Sewing Class

Last night was my first session of my sewing class! I have always wanted to be able to sew. My Aunt Pam sat with me when I was really, really little and she helped me to sew Barbie clothes. I really had no use for Barbies other than to figure out clothes that I could make to put on them. Then I didn't touch a sewing machine for years and years.

When I was in college and Christmas came around I needed some gifts for everyone, but I had very limited funds. Not having a gift was NOT an option. My first Christmas out of the house I learned how to bake cookies (my mother was sure that I had bought them since I never went into the kitchen except to make mac & cheese from a box or a cheese quesadilla) and they turned out fabulous. They are almond poppyseed shortbread - I've still got the recipe if anyone wants them.

But I digress.... back to sewing.

My most wonderful Aunt Pam still had that same 50+ pound sewing machine and she lent it to me for years. THANK YOU!!! So, for many Christmas gifts people got little bunny ornaments out of muslin or Christmas tree angles. I think they turned out pretty good for being totally self taught on both a sewing machine and working with patterns. When I turned 30 and had my great 1/3 life crisis, I bought myself a really cool sewing machine with tons of different stitches. My Aunt Pam finally got her sewing machine back. I then took a few quiliting classes and learned how to:

a) use my sewing machine
b) apply my anal retentive, OCD tendancies to a hobby tailor made for women like me

My quilt is still undone, but I have some fabulous squares that I will turn into a quilt for Katya just as soon as I get a little more time. I often have great ideas for clothes - simple ones - that if I knew, REALLY knew, how to sew I could make them. And then there are clothing alterations that Katya has requested and I don't know how to do without them screaming "Hack job by a mother that doesn't know how to sew".

I have many years ahead that I could really put some sewing knowledge to good use. There are Halloween costumes, school plays, I still have to make Katya's Campfire dress, quilts, blankets for beds and gifts, curtains...etc. For now, I am content learning how to make pajama pants. From there I hope to be able to graduate to making simple drawstring pants that fit my ever changing physique. Then maybe I can finish that quilt for Katya and maybe make some for all the other kids in my life.

My sewing teacher is a great example of the interesting variety of people that live here in Bend. She was a costume and pattern maker for Yale University Theatre and various opera companies that tour the United States for about 13 years. She then got some interesting job opportunities in Hollywood and she did the same thing for several movies including one by Stephen Spielberg that I forgot the name of (a period film in the Elizabethian era) and Star Trek Next Generation. She had pictures of lots of her work and it is amazing! She did that for three years and then got married and moved to the Bay Area and had kids. She had lots of jobs that she did via mail so she could do them at home. Then her and her husband moved here to Bend in 2005. She decided to try and teach sewing to some of us poor unskilled mothers that are in their 30's and 40's after a newspaper article lamented about the lack of sewing skills in people in our age bracket. Most of us had working or working single mothers who just didn't have the time to sew or teach their kids how to sew.

When I finish my pajama pants I'll post a picture so you can all Oooooh and Ahhhhh at my insane craftsmanship.