Today was just one of those days when several things came together to fulfill my mission of Saving the World with my Stitches!  (Or at least with my assistance.)  I had two lovely new students come in to the studio this morning for their first sewing lesson.  Two women, friends who decided to take a lesson together.  We covered the basics of threading, winding the bobbin and trouble shooting a sewing machine.  They also learned to pin and sew a seam with fabric “right sides together” and how to turn corners and sew a curve.  We covered trimming and pressing our seams.  They are now ready to take on a pattern to create a basic garment over the next few weeks with me.

When they left I had a friend/customer come in to pick up a garment that I had finished for her.  Bonnie brought me several old cashmere sweaters a few months ago that she had grown tired of, or they had some minor stains/holes in.  She requested that I create a vest for her that was “long” and “drapey”.  I loved that her colors were limited to ivory and black.  I loved the final piece so much that I wished I could keep it for myself.  And even though it took me longer to get it done for her than I hoped, it is still very cold here in Chicago this spring, so she will probably get some time to wear it before warm weather hits.  (There have been snowflakes in the air for the last several days and it’s April!)

This afternoon I had another longtime student/customer come in for an appointment to finish up a project that she has been working on with me for the last couple of months.  Carol brought in an old grey sweater, a few pairs of corduroy pants and a photo of a bird drawing from a Leo Lionni children’s book.  She wanted to use the bird image as inspiration for a pillow cover.  We appliqued the corduroy fabrics onto the grey wool, she used blanket stitch and overcast stitches to finish the edges of the fabric and it turned out just adorable!  The “piece de resistance” was the vintage buttons she had in her stash to use as the eye.

After all of those activities I had a little quiet time in the studio late this afternoon, so I pulled out my own “mending”.  A couple of days ago my son mentioned that he had a hole in the underarm of a favorite “Agave” shirt.  He wondered if I could fix it for him.  I said, “Why yes!  That falls well within my mission statement!”  And within two minutes his shirt was back in service (well it may need to go through the wash, but otherwise it’s in as good as new shape!)

Any day that I can stitch, salvage, create, relax, enjoy, mend or teach the skills and help another to do so is a very fulfilling day!  A Stitch In Time Saves……Friday!