I first learned to sew when I was in the fifth grade. My mother had told me how she used to make her own clothes when she was in high school, and I had always admired her ability to make costumes and fix my torn pants or sew buttons back on. So when she felt I was old enough, she began to teach me what she knew. It started out as something small and simple; she showed me how to make a skirt with an elastic waistband, then bought a beginners sewing book kit that gave instructions for small projects like a bookmark and a stuffed strawberry for my sewing pins. That was enough to get me hooked, and from then on, I looked for a sewing project whenever I could.
Things really got serious for me when I was in high school. I joined a drama class, and we had to find and/or make our own costumes for our performances. So, with some help from my mom, I began using the sewing machine on a regular basis. By the time I graduated high school, my mother had taught me pretty much everything she knew about sewing.
But I wasn't finished yet. I could make entire projects all on my own, but it wasn't good enough. I wanted to learn more. Unfortunately, I became busy with college, which cut back my time for creative projects entirely. Then life got even crazier as I started working, and then got married. I was lucky enough to have a friend who knew me well and gave me a sewing machine as a wedding present, which encouraged me to get back into sewing and the creative side of myself.
That's when things really got going. As I knew how to find fabric inexpensively and had spent much of my high school and college years collecting patterns, I now had no excuse not to put my skills to work. I started making clothes for myself: a dress here and there, or a shirt to wear to work. Once my coworkers caught wind of my abilities, they asked me to make things for them. My hobby was creating an occasional business transaction! It was more than I could have imagined possible.
Recently I have been devoting more and more time to my sewing, even teaching friends the basics of sewing that my mother once taught me. And more and more my friends and coworkers have been encouraging me to take it further, to show my work in a public arena and be the best that I can be. So partially to appease them and partially to have an easily accessible place to show what I have done, I created this blog. With it I hope to show a growing and transitioning talent, to teach others as best I can, and to help those who are looking for a little creative inspiration of their own find something they can grow from themselves.
Enjoy!
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