Against all the odds we have a miracle in our household. My girl can sew. I cannot. I’m absolutely convinced that just as red hair skips a generation or two so too does the sewing talent. I am sew glad my daughter got that gene.
While I do love to knit my paternal Scottish grandmother was a whizz in the sewing world. She whipped up clothes for her husband and her two sons with ease. In her later years arthritis put a crimp in her fingers and she turned to me god help her for help. After 20 painful minutes of watching me fumble with a needle and thread simply trying to join together the two ends of a white elastic strip for her garters she patted my hands and smiled.
“Not to worry Kelly. You have other talents. A great many.”
It wasn’t news to me. I’d known for a long time that I wasn’t going to become the next Coco Chanel. Sewing felt unnatural. Even just poking the thread through the eye was a mystery to me. Once I hit highschool and we advanced to sewing machines it was as if everyone else suddenly spoke fluent Italian and I was stuck in English.
Think I’m exaggerating? Just this past Saturday I caught up with 16 women from my grad class. The trending topic at dinner? Kelly’s sewing adventures in Home Ec 9.
“Remember how there were always 300 threads sprouting out from the bobbin? Oh and that time she had sparks coming out of the sewing machine wheel?”
“Oh yeah! And that first week when she was new to the school and she stepped on my box of pins and they spat out all over the room. I was still picking them up an hour later!”
“No guys, the best bit was when Kelly thought she’d finally finished her damn apron only to discover she’d sewn both apron strings to the front pocket.”
Yes, my classmates each made four outfits that year. I completed said apron and only took sewing for the one year thank you very much. It was hell.
I managed to skirt the sewing world for a long time after that. I bought my children’s Hallowe’en costumes at Costco in July. A kind friend sewed on my son’s requisite stop sign patch on the back of his lacrosse jersey and another dear pal gifted my daughter a handmade dressing gown at Christmas. Everyone took care of our sewing needs or I simply went out and bought what we needed. Then we hit the world of Brownies. The guiding version not the baking.
Brownies, as all good guiders know, earn badges. These badges are affixed to a sash that the Brownie wears as part of her uniform. Usually these badges are awarded throughout the year however my girl’s leaders had a different plan. They doled them out only once at the convenient busier than busy year-end. As I stared in horror at my girl’s beaming face and the 12 badges lovingly cupped in her hands something tugged at my heart. I remembered my own sash of long ago and how my own mom had carefully sewn them on. My thoughts evolved to my daughter’s sash and the application of her dozen badges. If I opted for glue the result would be bunchy and messy. I envisioned white dripped glue globules and lumpy excess. How about pins? No. There’d be blood. And telltale shiny winks of brightness every time she went out in the sun; potential blindness and certain embarrassment. She’d be confined to wearing it only indoors which wasn’t terribly practical. Sewing was the only option.
I thought briefly of asking my gifted sewing pals. But the maternal guilt was overwhelming and it washed over me unchecked. A voice boomed in my head. “Pull on your big girl boots and sew.” I knew I had to do it. This was the insanity responsibility of motherhood.
I chose the quiet time just past noon. That allowed me three solid hours before I’d have to pick up my two from school. At 20 minutes a patch I’d easily get through nine of the horrors the delightful gems. I selected a comfy chair by the biggest window and turned on soothing FM music. Happily the threading of the needle went without a hitch and I carefully began the pinning and temporary placement of the 12 badges as my friends had worriedly wisely advised. Perfect. I could do this. Let the sewing begin!
It was magical. By 2:30 I’d sewn on eight. The stitches weren’t perfection but they weren’t abysmal; indeed they improved with each patch. I was beyond proud and soon my mind whirred with the potential possibilities. After I’d finished the other four maybe I could move on to other projects? Queue the chirpy Mary Poppins music. Lovely visions blossomed of my daughter spinning along the school corridors in a colourful cotton dress and of my son strutting about in a pair of corduroy pants both crafted by me, their ever so talented mom.
Then I stood up. It was rather puzzling. The sash arose with me. It refused to fall to the floor. What the? Oh my lord. Of course. Little Ms. Sewing Queen had in true typikel fashion somehow managed to sew all 12 badges onto both the sash and the right pant leg of her jeans resting underneath.
Sew Glad My Daughter Got That Gene.
Fast forward to my Brownie’s teenage years. With me as her role model one might think my daughter would be reluctant to pick up a needle and thread. Far from it. She’s just like my grandmother. After independently signing up for after school sewing classes she was soon churning out a nifty production line of zippered bags, cloth baskets and pillowcases. This productivity naturally led my daughter to buy herself a decent sewing machine.
Today it is still such a shock pleasure to see how happy she is while sewing. Her current project? A tie for her brother. She has plans to make a set of curtains for her bedroom before returning to university in the fall.
She’s slowly working on me. While I haven’t succumbed to her subtle nudges to join her in classes I no longer cringe when we wander the aisles of the local fabric store.
Yes, I’m sew glad my daughter got that gene.
Enough about me and fact that my daughter loves to sew. I’m curious about you. Are you a sewing whiz? Are you capable of outfitting your entire family with ease? Or are you a “bit” sewing challenged like me? If you’d care to share, I’d love to hear.
36 Responses
I did get the sewing gene, for which I am grateful. But your grandmother was right, you have many other talents: for starters, writing, humor, crafting a story . . . yay for everybody!
You are very blessed Janet. May your sewing bring you great delight for many years to come!
Funny….My Mom can’t sew either, in fact I somehow managed to sew on my own GS patches! But I love to sew, in fact I made a career out of it for a time. I had my own window treatment business. My next big sewing project will be making my dress for my son’s upcoming wedding. I think it is sew wonderful that your daughter loves to sew….I had began to think it was a dying art……
Ok now I am just so impressed. You made a career out it! The fact that you are going to make a dress for your son’s wedding is just the icing on the cake. Sew hope you post a picture of it when it’s done. I can drool from afar.
I enjoyed reading this – thank you. I did learn to sew and have now stopped – may for a different time of life.
The fact that you can sew Jocelyn is wonderful. The beauty is that you can pick it up again at any time. Love that. Me on the other hand? Well not so much. However I do like to knit so there’s that!
OH my friend Kelly I feel a very sympathetic pang for your sewing inabilities – I too am a proud member of the not so sewing inclined!! My girls can all sew reasonably well and I give full credit to my mother in law. She is patient kind and incredibly talented when it comes to sewing. From our girls first days there were beautiful dresses, nightgowns, quilts , blankets, pillowcases and more. She was the product of a mother who made a living as a seamstress in Scotland. Her father helped with masterfully laying out patterns and making sure every inch of material was utilized to the fullest and often having the ability to make the material stretch from one project into two.
As a daughter in law she was even patient enough to work diligently with me to make a special quilt for a friend of mine. She would not allow me to escape to her talents but made me persevere through it – and I did!! I lovingly compare it to child birth – with the latter being the easier. I compare my lack of talent to the episode of the Cosby show where the sister brags of her abilities to copy a designer shirt for her brother. Check the episode out.
I will leave it to our daughters to carry the sewing torch. For if it had rested on my shoulders it would surely be extinct!!
As lovingly told to you by your grandmother you have a great many talents and I am thankful to share one of your finest. Your skilled writing and story telling – why mess with perfection friend!!
Janice you have made my morning, well day really. I would have thought you were very handy with a needle (a favourite expression of my late dad). You certainly lucked out in the mother-in-law department, didn’t you? Wow. How very kind of her to pass on the skill to your girls. Little did her parents know that their efforts would carry on to today. Of course my Scottish grandmother would have loved them and their “stretching the material to enable two projects rather than one” skills.
Sitting here coffee in hand with a huge grin on my face at your comment of child birth being the easier. Yes! It honestly would have been torture for both my mother-in-law (also very gifted at sewing) and me to forge ahead on a quilt of any nature. Absolute torture. Good on MIL for not stepping in and giving you a wee hand. Wow. Patience.
Here’s to our girls carrying on the great traditions of the past. Oh! Now that I think of it H’s grade 3 teacher was very impressed with his tiny stitches on a Christmas moose that he made. Hmmmm. Maybe I could get him to whip me up some curtains for my bedroom? What’s that? Can hear your hoots from here …
Off to check out that Cosby number.
Teaching my son how to sew this spring with the new sewing machine he got for Christmas (just like Mama’s.) I’m no Tim Gunn, but I get by.
Love picturing you heading out to pick up your kids at 3 pm with the sash sewn to your jeans!
Oh now Jennifer this is absolutely the best. You are teaching your son to sew on his own sewing machine! What a lucky lad. My late husband always harboured a wish to get his own sewing machine. He knew it was up to him if anything was to be sewn in this house! Clever man.
As for the sash attached to my jeans – well yes – it was a delightful sight. Such a shame no one took pictures. Can you say bribery?
So what I want to know is, did you sacrifice the jeans cutting around the back side of each badge letting the jeans act as reinforcement on the back of the sash? A bit extreme, maybe, but would sure beat re-sewing the whole darn thing!
I loved home-ec class! I’d say I was average at best but I loved it! I can barely remember what I had for breakfast but I vividly remember the floral romper I made in 7th grade sewing class. Ahhhh…great memories!
Oh Mo bless you. Have to admit after rather loud cursing and snipping the jeans won out. I had to do the whole lot all over again. Not pretty. Floral romper? I lay my thread and needle at your feet. That is a talent. The fact that you enjoyed it and remember it in living colour is above and beyond.
I learned how to sew in Ninth Grade Home Ec, then my parents bought me a simple Singer machine that I used in the basement. I still have it.
Nowadays I only use it a couple of times a year, mainly for closing up ripped seams and an occasional home redecorating project.
You are one of the blessed Kathy. Wow. To still have the sewing machine proves also that your parents made a wise choice. My sister (yes she got the gene) was given my mom’s sewing machine and she ended up trading it in for a better model.
At this point the fact that I still have a machine that’s more than 40 years old probably says something about how LITTLE I’m using it 🙂
Ah well – at least it is patiently waiting in the wings ready to leap into service when you need it.
I did NOT get the sewing gene. Thankfully, someone invented this great stuff called “Badge Magic” which is like contact paper for Boy Scout badges and thus I have miraculously been saved from sewing my son’s badges jaggedly/crookedly/awfully onto his new uniform shirt.
Excuse me? Badge Magic? What is this glorious sounding creation?
My mom bought me a sewing machine one year for Christmas not too long ago. I thought I would use it for simple stuff. I thread the darn thing once and that was about it. It jammed and I couldn’t figure it out from there. My neighbor, who sews quite a bit, took the machine to check it out and has been using it ever since. Now she just has me bring stuff over that needs to be sewn!
Oh my but this sounds just like me. I can picture it all happening in the very same way. Here’s hoping she NEVER moves.
This warms my heart.
I can’t sew, either. My mother and two sisters can sew…they are also very talented artists. Nope..not me. My talent lies in sarcasm.
And a very useful talent that is, no?
I will admit…it does come in handy.
Hahaha! You’re a girl after my own heart – it does come in handy!
My mom sewed a lot when I was young; we were not financially secure, and anything you could do on your own was a good thing! She even had a sewing desk with a treadle underneath her modern sewing machine so she could exercise her legs while she sewed! (She’d learned on a manually powered machine back in South Dakota.)
I never really got the hang of sewing as a hobby, but Mom made sure I could sew on my own buttons and repair simple tears; invaluable to an old bachelor.
Wise gal your mom!
No way! I love that you’re in the same boat as I am with the sewing gene! I got a D- in 7th grade home ec, because of this dumb pillow we were supposed to sew. I don’t think I’ve sewn anything but buttons since. 😀
Girl after my own heart! D-? I think I bested you with a D. A least you can do buttons. Last one I attempted drew blood.
Glue on the Brownie badges? I’m still laughing at that one. In fact, I may be laughing at that one for a very, very long time. Yes, I sew. Glue?
Oh Linda now somebody earlier commented on a magical concept called “Badge Magic” that I’m waiting to hear back on. However come to think of it I wish I’d known you back in the Brownie days. I could have popped the both badges and sash in the mail to you …
Great story. I have to admit, I’m a warrior seamstress. With 3 dogs, I’m often found making dog beds, furniture covers or mending toys. Projects beyond that can go all right, or all wrong, depending on if I’m really paying attention and following “the rules”. Your post reminded me that I have a stack of projects waiting for me right now. Ohhh, sew what? They can wait some more!
Whoa – you are indeed blessed! OR should I say the dogs are!
I am definitely not a sewing whiz! I made a passable shirt in eighth grade home ec, but once I tried it on, it was so unflattering that I gave up garment-making for good. This was after hours of wrestling with “bobbin spaghetti,” as my home ec teacher called it. I can still clearly envision picking thread after thread out of the tiny crevices of the sewing machine’s nether regions. Never Again.
Now, I’m fascinated by the sheer number of badges your daughter got as a Brownie. Back in my Brownie era, I hardly got any badges at all. We had to perform Herculean feats to earn them, and I somehow never measured up. Yes, I was falling behind the curve, even in Brownies. Luckily we moved soon, and I somehow shot forward into the dressy green land of Girl Scouts, where it seemed like badges were a dime a dozen.
Why, oh why, were my Brownie leaders so stingy with the badges? Could it be, could it possibly be, that they, too, hated sewing the dang things on the sash? After reading your post, I think that’s the real truth behind the Great Brownie Badge Refusal of ’86. The truth always tells…
Okay, so the Great Brownie Badge Refusal was actually in ’81. I did not earn a badge in anything math-related (nor am I likely to). 😉
With you on the math front as well. Wonder if there’s a correlation between sewing and math?
Oh this lifts my spirits Harmony! The bobbin spaghetti is classic Kelly. Zillions of threads running and spooling everywhere. All the time. I’ll bet you your Brownie Leaders were stingy for exactly that reason – they were bobbin spaghetti aficionados as well. How did you attach the guide badges? Glue?