Getting to know the Singer

In mid-December my friend Julie welcomed her adorable little boy, Bronco, to D.C. -- seven weeks early. Bronco is doing really well now; we're counting the days 'till he can come home and play. [Update: since writing this post, Bronco has been given the o.k. to come home!]

As Julie was thinking of ways to thank the many amazing nurses that have taken care of Bronco, she sent out a call for help. It seems many of Julie's friends have sewing skills. I, unfortunately, am not one of them.

When I was 11, I had watched my mom make many, many amazing dresses. She made it look so easy. too easy. I decided I was going to venture into the sewing world by making myself a pair of fabulous shorts. I chose a (most likely, hideous) jeans fabric.... it was the early 90s ... then I went to work. Without a pattern, I started cutting, ironing and stitching my masterpiece. My poor mother was probably bitting her tounge the whole time!

Throughout the whole creation process, I didn't think to take my measurements, or even try the shorts on. I figured sewing was like wrapping a present -- just eye it. When I finally finished, I was so excited to try them on. As I stepped into them, they didn't feel quite as I expected. And although I was awkwardly skinny, the shorts wouldn't fit beyond my knees.

Since then I've had several [slightly more successful] sewing experiments, but the original experiment has always haunted me.

When I got married, my mom bought me an awesome sewing machine, which I've had a love/hate relationship with. I've LOVED that I have a sewing machine [especially such a snazzy one], I've hated the guilt it gives to me as it gathers dust. Well, last week, Julie's request made me give sewing one more try.

To my suprise.... it was fun! To be fair, the blanket was about the least complicated project. perfect. The blankets were not flawless, and the first one took me much longer than it should have, but they left me feeling the need to create.

So the next project? We bought this great bench for our living room, but we do not love the cushions. I've had my eye out for the perfect fabric, and am trying to decide whether to do one, long cushion, or three square ones. Stay tuned.


In the meantime, if anyone would like to help out with Bronco and Julie's awesome service project, please let me know. We'd love to have your help!