My mother, grandmothers and aunt all sewed beautifully. They all also crocheted and did embroidery. I remember making doll clothes as a girl and learning to crochet from my grandmother who was left handed and consequently taught me her own way of doing stitches.
As I grew up I got interested in sewing. I think it really started when my grandmother cut out some aprons for my great aunt and sat me at the sewing machine to stitch them. When my mother got a new sewing machine I was the one who took lessons to learn to use it and it went from there.
After I married and moved to Michigan for a couple of years, I saw others knitting and learned to knit. I guess I've always been a dabbler and loved trying all crafts. I didn't have a sewing machine so it was quite a few years before I tried sewing again, but this time it was my mother-in-law who got me interested in sewing. She makes most of her clothes and sews absolutely wonderfully. She does designer quality work.
Anyway she gave me an old machine that did a straight stitch and wouldn't even reverse. I went to town on it and eventually she passed down to me a machine that also had zigzag and reverse. I was thrilled. I made clothes for me and for my daughter after she came along. I don't think I ever made clothes for the boys, but I always made their Halloween costumes. My husband surprised me one birthday with a Bernina, the original 830. I took classes, learned some tailoring, fitting, pattern-making and so forth. I loved it, but eventually I went back to teaching, still with three kids and a husband to take care of and sewing went by the way.
I kept the machine out and would do some hemming or repair once in a while, but that was about it. At some point when we moved I put the machine in its case in the closet and figured that I would never sew again. The kids were out of the house, but I was still teaching and doing other things. The turning point in this saga was when my husband bought a sofa for my youngest son at a resale shop. It was a very nice sofa, but the cushions were ripped at seams and needed to be restitched. Well, guess what? As I sat and stitched I found myself thinking what fun I was having! LOL
Shortly after that I wandered into a new LQS that had opened near me. (Periodically I had been thinking I wanted to learn quilting, but I had always resisted.) It was near the end of the school year and they offered a one week class in beginning quilting at the beginning of the summer. It was ideal for me since I spend much of the summer visiting my parents and making short trips out of town. Well, not only did I sign up for the class, I also bought John flynn's Wheel of Mystery quilt kit, precut in beautiful batiks. I went home and started the kit and had it mostly done by the time the class started. I knew then that I was instantly addicted. All the fabric I used to have was pretty much gone, but I now have a great stash and you know the rest of the story!!