“There is something in this world that every individual can do.  God has created all of us with something unique to contribute.” ~ Linus Pauling

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As an all-or-nothing, go-BIG-or-go-home personality who HATES to start anything she cannot finish in the same sitting . . . . I am learning that letting my creativity flow does not mean the project has to be big.  It doesn’t even have to be finished that same day.  This is almost mind-blowing for me.

Last year, before I moved, Sam had expressed an interest in sewing.  We went together and he picked out a pattern and fabric to make a shirt.  But then . . . I started planning the move, and then actually performing the move.  While the pattern and material did come with me, Sam and I never really had much of an opportunity to sit down and talk about sewing.

He mentioned the other night that he still wanted to make his shirt and I assured him that the makings of it were right here. . .in this house!  Tonight we began.  I taught him the machine from plugging in the power cord and the foot feed to how the wheel works, how to rise and lower the presser foot.  After learning some of the basic function of my sewing machine, he was ready to practice stitching along straight lines.  Granted, there was no thread in the machine, not even a bobbin.  But his cackles of glee made me smile.

This is going to be fun! A little bit of straight line stitching led to him sharing dreams about designing clothes which led to a conversation about how many of the most famous clothing designers are men.  This in turn led to a promise to look at the latest issue of Vogue magazine so I can point out which outfits were designed by men.  During this endeavor, Sam’s big sister called and on finding out our plans for this evening, she encouraged him to design clothes for her.  This brought out a huge grin as well as some jumping up and down.

Afterwards, he went to bed, and I stayed up for a bit to start a baby afghan.  Just two rows, but it’s a start.  And then I put it aside.  Which was one of the hardest things for me to do.

Baby steps, Karen.  Baby steps.