Sewing

As a warning, this will be one of at least two posts tonight.  I have been out with friends the past few days and they've given me a lot to think about.

I didn't learn how to sew until college.  Before then I had done a few straight seams that my grandmother made me do, but basically it just involved pushing the presser foot down.  I took a costume design/construction freshman year of college and actually learned a fair amount about sewing: different types of seams, different methods of hand sewing, etc.  I am so so far from an expert, but I realized that it was something I enjoyed a lot.  I don't present ultra-femininely, so sometimes finding things that are considered "feminine" is a bit of a surprise for me.

The summer after my second year of college, I did some cosplay for a local anime convention which involved some fairly complex (for me) sewing.  It was quite the challenge, but again, so worth the struggle.  This year I'm running a bit low on cash, and I made a plushie for a friend (with a good deal of help with the pattern from another friend) and realized that I wanted to make all my friends/family plushies for Christmas.

Now, there are a few reasons that I never learned how to sew before college, especially since both my mother and my grandmother offered to teach me.  Firstly, it seemed obsolete and boring to me.  I could just buy my clothes, I didn't need to make them out of scratch.  Secondly, sewing was feminine and for women, so I didn't want to be caught doing it.

As I ripped through many pairs of pants growing up, I realized that I really needed some basic hand sewing skills.  Repairing clothes that I could afford to just replace was important, and certainly not obsolete.  When I met Boyfriend, who could sew circles around me, I realized the sewing wasn't only for domestic women.  I realize I should have come to this revelation earlier, but for some reason it just never occurred to me that men might enjoy sewing or find it relevant to their ripped clothing.

As with anything designated "female" or "feminine" sewing can be for anyone and I just wished I'd realized that sooner.