The Genetic Connection of the Seamstresses

My thoughts of the Day...
Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel. ~Author Unknown

From the Mirriam Webster Online Dictionary-
Seamstress: a woman whose occupation is sewing

If the dictioanry only knew...Here's MY defination...

Seamstress: a creative, loving, artistic woman, who is good with her hands, good with her mind and good with her machine. She can tell stories with the gifts she had made, and she can love something so much she wants to give it away. She sees the blessing as being able to see people's eyes light up when they are pleased with her product. It is definately more than an occupation...

Sewing is really in my genes. I love to sew. When I go for a time with out sewing, I feel this need to create something. I don't sew clothing, maybe an A-line skirt or two, in my life. I just don't enjoy it. My mother and Grandmother were/are professionals in the sewing industry. My grandmother was a seamstress. She left home after high school in the late 1930 and moved to Dallas with an aunt that was barely older than she. My Grandmother taught sewing lessons while there and also worked at the Frito Lay plant, putting peanut butter crackers together. As a child I always thought that was funny. I cannot picture my grandmother doing this. I have always seen her working in her sewing room in her home. It was a place of wonder for me. I was always amazed at what she could design. She had yellowed newspaper clippings hanging around and could make a garment look exactly like the picture. She was a genius when it came to clothing. My mother owns her own custom drapery business. She contracts with interior designers, mostly, to make drapery. I love looking at the fabric she has received and the finished products in the homes. She is a master at what she does. All of her work is precise and amazing. My mother sewed a lot when I was young, then took a break and conqured other crafts. She returned to sewing professionally in her early 50's.

My sewing story began 20 something years ago. Simply, I was a toddler and my mother and Grandmother would make my clothing. I would hang around in the sewing room while they worked. I can remember them making my pagent dresses when I enterted our community's local pagent at the age of 3. The first thing I was allowed to sew was...drum roll please...a coloring book page. I had colored, if I remember correctly, it was Goofy the Disney Dog. My grandmother lined it with red fabric and I was allowed to use the serger to bind the edges together. After I conqured that, she cut up cloth and I made dish towels. My first pattern to complete was in a High School Home Economics Class. I made a shirt, something similar to a bowling shirt and shorts, WORN ONCE, thank you very much! In college I had a similar experience with a bowling shirt required for a class. Never worn! About this time I started experimenting with non-apparel patterns. Ahhhh much better, I love this kind of sewing. Fast forward a few years. It was in my first couple of years teaching I found a tote bag pattern online, we made it in a sewing class I taught. I altered the pattern and made a smaller purse. I bought another pattern, made a different bag. I experimented with different fabrics, linings and interlinings, closures and straps. I began making them for friends and family. Freinds and Family began to buy them from me. This was the begining of my obsession and my business. Bags. I like the whole process of designing the bag. Picking and laying out the fabrics and seeing the final product complete.

This is my first venture at blogging, so check back. I plan to include funny things from my life, (like tripping in the parking lot yesterday:), recipes, patterns, sewing projects, family fun and more. Enjoy ! ~TK