Taking it on Tuesday: Sewing

I bought this yesterday.

I have only used one of these one other time in my life:  middle school Life Management class (fancy name for home economics). That didn't go so well. I got strep throat the entire week we learned how to use a sewing machine and when I came back, it was time to sew our chosen pillow patterns. I, thinking it would be so easy--I mean, my mom knew how to sew, so surely I could pick it right up--had chosen one of the hardest patterns to sew before I got sick. That result was not so pretty (however, my two youngest brothers took the same class many years later and it turns out my pillow was better than either of theirs, so that says something, right?).

Anyway, after that little foray into sewing, I thought I was a dud and never pushed my mom to teach me how to sew. As I have recently learned, she did not push to teach me because she doesn't really like it (even though, from my memory, she's pretty good at it). So, I grew up not even able to sew on a button. Yep, that's something I've mastered in just the last couple of years. For the first many years of our relationship, B did all button replacing and minor mending.

So, why the sudden interest? A few months ago, a few of B's pants came apart at the inseam. We really didn't want to spend money on new pants since these were not old, so I attempted to repair them by hand. It worked pretty well, but took a pretty long time. I said I probably needed a sewing machine. But, mending was not the only reason. Many of my friends know how to sew (some having recently picked it up) and have been making things I would love to know how to do.

My main "creative" hobby is cooking and baking. I love doing both, but that can be an expensive hobby and one that is hard to do a lot of when there are only two of us in the house. I can only take so many baked foods to share at work. Anyway, I also just really wanted to learn to be creative in a more tangible, long-lasting way. I envy my friends who can make baby blankets or clothes. Or my awesome friend Ginger who is a fabulously creative scrapbooker. And, like I said in my first "Taking it on Tuesday" post, I just want to challenge myself to try things I've never done before, especially things I've been afraid to try.

So, I bought a sewing machine. This was my first project:

A sad attempt at learing how to use the machine and sewing a straight line. Not to pretty, but not horrible either. I did manage to mend one pair of B's slacks tonight and they look pretty darn good. And it only took seconds!

Happy Tuesday!
A