Crafting a Passion for Sewing

I received my first pair of Fiskars scissors when I was 5 years old. They had a purple handle and a rounded safety tip. It took a little bit of begging to get my parents to buy me a “real” pair of scissors but all of my sisters had their own pair of sewing scissors and I finally got my own pair for Christmas in 1996.

My mother is an accomplished seamstress so I grew up surrounded by sewing equipment and buckets upon buckets of fabric scraps. She sewed all of mine and my sisters’ clothing when we were growing up. She would take us to the fabric store and help us pick out fabrics for new blouses, dresses, any kind of clothing. While she was still pregnant with us, she made each of her children a baby quilt that was ready to swaddle us once we were born. Throughout the rest of our lives, she made each of her children’s bedspreads. I never had a store bought duvet until I left home and bought my own bedding. My mom sewed everything and she loved doing it.

I’m one of eight children with 5 sisters and 2 brothers. When I say my mom sewed all of our clothing growing up and still found time to make our bedspreads, curtains, clothes for our dolls, etc., you can only imagine how much time and effort she put into sewing. On top of all of that, she homeschooled all of her children. She would rouse us out of bed in the morning, get us fed and dressed and then get us started on our school. Between tutoring eight kids, she would sneak in small sewing breaks. During lunch time, she would sneak in some sewing time. After dinner and between getting us ready for bed, she would sneak in some sewing time. After we were all tucked in for the night, she would be up into the late hours of the night still sewing.

Easter was always the busiest time for her. She would take each of her daughters shopping for their choice of pattern and fabric for their Easter dress. The older I got, the more elaborate I wanted my dress to be. I wanted specific details and trims on my dress. I didn’t want the exact pattern. I wanted my mom to alter the pattern in some way and she always delivered. I had some beautiful clothes growing up.

And that’s where I got my passion for sewing. My mom started teaching me how to sew on sewing cards. I graduated to sewing on buttons. When she gave me my first pair of purple-handled scissors, she started teaching me how to sew basic squares together. She also gave me my own sewing case with a few of mine own pins, threads, and fabric scraps. I was all set to become a master seamstress.

Over the next several years, I became more and more obsessed with sewing. I made clothes for my dolls. I made gifts for my family (most were well-received). I started exploring quilting. And all of those projects I did by hand. I had a slight fear of sewing machines and wasn’t comfortable using one yet. My mom kept urging me to learn how to use a sewing machine and when her and my dad bought me a Husqvarna sewing machine for my 15th birthday, I finally agreed to learn how to use one. I’m not sure she understood what she was getting herself into because after I got used to using my machine, my sewing habits escalated. I used all of my allowance money on new fabric. I started my own stash of fabric scraps and in a short while I had several fabric bins stored under my bed and in my closet. I started hoarding thread, buttons, trims, and anything I thought I could use in my sewing projects. I moved on from making doll clothes to making all of my own clothes. I figured out how to alter patterns to create a completely different garment from what was in the picture. A year later, I was given a dress form and I started playing around with draping and designing.

When I was in my 20’s and in college, I enrolled in a course to get my technical certificate in Dressmaking and Design. I passed that course with flying colors and my sewing skills were taken to another level. Shortly after I finished that course, I applied for a tailoring job at a men’s clothing store. I was hired on as a sales associate and trained under the tailor at the store for 3 years before I got promoted and took over my own store. Once I was in my own store, my tailor quit and on top of running the store, I had to do all the alterations.

Sewing has been a huge part of my life since my mom gave me that first pair of scissors. I’ve worked on many, many projects and I’ve been passionate about each and every one. But the project I’ve been most passionate about was a project that I did for my parents last Christmas.

My dad is a hopeless romantic. He and my mom have known each other since they met in kindergarten. My dad swears that he knew my mom was “the one” in 2nd grade. They grew up together and were only ever apart when they both went to separate colleges. They got married shortly after college and have been married for 44 years. Last December my dad sent me a picture of my mom from the 70’s. She was wearing a white peasant blouse with blue trim and blue floral embroidery. My dad explained to me that that picture of my mom was his favorite of her and that he had always loved that top on her. He asked for my help in finding a top that looked like the top she was wearing in that picture. I spent hours perusing the internet and couldn’t find anything similar. After looking at hundreds of peasant tops online, it finally occurred to me that, thanks to the woman in that photo, I had the skills to recreate that top. Thanks to the hours that my mom spent walking me through a fabric store and showing me how to find the right fabric for a project, I was able to pick the right fabric for my mom’s shirt. I didn’t have the exact pattern I needed, but thanks to the guidance and tutelage of my mom, I was able to make my own pattern. I presented the finished project to my dad on Christmas Eve and watched him fight back tears. On Christmas morning, we both watched my mom open the package containing my dad’s favorite photo of her and the replicated top. Recreating that top from an old blurry picture from the 70’s wasn’t easy but it was definitely worth the look on her face.

I still have that pair of scissors. They’ve been through a lot. My 5-year old self didn’t understand that you shouldn’t use sewing scissors to cut everything, but I used them to cut everything. While I’ve collected much nicer pairs of scissors over the last 20+ years of sewing, I still use those purple scissors to snip threads and put the finishing touches on all of my projects. And all of those projects have come to be because I was given my own pair of purple-handled scissors.