“I find sewing by hand extremely rewarding. The pleasure of both making and wearing beautifully constructed garments far exceeds the time and effort required to complete them.”
‒ Claire B. Shaeffer.
When I started sewing again people told me that I would feel such gratification from making my own clothes but I didn’t believe them. I get so much joy from seeing other people and the little ones in my life wearing the things I’ve made.
I didn’t realise just how satisfying and full of pride it would make me feel to be able to respond to comments about my clothes with “Thanks I made it without a pattern” or “Thanks I made it.”
I’ve only made myself a few items but one of those is something I wear at least once a week, a dress, A dress with pockets even! I made it without a pattern,
I traced one of my favourite dresses and winged it, it’s definitely not perfect and has its flaws but I made it, I get so many compliments on it and I am absolutely filled with complete pride when I get to say that I made it.
“Take your needle, my child, and work at your pattern; it will come out a rose by and by. Life is like that – onestitchat a time taken patiently and the pattern will come out all right like the embroidery.”
‒ Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
How beautiful is it that with every stitch we can sow love, we can create beauty, we can unify different pieces of fabric from different walks of life. Just like in life, each and every step is like a stitch, it comes together to create a beautiful image.
I love that something so simple can be something so much more. And I love getting to say with pride “It has pockets and I made it!”
Ps. Every dress/skirt/pair of women’s pants should have pockets! We need pockets too!
I am a Young Salvationist who lives in Upper Hutt, Wellington. I am passionate about enhancing the life experiences of others and do this in my paid employment as a Support worker for those with Intellectual Disabilities and as a volunteer leader for GirlGuiding New Zealand. I love to create, write and travel the world and have a passion for submerging myself in the cultures of each place I travel. I left my heart in Africa a month before Covid sent the world into lockdown and I cannot wait to be able to return and serve in a continent that stole so much of my heart.