Sewing away at my secret project. It’s taking longer than I thought but I think that’s due to a combination of things. I am making things up as I go along – checking an already made item and a pattern – and I think I finally understand what my gran tried to teach me all those years ago… patience!
It’s a well-known fact that my gran had the most patience of anyone I have ever met. She was a perfectionist too. She’s known to have frogged an almost finished knitted item just because she discovered a dropped stitch or a missing increase somewhere along the lines. “You can’t even see it!” – my mum would plead. “But I know it’s there. And it bothers me.” would be her reply, and off the needles her jumper would come to be frogged, the yarn washed and carefully be started again.
When I started to learn knitting and sewing with her, and much until this very day, the thought of doing something like that would be enough to put me off the whole thing. I like that jumper in the magazine and I want to have it now! I didn’t understand that the actual process of creating something can be as enjoyable as finishing it and trying it on.
I wished and hoped I could get a bit of her patience to no avail. She told me many times how she used to be the same as me when her sisters started teaching her how to sew. There were stories about endless days spent just ironing seams or basting fabric pieces when all she wanted to do was to make herself a dress. She loved fashion and had movie star looks that could pull off any style but with so many brothers and sisters there was never enough money for fancy clothes. That’s when she discovered sewing and fell in love with fabric. The possibilities opening up to her were endless!
When I started making the curtains for the nursery, I feared I’d end up in the usual way: I want them now, even if the seams are crooked! But then, as if by magic, I found myself carefully measuring the windows, trimming the fabric and taking my time to make sure everything was done as best as I could.
Could it be I’m getting a bit of my gran’s patience? I thought it may have been a one off, but as I put the curtains in place and moved to my current project, I found that I’m taking my time with this one too. Ironing seams open, measuring carefully, pinning hems properly, ironing again. And of course, she was right, all this work turns out to help make your job easier and your finished project better.
Maybe I’m finally lucky enough to understand what my gran meant about doing things right and enjoying yourself in the process. Even if it takes a little longer than you’d like.
Better late than never, I guess.
