so-solstice

OK, yes, well, it’s been a while.  I last posted way back in early April.  Lots going on in the world so I’m going to offer something light for you to read, something light for me to write about, definitely a back-is-the-new-forward kind of topic—sewing!

For three years, I had been talking a good game on sewing small “kitty quilts” but getting little accomplished other than accruing a large STASH of beautiful and whimsical fabric.  I laughed recently when I saw a quote about collecting fabric being a completely different hobby than sewing.  It’s true!  I have done some sewing—face masks early in the pandemic, PJ bottoms, napkins, a curtain for the tiny house, small gifts—but never completed a single quilt. 

This spring, I had the idea of making a tote bag as a small project and was recommended an excellent YouTube video rather than buying a pattern.  I was thrilled with my first bag and figured making totes would be a good way to start using up the fabric stash* on useful gifts.  My favoUrite part is choosing which fabrics to coordinate for the top, bottom, and lining.  Away I go.

My mother was an excellent seamstress and often got asked by family and friends for sewing favoUrs, including creatively and skillfully fixing a mistake someone else had made.  She taught me, but I was not a great student (I was a teenager) so have often said I must have learned my skills by osmosis.  Throughout high school, my part-time job was in a fabric store.  I sewed my own clothes and even made draperies for income in the 1990’s.  But all that stopped once I got a job in tech.  The skills lay dormant for 20+ years and it amazed me when, sitting down at my old sewing machine (after servicing), I remembered how to quickly thread the machine like it was yesterday. 

With the growth of fast fashion and cheap everything, many independent fabric stores closed and home sewing seemed left to the quilters and crafters.  At the beginning of the pandemic, I thought of how my mother would have been interested in the home-sewing revival as people pulled their dusty sewing machines out from the back of the closet to make face masks. 

And I’m sure Mom would have been curious about all the things that have changed since I last sewed (step away from anything for 20 years and there’s a lot to catch up on)—I’ve got new tools like a self-healing mat to use with a rotary cutter and tiny clips for holding seams together rather than sharp ouchy pins.  There are expensive indie clothing patterns and modern quilt designs.  Manufacturers produce seasonal collections of designer fabrics—like Cotton + Steel, Dear Stella, Rifle Paper Co, Ruby Star Society—with coordinated prints and coloUrs for quilting.  There are even quilt kits.  Younger generations call themselves Sewists and Makers. 

I love the creative aspect of sewing but there’s something more.  A sewing machine used to also serve as a basic household tool when things didn’t just get thrown out/replaced—hem jeans, patch a torn bed sheet, fix a backpack strap.  I’m not a particularly handy person, so it feels useful to still know this “old” skill. 

*The stash includes four beautiful linens I had ordered from a small online business in Manitoba (I had planned to make clothing but this heavier fabric is perfect for totes)—curious, I found the receipt in my email and was disgusted (I really was) to realize I’d ordered them 2.5 years ago and they’d been sitting in a bin ever since.  I’ll blame the pandemic time warp.