All the women in my family sew. Sewing machines are treasured gifts and trips to JoAnn Fabric are on the regular errand rotation. My Granny sewed for a living, well before it was cool to be a crafty entrepreneur. My mom makes beautiful, functional curtains, slipcovers and pillowcases several times a year. (She likes to redecorate, clearly.) My Nana has an embroidery business, and my cousins were such accomplished seamstresses as teens that they made their own prom dresses.
But me? I hate sewing.
It’s not that it’s hard. (Although, it kind of is.) It’s that cutting out a pattern brings out the worst perfectionism in me. That tissue-like pattern paper is so darned difficult to cut, even with the sharpest scissors and especially if you’re not what one would call “proficient” with scissors.
Yes, I graduated from kindergarten, thank you for asking. But my scissor skills may not have advanced much since then.
As the only non-sewer in my family, I’ve always felt like a bit of a domestic failure. My mom dutifully taught me to thread a machine, hem pants, sew on buttons and embroider lovely samplers. But you can’t teach love. And love it I do not.
I remember one summer, my mom thought that perhaps I’d learn better from my aunt. So Nana helped me make a pair of boxer shorts. They were made of black and white cow print cotton, though I’m not sure WHY I picked that particular fabric. And I loved those shorts. In hindsight, they were hideous (I mean, come on. Who really needs cow print on their backside?) But I was so proud of those shorts I’d made myself.
Not that I turned into a sewing machine (yes, pun [sadly] intended) after that. I don’t own a sewing machine, and while I have a sewing kit, I only get it out to sew buttons back on their shirts or jackets.
And, actually, my jacket has had a loose button for more than a year – and I still haven’t gotten around to fixing it. I really don’t enjoy sewing.
I tell you all this so you will understand just how desperate I was feeling when I said last week, “I think I might have to learn how to knit.”
Wha? Me? Knit? No, I don’t think so. But yeah, that’s what I said. The reason? Slippers.
For as long as I can remember (and, I’m certain, well before that), my grandma has been making knitted slippers for everyone in our (constantly expanding) family. They aren’t pretty. And because you get what you get and don’t throw a fit, sometimes the colors are the last ones you’d pick. But they are warm. And comfortable. And what your feet need in the winter.
Sadly, Grandma is getting older and over the past few years, she’s decided to stop making slippers. I hadn’t gotten too worked up about this, because even after my (Christmas-themed red and green) slippers wore out, I had Mark’s that I could wear. They were a little too big, but they still worked pretty well.
Until last week. I put on his my slippers and walked out to the garage. Immediately, I hopped onto one foot. Why was my right foot so cold? Had I stepped in water?
No. The bottom of my right slipper was completely torn open. It was busted. Just like Jimmy Buffet’s flip flop in Margaritaville. (I blew out my flip flop / Stepped on a pop top / Cut my heel, had to cruise on back home. I don’t know why these things pop into my head. But they sure do.)
My first reaction – I have to learn how to knit. – was replaced by reason. I quickly moved onto this thought: How can I convince my cousin Jenny to learn to knit? And then, doubt creeped in: Are they knitted? Or crocheted? What is the difference, and why can I not remember this? Finally, I remembered Etsy, the home of everything handmade and homemade. And so began my search.
Many, many pages appeared when I searched for “knitted slippers.” But after clicking and scrolling and clicking some more, only one shop had the answer. But one shop is all it takes! And charliebear saved the slipper day. This family of crafters makes slippers exactly like my Grandma’s – and charges less than $10 for them! It was a slipper miracle.
Today, I received my new slippers in the mail. Just a few days after all my moaning, groaning and general gnashing of teeth, my feet are toasty warm again.
Do I wish I had the sewing gene that seems to have skipped me? Do I wish I had more patience and less perfectionism, not to mention a basic mastery of cutting with scissors? Do I wish my Grandma could still make slippers for me? Absolutely. But since none of those things are likely to happen, I’m incredibly happy to have found someone else who makes slippers.
And I am beyond thrilled to NOT have to learn to knit!
Do YOU like to sew? Or knit? Or embroider? Or hem pants?
This post will be linked to Things I Love Thursday at The Diaper Diaries. Image of sewing machine by House of Sims.
I taught myself how to knit, I’m no great knitter, but I have made a few things. The only thing I have trouble with now is knitting with a cat. My cat loves me to knit, he “chases” the yarn and then I lose count and have to start again! Some days it feels like I am wearing the yarn out, by starting again.
I have that issue with scrapbooking. I’d LOVE to leave some scrapbooking stuff out, so I could just work on it anytime I have a few minutes. But with two cats in my house, that is not an option!
“a slipper miracle”…that made me smile. I’m a lot like you, everyone else in my family has the seamstress gene, but it passed me by. I’ve had made several attempts to try but it usually leads to wasted money and unfinished projects. I even have some brand new (only used once) bamboo knitting needles I could sell you ;)
Ooh, I bet you really could sell those needles on ebay or craigslist. Not to say that you’ll never knit. But, you know, what are the odds? (Okay, this is what I had to tell myself when I finally sold my sewing machine that had NEVER BEEN USED.) :)
I had a hankering to learn to knit when I was pregnant with Eva…so I had my sister-in-law teach me and I ended up with half-a-scarf, then I quit. I mean throw the needles away quit.
I do enjoy sewing, but right now I’m just doing very basic things…I have a few patterns, but I sweat when I pull them out and look at them. I’ll do it eventually :) I really love your new slippers Mar!!! I personally think you are very crafty! those ‘Bob and Larry’ cupcakes were pretty amazing!
Wow, when you quit, you QUIT, huh? I guess I’m crafty in other ways – just not in any way related to a needle or thread!
i knit, crochet, design jewelry, scrapbook, paint, collage, sew everything practically,
yep i am just that annoying that way….hehe love this post!
Ohhh, so annoying! Haha! I’m glad there are people who are great at these things. We’d all go naked if there weren’t!
You could have been writing about me. I don’t enjoy sewing, though I do it out of necessity once in a while, but only when the mending pile gets taller than me! I am hopeless when it comes to knitting or crocheting. Countless people have tried to teach me, but their instructions fall on barren ground. At least I can cook.
See there? We all have something, right?!
So I also had a pair of cow print homemade boxer shorts. My mom made mine, however. I’ve never been able to figure out a pattern. I do make rag quilts though, and I can do some basic sewing.
I love rag quilts. Not so much cow print boxers, but it’s funny that we both had a pair!!
Hooray for Etsy! I totally relate. My mom was a professional seamstress (off and on), and as much as I wish I would have learned from all that she TRIED to teach me the art of sewing just does not come naturally to me :(
I think some of us have it…and some of us (ME) don’t!
Holy moly, I want knitted slippers! Those things look so comfy!
Sewing… Ah, the story of my life. Actually, not my story at all. My mother is an amazing seamstress {made my sister’s wedding dress in fact}, but I never had the patience, or willingness, to learn. Until last year. My friend gave me a sewing machine, that was old enough to be my grandma, and taught me how to thread it. I’ve made a handful of aprons, but since our move it’s been sitting in the garage. Sad. I have wanted to make something as spring approaches {or should I say in Texas, is fully upon us}, but just can’t seem to make time for it. As for knitting, maybe I’ll pick that up one day… But maybe not.
I kind of figure why put needles in my hands when I could be holding a book? Or – more likely – clicking away on my computer? :)
I have never learned any of those skills and DESPERATELY want to! Especially now that I’ve seen those cool slippers!
I am finally getting a sewing machine and am ecstatic about it…but I have no idea how to use it. And now that you’ve mentioned cutting the pattern, I am scared more than ever! (I too am scissorly challenged). But I have dreams of making curtains and pillow cases and these dreams will not go away until they are actually done. So there!
Tara, did you see what one of my other commenters said about cutting out patterns? She said she uses a rotary cutter! Isn’t that brilliant? Seriously, if only my mom would’ve thought of that when she was trying to teach me…
Good luck with your new machine. I just know you are going to make beautiful curtains and pillow cases!!
my mom had a theory: if there weren’t people like us in the world, people who sew for a living would have no one to sell their products to.
i stand by it.
So true, my friend. Your mom is a wise woman.
This cracks me up! I love to sew but don’t like to be confined to a pattern very often. I just bought a rotary cutter because I think I’ll use patterns more often if I can just cut around them instead of using scissors. I tried to learn how to knit when I was a kid but I don’t have the patience for it. Which is strange because I’m crafty in every other way and would happily sit sewing, drawing, or doing any other project for hours.
A rotary cutter! Huh. That might have completely changed my life back when I wanted to learn to sew…
Oh my gosh! I could have written this post! My mom is an avid (I mean AVID) quilter, my sister is a quilter AND a cross-stitcher extrodinaire. I got gyped on all the crafty stuff. I hate it all. My sewing machine makes me break out in hives. I just don’t enjoy it.
But I write and they don’t. So there!
So there! Haha – your comment cracked me up! It’s true that we all have our own gifts. But, darn it, it’s annoying when everyone else seems to have the very one you don’t! :)
As I continued to read your post, I started to think I could place an order with you for slippers! Glad you found some you could buy : )
Haha! Yeah, right. You know my track record with sewing anything! :)
How cute! I know how to crochet, but have only attempted scarves. I’m hoping to get better at sewing eventually…. :)
Crocheting a scarf is mighty impressive to this non-seamstress!