Tuesday, July 26, 2011

And Sew it Begins

As a child I grew up watching my mom sewing gifts for teachers, costumes for Halloween, fleece hats, and create patterns for various projects she needed for school, at home, and for her children. She made an absolutely gorgeous quilt for The Pinery. It incorporates the cabin, wildlife, the river and more. It's beautiful.

Though I watched her create item after item with such joy, I never found this thrill while attempting to sew my own tiny projects. But those were few and far between. I was just not interested.

Last summer my mother in law, Kim, asked me if I would like a sewing machine. Her principal told her that she should just throw away the old sewing machines in her classroom and she did not have the heart to do that. Seeing as a sewing machine is a useful thing, I said yes. Who can pass up a free sewing machine, right?

Well, the machine came home with us after Jim retrieved Zeke from his parents' house. Kim had taken it to her sewing machine repair man and he got it back into tip top shape. But I was nervous about using it.

We came back to our house and saw everything with critical eyes. We needed throw pillows on the couch. The bamboo blinds that we couldn't stand all year HAD to go. We were sick of having a blind that did not actually blind anyone's eye from the outside.

So, we went to the fabric store and chose some fabrics. While Jim was calculating exactly how much we needed I was worried and insisted that we get much more than we actually needed. I needed a lot of mess-up room.

Still anxious I sat down and cut the fabric and channeled my inner mom. I attempted to remember each step I would watch her take while sitting at her machine. I called both of our moms when encountering a hiccup and watched a You Tube video when I needed a little more visual assistance. (For those of you wondering why I didn't just read the manual, I don't have it yet. Kim is tracking one down ;)

But let me tell you- I am addicted! As soon as I finished the two pillows I was hooked. Next, I started on the curtains and we now have the whole downstairs complete with new curtains. We were so excited that we actually stayed up until 2 AM on Saturday taking down the old bamboo blinds and putting up our new, brighter curtains.

(Bathroom- batik!)


(Landing- sorry it's dark and I used the Photo Booth on my Mac. Lazy, I know!)


(Kitchen- same fabric as landing and dining room, since they are all the same room)

They're not the most beautiful, but we love them and they are WORLDS better than the blinds.

But this whole project got me thinking. It's a fascinating thing to think about passions and interests. There's definitely a time and season for everything. An activity which I would have caused me to up and flee in prior years has now brought me such joy.

When speaking with mom I apologized for not taking an interest in sewing before. She quickly said that the time was not right, but now it is. How very true.

It's amazing how maleable our passions and interests seem to be.

4 comments:

  1. Great job! I'm so surprised that you went with blue :) haha! Did you ever notice that all of my curtains are actually cheap drop cloths? I added fabric to the bottom of the one in the dining room. I made decorative pillows for my bed and it makes me SO happy... I actually make my bed every day now!

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  2. Looks like you solved the bobbin mystery! Lovely work! Can't wait to see where your creative powers will take you with the power of a new machine. Hooray for Kim's gift!

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  3. Nice work! I love the fabrics that you've chosen~ I wish I would've put you to work while you were here- I need curtains upstairs!
    I'm so proud of you.

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  4. Thank you! It was really fun. Marianne, I'm sure you could whip up some awesome curtains in MUCH less time. Julie, I loved your pillows! Mom, thanks for your help! The curtains have made a world of difference in terms of our love for our place :)

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