The Development of a Seamstress

Now that summer break is here, the sewing lessons have commenced and the birthday machine is humming right along. First on the docket? Threading the machine, learning basic vocabulary (bobbin, presser foot, stitch length, seams, etc.), sewing straight and zig-zag lines, and executing the reverse stitch. Lucette is doing so well!

As Lucette worked, Jane helped me turn four pairs of ripped-knee school pants into summer shorts. She was quite helpful in placing the removed pins into the "tomato" (don't we all have one of those pin cushions?), and particularly liked wearing the severed pant-legs as arm warmers.

I'm so glad the sewing enthusiasm seems to be present in my girls. I have many fond memories of sewing lessons at my grandmother's house and how we would giggle when I would forget the "right sides together" mantra and stitch my skirt on backwards. She always had a way of making the mistakes no-big-deal. "We'll just rip it out and start again!"

Yep. That's next on the agenda: an introduction to the seam-ripper. A very necessary tool, indeed.