Adventures in Sewing

I'm a creative person, always have been. Ask me to make something and my right brain revs up and takes over. Painting, drawing, cake decorating, scrapbooking...pretty much anything is fair game for me. I've even been able to create some knitted items - well, they are at least made of yarn so that qualifies as knitting in my book.

So it didn't seem like that big a leap when I started obsessing about getting a sewing machine a year ago. It was uncharted creative territory - my personal artistic rain forest, and I wanted to conquer it. The possibilities were endless. I would look at patterns and imagine the colors and fabrics I could use. My desire to explore these undeveloped urges was granted when I got a sewing machine for Christmas last month. Not just any sewing machine mind you...I did my research. My machine is endorsed by Martha Stewart! I could not fail!

I know lots of people that sew and do a great job of it. If you give my friend Robert a sewing machine, he turns into MacGyver and can make an incredible Halloween costume out of a grocery bag and a roll of twine. I've always been around sewing. During my childhood, my mother sewed constantly - everything from clothing to doll dresses to home decorating. It is part of my history.

Maybe I thought by just being in the presence of great sewers, I would just naturally pick up on it. Perhaps I was actually planning to channel Martha herself through my sewing machine. The possibility existed, that something I saw my mother do when I was 6 years old - would click from my subconscious and ...VOILA...I would magically know how to sew a dart...

...or a zipper...

...or a straight line....

Yeah...sewing isn't like that. Sewing, I found...isn't like any of my other creative pursuits.

Apparently SEWING.... has rules. Lots of them. Confusing ones. It turns out that in order to sew something - you have to know what you are doing.

Hmmm... my entire history of self expression has largely relied on making it up as I go along. I've discovered that I am a fly by the seat of your pants crafter. Regardless, I was undeterred from my goal of ruling the fabric universe. I bravely set off on the path to sewing stardom.

This was my first project. It was from a 'SEW EASY' purse pattern - for 'first time sewers!'...LIES!

I stitched the top closed. Yep. Closed. Unable to open. I found that makes a purse harder to use.

I had to go back to the fabric store.

This time I got a contrasting fabric for the liner. What a brilliant idea! That made it much easier....to notice that on my second attempt, I sewed the lining inside out. At least I was smart enough to buy enough fabric for a third try.

The whole time I'm trying to figure out what the stupid pattern is telling me to do...I have my mother on speed dial. Literally, every 10 minutes I called her up and almost demanded that she read the minds of the people who wrote out these crazy directions. I kept Robert updated via text messages and forced my poor husband to figure the pattern out (like he was putting together a swing set).

Fortunately, he did figure it out, because the third time, it actually worked...kinda. I ended up faking the bottom sewing and I used snaps on the straps because I wasn't sure what 'topstitch' meant. I'll bet the end result is not what the 'Sew Easy' people envisioned...but I actually really love it! I use it as a book bag and it is super soft and easy to carry.

After my bag fiasco, everyone assured me that one of the easiest pattern to learn sewing would be pajama pants for kids. GREAT! I have a kid! She wears pajama pants! It must be fate! I can do this!

Yep. Sewed the crotch closed. Closed. Lacking the ability to enter. Again. I didn't even realize it until I was finished.

At this point you are probably thinking that I must have some kind of fear of fabric openings.

I would have to agree. I guess when I see two pieces of fabric, some voice inside me tells me to sew them together, no matter what the pattern says. Maybe I have developed a new obsessive-compulsive disorder. But HEY...I got the pockets right...damn it! She can't put them on, but she can put stuff in them (that is more than I can say about that first purse attempt!)!

I think this was the point when I called my mom and apologized for complaining about wearing home-sewn clothes when I was a kid. I vaguely remember not wanting to wear my mother's creations, and now I am embarrassed by that. I had no idea how much work went into it. Hailey was going to wear these pants even if I had to staple them to her.

Completely exasperated, I cut out all the pants pieces again and - without sewing anything - asked Nathan to follow the pattern directions and pin the fabric where it should be sewn. He came out with the same result I did (oh thank God I'm not totally crazy). So for 30 minutes, he and I troubleshot the pattern. We had to get a pair of his store bought pants out as an example...but we (ok...he) finally figured out where I went wrong.

I was able to make my daughter a pair of very long, loosely fitting, clown pants...and she loved them.."Those are my favorite pants EVER!" Made it all worth while (sorry again Mom).

By this time, I was beginning to realize that fabric is expensive. So when I came across a pattern for the cutest felt doughnut, I thought...perfect. What could be easier...no lining, no crotch. Felt is cheap. I'm pretty familiar with a doughnut shape...I got this one.

Now it seems that I developed an inability to sew things closed and that became my downfall (Whipstitch? What the hell is whipstitching?). At least I was exploring new areas of failure.

Four doughnut mistakes later...I finally made this chocolate doughnut with pink icing. Is it cute...? Sure it's cute, but not a cute as it would be if it was doughnut #1 and not doughnut #5.

Three projects under my belt, but it feels like 20 (my scrap pile makes it look like 40). Oddly enough, my enthusiasm has not wavered - even though the realism has set in. For me, there is almost something 'zen-like' about sitting down at that machine - like craft yoga. I make the creative decisions up front, then I can let go and give in to the execution. For ten minutes that seam allowance line on my sewing machine becomes my mantra... and I don't have to think about anything else.

So I will take it project-by-project, hopefully I'll learn things along the way. Maybe I'll take a class - maybe they know what whipstitching is. My desire to rule the fabric universe...uh...yeah...that may take a little longer then I planned...

...a little longer and a lot more fabric.