Am I turning into my Mom? Wouldn't be a bad thing.

I have such fond memories of watching my Mom sew. Mom started sewing when she was a young girl. She wanted the cool clothing styles but couldn't afford them. So, she decided to make them because it was much cheaper to sew your own. When I was little she made matching dresses for us, very cute. She made life size dolls for me and my cousins, clothed and adorned with yarn hair the color of each of our own hair. She made me doll clothes and my brothers clothes. When I was a teenager she made many of my formal dance dresses and so much more. When I was little, I seem to remember having a little sewing machine that I would play with while she sewed. I remember making stuffed animal pillows.

I haven't sewn since my high school Home Economics class and wasn't very good at it then or very interested. But, for the past few years I've really wanted to re-learn.


Recently, my Mom was wonderful enough to get me a very, very early birthday gift, a new Singer sewing machine! I got it in the mail today and looking at the directions and trying to figure out how to thread the thing, I was sure I wouldn't be sewing anything for months. I started looking for a one-on-one lesson because I thought I'd never be able to learn on my own. After 2 plus hours of reading the manual and a minor miracle, I finally threaded the machine and started to sew! Of course I have no idea how to change the stitches or follow a pattern, I'm actually not that sure I can thread the machine again, but I'm excited to learn!

I also just got "bend-the-rules Sewing" by Amy Karol also author of Angry Chicken blog. I love her book. It's beautiful, lots of pictures, great practical advice and really cool, artistic projects. My first project from her book was making these cloth napkins. We've shunned paper napkins and towels for awhile now but using dish towels has gotten old and not very attractive. I'm so thrilled, they came out pretty good.

So thanks Mom for all the love and care you put into all those sewing projects. And thank you for my new sewing machine! Here begins my own sewing journey...