As I mention every year, Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday. I try to have an attitude of gratitude all the time, but I love having one special day where, despite my circumstances, I get to just stop and think about how many blessings I have. This past year I have been especially grateful for sewing.
Starting in January of this year I experienced a huge shift in my sewing. I’m not sure whether that’s come across in the blog, but it’s absolutely something I’ve felt. I’ve always enjoyed sewing (surely, that has come across in the blog), but I don’t think I realized how much it meant to me until this last January. I feel like I’ve gone on and on about how difficult the last year or so has been for me but when I stop to consider, I’m actually (again) not sure how much of that I’ve expressed here on the blog. Suffice it to say that I’ve had a time of it. Last winter was especially hard. Turns out the dark Alaskan winters (among other things) really kick a sun-loving girl’s trash.
It was the kind of thing where I was in a funk (personally, I think it was seasonal affective disorder {again, among other things}) and it wasn’t until flowers started to bloom and I began climbing my way out that I realized just how deep a funk (read: mild, seasonal depression) I had been in.
But-again-January brought this new and important understanding. That’s when I started my sewing Instagram account and bought my first Indie sewing pattern. As I worked my way through every single stage of the garment making process, from taping my home-printed pattern together to sewing the last seam, I felt so very happy. I loved what I was doing. I was excited and committed. It felt so very different from that funk I had been feeling.
I was recently asked how long I had been sewing. And I said that I had enjoyed sewing for a long time, but I had recently gotten more into sewing clothes. I said that when we lived in Alaska, the winter was so dark and I really struggled with it but sewing seemed to bring lots of light into my life. And I know it sounds so cheesy to say it like that but, for me, it’s true. I think I needed to have a dark moment to realize just how grateful I am to have sewing.
Around that same time I realized what a newbie I am at making clothes. I thought the world of sewing clothes was small and therefore I was good. But I was wrong on both counts. The garment sewing world is huge and I am absolutely a beginner. The plus side is that I’m perfectly okay with both of these things. I think one thing that makes me so grateful for this hobby is that there’s always something new to learn or a skill to improve. This has been good for me, especially because in motherhood it seems that my abilities are never being tested (just my patience;). Sewing helps me feel less stagnant, especially because I do feel as though I can look back and see progress being made.
Sewing has been such an awesome blessing at this time in my life. I hope every person has something they love to do (and that they do it regularly!) because I think it can lift your spirit, bring light into your life and ignite positivity and confidence. What do you think about when you have nothing you have to think about?
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