My Messy Mermaid: Granny Appreciation

Monday, August 9, 2010

Granny Appreciation

For my first post, I thought I'd share a little bit about my love for sewing. I never took a high school Home Economics class to learn the rudiments of sewing. I had something better: my grandmother.

My mom shipped me off to Hillsboro, Ohio one summer to spend a month or so with my grandparents. I have always loved renaissance festivals and I wanted my granny to help me sew a costume. So after a week of steady pestering, she took me to the store to get a pattern, some fabric, and some notions.

I remember the look on her face when she read the back of that pattern envelope and saw that the dress portion of the costume needed 8 yards of fabric all by itself. LOL. It was a good thing the bodice only required a single yard.

She patiently showed me how to choose a pattern size, how to cut the pattern, how to piece everything together, and she guided my first stitches on her mother's (seriously) vintage Viking sewing machine.

It was love at first stitch.

I actually didn't sew anything for a long time after that first renn fest costume. Oh, there were a couple quilts and the occasional costume for family members, but not any serious sewing. That didn't come until after my daughter was born.

Now, I usually can't go a week or so without having a new dress for Missy Moo, my messy mermaid. She may only be 3, but she's got a decided opinion about fashion and fabrics. We have a great time browsing our local fabric store and brainstorming about what she wants to wear.

In this picture, I'm the "Psychedelic Mushroom" (that's what I claimed as my costume that year since I was being lazy ~ really my shirt was just a crazy pj top) holding the cutest baby penguin ever and that's my amazing sister, Erin, in my very first sewing project.

Our bond has been strengthened through sewing and it's all because my grandmother shared with me how to sew. Seek out your grannies and give them big hugs and sweet kisses for everything they've helped you learn and do over your life. After that, go find someone's life to enrich and give them the gift of sewing.