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A picture from about 1977 that includes my mother, my brother and me wearing a dress my mother made |
I am the daughter of immigrants from India. My mother grew up at a time when women were gaining more opportunity. She went to college and then graduate school. She also learned "domestic arts" such as sewing and knitting. She made many of my clothes when I was little and before she went to work as a computer programmer. I completed my first embroidery kit maybe in second grade. When I was in junior high my mother taught me to sew. I made many of my clothes when I was a teenager, but then I set it aside for nearly 30 years, not intentionally, but by happenstance. Every once in a blue moon I would take out my sewing machine, but it did not occur me to use it very much.
Then in 2019, I read an article on visible mending in our local newspaper. I will write more about that later. The article piqued my interest. That led me to take a couple classes at our local sewing store, Treadle Yard Goods. Then the pandemic hit. I made dozens of masks to donate. I made dozens of masks for our family. I wrestled with my sewing machine before finally figuring out how to adjust the bobbin tension. The sewing machine has been on our kitchen table since then.
Did you know that according to the BBC in 2017, Americans threw away more than 13 million metric tonnes of fabric? Fabric is difficult to recycle, but it can be repurposed. This blog will explore how I am doing that.
