My in-laws are visiting this week and we’ve been out and about doing touristy things, but today and tomorrow I’m sewing with my mother-in-law. We used to live close to each other and sewed together frequently, but in recent years we’ve been geographically separated and that’s not been possible.
It’s fun to be inspired by one another and to help each other solve problems along the way, or to make things up and modify projects as we go along. When one of us is puzzled, we both put on our thinking cap to figure out the answer…like the best way to sew a straight piece around a circle. If you’ve done this (we’re making brimmed hats), you know it’s no easy task sometimes, especially in stiff home dec weight fabrics. But a little staystitching and clipping helps make it easier to join these opposing shapes without puckers. Oh yes, we could have read the directions where it says this, but then there’s no challenge!
Sewing with others, whether a relative or a friend, is always more fun than sewing alone in my opinion. That’s the great thing about sewing friends and also about having American Sewing Guild buddies. Someone is always willing to help if there’s something you don’t know, or simply need your own ideas validated, or someone to ooh and aah at what you’re making.
Sewing with someone else, whether as a peer or as a teacher, is always a learning experience as well. As many classes as I’ve taught over the years, I continue to learn something new in each one.
So, let’s celebrate our sewing friendships!