My limitations are very
frustrating!
After tossing out the old manky curtains in Hermie (I
promise this post isn’t yet another
one about him) I automatically assumed that I’d be able to just whip up some
kinda window covering concoction. This sadly is not the case!
I bought a nice pair
of un-lined second hand curtains for £3.00 with the intention of transforming
one of them into a lined internal curtain to draw alongside the bunk beds when
the kids are tucked up of an evening so as they feel like they have privacy in
their own little space. I cannot convey
on to a blog post how attempting to do this created such utter frustration and
the aftermath of trying to sew this one simple thing has left me never wanting to sew ever, ever,
never, ever again ~ ever!
I have no training at all in sewing, I was utterly useless
at it in school and steered clear at all costs, I was more of a drawing,
calligraphy, pottery kinda girl. When my mother in law was unfortunately unable
to use her sewing machine anymore I was asked to take on the role of taking up
her trousers (she’s only widdy) and her beloved trusty sewing machine came over
to our house. I was scared stiff of it
and just stared it at not knowing anything
at all. I kept putting off using it and put it out of sight out of mind until
my husband said exasperated that his Mum (who by now was in a home for Dementia
suffers) didn’t have a single pair of trousers that fit. I altered them all by
hand and booked myself on a ‘getting to know your sewing machine’ course. This
proved invaluable in teaching me the basics of how my/our sewing machine
worked, how to thread it up, wind a bobbin, alter the tension, change stitches etc.
and it did my confidence the world of good.
This said I still have absolutely no idea how to create
things with my new found sewing machine skills knowledge. I feel I bodge about
trying to follow instructions on the web and in books and, being a
perfectionist, nothing I make comes up to scratch.
So … back to internal Hermie curtain. When I got my £3.00 pair home they were not
long enough or wide enough ~ grrr. I
chopped fabric off of one to sew onto the other to make it fit plus lined it. This, let me tell you, sounds oh so easy when
condensed into a short sentence ~ there has been nothing easy about it at all
and I have sewn, un-picked, pinned, un-pinned, blah, blah, blah until the cows
came home, several times over. The end result is a bodged curtain that I can’t
bear to look at, not only because it’s a damn mess but also it just reminds me
of hours upon un-necessary hours spent trying to feel my way in the dark and
fathom out how to make something that I have no experience in.
I would rather do anything than try to make four more pairs
to replace the ones that had to be removed, my heart sinks at the very thought
~ in fact it sinks at the thought of attempting anything ever again in the
sewing department. Let’s hope my mother
in law isn’t in need of trousers making widdy any time soon, I hear skirts are
all the rage now a ’days!
