I ain't no Vera Wang

...but I do now own a sewing machine.

Last weekend I finally purchased a sewing machine. I'd been wanting to buy one for a while but I always found that there was something else I wanted a little bit more. I really wanted to finish the Christmas stockings that I started right after Lillian was born. So I spent a chunk of a nice last Saturday afternoon putting together the stockings that I cut out and embroidered back in 2009.

Being behind the sewing machine brought back some fond memories for me. I remember sitting in my parents kitchen sewing Barbie Doll clothes on my mom's Bernina. I smile at the memory of going downstairs to the box of material scraps that my mom kept. From there I learnt the basics of patterns and sewing.

This set the stage for my Home Ec sewing adventures in Junior High. Grade seven was the customary pair of pants. (Red plastic as I recall. All the rage. I do believe they also had a pocket. Bonus points for difficulty.) Grade eight involved a sweatshirt. No real recollections of what that was. But grade nine. Oh, grade nine I remember. We got to choose our own project. And I chose a Raggedy Anne doll. I'm not sure what part of it appealed to me but whatever it was I was fully engaged in making this The. Best. Raggedy Anne Doll. I spent hours sewing that hair and embroidering the face. While others sewed housecoats (which may or may not have had seams down the back :)), I was busy making a doll which I ended up calling Zamboni. No idea why. (I am proud to say said doll now sits in my daughters room.)

The funny thing is that I don't actually enjoy the process of sewing. In fact, I told my mom halfway into the sewing of the first stocking that I remembered not liking this. But the end. Now that's a part to enjoy. There is something rewarding about seeing your idea come to fruition. To have sat in our cramped living room with a newborn last Christmas imagining what stockings for our family of four would look like. And then seeing them complete.

Welcome to my life Husquvarna. (Yes, that's right. My sewing machine is made by the same company that is A-mazing at chain saws. How could my sewing not have real, raw power?) I imagine we will have a story or two to tell down the road.