Growing up, I remember a friend of mine’s mother was a Home Economics teacher.
She used to make the most amazing Halloween costumes for my friend. As I stood next to her on Halloween night, pillow cases in tow for our candy booty, my plastic face mask made me feel… well, a little sad and a lot jealous.
That was a long time ago and I still remember how awesome those costumes were AND how sad and jealous I felt.
Enter Pinterest…Again
With the help of Pinterest, my longing to learn how to sew has grown tremendously. I know I mention Pinterest a lot, but come on. I can’t be the only one out there that has Pinterest envy??
Admission is the first step in getting help! You are in a safe zone here, everyone. I welcome your Pinterest comments!
Learning to Sew
Anyway, I decided when I was pregnant with my second that I would buy a sewing machine and sew! Boom, just like that.
Step 1 – Get sewing machine.
Step 2 –Sew.
I have made curtains and quilts, and those awe-inspiring Halloween costumes, heck.. even clothes! It’s amazing what having the correct tools for the job can do! Story over!
That is how the story, in my head, should have played out. Instead, much like many of my other Pinterest-induced crafts, the tools and fabric all got stuffed into a storage closet in the basement, only to gather dust and disappointment.
Modern Mackenzie
A couple weeks ago, I noticed a friend liked the Modern Mackenzie page on Facebook. It was a local Beaver business, so I liked it too.
There were posts about reupholstering chairs and sofas, and pictures to go along. I was really loving it and secretly regretting forcing the Mister to dispose of his manchair. We could have totally had that awful dog-lake-with-deer fabric replaced! Oh well, live and learn!
At one point, Modern Mackenzie had posted about sewing lessons and I was so excited!! I contacted Michele, the owner, and put the class on my schedule.
Unfortunately, the Mister was out of town and I just couldn’t make it. It was pretty disappointing. I put it on the back burner and started prepping for baby instead.
Finally in mid-April, I reached out to Michele again in hopes that she would be holding another class. She said that she would be glad to have me over for a private lesson! We set up our time and I dug my dusty machine out of storage. Very exciting stuff!!
The Sewing Lesson
As soon as I got to Michele’s house, I was greeted by her and her daughters smiling faces and her two adorable weiner dogs. Aww, weiner dogs!
We lugged my machine to her workspace and got started. We were going to make a tote bag!
She was very helpful with the entire process.
We went through it, step by step, working on a pattern AND the ins and outs of my machine. Talk about knowledgeable!!
While I was pinning and cutting, her helper Shannon came in to start cutting fabric for a job they are doing to reupholster an antique rocking chair. Then someone else popped in to give Michele her choice in fabrics for cushions. They were talking about drapery installation.
This place was buzzin! These ladies are rocking it!!
Later That Day…
After a few hours (a few more than was originally predicted, due to my ridiculously pathetic sewing skills), we went from a pile of fabric to the most adorable tote bag I have ever seen, and there is no bias in that description just because I made it.
Literally. It is the most adorable tote ever.
Michele and I talked about some other projects that I had in mind that I would obviously need help with, and she welcomed me back for all the help I needed. I can’t wait to get started on some projects with the ability and resources to actually finish them! My husband and kids are going to be so impressed.
So, if you ever wanted to learn how to sew, I highly recommend Michele. She was patient and explained things to me in a way that made me actually understand what she was talking about.
If you have no desire to sew, and would rather have someone do it for you, I would also highly recommend Michele. She and Shannon know their stuff! The pieces that I saw were gorgeous. Custom drapery, custom upholstery, lessons… all in a local business. It’s not a good thing, it’s a great thing.
