A Time to Sew

Everything has a season. I think winter is a time to sew. I steal time for this obsessive hobby. It isn’t profitable. Clothes can be purchased for less than the cost of patterns and fabric. Blankets and bed-coverings, even some that are hand-pieced, can be ordered from a catalog or bought at a discount store. They are beautiful, reasonable and easy to find. But there is something very rewarding about constructing and creating.

I can’t wait to dig in my fabric remnants, visualizing how they might take shape into something useful. Looking through my collection of patterns inspires me. Soon the ironing board has a prominent position in the living room. Stacks of fat-quarters and raggedy ends of material splay out across the carpet. The rotary cutter and plastic rulers occupy the dining room table beside my trusty old sewing machine. Boxes of pins, the seam ripper, bobbins and spools lay on the window sill, close at hand. While dinner is cooking I’m cutting another piece, stitching another seam.

The excitement builds. Squares of colorful cloth form designs which I lay on the floor to arrange. I invite input; how can I ignore constructive criticism from people who must step carefully around my project to turn on the TV or get to the couch? They might need to move a partially assembled garment draped over the arm of the recliner to make room to sit down.

Putting all these things away would not be productive. Getting it all out again would require too much time. Consolidating it into one corner is absolutely too restrictive. Moving it all out of the main living area would be too reclusive. Sewing isn’t something you can do all alone in a private area; it has to be integrated into the fiber of everyday activities. Cut a piece, answer the phone. Sew a seam, check the markets. Study the assembly instructions while stirring the soup. Hand stitch while watching the evening news.

Spring will soon be here. It will be time to tidy up the sewing rooms, which by now is nearly every room in the house. A few projects will be finished; a few will have to be put away until the next sewing season. As the weather changes, priorities shift and any extra energy I have needs to be directed towards other activities. It will be time to prepare for new baby calves and get ready to work the fields, because spring is a time to sow --- to sow seeds.

By Patsy Bronner