Needle and Thread

So, I started sewing again. The last thing I was working on was an infant's romper/dress, but it got to be time to get serious about wedding planning, and all nonessential projects were put on hold, eventually packed up, and had to wait until I was sufficiently settled into married life before I could bring them out again. The last thing I actually finished was The Steward's Valentine's Day gift - a cream and tan vest. But that was nearly a year ago... O.o

So, it started earlier this week - I had the whole week off, as the family I work for are out of town, leaving me with an incredibly long holiday to get things done around the house! I decided earlier this year that I want a clothespin holder for the summer, when The Steward strings my clothesline and I take my homemaking to a fresher and more frugal level! So I designed and made this:

I made it kind of fast, and while it is useful and exactly what I wanted, it is most certainly not what I like to call "State Fair" material. To me, that means the very best, most well-thought-out, and well-crafted items. I think of it in terms of a standard of perfection as I plan or sew: if someone were to come behind me with a seam ruler or tape measure, or ask me why I made a certain choice in construction, I don't want to have to explain that I ran out of time and let myself do it sloppily or that I didn't want to do it the hard way. I want them to say, "Wow. They actually took the time to do it well and do it beautifully!" That status belongs to very few of the things I make, because I do not always have the time to make something of that caliber. But I very much enjoy that sort of sewing!

Choices must be made and despite my desire for excellence, well-done chores and a happy, fed husband are often more important that a pile of well-made useful or pretty things. Granted, it is painful to me to "hurry" through a project, but at least now I have a pretty clothespin keeper, and after a week of more important projects I now have the time to do some quality work on that baby romper from so many months ago. It was begun State Fair quality, and I plan to finish it that way!

(I've been working on it more this afternoon.) Now all it needs are some buttonholes and buttons! Of course, I'll have to wait for Mom's machine or Mary's Janome - for as much as I love my ancient Bernina Matic, and as much as I know how to get it to do what I'd like it to... it simply cannot make pretty buttonholes. I concede this one point of craftsmanship to the computerized machines: they sure do have good buttonhole programs. In all other respects, I prefer my simple machine for best user-control and craftsmanship!