Sew Sew Def

We are winding down on the finishing touches on the costumes for 2 Gents, and while finishing the bodice/jacket for Sylvia’s outfit, I ran into a conundrum. Unfortunately, I ran into it at 9:30 last night and might have thrown a slight temper tantrum over it. I’m not proud, but hey, it happens. Sometimes you curse out a bodice, sometimes you throw a kimono across the room.

Lanyhoodle, the problem I ran into was this: the bodice is the kind that finishes itself completely when you sew in the lining. So when it came time to put in the hook and eye tape, I realized I was going to have to hand-sew it all in so the stitching wouldn’t show through on the gorgeous cream brocade that makes up the front of the vest piece. The hand-sewing wasn’t the issue – that came after I had hand-sewed in one whole strip of hook and eye tape and then realized that I had done it upside down. Cue cursing!

So today on my lunch break, I took out the mistake and re-hand-sewed the tape back in the correct way. And after about 10 minutes of diligently working my needle in and out of the fabric, I realized something. I was really enjoying myself.

My first experience with sewing was learning to hand-sew. My middle school offered Home Ec as an elective and in 6th grade, I took the class. We learned to bake cake inside ice cream cones, to properly fill out a check, and how to sew a pillow, by hand and by machine. That class truly stayed with me – the stitch I automatically start to use when I have to hand-sew is the first one I learned in that class. There was something so powerful about learning that one little skill – with just a needle, thread and some fabric, I could create something from nothing.

My mom used to make pillows and drapes and other accessories for our house, so we always had boxes and boxes of fabric down in our basement. I used to grab a pair of scissors, a needle and some thread and could spend hours amusing myself with making “clothes” for my Barbies. I use quotation marks because I can’t remember anything I sewed that way ever actually turning out to look like a piece of clothing. It didn’t bother me, though, because it was the experience of making something that was the real fun.

Every time I hand-sew, I remember that excitement and fun. I fall into a rhythm and concentration as I work that needle, and it is very satisfying to know that at the end of all that hard work, something new and hopefully beautiful will be there. My 11 year old self would be so proud.