My little guy is HARD on his clothes. I swear he doesn’t mean to be, he just lives life fully.
He had been wanting to learn how to sew for quite some time; I always had an excuse as to why he wasn’t ready.
Really, I wasn’t ready.
It’s work, and the machine was expensive. He was too young, I was too busy.
I hardly ever drag it out anymore, but I had a burning desire to sew a quilt, so I went with it.
Then he saw the sewing machine asked again… “Hey, can I try to run that thing?” “Can I just push the pedal?”
Alright.
It was important to me that he didn’t just do it for fun, but that he would appreciate the value of the machine, and the work that it could do with the help of his two hands and a foot.
Backstory: Since he was a toddler he has been watching me sew off and on. For the past 6 years each time I’d get my machine out he would watch the way my foot controlled the pedal, and how that pedal told the needle to bounce up and down. He studied how the thread went into the machine, wrapping around all sorts of things, then being finely threaded through the needle. He had turned the power switch off and on a dozen times to see the way it controlled the light.
I don’t know why I didn’t teach him sooner, I honestly think it was pure laziness on my part.
He was ready, and finally one day this winter, I was too.
We got out the machine and he stitched up a hole in the sleeve of his favorite Spiderman shirt. The pride on his face after a job well done was THE BEST!
It was a simple stitch, but we all start somewhere, right?
Yes, he’s a guy… Yes, I am teaching him to sew.
I am appreciative of guys who have a natural curiosity for learning new things. I think this 8 year old little fella of mine will be a man with many hidden talents, just like his daddy, and just like my dad.
The first time I heard my dad, a biker who has always worked maintenance jobs, play Yankee Doodle on a ukulele I was blown away! I knew he could fix anything, I knew he was kind, I knew he was incredible at public speaking, I knew he could cook- but I did NOT knew he could play a string instrument. And I was already a teenager at that point!
I think my son will impress people like that someday too; That is if I keep following his lead and teaching him the things he wants to learn, or find someone who is able to mentor him in a trade he is interested in.
It was your dad that taught me how to sew. I also learned a bit from seeing his mom mend a few things when we visited. I was never so impressed as when a big lumberjack looking guy came in to the fabric department at Walmart. He was about 6 and a half foot tall, had big broad shoulders, wore a red stocking hat and bib Carhart coveralls and lace up work boots. He was looking over the fabric. I assumed his wife had sent him for a certain print. When I asked him if I could help he said it would just take him a few minutes to decide. He said he had made a quilt for each of his daughters, and now they were insisting he start making them for the grandkids too! As it turned out I ended up with several men who made quilts, several who made curtains, and mended clothes, and one young boy making his own civil war re-enactment dress. Sewing will only add to his value, and confidence.