Sew and So

I have been sewing since I was in high school. I'm pretty much self-taught from books. I found my mother's old Sears model in the closet one day and started fiddling around until I got the hang of it. In college I worked in the costume shop of the Theatre Department and even spent one summer stitching costumes for the theatre at Chautauqua, NY. The nice thing about working in costume shops is that you have the right work spaces and tools: cutting tables, steam irons, sergers, hem stitches, dye vats, etc.

Sewing was something I picked up and put down throughout my adult life. Because my Sears sewing machine was vintage, it only did a straight and zig zag stitch. I never mastered the skill of a buttonhole that didn't scream "home sewn!" that I simply didn't make items that required them.

This Christmas my in laws gave me a brand new Singer 9910. It has about 60 different stitches including a serger-like overedge stitch to make sewing knits, a blind hemstitch, and even the ability to embroider small monograms. It is also much quieter than my old Sears model, meaning I can sew in the next room while Xavier takes his morning nap.

I've so very much enjoyed being able to do 30-45 minutes of sewing each day that I choose to do so. I've managed to finish piecing together this quilt top that I started working on before I met my husband!

I've stitched some "babylegs" out of kneehigh socks for Xavier so he can just hang around in a onesie without getting cold or skinned knees.

I've also cut up and edgestitched a few old bath towels into kitchen rags in an ongoing effort to reduce the amount of paper towels we use around here.

Future projects include finishing up a dress sloper to have an accurate master pattern from which to draft new clothes. I purchased Pattern Master Boutique 2.2 in January 2004 and still haven't used it to make an item of clothing. Maybe I've watched one too many episodes of Project Runway, but I can't wait to make a new knit top and a custom fit pair of jeans.