Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Tie it off

When I was in 7th grade home economics I struggled with the hand stitching.  I used to bring my "homework" to my Mimi (my grandmother), who had been a seamstress, and ask her for help.  She'd show me the stiches and tell me that while I could do them fine, if I didn't learn some patience, I would never be good at sewing.

Sewing?  Who wanted to sew?  I was 12 and didn't care about sewing.  It's an "if I only knew then what I know now" moment here.  What I did not know then was that Mimi, who could knit, crochet, sew, and cook anything, had to drop out of high school and get a job to help support her family when her dad died.  She could sew, so she did that.  She sewed sugar/flour sacks.  She sewed to help put food on the table.  (I blogged about her in 2014 here).  I could sew for fun, learn from the master, and spend extra time with my grandmother -- none of which I appreciated then.  She passed away in January 2005 and I miss her still so much.

Fast forward to the pandemic we've all lived with for nearly a year.  My Pastor, Rachel, shared that she picked up an old hobby her mom taught her - cross stitch.  She got going again and is teaching her daughters.  Her work is so pretty and so cool and I love that her girls are sharing that with her.

Seeing one of her finished projects inspired me to find a hobby for me.  So I ordered a couple of beginner embroidery kits and hit the hoops (so to speak).  I heard Mimi in my head reminding me to be patient or it wouldn't work.  I don't have her to help me with the stiches, but I have YouTube.  I have completed two projects (below) and am about to begin another.  My stitching is OK - not perfect - but I'm trying really hard to be patient while I do it and to channel my grandmother and imagine us working those pesky French knots together.

I also think about how I missed the chance to learn this from her 45 years ago and I wonder if any of my three nieces would want to learn - it would be a super cool way to connect each of them to her (and connect us).  I will have to force it on mention it to them soon.

If you think you're too old or it is too late to learn something new - I say to you - BS.  Learn it.  Extra points if you can learn it from someone who lives it rather than from YouTube.

xoxo