Childhood Memories

As I was going through boxes to find items I had made to show you, I found myself remembering bits and pieces about my childhood sewing that I had forgotten.

I had forgotten just how much I had made and how much of it was just hand sewn.

I had forgotten how free I was to just create. I could think up something to try making and then, without much delay or planning, I could go to the sewing cabinet and just go for it! It also wasn’t until I was a little older that I remember being dissatisfied with my results.

There was one time, after I had spent a day getting to hold a real baby that I decided I wanted to have a doll that weighed as much as a real baby. So, I cut out a torso, found an old plastic juice concentrate container, filled it with rocks, and then stuffed the torso with batting and the container of rocks. That’s as far as I got. The torso didn’t have the feel that I wanted to replicate and I couldn’t think of a different way to do it so the experiment was abandoned.

But it was the ability to go off on my own and just try stuff that then carried over to all my other crafting interests. In a way, that is the freedom that I crave and wish I could access again.

It’s harder now. Knowing the price of materials and needing have my work meet my high expectations. I must plan more. I have responsibilities that break my stream of creative energy.  

The good news is that I remember that feeling. I want other kids to get to experience that feeling too. The idea of sharing and creating a portal to that experience, gives me energy. It’s so simple but so powerful and beautiful.

Because the thing is, I was given the tools to have a constructive way to direct my impulses. I was given the tools to entertain myself. I was given the freedom to put dreams into reality. I was given an element of self-sufficiency. I was given the basics of a skill that would later earn me a living. How amazing is that?