Journey to Expert

I have viewed sewing in a lot of ways but I never thought it was something I would enjoy doing. The first thing I remember sewing was an apron and a chef's hat for a school project when I was in the 4th grade. That wasn't when my love for sewing started ,there was a deadline I had to meet up with and my work had to be a certain way (how the teacher thought it should be) inorder to pass the class. Fast forward a few years later and I find myself taking sewing classes. Yes, sewing classes! I bought a ruler, a sewing chalk, a note book, some pencils, an erasier and a pen for taking notes. I was going to be learning from one of the best tailor shop in that area and I couldn't have been more excited. In about a month, I'll be sewing my own cloths was the thought running through my head while I signed up for the class.With the number of clients that walked in everyday, the amount of backlog orders that had to be completed and the number of students that had gone ahead of me in class, I found the only thing I learnt after a few weeks was how to work the food paddle of a sewing machine. Go get your money back! Is right, if you said that. I felt like I was wasting my time so I stopped attending classes and decided to focus on other things. This wasn't when my love for sewing started either infact, the experience developed a tension in me that made me think "maybe sewing isn't just for me."

So, when did my love for sewing start?

I still wanted to be able to sew my own cloths but I shoved that Idea to the back of my mind and was ready to compromise. I didn't want to waste my time and money only to get disappointed again. Though it was something I wanted to learn, I wasn't going to admit it and tell myself the truth.My youtube history was filled with almost nothing but sewing videos that kept telling me you can do it yourself. I watched a lot of this videos during my free time.I freed up time just for this (so I could watch more videos).Then, I bought my own sewing machine. You can call this Impulse buying because I didn't think too much about it. But when she came, and I took her out of her package, I was glad I made that purchase. I tried so much not to rip the package apart like a 6 year old who got the bike they've always wanted for christmas. I carefully tore the box open, brought the sewing machine out and read through the manual.This was when I realized I loved sewing. I never read manuals but here I was studying this manual trying to get the sewing machine infront of me to work. So really, I have always loved sewing but at this point, I realized it and I wasn't going to convice myself otherwise.

The first few days with my new sewing machine went by fast. Despite the frustration that came from the mistakes I made, I kept heading back to my machine.The first thing I did was to try out all the stitches. I didn't have any fabric to work with so I used my bed sheet instead (it was an old one). I cut out pieces with my scissors and kept sewing non-stop. The sound from my machine would travel to every corner of the house and whenever I stopped to cut out a thread, there was this silence that surfaced. I became sleep deprived because I would stay up all night, just me with my machine and everyone else who couldn't get some sleep because of my sewing. After getting acquainted with my machine, I was ready to move on to bigger projects. The first thing I put together was a sunglasses case. From cutting the fabric with a pair of scissors to actually putting the pieces together under the machine, I enjoyed each process.Finally, the journey to getting a me made wardrobe didn't seem so difficult after all. I love sewing but like every love story, there's always more.

While everyone had to be inside because of the unexpected widespread of Covid- 19, a lot of lives were affected. Most people had to carry out their daily tasks like school and work within the confinement of their home. This didn't seem to be a problem for me at first. In about a few weeks, everything should be back to normal right? but this went on for months. In those very long months of trying to flatten the curve, sewing was my go to escape from all that was happening. I would sew on end until I lost track of time. There are lots of reasons I sew. It fascinates me how you can put pieces together and create something of your own.

Baby steps leads to big steps. I like to remind myself that wobbly steps eventually stabilize. I find myself under a lot of pressure before I start a sewing project then I remember why I started sewing and all the feelings disappear after the first cut. I never saw myself as a creative. If I were to describe myself, academic would be the word I would gravitate towards.Because that was the only thing i seemed to be good at - School. Sewing opened up a new channel for me to bring my ideas to life. Now I know creativity is not limited to a pencil sketch on a drawing board or brush strokes on a painting canvas, it can also be found in the stitches that travel through my fabric and the cuts made with my scissors.