Sew Perfect

Sewing has never been my forte. In fact, my first brush with sewing occurred in the 7th grade. Running in tandem with a required Home Economics course, the sewing portion of this class called for each student to make an initial or alphabet pillow. I felt a sense of relief that my first initial was a fairly simple D, and not something more complex like an H or a K, or worse yet an X. After weeks of toiling on my pillow, it looked more like a stuffed potato, rather than the letter D. To be honest, it didn’t really resemble any letter of the alphabet. Frustrated that my fledgling efforts didn’t yield automatic success, I gave up on learning anything more about sewing.

My so-called sewing skills lay dormant until about six months ago, when I decided to replace the curtains in our sunroom. Our home is in an historic neighborhood. One evening as I was getting something out of my fridge, I could see a light shining on me from outside the refrigerator doors. Turning to the source, I realized the light was coming from the headlights of our neighbor’s car, which were illuminating me and my kitchen as the light spilled beyond our sunroom. Despite juggling numerous projects after moving back into our home after the fire, the sunroom curtains quickly made it to the top of the list of priorities. 

Just as with my first sewing experience back in 7th grade, I searched multiple locations until I found the perfect fabric. I eventually chose a black ticking burlap to compliment the black shutters and gray siding of our home. Both the fabric and the price point were perfect, yet fear of another sewing debacle caused me to procrastinate this project. I worried that I would fall short of my expectations yet again. 

After purchasing a sewing machine, I watched several “How To” videos in order to become better acquainted with this new machine. Then I set about measuring, cutting, ironing and sewing. As I worked on the first curtain panel, I pulled what I learned in that Home Economics class as well as what I learned as I watched my Mom sew over the years. I soon began to realize the key to sewing is being methodical. 

I was ecstatic when the first panel was complete and that it was just as I had envisioned it. This one success fueled my confidence for the remaining 13 panels. With each panel, I became more efficient while maintaining my precision. The four steps of measuring, cutting, ironing and sewing prevailed from the first panel to the last. 

In the end, I not only reclaimed our privacy, but I finally shattered the negative sewing experience from my early teen years. Now when I think of future sewing projects, my sunroom success comes to mind, not my initial disaster.