The beginning of crafting

Having a new blog about my crafting sidelines inspires me to talk a little about how my adventures in crafting began. Crafting, to me, implies experimentation, so my mind thinks back to my Cabbage Patch Kid and my 10-year-old self making little doll clothes. My mom had this huge box of leftover fabric from her many years of sewing clothes for herself - thinking back it was a big box of all seventies fabric I wish I still had! What a stash that would be now!

The one I particularly remember is a skirt and sleeveless top in red, white and blue striped and textured fabric one summer. It was nearly the 4th of July and I didn’t know how to sew. I made huge stitches and it had ragged edges, but it worked. Despite this inventiveness and exploration, my mom was not inspired to teach me to sew. Sewing was not her favorite thing because she had once had to do it out of necessity, not fun or creativity. She had moved on to other things in my childhood.

So it was really much later when I was in college that I finally learned how taught myself to sew. I once bought an inexpensive chair (like the Poang but cheap) at IKEA with no real cushion cover, and I also bought a piece of striped fabric that was on sale. I made what was, essentially, a 5′ long bag to cover the chair cushion. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it more than got the job done. I had some fabric left over and made a cushion as well, and stuffed it. The curious thing about those projects was the hand sewing - I had no machine, so every stitch was hand-placed chain stitch.

That was 1994, and I still have that cushion. It’s faded now, and the stuffing isn’t quite as fluffy as it once was, but it’s been reborn as my dog’s favorite place to sleep! (See little sleeping Audrey above.) My efforts paid off in another way as well! My grandmother - the expert seamstress of 70 years’ experience, the woman who’s made a little of everything (perfectly) on her sewing machine - heard about my painstaking efforts and bought me a Singer sewing machine.

That was then, this is now, many projects later. Crafting is awesome.