I am a seamstress

My MIL has created a monster. A sewing monster. I must keep sewing. I can't stop. Mary Anne left for vacation, so I am on my own, but I shall prevail! Because I am determined. Hooked. Full of renewed confidence.

Darcy and I went to Wal-Mart, and she picked out three different types of fabric. I have no idea if the material is of good quality, but I'm not creating dresses to be worn at the Academy Awards. These were on sale, so I'm taking advantage. I choose a design for kids that said, sew in 1 hour.

My kind of sewing, thank you very much.

I asked the saleslady to cut two of the fabrics according to the new pattern and the other one for my latest design. Of course, the amount was different for each pattern.

I picked out buttons, thread, pins, and a good pair of scissors that cost more than the fabric! I bought them because a good seamstress needs her equipment. We returned home, and I immediately began cutting out the new pattern. The one hour pattern. First, I opened it and read the directions. My last pattern had five steps. This one had twice as many, and it had a ZIPPER. What? I don't have a clue about zippers. Jeez, I don't even know how to sew in a buttonhole because I didn't pay attention during that lesson. How the hell can I do a zipper? With my teacher out of town? I store that pattern away and pull out the other one. 

Darcy: "But I want the Barbie dress first, Mommy."

Of course, she does. Tough. That's a no can do kid. I went back to the other pattern and managed to cut out the fabric and apply the interfacing. For steps one and two. I had to stop for a while because my back began hurting. Sewing is tough on my back. All that bending and hunching over the table. I gave up for the day and returned to it the following day.

The material is a Winnie-the-Pooh pattern. Cute, but not durable. I must keep that in mind when I pick out stuff for Madison's dress. I might have to go to the fabric store on that one. Wal-Mart, with its low prices, isn't exactly better quality. You get what you pay for. Lesson learned. 

Another thing about sewing is the ironing. There is a lot of ironing in sewing. I hate ironing. I mean, genuinely hate it. My husband goes to work with wrinkled shirts. My kids go to school in wrinkled clothes. I don't iron if I don't have to. My mother sighs in disbelief when she sees my family in rumpled clothing. She loves ironing. She finds it peaceful, and she hates wrinkles. 

Well, she won't be complaining any longer. NO MORE WRINKLES. I have taken up ironing now that I'm sewing. I mean, might as well iron some shirts while the ironing board is out, right?

I finished steps three and four. I had to read the chapter on buttonholes in my sewing machine manual. I have decided that the dress doesn't need buttonholes because it is large enough to go over Darcy's head. Why add another unnecessary step? I decided to sew on the cute buttons permanently. What a great idea. Brilliant even!

I finished the dress. There were a few problems. I cut too close to the stitches when I trimmed, and I did have to redo some things, but it came out decent. I'd give me a B-. Okay, maybe a C+.

Yep, call me a seamstress. I'm working on a dress for Madison next. Then I'm going to make every girl I know a dress. Because every little girl deserves a Cara homemade dress. 

I AM A SEAMSTRESS!