Saturday, June 14, 2014

Sewing lesson


This is my grandmother Clarice who had a lot to do with my learning to sew.  She loved to sew and made all her beautiful clothes and many for my mother, sister and me. She would come for a visit and we would head downtown to the fabric store, which in Pocatello was called, simply, the Fabric Store if I remember correctly. Grandma loved fabric and we watched, in awe, as she made her choices, sniffing and humming and lovingly running her fingers over the folds of cloth. She might pause over a particular  piece, close her eyes, breath deeply and declare it "the prettiest thing I've ever seen!" then dramatically wrest it from the shelf and present it to the clerk for cutting.

She taught me to make doll clothes by hand, and eventually using my mother's Montgomery Ward brand electric sewing machine. 


I don't remember how old I was when I started using a sewing machine.  At some point I was given a machine of my own—a Singer Treadle, that I still have.  My sewing machines have been, and are still, cherished possessions. 

I asked Sofia if she would like to learn to use a sewing machine this summer. Yes!  We started on Friday. My plan was to start slowly and I told her anytime she was tired or frustrated we could quit for the day. 

We started with a rundown of how the machine works and what all the parts are called. She is using my Janome Gem machine, which is a real sewing machine, but small and basic. It is made for travel or taking to classes and workshops and is a reliable, easy to use machine. We started out with no thread, sewing on paper, to get a feel for it. I drew lines on pieces of paper and she practiced guiding the paper through, until she could follow the line closely. It helped a lot when I was able to slow the machine down by taping a little wedge of cardboard under the foot pedal, so it wouldn't depress to the maximum speed. Then we threaded the machine and bobbin and sewed scraps of paper together. After about an hour I wondered if she was ready for a break. No! Ready for fabric, PLEASE!  She stitched two pieces of fabric around three sides, making a little bag, which she quickly determined would be a doll pillow if we added some stuffing and sewed the end closed. Then she sewed several pieces together to make a blanket, then a bigger pillow and when I figured we were about done, she said, "now we need to make a doll."  We improvised a simple doll, which she insisted needed hair, so we turned off the machine and I showed her how to sew perle cotton red hair on her creation.


We spent the whole afternoon in the studio. I was surprised by her focus and patience and how thrilled she was to be using a real sewing machine. I remembered how empowering that sewing machine was to a child who loved to make things. Our first tools are our own hands, but what they can do is limited. When we can put our hands to working with specialized tools, a world of possibilities opens up. She is coming back this coming week and can hardly wait to get back to the sewing machine. I think we have a great summer of sewing projects ahead of us. I hope I can keep up!





12 comments:

  1. How awesome! You are both lucky in this case. I hope she develops a life long love of sewing.

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  2. That is so awesome! I love that she didn't want to stop. I feel like that some days, too. I hope my girl will enjoy sewing like I do.

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  3. This is just the bestest story..you must be over the moon with delight! Yeah! Another Fiber Artist on the horizon!

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  4. Love this story! I started teaching my 8 yr old granddaughter to sew over the winter... and now I can't wait for her summer visit so we can sew together again. Thanks for sharing sweet moments!

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  5. Special little girl. Excellent teacher. Lucky both of you!

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  6. Do you happen to know the year that your treadle was made? I just recently came into possession of one and mine is 1930. It needs work, and then I want to learn to use it. You can read my post here about it: http://thatssewlife.blogspot.com/2014/06/1930-singer-treadle-sewing-machine.html I love that you still use yours.

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  7. Oh what a great first experience you both had!!!! You are going to have a lot of fun this summer!

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  8. Anonymous12:02 PM

    How fantastic that you and Sofia can share in this. Unfortunately my interested little granddaughters are too far away for much sewing time. Count your blessings. Marken

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  9. How lovely. I have a similar legacy with my paternal grandmother. Thanks for the beautiful story!

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  10. Oh Terry, your story warmed my heart and took me back 50+ years. Your adventures with Sofia make me happy - thank you. Looking forward to seeing how the summer art adventures continue.

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  11. WOW Sophia is what just 7? I was largely self taught at 12 and my Mother allowed me to use her machine. I remember being so confused about the tops of skirts and how to get them to fit my dolls. Then I was confused about darts. Who knew that darts pretty much solved the skirt fitting issue? Took classes starting in Junior high and never looked back... prom dresses, coats and eveything for school. Such fun times!
    Ruth in Oxnard CA

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  12. Awesome--those five generations must span 100 years or so, right? I have a grandson and another on the way...I don't know about sewing on a machine--I'll give it a shot when he's a little older. At 3, he does like to sew pony beads and the occasional jingle bell with yarn onto plastic canvas. So much fun.

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