The Joys of Sewing

Dear Friends,

I came around late (age 29) learning how to sew. I was a tomboy, and took Shop in high school, instead of Home Ec! Then the Lord blessed me with lots of beautiful girls, and also placed a burden on my heart to start dressing myself and them in a feminine way.

I was fortunate enough to find Jennie Chancey's wonderful Sense and Sensibility pattern line, with helpful tutorials on her website, and through them and the help of my mother, began making lots of dresses.

Once I got the hang of it, I even started making matching dresses for us (aren't we the cutest things?)!



Through the years, I have tried making sure we all matched for Easter, depending on whether I was suffering from morning sickness or not!



Now that I have seven children, it's quite a challenge to pull off that many outfits, so I try to make sure we mostly match. :) Being able to make your own clothing is becoming a lost art, but it is one worthy of resurrecting. There is nothing as comforting as knowing that you can make something with your own hands, and the feeling of a project completed is so much more than buying something at the store.

We have gone through several sewing machines (including an expensive Bernina sewing computer) since I started using them, causing lots of frustration and tears. I've heard good things about antique Singer Featherweight machines, so I began searching for them recently, after our last new Singer gave out. One was available locally on Craisglist, so I snatched it up.

After fiddling with the tension, and adjusting the tension screw on the bobbin case, she now sews like a champ! I put her through the paces making matching skirts for the bigger girls for Easter (top picture of this post), and a dress for Rebecca. May this be the last machine I ever need!

When we're done sewing, we find that we're behind in the housework, so we like to put on something fun to clean to. I couldn't find an album solely dedicated to cleaning the house, so with the help of my children, I made one! Here is a video we made to one of the songs. I hope you enjoy it!

Love,
Marqueta