Sewing lessons

I learned to sew on a machine as a child from Gladys, our family caregiver, at the kitchen table. She made all kinds of things for us. Curtains, bedspreads, dresses, pillows. She didn’t need a pattern, just a yard stick and what ever fabric was on hand. It wasn’t like the Sound of Music or Gone with the Wind, where clothes were made from curtains, but her ingenuity knew no bounds.

When my father returned from business trips to London with Liberty Fabric – she made smocked dresses with Peter Pan Collars. She made Velvet dresses with Lace Collars. She turned beach towels into bathrobes. She made matching hairbands with the leftover scraps.

After my mother died, she sent me off to summer camp with a pillow made from her beaver coat that I kept for years until it started to crumble.

My classmates had bedrooms that were decorated by interior designers with matching bedspreads and curtains from Schumacher fabric. I had Gladys designed curtains, quilts and shams made from my favorite Marimekko sheets. She made the chair cushions match the curtains with a pillow case and a staple gun.

As a result, it is no surprise that I have always been an up cycler sewer. Quilts from T-shirts – Scarves from old sweater sleeves – Curtains and Dog Beds from Flat Sheets, that sort of thing. I never progressed beyond the zig zag stitch, winding the bobbin and threading the machine. I never really got the hang of thread tension either.

I went through a whole applique phase where I made flags for all seasons to hang on the front porch – few of which survive as the box was accidentally put in a tag sale when we were decluttering the garage.

I have been known to make toddler sized sundresses and skirts from Pre-shirred fabric – one seam wonders. Anything that only requires a zig zag stitch – no patterns,button holes or zippers and I’m your girl. I also appliquéd sweat shirts with felt balloons for birthdays. I sewed in music buttons that played “happy birthday” and “ your are my sunshine” when pressed. Silly, I know.

At one point I joined a Quilting Club – that met monthly at a local fabric store – I downsized from my inherited Singer, which weighed a ton, to a lightweight machine to tote along in a rolling bag. There my lack of sewing skills were on full display. The other women were full of tips that mostly went over my head as they created multiple works of art from quilting squares. I struggled to remember if I was suppose to turn the wheel towards me or away.

Like so many things — sewing machines are a use it or lose it skill. The more you sew, the easier it is. I haven’t touched my machine in years, but recently I bought some panels to make stuffed figures for a new toddler in the family. I reasoned that I had an “Easy to use” lightweight machine, so how hard could it be….maybe it was like riding a bike. Armed with multiple You tube videos, I was able to refresh my stroke brain, wind the bobbin and thread the machine. You turn the wheel towards you – that’s right – and actually sew something again. No looking for or reading the manual. It wasn’t as fun as sewing with Gladys by my side, but I did mutter to myself – Thank Goodness for You Tube, as the instructor patiently demonstrated the steps that I could play back a few times until I got it. It felt great to make something again.

The post Sewing lessons appeared first on Notablerose.