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.