Robin and Erika are both really good at sewing. I'm not. But I've always wanted to do more, get better. I showed great promise in 7th grade when I made a stuffed hippopotamus in home economics class. I got a 98 on that sucker and I still brag about it.

I struggled with a crappy machine in my late 20's. Later I picked up a vintage machine at a yard sale. It moved with me, cluttering up my Boston apartments for years while I fooled myself into believing that just owning it would get me sewing.

Fast forward a bunch of years....including the last ten in which I have been knitting incessantly...and I meet Robin and Erika. And I learn that sewing with the machine ain't the half of it. There's picking, choosing, washing, pressing, measuring, pinning, cutting - a whole multi-step process that takes time and space. (Oh, the geometry we could be teaching kids....!) It's not grab and go, like knitting. And sewing also requires a different kind of headspace, one which I am trying to cultivate.

I've enjoyed keeping track of my knitting and crochet projects on Ravelry because I've been able to chart my progress. In the beginning, I was sure I'd never make socks or a sweater - never mind a cabled sweater. Today I have an embarassing number of sweaters under my belt.

And now I'm sewing. I've accumulated a small pile of sewing projects (two from the past weekend) that really aren't that great. I'm pretty sure i wouldn't wear any of them in public yet. But each one is a little better than what came before. It went a little faster and there was less cursing. And now I find myself obsessing about bias tape and seam allowances.

Robin taught me how to sew cloth napkins using mitered corners and how to box corners on a tote bag. Cal Patch and Maya Donenfeld ran a weekend workshop on how to block print fabric and then whip up a Mexican folk dress (not my style at all, but I loved learning to make it). Maya also taught a t-shirt skirt class for us. I made one in the class and went home and made another the next day. She knows so much about sewing machines and got me experimenting with different decorative stitches. Also, I had no idea that zigzag was used for stretchy fabric.

Other crafty folk have turned me on to Sonja Philip's 100 Acts of Sewing, Colette sewing patterns, and Japanese patterns books like Happy Homemade: Sew Chic. Erika showed me how to add some shape to my second 100 Acts of Sewing dress. And she is going to help me modify a long gray wool Flax coat (no rush, Erika). Could we possibly transform it into a NaturevFuture style? Swoon.

Cal Patch also has a book on pattern making. I measured and drew and sewed a skirt from her book. Trying to install an invisible zipper (not part of her instruction) had me tearing my hair out, but I was trying to wing it. It didn't come out so great. I later learned the proper way to install zippers from one of our super talented instructors, Liz Woods. She also taught a newsboy cap class - lined, interfacing, the works. That was pretty challenging for me - my brain hurt trying to conceptualize that 3-D inside out stuff. But I love my hat, mistakes and all.

I'm sure I'm missing a few foibles, projects and props to people who've shown me things, but you get the picture. I've been inspired to get better by surrounding myself with people who are good at sewing and happy to share what they know.

My dream is to one day make actual pants that are tailored and fit really well. It could happen.

See my little rogues gallery below. :)

-Lisa

So, I've been sewing...