A few afternoons ago, I found myself thumbing through the quarterly alumni magazine that I receive from BYU. 

My heart stopped when I saw a picture of my old stomping grounds….

Floods of emotion came over me as I bent over to look at this picture closer.

more hours. 
its midnight?

patternmaking!!!
i’m not done!
its due tomorrow?

Here’s my story:

I signed up for Beginning Sewing the first semester of my sophomore year. 

I literally walked into the class not knowing how to read a pattern, not knowing what a seam allowance was, not even knowing how to thread a sewing machine.

The class was daunting and incredibly intimidating to me. 

I didn’t really want to learn how to sew, but at the same time I did want to learn. 

I knew it would benefit me (and a future family) the rest of my life.

So I stuck with it. 

After my first imperfect, yet wearable project (pictured below), I began to er, maybe, um, if you twist my arm, like sewing.
?!?!?

I decided that making stuff could be kind of fun (and completely challenging)!

Here a few articles I made in my beginning sewing class:

One of my favorite professors, Dr. Burnham, is featured in the article.

She was my advanced sewing, patternmaking, and drafting professor at BYU. 

And yes that’s right…. Doctor. 

She’s got a PhD in the field. 

She taught and inspired me in so many ways… 

to overcome my fear of sewing,

to make my own clothing,

to try things without a pattern,

how to make my own pattern!

Sadly my daughter got to the magazine before I had a chance to take a picture of it…

I had the article sitting on my desk, and she thought it would be a fun place to circle all the words she had learned in kindergarten. It totally looks like she has drawn horns on Dr. Burnham like a cruel yearbook picture. But I assure you, it’s a heart because “I thought is was pretty, mom!” (So Dr. Burnham, if you ever read this, I hope you take that as a compliment)!

One of the gems of the article was a link I found to several online video tutorials of Dr. Burnham explaining techniques. I’ve watched a few of the videos over the last few days, and I’m taken back to that classroom, being utterly confused and asking a million questions. Dr. Burnham was so patient with me, and I learned priceless lessons while in her presence. Happy Retirement Dr. Burnham!

I’m so thankful I learned how to sew!

PS- Next week I’ll be telling you more about my college major (Family and Consumer Science Education) and why I chose it. If any current or former FACS majors are reading this, I would LOVE for you to leave a comment so I can “meet” you!