I have a confession to make: I will never be a craft blogger.
The thought of finding time not just to write a blog post, but to first make the stuff I’m going to blog about is laughable, considering how long it took me to haul my sewing machine out of the attic — just to take a picture of it — so I could write about how I want to use it.
I really, really do want to use it.
I used to use it all the time, when I was in college. When I had a sewing buddy. You see, for me, sewing is kind of like exercising: I really want to do it, I love reading about other people doing it and ways to do it better, I feel great when I actually do do it, but the getting started (and sticking to it) part is hard. So when I had a sewing buddy around to motivate me, I sewed all the time. I actually made decent clothes for myself. But, then I moved to NY and my sewing buddy didn’t, and lots of excuses got in the way of actually plugging in the machine. Basically, in the last four years, I’ve used my machine to do one thing: make curtains for every house we’ve lived in (three). And not cool, complicated curtains; we’re talking run of the mill, rectangles with a rod pocket. Sometimes made out of bedsheets so I only had to sew them on two sides instead of four.
Yes, I’m a lazy sewer (which is why not owning a serger is the number one reason I don’t start cool projects). But no more! I will hem and I will love it!
I hope.
So, I’ve known since mid-June that one of my housewife challenges was going to be making time for sewing, and I finally made time to make the commitment. I got out my sewing machine and I cleared a permanent place for it on my desk. I even sewed something to show my machine in action.
Yes, this is a lazy sewing project. I made Pip’s bed smaller to better fit in our living room. And I didn’t even redo the pillow inside, I just folded it in half and stuffed it back in the smaller cover.
Does one line on the machine actually count as a sewing project? No, probably not. But at least I turned the thing on and used it.
And Pip seems happy. One small step.
So here’s housewife challenge #4: I will sew something every week. And because we’re not exactly budgeted for fabric and patterns and notions right now, I’m going to start with tailoring and refashioning my clothes, which should keep me pretty busy because [DISCLAIMER: if you’re a dieter, you may want to stop reading now] none of my clothes fit anymore. They’re all too big, like this skirt, which I used to wear all the time before I had Nora:
and now needs about 4inches taken out of it (no joke).
It would seem that I have discovered the perfect (long-term) diet plan, which starts off with first gaining 30 pounds and then losing 45 over the next 10 months. As a bonus, you also get this:
Okay, I’m not trying to brag, but I actually weigh 15 pounds less than I did before I got pregnant. And I’ve weighed the same thing since high school, so I actually weigh 15 pounds less than I did in high school. I’m not sure how that happened — I’m not dieting, in fact I eat all-the-freaking-time. I guess the combination of breastfeeding and way more activity worked well for me. I feel better than ever, but all is not well in the clothing department. None of my clothes fit. Things that are supposed to sit at my waist, now sit at my hips. Things that are supposed to sit on my hips, don’t even need to be unbuttoned or unzipped to come off (that’s an accident waiting to happen). I have one pair of capris and one pair of shorts that actually fit me and I basically live in them, because everything else makes me feel like a saggy-pants teen-aged boy.
I am not a teenager trying to hide curves.
So, over the next few months, I’m going to take inspiration from one of my favorite sewing blogs and make all my clothes fit again, tailoring at least one piece per week. (And maybe making a thing or two for Nora.) By October, I’ll either have a great fitting wardrobe and super sewing skills, or I’ll be on the ferry to the mainland to replace everything I’ve ruined. Wish me luck!
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