I knew I had a sewing bug when I was young but I didn't have access to a sewing machine. (I later learned from my mother that my father, he died when I was little, could sew. He had made drapes for our living room and lined a fur coat for his mother). I used to sew things for my dolls by hand. When I was in Jr. High and High School, I took sewing every time we had to sign up for a home ec class. My brother bought me my first Singer for Christmas in 1972 so I could make things for him. I taught myself how to make a teddy bear so he could give it to his girlfriend. I'm now teaching my grown daughter how to sew.