NOVEMBER 29, 2006

Sewing Lessons

Sewing Lesson #1 - I am a statistic

When I was a kid, I had to take Home Economics and I hated it.  Especially sewing.  I did not have very good fine motor skills (still don’t) and could never get it right.  But after my two daughters got me hooked on Project Runway, I decided it was time to take another try at sewing.  And my younger daughter is on her second class and loves it, so we’re getting a sewing machine for Christmas.

To get to the point, my teacher Fran Kitty (best name ever) tells us last night that CBS Evening News is coming to shoot a piece on how sewing’s popularity has exploded recently.  And I just laughed. 

I laughed because every time I’m interested in something, so is the rest of the world.  I am a statistic.  When my husband and I borrowed money from his parents to buy a home, Time Magazine ran a cover story on this subject the next week.  I’ve always thought it’s because I’m a baby boomer, and there are so many of us, it’s hard to be different. 

But I think it’s more than that.  I just don’t know what.  How come, at the exact moment I decide to take up sewing - for personal reasons all my own - millions of others take it up at the same time?  And it’s not boomers, it’s younger people.

This from an article in (where else?) Time mag this week:

The Home Sewing Association estimates that there are about 35 million sewing hobbyists in the U.S., up from roughly 30 million in 2000, and annual sales of Singer machines have doubled, to 3 million, since 1999…Sewing clubs on high school and college campuses are flourishing, and there are even summer sewing camps and after-school classes for kids as young as 9. Some older newcomers are heading to chic urban sewing lounges for classes on making handbags, lingerie and cocktail dresses. Others are joining virtual sewing circles on the Internet, in which strangers exchange tips on the best hem styles and where to find inexpensive fabric.

Yes, I just bought a Singer- damn!

Sewing Lesson #2 - Full attention is good for the brain

When I was on jury duty last year, I found out that having to give my full attention to something was difficult.  Yet I also discovered it freed my mind from clutter.  When I went off duty, I started thinking more creatively and was happier than I had been in  some time.  I learned that though I was absorbed for hours in the minutiae of this contract trial (for 8 weeks) something was going on in my brain that made things clearer in other areas. 

Now it’s taken me over a year to realize this, but what brought it back was a sewing class I’m taking.  It’s from 7 to 9 pm every Tuesday.  And once the class starts, I’m so absorbed that before I  know it, it’s time to pack up and go home.

It’s almost as if my brain gets a rest from all the crap I think about daily.  And I know that’s a good thing and is going to help me in other ways.  Sew long.