I have been sewing since I was 6 years old! Yes, that's the truth. When I was younger (a lot younger!!) my mother made all of her clothes and mine. It was so exciting to come home from school and my mother had spent her day at the sewing machine making me several new dresses for the spring or summer. When I went to my bedroom she would have them layed out on my bed. After seeing everything she was able to make I naturally wanted to do that too, so, at a very young age I began making pin cushions for everyone in my family. My mother would get up from her machine to press a seam and I would jump in her place and try to get as many seams as I could sewn before she returned. I have always loved sewing! I had the best teacher in the world, my mother. I got my first electric sewing machine when I was 8 years old. I think she was excited as I was on that Christmas morning! It was a child's Singer sewing machine that would sew a chain stitch. The Christmas morning I woke up and saw that machine under the tree was the best Christmas ever!! I ventured to making aprons for everyone in my family got...and finally I gradually started making doll clothes. Later, when I was in the 9th grade I got my first real adult sewing machine and started making all my clothes. I couldn't afford to buy clothes from the stores so, for my birthday and other occasions my family would give me money to buy material. I could make a whole outfit for little of nothing! It's a gift that the Lord has blessed me with and I am so thankful. Now don't get me wrong! I am no seamstress!!! There are tons of things I will not tackle, but, I have made window treaments for my whole house, and for others, made all my daughter's clothes as she was growing up and now I'm back to making clothes for myself. I always loved sewing for Brooke when she was growing up but you know there comes a time when it's just not cool anymore to have "homemade" clothes. Well, guess what? Brooke is 27 years old now and.....it's very cool to have homemade clothes!!! Only they don't call them "homemade" anymore. They are "specially designed, one of a kind" outfits. I started making dresses for her again about 2 years ago and she loves it. I have made dresses for $10 that cost $350 at a "designer" dress shop where all the dresses are "homemade"! More stories on that later...but, the exciting thing is now she wants to learn to sew!!! Finally, my daughter wants me to teach her to sew!!! I'm so excited!!! As she was growning up I tried to get her interested in sewing to no avail, but this past summer she looked at me one day and said, "I wish I could sew mama." "I don't know why I didn't let you teach me when I was younger." (Kinda like why did she ever stop taking piano lessons because now she wants to sit down and play like a concert pianist?) Well, honey it's never too late! I jumped for joy when she said that and immediately started convincing her it is never to late to learn to sew! Twenty-seven is the perfect age to learn...you don't have to make pin cushions and doll clothes...you can make real clothes! So, for Christmas we bought her a sewing machine! It's beautiful...wish I had it...mine is so old but still sewing good...hers has a free-arm...mine doesn't, and sometimes I say bad words when I can't get my fabric to go in the right direction...but I still love it! I know this may sound strange but sometimes my machine is my best friend! :) I was so happy the day I purchased her machine. During the Christmas season my mother and I went to the fabric store to buy a sewing basket and fill it with all the essentials. She was excited too!
So, after getting the machine for Christmas we needed to go shopping for fabric and a pattern...nothing too hard, but it needed to be functional! She opted for an apron pattern and Amy Butler fabric and a cute clutch purse pattern. The hard part about teaching her to sew is she lives in Charleston, and that's an hour and a half away!!! We planned for a whole weekend of sewing...she came home and I taught her how to lay out the pattern and cut the apron...she did a beautiful job!!! She was so excited and proud...see it's not all that hard! Next she laid out the clutch purse but was only able to finish half of it before she had to head back to Charleston. The next weekend I went to visit her and help her finish the purse. I am so, so proud of her accomplishments! She wants to learn and that's half the battle. Here are the pictures of her first two projects! She did a beautiful job!
Today she informed me she has already cut out another clutch purse and she did it without my help! She's gonna be a natural. Sewing has saved me so much money and, made money for me when I needed it. God has blessed me with this gift and I treasure it. If there is anyone out there that has an inkling they would like to sew I would encourage you to pursue it! Be looking for a few sewing lessons and neat little gift ideas in upcoming blogs! You'd be surprised what you can make out of a scrap of material!!! Happy sewing!!
~Becky
What a fun post! I've got a sewing machine, tucked sadly away in the closet, you've made me want to get it out! When my boys were little I use to make them shorts, we use to call them "jams". I bought t-shirts to go with every pair, they loved them, so comfortable for them and affordable for a stay at home Mom.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking this summer when I'm not working (I'm in the school system) I just might have to take on one or two sewing projects. Thanks for the push to get that machine out again!
I got a child's singer sewing machine from Christmas was I was eight years old too! My favorite gift of all time!
That is all so exciting! Thank you for sharing! I love how your mom taught you and now you are getting to teach your daughter! Her first two projects turned out beautifully!
ReplyDeleteMy goal this year is actually to learn how to sew too! I have always wanted to know and i think it would be a great accomplishment for this new year!