Learning to sew

I can still remember the time my mom made me a Laura Ingalls dress for our school play. It was a dream come true to play Laura in the third grade. And more amazing was how in awe I was that my mom could sew. She sewed the dress and the apron. I can even briefly recall going to the store to pick out the pattern and then she let me have a turn on her sewing machine. I just did crazy lines of course! (by the way, the dress below isn’t the one she made but it was very similar but in a shade of blue. That’s me as Laura!)

Thinking back, I’m not sure why or why not, but she never taught me how to sew beyond just messing around. I’m thinking that it just wasn’t what you taught kids at that time. Or a more honest answer was probably that I just didn’t want to or have the patience to learn!

The next time my hands found their way about a sewing machine was in my junior high home ec class. Somehow I’m old enough to still have had a home ec class in my junior high. I’m not sure sewing a pillow, learning the basics in the kitchen, and building a piggy bank are still classes worth the time and effort…but they should be. They were really fun!

So that catches us up to right before Elizabeth was born. I’m not sure if it was the nesting or this whole move amongst mothers and women to recapture home economics, but I bought myself a sewing machine. And with it so far I’ve completed a teething rail for Elizabeth’s crib, I’ve hemmed curtains, and now I’ve made my first little jumper for our girl.

It’s nothing fancy but I wanted it finished for some fall family photos we are having done and if I do say so myself, I’m mighty proud of this little jumper. I think I spent half the time it took to sew just googling sewing videos and texting my advanced sewing friends. I learned quite a bit on how to do things and quite a bit on making things work so I didn’t have to rip out every seam! I realized halfway through that it’s a good thing I am not a perfectionist because there were a lot of mistakes, but the iron seemed to mask most of them.

I picked up a Simplicity pattern from Jo-Ann before starting and the fabric was from Hobby Lobby. It’s a very cute fine wale corduroy, perfect for fall. As a novice, this was the first time I ever read a pattern and cut out the pieces, did interfacing, and sewed a garment. Now that I am on the other side I feel pretty capable of taking on another.

Although I must add…my mother in law did the button holes (um…no mistakes can be made there) and I very hesitantly did the hem. I was a little uncertain on how to complete those but I know if I practiced a bit I could make it work.

The finished product isn’t quite finished but here it is almost done: