I like to make things. I like planning how to make things. I am really good at deciding to start projects and I have a clear vision on what the outcome will be. Summary: the beginning and end of my ideas are always the most thought out. I rarely get the middle part right. Sadly, that’s where all the doing takes place. In the middle there are multiple trips back to the store to get items needed to finish the core and get to the end. There have been times when the middle was so frustrating that I never got to the end. It is in the middle that my lack of skill becomes glaringly evident.

In the beginning: I bought a sewing machine.

Preface: When I was young I took a sewing class during summer school. I made a pair of jammers. They were much smaller than planned because I forgot to cut out enough fabric.

In high school I had a home economics class (The class was called something different, though the name escapes me. But it was one of the few classes that would fill a certain graduation requirement). I took the class with a friend of mine. There were sewing projects. We made jammers again. Pretty sure these were acceptable to pass the class. We also made fabric letters that could be stuffed with batting to create a puffy letter statement. All things puffy were very “in” back then (puffy paint, puffy fabric letters, puffy bangs). The puffy letter was cut out and in a burst of team spirit my friend and I decided to work on the project together. She operated the pedal and I was in charge of the fabric. Result: super fast sewing, and a fabric letter that looked like a Barbie doll micro mini dress.

Back to the beginning: I bought a sewing machine. I went to the fabric store and bought sewing tools and fabric that is beyond cute. I bought a specialty blade online for a rotary cutter before I owned a rotary cutter.

The middle: I have been back to the fabric store for more supplies and items that I didn’t even know I needed. Some of my projects have sewed lines that are not straight. How in the world do you make the lines straight? I decide to sew slowly and find that my foot takes over. (p.s. The most comfortable pedal position in my car in 80 mph. I find myself there all the time.)
The end: I have a finished product. From a distance it looks pretty impressive. The key is distance, everything looks better farther away. (People, cars, clothes on the rack before you try them on, big screen TVs. Actors were better looking before super high def, big screen TVs) I have more fabric to use and more projects for my sewing machine. I am already thinking about ways to avoid the places in which I stumbled. I am headed towards the no-sew version. Fusible fabric … the answer to all my woe. All I need to do is operate an iron.

In the beginning: I turned on my iron.


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