Learning the Hard Way

Growing up, my mother did not sew and in high school Home Economics was not a requirement so I never touched a sewing machine until a year ago when my sweet hubby ordered one for me as a Christmas gift.  I googled and googled but really could not find a good option for sewing classes in my area.  I tried a couple classes at a local sewing store but concluded that they were not meant for folks like me who could barely figure out how to make the machine go.  I would be so far behind the other students that the teacher would come over and essentially do my work for me so once I was home I couldn't reproduce any of it.  I also tried a private lesson with a local lady who taught classes but didn't have any openings.  That was a costly choice that netted me no new skills as well.  So, instead of continuing to pursue classes I entered the School of Trial and Error.  Apparently, I learn best by doing things wrong two or three times at least, sometimes more.

Currently, I am learning to applique using digitized files that are loaded into my sewing machine.  One would think that if the design has already been created and the sewing machine knows what to do when the file is transmitted that you will have a wonderful creation 100% of the time.  I wish!  Who knew it could be so hard to center an article of clothing for a sewing machine!  The fun part though is picking out the fabric and thread colors - that is what really makes for a unique creation from one person to another.