Blog 4: Why I Don’t Follow the Pattern

My first love was reading. Some of my earliest and strongest memories was going to the

bookmobile in our small town and the school library. Although I learned to sew in junior high, I didn't fall in love with sewing until years later. This is why I majored in English in college. During my first two years of college it was made clear to me that I was not a writer. However, I wish someone had suggested that I take up editing. Improving a written piece felt right. I didn't know you could get jobs editing. (I never paid attention to the acknowledgment page when reading.) Editing quickly influenced my love for sewing. I can remember fabric shopping with my mother one summer while home from college. I can't remember the details, but I was flipping through the sewing pattern books and couldn't find the exact style or details I wanted for the garment I was making. So I bought a pattern that came close. When I started making the garment and asked my mom how to change

the pattern to achieve the look I wanted, her response was, “ Why can't you just follow the pattern?” That statement has stuck with me ever since.

I believe that the reason I fell in love with sewing was because I could change buttons to zippers, gathering to pleats, sleeveless to sleeves, empire waist to dropped waists. The term 'pattern hacking' wasn't around then, but by the time I was out of college and making a lot of my own clothes, I was certainly pattern hacking. Editing patterns is why I loved making costumes for plays where the exact pattern just isn't out there. It's why women have asked me to make their wedding dress or bridesmaid dresses because what they wanted wasn't on the market. Quilting fell right in line with my love to edit. There isn't a quilt I've made that came from a kit or followed a pattern exactly. There's a wonderful satisfaction in seeing and knowing that you made something unique. Because of this, my favorite part of

sewing is finishing what I started. What's your favorite part of sewing and why?