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….
the sewing lab.
(cue background screams and scenes of me pulling out my hair).
Floods of emotion came over me as I bent over to look at this picture closer.
stress!
exams!
hours spent in that sewing lab!
always the last one to leave.
more hours.
its midnight?
its midnight?
unpicking!
drafting!!
patternmaking!!!
i’m not done!
its due tomorrow?
i’m not done!
its due tomorrow?
breathe. breathe.
my most demanding college classes.
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.
Does that make sense to anyone?
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)!
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!
Here is the link to her online video tutorials.
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!
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