bad metaphor

My talented and generous big sis recently stayed with me, helping field crazy family and graduation mayhem. She offered me a choice of graduation presents: either I could take a paid trip to NYC, or a sewing machine.

Guess which one I chose?

My roommates think I’m crazy, as I’m sure most of you reading this do, but there are a number of reasons for my choice. First, there wasn’t a great time for the trip, as NYC tends to be rather hot and unpleasant during the summer, and I’m needed at work during the school year. Secondly, I’m not a big fan of taking trips at other people’s expense. Now I really seem fit for the mental ward, so let me explain. I felt pretty guilty during the Britain trip, mostly during the London portion, because people had paid money for me to run around and enjoy myself, not sulk in my flat during the sooty rain, homesick. I’d rather not feel obligated to have fun. Maybe it would be better if I knew someone so fabulously wealthy, for whom funding vacations for others is akin to buying them sno-cones (even better if that fabulous someone were myself), but alas, this is not so.

Then, of course, the third reason is that I really wanted a sewing machine. Call it silly, call it domestic and old-fashioned, call it the next stage in my evolution towards sinister cat lady, whatever, but I wanted it. Since seeing what the industrious folks at Craftster have come up with, especially the copies of stylish things at stores like Anthropologie and the like that I cannot afford, I’ve decided to make sewing my next hobby. I knit already, but there are only so many articles of clothing that one can knit and safely wear in public (knitted skirts, for instance, belong only on You Knit What??). Plus, knit items tend to be more useful in the winter than in the broiling and muggy Kansas summers.

Now, I can’t yet imagine sewing supplanting knitting as a fun hobby. You can’t take a sewing machine on road trips, and all the planning and measuring and involvement of sharp things means you can’t really sew mindlessly. It does seem somewhat more practical, though, and perhaps I can sell some sewn creations on Etsy to fund my yarn addictions. I’m still a bit intimidated by the involvement of stabby needles and mechanical contraptions, but I’m sure I can manage, armed with my instructional video and the helpful ladies at the crafting store.

I actually used to sew when I was little. My seamstress aunt instructed me in the art of sewing, with a stiff hand and a precise eye. I mostly made little Chinese dresses for my troll doll; why I made clothing for that particular doll, I can’t remember. I hated Barbies and my most favorite doll was a mermaid, limiting her wardrobe options. I was always a little nervous during the sewing lessons, as they involved being around the scary aunt armed with pointy needles. She wasn’t fond of children, I’d heard, and my mom let me know that the aunt was doing me a great favor. Every day, it seemed, I got yelled at for doing something or other improperly.

The legacy of the angry needle-fingered aunt stayed with me, and I had no particular interest in returning to sewing until today. I’m still a little scared of the machine. I have vague memories of how to wind the bobbin and thread it through the jiggaty doodad (luckily, the machine does come with a helpful instructional video). The sharp little needle stabbing up and down into the needle plate does spook me a little. I know there is very little probability that I can manage to slip my finger under it at the wrong time, yet the slim chance still unnerves me.

When we went shopping for the machine, however, some of the nicest (and craftiest) ladies ever came to our assistance. Apparently things to look for in a new machine include: electronic vs. non, a drop-in bobbin (I don’t think mine has that, but it’s fine, as the bobbin-winding part isn’t too difficult), a free arm for sewing sleeves, and an automatic buttonhole. Brands that are reliable include Janome, Brother, and Babylock; brands that tend to have more problems include Singer and White. As with anything, the best people to ask are the people who actually sew themselves. The crafty ladies were more than happy to overload us with information, a fraction of which I probably am remembering now, but extremely helpful nonetheless.

So throw yet another hobby onto my plate. I can take it! I will fill the void left by the exams and the papers with Simplicity patterns (which I hear are not that simple) and oh-so-pretty fabric scraps. I know I’d be a little ambitious if I expected to make wearable outfits by the end of the summer. Hopefully I can at least make a decent pillowcase or purse, and maybe a cheerfully humiliating outfit for the little beastie. Hehe.

* – Please forgive the double/triple/dodeca- postings – I’d typed one version of this post earlier and apparently slipped and mashed the ‘publish’ button without realizing it. Thinking it had been irrevocably lost, I got grumpy and published another version later. Oh, technology, you cannot possibly win against my clumsiness.

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