ec by graduating. I decided not to follow in any of my elder's footsteps of being a seamstress unless it was to make a blanket like grandma taught me or a stuffed animal kit. However, when I got married one of the things I requested was a sewing machine much to everyone who knew me shock and dismay. It stayed packed away in it's box just like my mother's had. I pulled it out once to try to make some baby clothes and receiving blankets when I learned I was pregnant. Age, maturity, and pregnancy hormones sure didn't improve my ability to sew any. So I packed it up and put it away.

It stayed there until a few years ago. My darling daughter decided to try her hand at sewing. So we drug it out and got it set up. She did a much better job than I ever did. In fact she got at least a couple of skirts and a shirt that she could wear out of the deal. And she's wore them well until she out grew them.

Oh it had come out a time or two previously, my darling aunt used it to make a few Halloween costumes for the children. A couple that she designed with their help and a rudimentary pattern. I always wanted to try to make something but couldn't. I tried to make some clothes for events I was involved in. Nothing fancy or hard but still screwed up just like previously.

Every year I see the wonderful costume patterns on display in the fabric stores. Every year I get the itch to try my hand at making a costume. Most years I fight it off by remembering all my failed projects. This year I was unable to fight it. I caved and bought not one but two patterns.

My adoring children picked what they wanted to be this year. (gulp) they didn't see any issue with me being able to make the costumes. When asked if they had ever seen me use a sewing machine...their response was no but we've heard all about her struggles in home ec from several friends of the family who were well aware of it. Mom shouldn't have an issue with these after all she can thread the machine just fine. Gee, thanks child.

The patterns they picked are by Simplicity. They can be viewed here: Pattern 1 is http://simplicity.com/p-2198-men-costumes.aspx and Pattern 2 is http://simplicity.com/p-1943-costumes.aspx

I'm not sure if I'll be able to pull this off or not. It's been a long time since home ec. I'm no more versed in reading patterns and sewing than I was when i walked into my first home ec class in jr high. I'm older and a bit more patient but not by much. I just have two sweet children smiling at me and full of confidence still that their mama can do anything. So we'll just have to wait and see.

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