September is National Sewing Month - Don't Feed the Bugs

Dear Lola,

Isn’t it great, we get a whole month to celebrate our love of sewing?   This month is also the 5-year anniversary of my passionate marriage with sewing!  When I began this creative journey, I didn’t make the connection that September is National Sewing Month, but how appropriate!  At the time I got my start, there were so many other things to think about – which machine to buy, which needles to use, which fabrics work best and which threads are right.

I have made lots of decisions since I took my first leap into the world of sewing.  There have been mostly good decisions (taking classes and joining guilds), but sprinkled in for good measure there have been some bad (sewing late at night) and some downright funny (sewing a sleeve to a neck hole)!  Since we are celebrating, it’s a good time to recount some of my decisions and experiences along the way!

My most “favorite” funny decision was purchasing a box of fabrics at an estate sale.  I’d been hearing about how important it was to build up a stash.  The price for the box of fabric seemed affordable; it was a large plastic bin for $20.  The family of the original owner didn’t sew like “Granny”.  They were happy to get it off their hands and I was excited to be building my stash!  I rushed it home, ready to be creative and discovered that the fabrics were full of bugs.  Needless to say, I learned that bargains aren’t always bargains.  My fab new find went right into the garbage!  I couldn’t help feeling a little sad for “Granny”, the original owner  - I’m sure she would have been appalled to think of her treasure trove being full of bugs.  I’m sure she imagined she would make beautiful creations with her pretty fabrics. What an overall disappointment for me– I thought how could anyone let their fabric grow so old it became infested with insects?

My favorite good decision was purchasing my Bernina sewing machine.  As a newbie, it was wonderful to get the mastery classes with my machine.  The Bernina Mastery Workbook provides hand-on steps to get a new sewing enthusiast started.  I still refer back to the stitch settings and information in this gigantic book!  I continue to love my Bernina machines (now I own several) and all their fabulous feet!  The Bernina Blog continues to educate me and I know I will always be a Bernina Babe!  My dealer, Elegant Stitches, has not only provided me with great service, but also with some of the most important friendships of my recent life.  This is a special shout out to Shelley, Renee, Brenda, Marian, Laurie, and Maureen.  These ladies are my “go-to” bunch for sewing support and real life hugs.

Another amazing experience was joining the Quilt Alliance and attending Quilters Take Raleigh.  It was so inspiring to learn about this organization’s mission of documenting, preserving and sharing quilts and the stories associated with those quilts!  Seeing a family quilt from the 1700’s is an experience I’ll never forget.  If you’re not a member, you should consider joining to further their great cause. 

The biggest, bad decision I have made was purchasing a high-powered digitizing software package.  While I love, love doing embroidery on my machine.  I really never use the digitizing part of the program.  I really only need to monogram, resize and combine designs.  So the money that I spent for all the other fancy features was truly unnecessary.  To be honest, this isn’t the only item that I have purchased that I haven’t utilized to its full extent, but I think many sewing enthusiasts have similar stories to tell.  We all get caught up in the excitement of what we think a product can do for us and then we get home and realize it’s not as practical as we thought.

And the final admission I have to make is that I definitely own way too much fabric.  In 5 years, I have accumulated more fabric than the legal limit!  Ok, so there isn’t a legal limit, but maybe there should be!  I say this only because, here it is September-National Sewing Month and I can’t find a thing I’m looking for!  I have my fabric hidden in closets, under beds and in plastic boxes.  I need to find it all, try to use it up and shrink down my supply.  Why, you ask.  Because, some day, I’d hate to think of my fabric for sale at an estate sale and full of bugs! 

So to my sewing friends – it is September – National Sewing Month!  Get busy and sew!  Let’s celebrate all the great things about sewing! The last thing we want to do is feed the bugs!

Hugs and stitches,