A stitch in time

At five years old , she’s perched on phone books to reach the sewing machine. Grandma gently guides her hand as she pushes the floor pedal .”You are doing good sweetie” she whispers . We sew together creating a square, leaving two inches to turn the square and add beans. “You just made a bean bag!” Grandma squeaks with delight. The five year old chimes in laughing . The excitement builds as she fills the bag full of beans and sews it closed. She’s eager to make more, giving one to everyone in the family. This sparked something deeply within her. The desire to create something from nothing. By the time she was seven years old , she had moved on to larger and more complicated projects. Grandma had a favorite dress that was damaged at the cleaners. Instead of tossing it out , grandma asks “Are you ready to make yourself a dress?” Of course the answer was a hard yes! This would prove to be more difficult since a pattern had to be constructed before the sewing even started. Grandma explains as simply as she could to that eager seven year old. The task was daunting , an A-line dress with a lining, the young girl jumped right in eager to learn. The dress turns out amazing as the young girl proudly wears it to church that Sunday. No one could believe she made it herself. The smile never left her face that day, everyone was so impressed with her skills. “Surely God has given her a wonderful talent!” Grandma boosts to the parishioners .

Sewing became that young girls life. She sewed for her friends. She sewed for her family. She sewed constantly. The holidays were filled with hand made gifts she made for everyone, she was so proud. At sixteen years old, Grandma promises the young lady her very own new sewing machine. And sure enough Grandma comes though with that promise! The girl was so happy , her eyes swell with tears of joy every time she sits at her new sewing machine. She will never forget Grandma’s gift and wanting to make her Grandma proud.

At twenty years old, that young lady takes her talent even further, she opens a tailor shop, sewing and serving her community. This was so fulfilling for her, finally her talent and her passion becomes her job.

At the age of thirty things change , a divorce and a move gives her the chance to decide on her future. “I know I want to sew.” She’s says out loud. “Do I want to remain a Tailor or expand my horizons?” She asked herself. “ I know what I’ll do, a flip of a coin will control my destiny. Heads I’m a tailor , tails I’ll sew drapery.” Tails it is …and the new adventure begins. With this new job comes a lot of responsibilities she never thought of, like meeting with designers and clients, learning to measure windows for drapery and measuring beds for duvets and pillows. This job also included hiring installers and over seeing every aspect from start to finish. Wow that’s alot of work, but she finds the end results very rewarding . “I love sewing “ she tells one of her clients. “I can make anything from fabric.” Her client smiles. “Can you make clothes?” She asked. That answer opened up so many doors .

Fast forward to today , that young girl has just turned sixty. Yes , she’s still sewing strong. And Yes , she’s still creating. Looking back at her life and accomplishments, from making a dress for a millionaire, to sewing Drapery for a billionaire and even sewing for a rock star for over twenty years, it’s so hard to believe that Grandma teaching her to sew lead her to here .

That young girl was me! My life has been amazing ! The people I’ve met along the way have been kind and generous. Their gorgeous homes and mansions I’ve been in and hung my drapery in , one can only dream of or see in a magazine. I couldn’t of asked for a better life or career .

Today I don’t make drapery anymore. Guess you could say I’m retired , sort of. I’m still sewing, Grandma would say I’m piddling . I will never stop sewing until The end . All I can say is…

Thank you Grandma for the lessons.

Thank you God for the talent.