I hate to call myself a sewer, but 'sewist' sounds stupid

Wastewater removal system or precious momblogger moniker aside, sewing is my new thing. I acquired a sewing machine a couple years ago, via a swap for a mulching lawnmower (it was a Craftsman, but I still got the better of the deal. Thanks, Sara!). It took me about a year to get over my fear of it (an incident with a bobbin in 8th grade Home Ec class that I won't go into now), but then one day I really needed to use it, so I did. I found the manual for my 1960s-era machine online, and then a YouTube video where a sweet-voiced Canadian lady walked me through every step of winding the scary bobbin and threading the seemingly unthreadable machine. And it worked! By golly, it worked!

freshly-cut knitting

The inaugural run for my newly threaded machine was to machine-reinforce the knitting before I cut a steek...which, for the uninitiated, means I knit a sweater as a tube, then cut it open.. Yes, I used scissors to cut the knitting. But because I had first reinforced on either side of the cut with my marvelous machine, nothing bad happened. A pullover quietly became a cardigan.

But that's a story for another post. This post is about Kim the Sewer. (Yeah, see, that just doesn't look right.)





Once I conquered the dreaded winding-of-the-bobbin and threading-of-the-machine, there was no stopping me. When I decided I needed matching tablecloths and cloth napkins for the two tables at which I would seat 14 people for a Friendsgiving dinner in my 875 square foot house, I made them.

(See? You can seat 14 people for dinner in an 875 sq ft house! We'll focus on the success of the social occasion and ignore the fact that I don't have a dishwasher nor count the hours it took me to finish washing all those wineglasses.)

     When I wanted a cute little project bag in very specific colors for a non-holiday holiday swap on Ravelry, I made one.

Then I made another one, as a prize for a Ravelry KAL (knit-along, for the uninitiated. Just how many uninitiated folks are reading this thing anyhow?) I liked this one so much I hopped online and ordered another yard of the bird fabric. Birds make me happy.

     I went on to make some zip bags. These look like cute little purses, but I'll be using them as poopy bags. Well, I'll be using them to carry poopy bags when walking the dogs, because it's always nice to pretty up the poopy bags.

     I'll admit, it was a thrill to install a working zipper. I couldn't quite believe I had done it.

pretty poopy bag 1

pretty poopy bag 2

    Then I made the bunny. I'm in the process of making several more bunnies for my knitting-group pals, because they lurved the bunny. 

    So I guess that makes me a sewer now. I've been reading about sewing, watching videos about sewing, and sewing sewing sewing. And, of course, buying fabric, because every good maker has her stash.

    Sewing is a GREAT complement to knitting. It's fast. You can turn out a finished object in an afternoon, which is quite a thrill for someone accustomed to taking a week or a month or even a year to finish certain knitted projects. I love creating things that have utility (which is mostly why I stopped painting), and sewing adds a huge new dimension to the making of useful things. Plus, you can sew the knitting before you cut it, and the knitting stays knitted. That's pretty miraculous just by itself.

I want to sew all the things.

(By the way, I replaced that mulching mower with a rechargeable electric one. The lawn still gets mowed.)