Sewing

My parents did a stellar job providing for us and my mom provide healthy home cooked meals, baked goods, awesome Halloween costumes, clean house, clean clothes etc. But there was one thing she let pile up a bit and that was mending clothes (and in the early years - darning socks too). And I fully understand why she didn't like this task, especially with kids clothes because the pant legs are so small - and she didn't have a free-arm** sewing machine.

So when 'the kid' hands me a pair of his skinny jeans with duct tape on a knee tear and asks me to attach a patch I wasn't so sure I could do it. Especially when kids sometimes have unreal expectations of how things look. Jp and I asked him a couple of times to get an idea of what he envisioned  - a rectangular patch on the top made out of plaid.

Because it was the knee and so much material was missing, I first had to apply some iron-on interfacing on the inside so I had something to patch to, and then I finished the patch.

He was ecstatic and said it was awesome - and then handed me a pair of black jeans that he also wanted fixed.

Ack!!!

Well since machine sewing isn't something I enjoy too much (mainly because I'm trying to work off the kitchen table and my foot pedal slides all over the floor - I miss my sewing table which has been put away due to space limitations) and I would have liked to do them both at the same time,  I told him I'd do it when he's here next weekend.

I did the same kind of stuff to my parents  - I just had no idea how much work went into fixing things and how difficult it might have been  for my parents to fix something (I never even considered that they couldn't) or thought about  how much time it took. When I was a kid, I just never thought about my parents having time for themselves, that's what Friday night and Saturday nights were for - the rest of the time I think I assumed that their 'chores' filled their days and there wasn't anything wrong with asking dad to fix my bike or mom to fix my clothes or sew me something.

It's kinda like when kids see a teacher in a store for the first time and they realize that teachers have a life outside of school, don't-cha think?


** Most sewing today machines have this attachment. It can be removed from the machine to convert from a flat bed to free arm. The free arm can be used for any difficult to sew areas, in particular, sleeves and trouser hems.