Stitch by Stitch...

I will learn to sew, again.  My most poignant memory of sewing is from when I was in elementary school.  My Great Grandma Dot was visiting, as she did (in my recollection) about once a year.  She packed up her old beater truck and came out west.  She was a great character who had so much to teach, if only I would have been a better student.  So back to my memory...I came home from school with my best friend Sherry and was ready to play.  However, Grandma Dot was visiting, which always meant that I practiced a homemaking skill before playing.  Sometimes it was ironing, but often it was sewing.  I am pretty sure electric sewing machines existed then, but we had the old fashioned treadle sewing machine.  I have a vivid memory of the leather belt on the wheel.  I believe I even learned how to change the belt.

I imagine that I practiced sewing straight lines, but I cannot recall the projects, just the daily after-school practice.

So, I begin again and think of my Grandma Dot as I press the foot pedal on my electric sewing machine and practice sewing straight lines and test out the variety of stitch patterns that my machine offers with the turn of a dial.  I hope my son understands the importance of learning such skills from loved ones more than I did when I was a child.  For now I return to the daily lessons of years passed and memories cherished.