The Little Mama that Could

Hello, F.O.T.E.s,
Well, The Ewe has accomplished a feat she's been in training for for years. Countless books on the subject, many conversations with veterans and 3 (count 'em) sewing machines later, I have finally sewed something!!! Wahoo!!! You see, The Ewe is afflicted with a horrible disease: perfectionism. I never wanted to start sewing anything if I didn't feel like I already knew exactly how to do it. And frankly, skills like sewing are not too impressive in the "hypothetical." Yes, for literal years, I've studied words like "selvage" and "grainline." I've read several books on the subject. I've perused the pattern books at the fabric store and even bought a few patterns. I've oogled prints and solids and flannels and knits and wovens and all manner of bolts of cloth at Hancock's. I've wandered longingly down the sewing machine aisle at the local discount store, thinking that if I only had a machine with an owner's manual (The Ewe *reads* instructions now!) I could sew. So, last Fall, I took a huge step. I bought a machine! GASP! What waste! I already had inherited 2!!! I just really felt that if I had a machine with a booklet I could study, I could figure out how to thread the thing. Well, to borrow a popular, yet quite annoying new catch phrase, buying that machine really took my seamstress training "to the next level." For months, I've practiced threading the machine--top thread and bobbin. I've studied the owner's manual on how to use the autothreader and bobbin and the 1 step buttonholer. I've stitched random blocks of fabric together. I've made tubes and turned them. I even bought polyfill. After months of these sewing calisthenics, at the urging and initiative of my dear friend, I went so far as to buy a pattern and a few yards of cloth. It seemed the time of my testing was near. I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...
Last Sat. night, I pulled that tissue out of the envelope and made the first tenuous snip into the pattern. Two nights later, Lovable wore her brand new, Mama-made nightgown. The hem isn't straight. I had put the neck facing on inside out and had to seam rip it off and restitch. There's a spot on one sleeve that's caught in the seam. And there isn't a button on it yet...BUT I did it! I sewed something. Victory is sweet. The confidence crisis is over! Well, not entirely, but well on the way.
..It was arduous. Tedious. Downright bullet-sweating scary, but I sewed. Seam after seam...I sewed. At midnight....I sewed...after breakfast....I sewed...I sewed and sewed until that gown was ready to don. Lovable was happy that Mama had made it, but not nearly as excited as I was.
I've got fabric now to make Musical a gown. With the success of Lovable's gown to spur me on, I know I can do it. I know I can...I know I can...I know I can...I know I can...
Well, friends, The Ewe must go. Feeding time here at The Fold, you know. Y'all keep your wool dry...
The Ewe

Quote of the Day: "That smell we heard was the toaster going out..." The Ewe, explaining to the Lambs the source of a stench.