Sewing

Maggie outgrew an elastic-waist skirt she loved. She was wanting another skirt. We looked in stores and found absolutely nothing that was okay. So we hit up Goodwill, thinking that the styles there are often more acceptable. But we found nothing on several trips. So I convinced myself that I was going to have to sew. I used to love sewing, but now it's one more thing that I can't fit into my schedule.

I picked a really simple pattern. It only took 2-3 hours to put the skirt together. But the nicest part was having something DONE. Y'know, DONE done. Not like weeding or washing dishes or mowing grass or vacuuming. A project that got done and stayed done!

I remember back when Gary was in school, and to earn a little money I started typing term papers for guys. When the first paper was done, I didn't want to give it to the guy. I'd finished typing that term paper, and 15 hours later it was still nice and neat, with white margins, and the pages still in order. What excitement!

A friend of mine who's a schoolteacher took a break for a couple of years. He apprenticed as a cabinet-maker. Having a project stay DONE was an enjoyable part of that job. He could work on a project for a limited time, get nice results that SHOWED, and the job would stay done. That's not like the work a teacher does or a housewife does.

Maybe that's the attraction of knitting or sewing or refinishing. When your days are consumed picking away at a 30-year project, it is awfully nice to have tangible results from your efforts now and then.


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Oh, by the way, as long as we're on a "housekeeping" tag, I want to point out an article that Drudge linked to today. They say that an average housewife's work is worth $138,000/yr and that she puts in a 92-hour work-week. I think I'm under-insured....