Jun 3, 2008

Sew Thankful

I know that's a dreadful pun, but there are times I can't resist.

I am so thankful that I can sew! Today I have darned a hole in my jeans pocket, made a patch for it and am about to sew the patch on over the darned bit.

I used to take this skill of sewing patches, sewing on buttons and mending tears for granted, until I made a little baby sleeping bag for a workmate who'd just had a new baby. He was utterly astonished when he realised that I'd made it myself (I'd even made the pattern up out of my head, I was quite proud of that one). But what astonished him was not that I'd made the design up, but that I was able to "like, sewing the buttons on and everything?"

I was gob-smacked. I'd thought that since everyone in this country had had to sit through 2 years of 'clothing' (sewing) at Intermediate School (years 7 and 8), that everyone would at least have a theoretical grasp of sewing buttons and manipulating a needle. Not so, it would appear.

So now, every time I whip something up on the machine, or mend a hole, I am grateful to my Mum for showing me that sewing is not scary, but very easy and a HUGE money-saver. It means I can buy things at the op-shop that don't quite fit; pants that aren't quite long enough but have enough of a hem to let down; jerseys that are a bit baggy but I can bring in a little at the waist to make a bit more shapely; things with a button missing.

Easy to do, and I feel so self-sufficient and frugal. A win all 'round.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I'm wishing I'd learnt to use a sewing machine (having perforated my thumb several times doing bad tacking). Oh, and 'Brave New World' had the idea of public information campaigns to get people to throw stuff away rather than mend/darn/fix it (in order to keep consumption growing)

D

home handymum said...

I've never read 'Brave New World,' but it seems remarkably prescient. Just this morning I heard someone on the radio protesting that if people tighten their belts that the economy will slow down...

home handymum said...

p.s. It's never too late to learn how to use a sewing machine. They are not complicated beasts. Be brave and give it a go :)

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