April 24, 2009

Turn phobia to jag

sewing jag
Sorry for the quality.  Cell phone doesn't make better picture.

I didn't like Home Economics class.  I hated it.  Why does this lady talks forever about these boring stuff which my mom could teach in 5 minutes/day?  Why do I have to make this bag (pajamas, skirt, or stupid origami for "children") ?  ... My thought was filled with blank "letmego letmego letmego" and "ring,chime,ring,chime,ring,chime..." whole 45 or 50 minutes.
Knit and crochet wasn't so exciting for me those days, neither.

When I was going to get a job, and got one and was on it, I wasn't satisfied.  I was paid well (not a fortune, but economy wasn't good then, and I was just a rookie technician who knows nothing about her job but too proud to admit it), my co-workers and boss were nice people, I was learning a lot from my job.  I couldn't hope more than I had then. Still, I felt like I was selling my time just for money, like I got dirty. I thought and thought why I wasn't satisfied, and found a rough conclusion.
I didn't want to work for "somebody I don't know".

I was so lucky that my then-boyfriend (now-husband) got a job soon after I got enough money to repay my student loan (scholarship? just a debt) and didn't need to work full time anymore.  I got a part-time job.  Really exciting job.  

But I got aware that nothing thrills me more than domestic, kinda old fashioned house works. Or some part of those.  I am not so excited to do laundry.  I am not a tidy homemaker.  I just love to cook, and of course, to knit for my family.  Sewing remained to be a fearful enemy for me.  I could fix buttons. Period.

This spring, before my daughter starts kindergarten, I decided to make her drawstring bags for bento box.  There was a little pressure for it.  There are kindergartens who demand mothers to make all children's "goods" by themselves, saying nothing is better than handmade (controversial, huh?).  My daughter's doesn't say like that, we can buy everything she needs.  But, I wanted to make some for her.  We chose fabric together, and little by little, I got confident.  My mom guided me through (she used to sew from her dad's underwear to our dress). I made a smaller bag for a plastic cup.  I made two smocks.  I made a bag with drawstring top for closure.

Now?  I am planning to make pajamas.  After one or two more smocks.

2 comments:

Twisted Knitter said...

I love the title of your post :-) I think I could have used that title several years ago when I learned to knit -- and I haven't stopped since.

Perhaps the secret in finding the passion for something is in discovering the necessity for it. I'm resisting sewing for some of the same reasons -- my early dislike for it. But there are so many neat fabrics and inspiration that I fear I won't resist for very much longer!

You should now be proud of your abilities and your finished items! I love them!

azzuka said...

I know how you felt. My son started kindergarten last September and I wanted to make him something handmade. In Italy, children wear a sort of cotton jacket, every class has its color. I decided to sew him his jacket: I took the pattern of a child shirt and just made it longer. It was far from being perfect, but had buttons and buttonholes matching in color and it was very cute.

Noone here asks you to hand sew anything, but it seems that I still retain some japaneseness after all...