Learning to Sew
What you need:
A sewing machine, your mother’s, yes, the sky blue Singer, its hum a lullaby from infancy, you in a Moses basket at her feet, grabbing bright threads
Notions (tools and thoughts in equal measure), such as
Scissors, three to six inches long, sharp pointed, pinking shears, thread clips, buttonholers, seam rippers--there will be edges to neaten, material to cut
Tissue (dressmaker’s and Kleenex)
Tailor’s chalk and tracing wheel, for dots, dashes, cut-away marks, arcs, outlines, traces, what has been and what will be
Pins, for forming attachments
Needles--sharps, betweens, milliners, darners, tapestry, embroidery, beading, for all that must be pierced and adorned and joined together
Pin cushion, apple-shaped, with a felt stem, to keep pins from getting lost
Thimble, your mother’s, gold, on a chain, a tiny loop soldered to the top, wear it on your index finger so you won’t prick yourself, or around your neck, to remember
Measuring tape, for determining shape and size, yards, inches, centimeters, the distance from here to there
Thread, mercerized, nylon silk, textured, floss
Fabric, swatches and yards and bolts, wool, silk, linen, net, whatever will come next, whatever will be made
The pattern?
Will it come from a drawer at the fabric store—McCall’s, Butterick, Simplicity, names from your childhood, the instructions in an envelope, the outcome preordained? Or will you make it up as you go, letting the spirit guide you, trying to pick up the loose threads, fix the holes, make something new? Each step, each diagram, fig. 1, fig. 2, fig. 3, revealing itself in time?
You hesitate, thinking of past mistakes, when you threw the pieces across the room in a fit of anger, because nothing was coming together the way it should, and you cried over a misshapen collar or sleeve, lying prone in your lap as an injured child.
And yet you must press your lips together, pick up the thread. Don’t be afraid. You’ll find your way.
This is a place to start.
© by Heather Barbieri. All rights reserved.
Excerpted by permission of HarperCollins, Inc.
